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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU Non functioning seats in Premium Economy

12 replies

Fluffywithteeth · 01/03/2020 22:48

I’ve never flown Virgin or Virgin Premium Economy before so any advice welcomed!!

After a really really shit year we decided to have a big treat and have half term in Barbados (which was amazing)

On the way out 2 of our 4 seats in premium economy did not recline (at all) which was pretty uncomfortable on a 8 hour flight (and especially since it was bloody expensive!!)

On the way back, the seats reclined but my sons jack for the headphones was broken (Annoying for him but not a big issue).

Virgin has offered 7000 miles for the head jack issue.

And 6000 miles for the non reclining seats (3000 per seat).

At this rate not sure I’d fly virgin again but even if I did this seems wrong to me that non reclining seats (surely a big part of why you would buy the premium for premium 🧐 on such a long flight) would only offer 3000 miles when a non functioning head jack would be 7000

What do you think?

OP posts:

audweb · 01/03/2020 22:50

I don’t know. Personally I would find a broken head jack a bigger issue than a non reclining seat. Flown 8 hours and never had to recline my seat but if i couldn’t have watched or listened to anything for those 8 hours I would have been so annoyed. Maybe that’s why they offer more because you couldn’t listen to the entertainment?

Cloudmonkey · 01/03/2020 22:56

Sounds about right. I was given 8000 miles when my seat wouldn’t recline in upper last summer. It laid flat (which was all I really cared about) but wouldn’t recline into a sort of relaxed sitting position.

Mercurial123 · 02/03/2020 08:30

I don't recline my seat on long haul flights. Not being able to watch in-flight entertainment would be an issue. It's happened to me before so I always download Netflix onto my phone.

GlamGiraffe · 02/03/2020 15:14

We dont use miles but they were pretty bad when we had issues on our long haul premium flight: no vegetarian food without lentils (I'm allergic and had obviously made a specific pre order), running out of a considerable variety of soft drinks and some kind of major crew dispute going on as well as trying to insist we couldnt actually sit in the premium seats we'd pre booked!! Their compensation was £100 shopping voucher after a long running complaint.
It goes without saying I wouldnt use them again.

Original poster

Fluffywithteeth · 02/03/2020 19:19

thanks all - I will give it a few more gos and let you know if i get anywhere

Blimey glamgiraffe that is awful! my son is allergic to nuts and they don't even list the ingredients on the kids meals on flights so i pack separate meals for him

audweb - well they gave him a preloaded iPad to watch so he was quite happy with that i think (i agree no entertainment at all both he and i might have been climbing the walls

cloudmonkey i think if we'd been offered 6000 per seat I might have thought that was serious but 3000 seemed just derisory!

mercurial I'm impressed! i would find it excruciating if i couldn't recline at all.... an di've got no excuse as i am on the short side that extra space is what we thought we were treating ourselves to with the premium flight

for the amount you pay and the amount of competition there is, you'd think customer service on airlines would be better!

OP posts:

HappyHammy · 02/03/2020 19:22

Does it mention on their seating plan that they dont recline.

Northernsoulgirl45 · 02/03/2020 20:48

You did better than we did. We got nowt when our emergency exit seats had no in flight entertainment. We paid a premium for these seats as it was the only way we could sit together. This was pre kids. We didn't even really get much more legroom for much of the flight as they kept parking trolley there.

WickedlyPetite · 02/03/2020 20:52

We've flown upper class where my entertainment system hasn't been working and I was given a pre loaded iPad instead.

It didn't occur to me to complain or seek compensation. 7000 miles? I'll certainly be complaining next time!

Butternutsqoosh · 02/03/2020 20:53

EVERY seat has a tv even the emergency exit seats, they may not have been working but an alternative form of entertainment is always offered (Ipad with the movies on instead, or in the olden days, a DVD player) so no, you wouldn't have been compensated as an alternative would have been available

Northernsoulgirl45 · 03/03/2020 01:26

No alternative offered in our case.

hadenough · 03/03/2020 01:38

Did you speak to the crew on board? I imagine you perhaps did and there were no alternative seats. I would've very disappointed in your situation as well, especially since their advertising makes a great deal of the Premium Economy seat.

Ozgirl75 · 03/03/2020 02:58

That’s a real nuisance. We were flying BA to Barbados many years ago (on our honeymoon actually!) in premium economy and our seat back entertainment had broken and they upgraded us to business class. Best. Flight. Ever. I’ve flown business many times since but that was the first time and the absolute thrill when they said “your seat has changed” and wrote on it something like 10A and we looked at each other going “it can’t be - it is!”

Doesn’t help you but it gave me a great memory

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