View Full Version : ^5 Airtours Premium Cabin!!!
brockenspectre
23rd Oct 2001, 05:57
I just returned from a flight to Florida where I stayed with friends. I travelled for the first time in Airtours Premium cabin and I have to say that, given the cabin crew are dealing solely with "tourists" and few professional travellers, they give BA/Virgin and any other Floridian bound airline a run for their money. The service was impeccable, the efficiency excellent and the personal dealings with all queries effective and pleasant!
The A330 helps make the trip good - I had heard of but never before experienced the forward view/down view cameras on the inflight TV screen but these were fun - the seating in Premium is very comfortable and despite the inability to provide a dietary meal (not cabin crew fault but that of the airline) I had one of the best trans-atlantic experiences to date!
:D
Land After
25th Oct 2001, 19:50
brockenspectre,
Good to get a tip off like this.
Out of interest, how does it compare to Virgin Premium and BA World Traveller?
What's the seat pitch & width & number of rows like in comparision to the back end?
brockenspectre
7th Nov 2001, 18:42
Just saw the query/response to my original post - duh! The config is 2/4/2 and as I didn't have a tape measure I can't be specific as to seat pitch. As I also have only flown Economy or Upper with Virgin and Economy or Biz with BA I can't comment on the mid-range of seats. For me, as a large, 5'10" lady, all I CAN say is that I had plenty of legroom, plenty of seat space (the totally enclosed seat means no-one overflows to the neighbouring passenger) and the seat was positioned correctly for the inflight TV screens!! The price for this "luxury" was an additional £149 over the basic flight price which I believe puts it below the BA/Virgin mid-range seating prices too! But don't quote me on that!
Sorry it took me so long to respond!
:D
swizzle stick
11th Nov 2001, 22:36
VS operate the 340 in 2-3-2 config in Premium Economy (2-4-2 in normal Y). Their Premium Economy on the 744 is upstairs (on whole fleet I don't know) so I presume is 2-2 but not seen so not sure.
Legroom is even greater than in AIH premium cabin, plus they have in seat phone!
As for BA - their 744 has 2-4-2 in World Traveller Plus (3-4-3 in normal Y) so again a lot more width, and I think it's 38" or 39" seat pitch so about 2 - 3" more than AIH. On their 777 they are 2-4-2 but as the cabin is a bit narrower I guess the aisles are slimmer as sure they wouldn't have different seat frame for diff a/c.
If i recall right AIH seats are leather - BA & VS are cloth, but the AIH cushions & seatbacks are thinner.
Hope this helps too.
Fast Jet Wannabe
12th Nov 2001, 02:25
Does anyone know how much the charter operators charge to upgrade to premium class?
Im travelling with Monarch soon on an A330 - and booked the holiday to late to upgrade. I'm interested to know how much they charge though.
Land After
12th Nov 2001, 16:47
I’ve flow VS premium quite a bit, but due to job changes my trips to the US are less frequent. I used to fly premium out and Upper Class back, so I could sleep in comfort.
From memory, whenever on a 744 premium was upstairs behind the middle exits and 2+2. Great value with plenty of space. The best value seats were at the exits –330” pitch! The premium on the bus was a little cramped, no leg rests and (I think) 2-4-2.
The new BA Club World on the top of the 744 is excellent, downstairs it looks like a cattle truck!
The premium for "premium" seems to be about 150GBP return for the US. Looks like good value to me.
Anyone flown the bmi new economy yet? The seating, according to the plan ,looks the same width as the "regular" economy.
FJW - I'm Flying MON on Sunday to Maldives in Premium Cabin. Cost was £229 return each to upgrade.
LA - Flew bmi "new economy" in the summer. It was configured 2-4-2. Width nothing special but pitch was good. On the outbound there were only 20 pax out of possible 48. Wife and I moved from "2" to empty row of "4". No problem with elbow room then! Crew very attentive and kept refilling my wine glass! Was well refreshed by the time we arrived ;)
Who has control?
20th Nov 2001, 15:57
My wife & I used the Airtours Premair Gold (?) to Barbados last year. It was good, we enjoyed the better service, food, drinks etc. I think it was about GBP250 to upgrade, but don't quote me. We use the free cutlery as picnic knives & forks now. The bad side.. I had a window seat on the right and there was a piece of hardware bolted to the floor under the seat in front. So I couldn't stretch out comfortably. Also, I was REALLY looking forward to the cameras, (It was an A330), but the forward looking one wasn't working and the downward wasn't switched on!!
On the return journey, some pax. had been told at Gatwick to use the same seats, we checked in on the cruise ship & were given different seats. Big confusion when we all got into the aircraft cabin. 2 pax ended up 'down the back'. I got the same seat as outbound - same box too. The cameras were working this time but the takeoff was delayed so it was dark. Glad I couldn't see the approach at Gatport Airwick, strong crosswind & the runway lights drifted sideways onto the TV screen at the last minute.
We'd use an upgrade again for long-haul flights. Airtours...not sure.
javelin
22nd Nov 2001, 03:49
Always use the upgrade on Airtours, Usually get seat 1L. Great view out of the front, superb service and food, Movies are crap though, 6 TV screens with not much on ! Fly us, keep me in a job ! :D