Tag: Boeing

  • A Review of Vistara 787-900 Economy BOM – LHR

    A Review of Vistara 787-900 Economy BOM – LHR

    At the end of their on board safety video, Vistara announces itself as “India’s Beat Airline”. Having flown with Indigo a few times, Spice Jet and Air India, we were really intrigued to see how they would live up to that moniker. Is Vistara really India’s best airline? Read on for our review of Vistara 787-900 economy as we travel from Mumbai to London.

    This post may contain sponsored content or affiliate links that help support the blog. All opinions are our own.

    Why Vistara?

    We were meant to fly home from Mumbai with Virgin Atlantic, but we’re enjoying our time at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel so very much, that we decided to change our flight and go later with Vistara. I guess you can say we just wanted our fill of Tata (that own both the hotel and Vistara). Vistara has the latest flight from Mumbai to London (around 14:55 on the day we flew), arriving back in the UK around 20:00.

    The Airport Experience

    Our check in was quick and easy. We dropped our bags as we had wine to bring back to the UK. We wouldn’t normally check in bags but with Vistara’s 7kg hand luggage allowance, plus the boozy souvenir, we decided it would be best. Vistara had about 10 desks at Mumbai which is pretty good to say they only have one flight.

    We made our way through security and passport control before making our way to McDonalds. Yes, we just had to grab a Maharaja Mac to see if it was as good as we remember from 2009…turns out, it was.

    The boarding gates at BOM are big, open seating areas with some lovely lamps and big sections of green plants which make it quite a pleasant space. They also have huge windows out onto the ramp and runway so we found a nice spot for trying to plane spot as we waited for the plane to board.

    Economy was split into two queues, one for the back section and one for the front. It worked reasonably well but as the queues were formed outside of the tensa barriers, the usual slight scrum occurred.

    Vistara’s 787 Interior

    Let’s do a review of Vistara inside. I love the Boeing 787 and I love that Vistara uses the unique features offered on this plane to full effect. (Almost, the sliding recline on the ANA 787 still wins).

    The lighting on the 787 is nicely adjustable. On boarding, they were a pinky purple (not as purple as Virgin’s lighting but very reminiscent.

    The windows on the 787 are lovely and large with dimmer switches on the bottom. This is fun but it was a little annoying that they were all dimmed quite early in the flight. The lights were brought down and the message was clear, its sleepy time. When the lights were bought up for the second meal service, they left the windows dark so it still felt like it was nighttime. I tried to brighten mine but I guess they had master control. It would have been to see the sun to help adjust to U.K. time.

    After meal two the windows remained dim and the lights were shut off again for another post dinner nap. It felt so odd to wake up the plane for that snack and then try to get them back to sleep.

    Our Economy Seats

    Seats are in a 3-3-3 configuration in economy, decreasing to 2-3-2 in premium. The seat covers are navy and made of a thick woven material, topped with a head cover with the Vistara logo.

    In economy, the seats have a … inch pitch and … inch recline. It feels fine when you are sat but getting in and out is a real squeeze. Luckily, we managed to snag three seats between us so I wasn’t clambering over a stranger but it would be…intimate.

    The headrest was very adjustable and was almost low enough at its lowest point for me to use the flippy bits. This is unheard of!

    Under the TV, in the seat back is the reading material shelf. This contained the inflight magazine, the safety card and a sick bag.

    Below this was the tray table. This had a very neat clip rather than the more common spinning lock. It felt quite snazzy. The tray folded down and then out, sliding towards the seat (but with no room to do so after dinner).

    The Storage

    Technically, Vistara only allows 7kg in hand luggage but there were clearly a fair few people flouting those rules. Several large bags were slotted into the overhead lockers around us, which the bins took well.

    Vistara’s Entertainment

    Being an Indian carrier, the entertainment system, Vistara World, was a mix of Indian and American options. There was an abundance of HBO programming and several films starring the same actors. (A few Cate Blanchett, several Ryan Goslings and a couple Leo DiCaprios). They also had music and games but I never got around to those.

    I started the flight enjoying the Bernie Madoff film, “The Wizard of Lies”, and then settled in for a rewatch of “White Lotus”. An excellent show as it is, the heightened viewing experience of planes really sucked me in.

    Mr Fluskey managed to finish “Crazy, Stupid Love” which he started on the Virgin Atlantic flight on the way over. Don’t you love it when things work out. He moved onto Bullet Train, featuring the new James Bond.

    He also found the live channels which were all showing the news. What a happy bunny he could have been with nine hours of BBC World News on one screen and the world map on the other.

    The best thing about having three seats is having that middle seat set to the map the whole way. I especially loved spotting some cool mountains from the window and checking out where we were flying over.

    Vistara offers paid internet access. Personally, I didn’t need to be online so I didn’t use it but it was good to see the options. Combined with the plugs offered in economy, you could definitely be doing some work on a laptop or just scrolling on your phone if you like to stay connected.

    The Amenities

    For our review of Vistara amenities, lets start with what is on the seat. There is a pillow, blanket and headphones and all were surprisingly good for economy. I liked the blankets smooth feel but it wasn’t super warm.

    The plugs in the TV (a USB and a sound connection) was actually a dual prong. I was worried that this would result in the horrible twiddling that you have to do to use a normal 3.5mm jack but it worked perfectly with just one. Happy days.

    The bathrooms were fine. By midway through the flight, they ended up pretty messy and didn’t seem to improve. I would definitely say this was user misuse rather than bad cleaning by the airline. I don’t know if the cabin crew are meant to spot clean them.

    Each toilet had the normal foamy hand wash in, some antibacterial gel and curiously, some mouth wash. This was an interesting addition as it requires the user to squirt it right into their mouth and it doesn’t seem like many people would use it?

    Vistara’s Economy Food & Drink Service

    Round One

    Our first meal was served about an hour and a half into the flight. There was an option of chicken or veg and we both opted for chicken. The trolley had a decent selection of drinks including spirits, wine and beer. It is worth noting that although there was Diet Coke, the sugary version was Pepsi. This doesn’t bother me but I am aware there are people that might consider this a deal breaker.

    For the review of Vistara’s main meal I had a chicken curry with cumin rice. The curry suffered from being a little two salty but the chicken was really tender and wasn’t dry, a serious accomplishment for an economy meal. The cumin rice was full of flavour and quite fluffy, I was impressed. The bread roll was pretty dry however, but a liberal slather of the good, salted butter solved that.

    The little salad on the side had cucumber, tomato and cumin. With the squeeze of lemon it was very refreshing and still crunchy. I would say it’s the best airline side salad I’ve had.

    For afters we had a gooey chocolate cake dessert which was yummy scrummy and it was demolished at speed! Finslly, there was a packet which at I first I thought was sugar. Turns out it was a sachet of the minty, herby nibbly stuff often seen at the end of Indian meals.

    There was only one drink offered with dinner, with tea and coffee afterwards.

    Round Two

    At around 2.5 hours to landing, the lights were brought up and the trolley rolled through a second time. Again we were offered the choice of chicken or veg and we both chose chicken. It was another almost full tray with a hot chicken wrap. The wrap was whole meal and slightly chapati-esque and the filling was soft pulled chicken packed with spice. The potatoes were spicy but not really flavourful.

    The dessert was a soaked sponge with a crumble topping and sweetened creamy custard. It was another total winner.

    On the tray we got another tiny water and a masala lemon water which was fun. It’s nice to have so much water but one bigger bottle would probably be better as they must produce an awful lot of plastic waste with all these cute little ones. They have paper cups and bamboo cutlery so they are obviously making strides in the right direction.

    For some reason, our crew member didn’t offer drinks from the trolley whilst the others were pouring away. We caught her on the way back and grabbed a couple of Cokes. We were offered tea or coffee after the meal again but we both declined.

    Honestly, I think this is one of the best economy services we have had in terms of food. The quality and quantity were both better than expected. We have often had one good meal followed by a terrible snack, but both meals were tasty. The only things I would change are the cutlery (we had to use the same spork for our savoury food as our dessert) and the plastic bottles.

    The Views

    Final Thoughts of our Review of Vistara 787-900 Economy

    I was pleasantly surprised with Vistara and their service. The food was genuinely tasty, the entertainment selection pretty decent and the seats comfortable enough for a long haul flight. The crew were super friendly and very professional. I didn’t enjoy the lighting settings being dark for so long on a day flight.

    Rosie xx

  • A Review of Jet2 737-800 STN – ATN – STN

    A Review of Jet2 737-800 STN – ATN – STN

    Jet2 has been going gangbusters in the U.K. with plenty of flights from the north of the country, (in fact I travelled with Jet2 to Prague before they made it down south and had a lovely flight). Now Jet2 is conquering the south with an increasing presence at London Stansted. With very reasonable prices and more passenger offerings than your average Stansted departure, the orange and blue carriers must be a little bit worried. Join us for our review of Jet2 flights from London Stansted to Athens and back again.

    Boeing 737 aircraft

    This post may contain sponsored content or affiliate links that help support the blog. All opinions are our own.

    Airport Experience

    Stansted

    With a brutal 03:15 alarm, we surfaced bleary-eyed and a bit stroppy into the London cold. It took us two night tubes and the first Stansted Express of the morning but we made it bang on time for our expected 06:32 arrival. Two hours before a flight is an hour less than I really like but it was the only way to ensure a little sleep.

    We found our check in desks and there was no queue. There was a very clear Jet2 check in area at London Stansted with some fun Instagram additions (giant teddy bear). We decided to check in our bags as they were included in the fare and the chap who checked us in was very perky. It was impressive for such an early morning. He let us know that the Stansted transit train wasn’t working and that staff would point us in the right direction. We were very happy to see that there were four staff stood by the train entrance and they were all Jet2. No other carrier was represented here. We all went down to waiting coaches over to the remote terminal. I was very glad we’d checked in our bigger bags as it was a lot of standing and stairs which would have been annoying with the suitcases.

    The terminal is very scrappy but that is not Jet2’s responsibility. There were lots of seats and nice big windows where you could see our plane and a few other Jet2 planes too. They had nice, shiny signage and nice, shiny staff. Everyone was wished a good holiday as they passed through the gate which was a very nice touch and it was really good that they maintained that line for everyone.

    Athens

    We arrived at Athens airport three hours before our flight took off but the check-in wasn’t open yet. There wasn’t anywhere to sit nearby and it was very buy and tight so we went and sat out of the way for a while. When we returned, there was a huge queue…rookie mistake! It took around 20 minutes to get to the front and then the agent wasn’t too friendly. We checked in our bags and headed for security. Jet2 is in the satellite building and there is quite a long way to walk along travelators before you go through security (plenty of time to buy any drinks you have bought).

    Once through security, there was a departure lounge that was very busy where we picked up a sandwich and crisps for the flight. Then we passed through passport control (another long queue) and found our gate. Remember to leave plenty of time to get through the airport because it takes a while. We entered the gate which was very busy and didn’t have many seats left. The staff were checking in hand luggage. they were not asking but instructing passengers and making sure they went over to the tagging desk. It didn’t feel very Jet2.

    The Plane

    The Seats

    We paid to book our seats ahead of time both to ensure we could sit together and to guarantee a window seat. Honestly, we sit separately alot due to traveling on standby but when I am reviewing a flight, I like a window. Poor Mr Fluskey likes a window too, but he married a window lover so he doesn’t get it all that often.

    The seats were pretty standard for a European short haul airline with 31 inches pitch and 17 inches width. This is slightly wider than both Ryanair and Easyjet and has at least two inches of extra leg room, This really does make a difference when the flight is more than two hours, especially when squeezing out to pop to the bathroom. There is no back to the seat in front where your legs are which, if you are tall, will give you those precious extra centimetres….I wonder if that is included in the legroom?

    Instead of a traditional seatback pocket, there is a magazine stand. This means you cannot store your belongings in there. This is much cleaner (those pockets can be real germ-fests) and presumably prevents lots of lost property. There is a small tray table and the addition of a simple metal cup holder which I really like. It’s designed for the hot drinks they sell onboard so doesn’t really fit a water bottle.

    The Windows

    There was something very strange about the windows and I only realised about half an hour into our flight. I went to pull down the shade for an easier sleep but it wasn’t there. None of the windows have shades so the sun streams in undisturbed. It’s great for the views but it was tough to nap with the full force of the sun seeping through my eyelids.

    I wanted to share some of the views we got.

    The Way Out

    Leaving a grey morning at Stansted is always satisfying. Bursting through the final layer of cloud and into the blue sky above really makes it feel like a holiday! Plus, trying to spot the Acropolis on our descent was lots of fun.

    Coming Back

    On the way back we were treated to a fabulous hour long sunset. I couldn’t stop snapping but here are just a few little photos.

    Storage

    The baggage bins have stretchy bands across the front so things don’t fall out when the bins are reopened. It also means people can shove their coats and other soft items in and they stay put. This is a very smart addition which I am surprised I have never seen on any other carriers.

    Everyone is entitled to one underbag seat and one overhead spot. Of course, if everyone takes advantage then it gets overfull so they were checking in baggage at the boarding gate in Athens. I was surprised that they faced this issue seeing as everyone gets free chek in luggage. This surely reduces the number of large rolling hand luggage bags that end up at the gate. Well, it encouraged us to check our bags in, something we rarely do.

    Entertainment

    There are two magazines in the seat back but no TVs onboard. There aren’t any plugs so my advice is to bring a phone or tablet, a portable charger and some headphones. Mr Fluskey used both his Bluetooth headphones until they ran out of battery and was forced to read the magazines. (What a rookie, use one at a time!). There were a few interesting articles but not enough for a three hour flight.

    The Tannoy

    We really enjoyed the tunes as we boarded. They were all upbeat and put us in a good mood with our mini singalong. Of course, they played Jess Glynne’s banger Hold My Hand which is on the Jet2 adverts.

    Now, about the announcements. They were all prerecorded and very cheery. We loved the fun tone and the two voices giving it some pep. However, they were SO loud! Every time one was played, the whole plane (who were trying sleep due to the early starts we had all had) was shocked awake. You could visibly see people jump out of slumber. It seemed unnecessarily loud when the boarding music had been considerably quieter so there must be a volume choice. I would hate to take this as a commuter without a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. In general, the announcements were too loud and too frequent.

    That being said, we loved the flight deck announcements which were thorough, describing the exact route we would be taking and what we could expect to see along the way. They also kept everyone informed when we had a delay on the way home. Top marks to the flight deck!

    Amenities

    The bathroom was kept clean on both legs of our journey which is impressive on 3.5 hour flight. I liked the big pictures on the door which cheered up the small space….and they were small. You would struggle to change clothes in here or anything like that so don’t plan to use them as a space for anything other than using the toilet. There was some simple soap but no hand cream or anything so if you need that stuff, make sure it’s in your liquids bag.

    Food & Drink

    There was plenty on offer to purchase during the trolley service. I was expecting shocking prices but actually, compared to airports and other carriers, it was all quite reasonable. We stupidly paid more for food in Athens airport to eat on board which saw us standing in long queues. We should have just waited and chosen things from the menu!

    There was a second round of trolley service on both flights where sandwiches were offered at half price. This is a nice way of ensuring less food waste but I would be pretty annoyed if I had paid full price just one hour prior. Good to know for future travel though!

    Final Thoughts for our Review of Jet2

    For holiday travel Jet2 is a brilliant choice. Free luggage, check-in desks and super cheery announcements at the gate and onboard all get you in a good mood. Whether you prefer a longer fly and flop or want a fun Jet2 city break, they will get you there safe, sound and smiling. Overall, Jet2 are a fantastic choice with genuinely friendly staff, an expanding network and an attitude we love!

    Rosie xx

  • A Review of Turkish Airlines 777-300 Economy LHR to IST

    A Review of Turkish Airlines 777-300 Economy LHR to IST

    We get rather excited by small things here at Flying Fluskey and taking a short-haul flight on a long haul carrier is one of them! The chance to fly Turkish Airlines from London to Istanbul was just such a chance, and we jumped at it. Read on to see our full review of Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300 economy from London Heathrow to Istanbul Airport.

    (more…)
  • A Review of Delta 767-300ER Delta One / Delta Business Class LHR – SLC

    A Review of Delta 767-300ER Delta One / Delta Business Class LHR – SLC

    Flying from London to the USA, there are so many airlines to choose from. We have travelled with British Airways a couple of times, and with Virgin Atlantic Airways an awful lot. But after a recent work trip, I finally got to write a complete Delta One review of their business class offering. It is a first class and business class fusion (a little like the three cabin configuration on Virgin Atlantic). This is my full London to Salt Lake City International Delta One review.

    (more…)
  • A Review of Jet2 Boeing 757-200 MAN – PRG

    A Review of Jet2 Boeing 757-200 MAN – PRG

    Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is just a couple of hours flight away from the UK, but stroll through its fairytale streets in the snow, and you will feel a million miles away from home. I was given the opportunity, with Jet2, to take in the architecture, sip on a few cups of gluhwein and experience a new city – I was there with bells on! Read all about our trip in 6 Reasons Prague is the Perfect Christmas City Break

    “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, welcome to Jet2”.

    (Yes their announcements said that, and yes, it made me happy).

    Airport Experience

    Mixing things up a little, I flew out of Manchester airport for this trip. Jet2 operate out of two terminals at Manchester airport. The majority of their flights depart from T1 but a few destinations are from T2. These were well signposted from the train station. I then got myself in a small tizz. Half of the airline’s check-in from another floor, and it was here that I got confused. I followed people into a lift, without paying any attention and had to find my way back down to the ground floor for the Jet2 desks.

    The gentleman who checked us in was incredibly cheery and made the experience very enjoyable. It was nice to have a chatty check-in agent, rather than the minimal interactions we are often greeted with. Was it because we were “up North” or is it just the normal way Jet2’s agents are?

    I had originally packed into hand luggage, partly out of habit and partly because I was thinking of Jet2 as a budget airline. Happily, we were given a 22kg checked bag along with a 10kg hand luggage, and a personal item. I could have packed my whole wardrobe…almost. This was my first pleasant surprise and my first indication that Jet2 is a value airline, not a budget one.

    I checked my hand luggage bag in, and went handsfree for the journey, just carrying my little rucksack and my coat in a carrier bag. So far, so easy.

    Interior

    Again, I was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the plane. There wasn’t any mood lighting or anything, but they had Christmas pop songs playing, and the crew gave us a wonderfully warm welcome. I didn’t know it was possible to feel festive on a flight, but this felt jolly.

    The Boeing 757-200 is a very long, thin plane. There are over 40 rows and only one aisle. Luckily, there were two boarding doors so it didn’t take too long to board or disembark. We flew on a Delta Boeing 757 just a few days prior to this, and it took almost 20 minutes to clear the plane.

    Seats

    The seats are leatherette, with an alternating pattern of grey and red. I quite liked the effect.

    The seats

    There was a pretty standard amount of leg room for a short-haul flight. The exit seats had quite a bit, so if you need it, I would advise you to book one of those. There is no recline, and that is also worth bearking in mind if you need a lot of room.

    Looking at the seat back, it took me a second to realise that it was without a back panel. Instead, you just see the shape of the seat bucket in front of you. I’ve seen a few seats like this and I suppose they save weight? Looking at the picture, I can see that they have done the same with the armrests. I noticed that they were a little thin at the time, but I hadn’t realised that they were hollow.

    There is a magazine rack but don’t store anything in it, as it will fall out again. It is just the kind that is designed to house A4 papers but has no bottom.

    Unfortunately, there isn’t a seat back pocket lower down so you will need to keep your bag under the seat in front of you for your bits and bobs.

    The cup holder is a metal hoop that hangs from the chair back. I have mixed feelings about it. I like that it doesn’t wobble, or tip your drink forward like some plastic models, but it feels a bit like an afterthought.

    The tray table itself was simple to use and very sturdy with the standard locking arm.

    Storage

    There is always a struggle for overhead locker space on a flight to a cold destination. People tend to have large coats and stuff the lockers full. Thank goodness I could check my bag in. The locker themselves were standard size but our fellow passengers just didn’t use them properly.

    Despite the free luggage allowance, lots of people still had full size carry on bags and towards the end of boarding, there were some reshuffles to do so everyone could fit their things in the overhead bins. I did like that they had elastic stretched across the front of each locker, preventing things from falling out when the lockers were opened.

    Windows

    OK, there isn’t loads to say about these, they are standard windows but I thought this would be worth mentioning.

    On our outbound flight, we were in row 19, and this was the window view:

    That’s fine if you are in the window seat itself, but I was in the middle seat and couldn’t see out at all. When the person next to me leaned against it for a nap, it was totally blocked.

    On the way back, I was in the middle seat again, but this time in row 21, and the view was considerably better. Something to consider if a view is important to you.

    1.5 windows

    Entertainment

    Beyond the in-flight magazine and duty-free shopping, there was no entertainment available. Bring your phone/book/iPad to keep yourself entertained.

    Food and Drinks

    Jet2 sell a variety of snacks on board. You can also preorder hot meals but as it was an afternoon flight, I’d already eaten lunch.

    Looking for food when you land in Prague? Check out 6 Best Restaurants to Try Great Czech Food in Prague!

    I just stuck to what I know best, the bar.

    They serve a range of drinks, and happily, among them is my favourite brand of prosecco – I heart wines! I was very overexcited when I clocked it in the menu. It tasted different at altitude, but was still rather tasty and very appreciated!

    Not quite as classy as I like to think but that metal ring came in helpful when we hit mild turbulence.

    Final Thoughts

    I believe that it is worth mentioning; Jet2 should be immensely proud of its staff who were kind, friendly and unfailingly enthusiastic. It was a very refreshing change and they got us all the way to Prague with a smile.

    If you are thinking of travelling with Jet2, here is some information that you might like to know.

    When I consider it against the UK’s biggest airline, and their short haul offering, I would pick Jet2 every…single…time. (You can read all about our most recent flight with British Airways here).

    Jet2 definitely exceeded my expectations. The plane was bigger than I thought, the luggage allowance was bigger than I thought, and the choices for food and beverages were bigger than I thought as well!

    We were guests of Jet2 on this flight but all opinions are entirely my own.

    Rosie xx

    A full review of our flight from Manchest to Prague with Jet2.com. We travelled on a 757-200 aircraft, and it was all surprisingly pleasant. #jet2 #jet2.com #flightreview
    Love it? Pin it!
  • A Review of Virgin Atlantic 787-900 Upper Class LHR – HKG

    A Review of Virgin Atlantic 787-900 Upper Class LHR – HKG

    Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class cabin is their top most cabin offering. It is listed as the Virgin Atlantic business class cabin and so lies somewhere between British Airways Club World and First Class (just as a comparison). We are very excited to share our experience of flying Upper Class from London to Hong Kong.

    Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-900 'Lucy in the Sky' plane on a stand at London Heathrow Airport
    (more…)
  • Virgin Atlantic – When Lightning Strikes – Flight VS65 LGW to MBJ

    Virgin Atlantic – When Lightning Strikes – Flight VS65 LGW to MBJ

    On 22nd March 2017, our Virgin Atlantic plane was hit by lightning, which was very normal. We returned to London Gatwick Airport, which was not. What happened? Is lightning dangerous? Will I finally get the right things out of the overhead locker!?

    (more…)