#16906 by Decker
30 Dec 2006, 11:18
And so to the return flight...

At the suggestion of JetWet I changed our seats at online check in to 14E/F downstairs. This was to prove to be an inspired choice.

Check in was painless as our bags were labelled and Club World tags attached. We were then directed to the lounge which is shared with (amongst others) Qantas. Being male I listened to the proffered directions sufficiently closely as to ensure that Mrs D and I walked all around the airport looking for the lounge before Mrs D gave up and asked a BA person at the gate to put us out of our misery.

Naturally armed with these directions we were able to see all the big signs pointing to the Lounge and in no time were comfortably ensconced in what can only be said to be a minimalist lounge. No internet (but this is a South East Asian problem at the moment) and limited choice of food and drink. Still it was comfortable and directly over the gate. We sat and watched BA's first two flights of the night leave and ere long it was our turn to make our way to the gate. We were first onto the plane - one air bridge for First and Club and the other for World Traveller Plus and World Traveller. We stood at the door to the plane unseen whilst a trio of BA FAs chatted amongst themselves at the opposite side of the plane. I slid sideways into one of their field of view and a peal of merry giggles broke them up as they came over to us, profusely apologising.

We made our way into the empty cabin and changed into our own PJs and undertook our usual champagne/aspirin/airborne routine. The flight boarded quickly and it looked as though we were to be the only ones in this section of CW. However at the last minute a young man and three children appeared and sat at the front right of the cabin. We're guessing he was the nanny as we were to see one of the children with a woman from First at the luggage belt come journey's end. Needless to say (if you're not a parent and don't get defensive about these things) our hearts dropped. To quell any putative sympathy though it is only fair to report that they were all brilliantly behaved and we didn't hear a peep out of them all night.

The Purser who looked after us therefore ended up being our personal FA as there were two crew for this cabin and only two parties aboard! It goes without saying that service was therefore fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble and all delivered with a polite smile. Shortly after takeoff the CSD came along and introduced himself and chatted to us about our stay. His presence was only interrupted by the appearance of our starter, Crab and Prawn salad for Mrs D and Roasted Tomatoes and Mozzarella for me. For the main we both went for the stir fried beef. We couldn't believe how much meat was in this dish - we both left more than half and still felt stuffed! Again the food was better than VS but the presentation was nowhere near as good.

The total load was very light. Five people in First - six in our CW cabin and twelve in the CW bubble. This is where the gamble we took in giving up our exit row seats in the bubble paid off - we got much better staff ratios! There were three people in WT+ (one of whom was an infant) and WT was very sparse - lots of people having four seats each!

Once again the IFE was not AVOD so I read for a while whilst being kept liberally topped up with my chosen wines until quickly made my seat up into a bed and having necked a melatonin slept "Mannion Style" (head on the footrest providing optimum shoulder room and due to seat choice no chance of anyone trying to step over me) for a good 6 hours! I awoke chatted briefly to Mrs D, topped up the Airborne and then dozed for another hour or so before returning the seat to upright. Immediately our personal FA came over and took my breakfast order. After the fruit she incredulously asked if I was SURE I wanted the noodles and dim sum? Mrs D was having the Frittata and as that didn't look wonderful I thought I'd chance my stomach! It was fine - but again too much and could be presented better. I must make the point at this juncture that this is not in any a reflection on the FA, rather the way it was plated left a little to be desired. The tray - being smaller than VS - leaves less room for an attractive presentation.

As we prepared for landing our FA came by with two neatly corked nearly full bottles of what we'd been drinking and asked if we'd care to take them with us as "it's such a waste to pour them away". Are bears Catholic? Does the Pope... oh wait... A very sweet touch. Despite being due to be on stand at 06:20 we were told as we approached that we were 17th in line. Fortunately this didn't stop up arriving at stand exactly on time after a painless landing and only a couple of holding circuits.

We deplaned from Door 1 and we were the third and fourth people off the plane and the first two at immigration. The hike from gate to immigration was one of the longest we've ever done so it seems BAA don't just do this to VS! Seeing only one person in line at immigration we decided to risk it and not use IRIS. A mistake. The people in front of us thought the immigration official was an information service and more than one person approached him from the other side asking questions in foreign languages which distracted him from his job. When he finally got to see us he was most apologetic and sped us through to the baggage hall where three of our four bags came out almost immediately. Regretfully the fourth didn't come out for quite a while after that - so it seems luggage at LHR isn't just a VS problem.

So again to sum up comparisons:-

IFE - VS better
Food - Presentation VS Better, Quality BA better
Wine - VS more choice BA better quality
FAs - BA continue to be consistently as good as a good VS crew and in some respects this time as good as the best VS crew.
Priority Luggage - Better with BA.

My next flight is a combined WT+/CW to the West Coast in late January so it'll be interesting to stack PE against WT+.
#152561 by VS045
30 Dec 2006, 12:09
Thanks for the interesting TR, Decker[y] How did you manage to post it so quickly, I thought you were only leaving today[:0]

We stood at the door to the plane unseen whilst a trio of BA FAs chatted amongst themselves at the opposite side of the plane. I slid sideways into one of their field of view and a peal of merry giggles broke them up as they came over to us, profusely apologising.


Maybe VS is just trying to keep up with BA;)[}:)]

Being male I listened to the proffered directions sufficiently closely as to ensure that Mrs D and I walked all around the airport looking for the lounge before Mrs D gave up and asked a BA person at the gate to put us out of our misery.


Directions/Instruction Manuals etc. are for wimps;)[:w]

VS.
#152562 by Decker
30 Dec 2006, 12:24
Originally posted by VS045
Thanks for the interesting TR, Decker[y] How did you manage to post it so quickly, I thought you were only leaving today[:0]


We left HKG at 01:10 on the 30th. Thus 17:10 on the 29th in the UK. 13.something hour flight brings us to an on stand arrival at 06:20 this morning! Weird but it works!
#152567 by HighFlyer
30 Dec 2006, 12:38
So where is the MO report then? :)

Welcome home! Glad you had a good flight back, i am surprised that the flight was that empty, can't be doing BA's finances much good but certainly good news for the passengers.

Thanks,
Sarah
#152568 by Decker
30 Dec 2006, 12:45
Promised myself I'd unpack before I wrote that one :)
#152594 by vs_itsallgood
30 Dec 2006, 18:44
Sounds like you had a (mostly) private flight for a lot less money! Bet you'll think back on it fondly for a long time. :)

What's wrong with fruit, noodles, and dim sum for breakfast, I ask? Sounds very good to me! I abhor eggs for breakfast, but any other time of day is fine. Dim sum for breakfast - now you've made me hungry. Poor BA crew, to not know a prime meal when they hear it!

It was nice to hear about the well-behaved children, too.

As far as the wine 'choice' goes, better to have excellent wine than a choice of plonk, IMHO. How were your take-away bottles?[}:)]

Enjoyed your TR, may you leave many more pleasant ones!
Virgin Atlantic

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