A different route to Asia - Premium on Virgin Atlantic

[moa999]

Airlines: Virgin Atlantic, Dragonair, Cathay Pacific
Lounges: Air New Zealand Koru Club Sydney, Cathay Wing First Hong Kong, Cathay Shanghai, Virgin Atlantic Club House Hong Kong
Hotels: The Langham Kowloon Hong Kong, W Kowloon Hong Kong, The Hongta Pudong Shanghai, Shanghai Hilton

Starting post for a journey over the next fortnight. Mix of work and holiday in Shanghai, a city I last visited properly in 2000.

Virgin Atlantic journey in Premium Economy.
Flights to/from Shanghai in Economy.

Why Virgin Atlantic?? Never flown them before.. Cheaper than Qantas on the dates in question.. A different lounge in Hong Kong, and first visit to Koru in Sydney, plus the 2x90 SCs for Premium will requal me for Platinum with VA (I can only hope they will reset my Hilton status which expired in April). Booked direct on the VS code rather than VA code as there was a very substantial fare difference.

Hotels. Corporate rates at Langham (Club), coolness of W, wanted to try Pudong, and then something central in Shanghai...

So very much a mish mash of airline and hotel loyalty programs.

 

[moa999]

Air New Zealand Koru Lounge SYD

My first visit to this lounge, indeed to any NZ lounge. A large open space with lots of windows but quite packed with UA, VS and VA flights departing in quick succession.

Mix of kiwi wines and Aussie and Kiwi beers. Some decent open sandwiches, a make your own grill, with better condiments than VA, party pies, pizzas and some sweet stuff.

Overall a pretty reasonable lounge outside a home port.

 

[moa999]

And a red beep at the gate. We have a better seat for you Sir... Bliss into the third row.

 

[moa999]

The entry

Kiwi cool bathrooms

Views and food

Hopefully photos are rotated this time.

 

[Deewhy]

And a red beep at the gate. We have a better seat for you Sir... Bliss into the third row.

Nice one! But I was looking forward to the PE review, damnit! as I was considering this option.
interested in the report nonetheless.

 

[moa999]

Remainder of the report to come in the next week,
Unfortunately , no review of Premium Economy (well at least not on VS)

 

[cmon0005]

Great pics!! Good selection of hot food by the looks of it..

 

[Fruitcake]

Great pics!! Good selection of hot food by the looks of it..

Although moa999's failure to include a close-up photo of the hot dog stand - the defining culinary experience of a VA/NZ lounge visit - is personally disappointing to me.

 

[moa999]

Yes. I passed on the hotdog stand, as I do when flying VA...
However at least NZ seem to have more condiments than offered on VA domestically.

So onboard and sitting in a slightly better seat than I had expected.
First impressions .. very impressive.. seat layout is in a 1x1x1 config and look similar to the older CX business coffins, although the middle seat alternates facing left and right between two mini cabins divided by a curtain, presumably to even up traffic flows. No centre overhead bins which adds to the feel of space.

The most impressive part was the finishings. Despite being a 10yr old aircraft, VS obviously picked every 'bling' option on the Airbus list, or refitted a lot... This went form the silver-grey doors (rather than the normal bone white), to the metallic overhead bin handles and air vents, the bling crystals at the front of the cabin, and the cool metallic screen where the centre bins would normally be.

The bar while small (only 3 stools) and used by crew during food prep has a cool roof, and a decent selection.

The seat itself. Similar to the old style CX coffins though I think a bit more space. A full sized one piece table that pulls up from the side and some storage and the guest seat at the other end. The pull out TV sits nicely at the end of the tray table enabling you to continue to watch while eating.... Only bad designed bit is the dropdown drinks holder which gets partially blocked by the light.
Whilst I didn't use it on the day flight up, the seat itself flips over into bed mode - providing for a more comfortable bed, but meaning less recline when in seat mode - didn't go back far enough for me.



VS has also recently introduced their famous S&P shakers... Silver in Upper Class, and Black in PE (apparently)... They were however grabbed before I could take them. That said the feel like lightweight plastic, so don't think I would reuse anyway.

 

[moa999]

The food.

Dine
Starters - Sweetcorn soup with sage and sea salt ciabatta croutons ; Cold-smoked king salmon with a mint, Chilli, mango and Coriander salad
Mains - Peking duck breast served with story-fried noodles, kai-lan, carrots, black mushrooms, red peppers and hoisin sauce ; Potato gnocchi with baby green peas in mushroom sauce and shaved Italian cheese ; Pan-seared blue-eyed cod, roasted potatoes, Asparagus and sautéed baby carrots
Warm breads - Your choice of warm bread rolls
Dessert - Blueberry bread butter pudding with vanilla bean Anglaise ; Lindt chocolate opera cake with spicy mixed berry compote
Cheese and port - Cobram vintage cheddar ; King Island triple brie ; Tarago River blue vein

Graze
Mini Angus cheeseburger served with tomato relish ; Pan-fried prawn gyoza with Pickled julienne cucumber, carrot, red pepper and sesame ; House salad with Feta, cucumber, radish, tomato and creamy dill mustard dressing

High Tea
And selection of freshly prepared sandwiches ; Warm sultona scone with clotted cream
and strawberry jam ; Your choice of cakes from our cake stand

Champagne - Lanson Black Label, France
White - Minervois Les Bonnes Blanc, Château d'Agel, France, 2012; Villa San Maurice Chardonnay, USA, 2011; Berrys' New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, 2012
Red - Pietas Old Vines Selection, France, 2011; Polenta Corte Joven, Argentina, 2012; Corliano Chianti Riserva, Italy, 2009

 

[moa999]

Food was good without being exceptional.

Crew brought the wine around in a custom designed apron that fitted three bottles, but were not at all knowledgeable about the wine (which was disappointing)

Crew themselves were professional and friendly. A mix between a London and HK based crew.
Had a chat to some of the London crew. The Sydney route is highly bid (read experienced crew only) with a one night slip in HK, one in Sydney, two in HK, then six days off in London. Some talk about crew hotel changes coming up... In HK from Mongkok to Wan Chai (viewed as good), in Sydney from CBD to Olympic Park (not so favourable I suspect)

 

[Inver]

That burger looks stacked high with a large pattie.
Was the seat lie flat?

Thanks for the trip report.

 

[k3nnis]

Yep the seat is fully flat...