BA & VS W Comparison/Report
 

Hi,

I thought I'd share my views on the both British Carriers Premium Economy Products.

I've had the 'pleasure' of doing LHR - JFK frequently since June. This report is based on several trips in PE on both carriers, seated in different places around the cabins.

The comparison will be divided in to Check-in, boarding, seating, in-flight service (meal, avod, staff) and arrival. They will be graded between 1 and 5 with 5 the highest.

VS
Check-in:
Online: Unfortunately VS lock the exit rows (I am Silver, may be different for Golds).
Airport: Dedicated Check-in for W passengers. Agents are friendly and helpful.
Luggage tagged with Premium Economy for priority on arrival.
Score: 3

Boarding:
As W passenger you can jump the gate line at your leisure, very nice. You are also free to board the plane at your leisure. Nice and good for pre-flight drinks.
Score: 5

Seating: 38"
Unless you get the exit rows on the 747 you're bound to have a less pleasant journey if you're over 5'8. Some genius designer decided the IFE box should be covered in plastic which obstructs your feet in nearly every seat on both the 747 and 346 in the new PE cabin. The seat itself is ok but I find the BA seat more comfortable.
Score: 2

In-flight Service
This is where VS shines. In fact they make BA look like US domestic.
A bottle of still water is by your seat. Within minutes of settling you are offered a drink (Sparkling Wine, juice, water, beer if you ask). And if there's time you will get a refill without asking.
Once airborne drinks Trolley is out with plenty to chose from and the Menu's are handed out. The food is not first class obviously but still not all bad. You get served a three course meal on real china. If you're a big guy like me and hungry they will happily find you more grub.
AVOD is good with plenty of choice and it has never failed during my flights.
Drinks are available during the flight and the staff is very attentive to your needs and keep circling the cabin making sure you're not sitting with an empty glass. Out of 6 returns since June with VS only once have I come across a crew which appeared less interested in providing a good service.

Score: 5

Arrival
Quickly off the plane after J PAX and they stop Y from jumping forward.
Priority tags actually works! At LHR, JFK and LAX my bags have been out very quickly on all occasions.
Score: 4

BA
Check-in:
Online: BA allow you to select exit rows at OLCI which is a bonus.
Airport: Unfortunately they only have dedicated W check-in at some airports.
No priority on luggage. (Not that it matters ;))

Score: 3

Boarding
No priority when entering the gate and the same applies for boarding in my experience (correct me if my notes are wrong).

Score: 2

Seating: 38"
Even if the BA seat now has a few years behind it I still find it comfortable. And more importantly: The IFE box is smaller and sits on one of the legs of the seat infront, hence your feet are not obstructed. Big Bonus! Also BA have more exit row seats since most of the long-haul fleet consists of 747 while VS have plenty of 346 with no real Exit row Seats.

Score: 4

In-flight Service
Well, it simply does not compare with VS. No pre-flight drink. No water at your seat. Same food as in Y and crew more or less dissapeared after the meal service. I guess this is partially because BA don't have a dedicated W crew. Mid-flight I was thirsty for water and waited 20 minutes to get the attention of a crew member. I then decided to walk to the galley and ask for some water. 4 crew; none of them took interest in me. It was if like everyone was waiting for the other to make a move. I asked eventually :)
And then we have BAVOD... sometimes works, sometimes does not. Screen is of poorer quality than VS. Similar selection.

Score: 1 simply because the only difference from Y is the bigger seat and you pay $2400 for a return.

Arrival
You get off after J and F PAX which is good for immigration. No priority on bags. However, as BA cannot get the concept of Priority for F and J PAX working sometimes you get your bags first :D

Score: 2

Total VS: 19
Total BA: 12

Conclusion: BA needs to rename WT+ to YWEL (Economy With Extra Legroom)

If you think I've missed something please let me know :)

I didn't think all the seats on VS had the AVOD box under them, so I think you just need to choose the right seat.

Also was this new new of old PE on VS ?

Cheers,
Baps.

Nice report - though WT+ is also 38in pitch.

New VS PE. They are refitting the 747's as we speak so no more UD PE :(

I've tried 4 different seats on the 346 and found the mid section all seats more or less blocked with IFE. Window row totally blocked too and aisle partially blocked. There's no real exit row on the 346. 747 exit seats will be the price seats no doubt.

Corrected! Thanks.

Also the WT+ seats on some 747 AC are just beind F so that you are off the plane before the J pax*, very useful when flying abroad (especially to the US) I shoudn't wonder.

*Which is annoying for those of us in J who are not on the UD and stuck behind you.

Good report Petrus!

+ for BA:

On the boarding, if you take four transatlantic trips in W on BA you get silver which allows boarding when you like and use of Club checkin.:)

- for BA:

The new 747 J52 config is crap for W pax as far as I'm concerned. There's only one loo for 36 pax and you can't easily wander around - in other configs you could at least walk to the back of the plane to stretch your legs as well as use more than one lavatory. The "new" service that goes with it is worse in my experience - one crew member goes down one aisle and up the other. If the dedicated crew is one person, I'm not sure it works. In the past trays of juice and water have been offered throughout the flight, this didn't happen when on W on a J52 config.:(

At least this config isn't meant to be used on LHR-JFK and I guess that if BA had their way they could use two doors to get F and J pax off first (having said that it was a bus when I last flew!).