The FC Lounge in Chep Lap Kok isn't anything to shout about really. I suppose after using the VS lounge in Heathrow (and HK even) nothing else comes close. They do have a nice food selection, a pretty good shower room and its never crowded.
I was really looking forward to this. I've always been airline buff since I was a kid and airlines always advertise their FC to whet people's appetite - you look at an airline add and think wow look at all that stuff! and you fly them. But when you get to your Y seats, all ideals of romanticism about the airline evaporates. I mean, most people never get to travel on FC because its so flipping expensive. This was my first time on First Class and I was really looking forward to it!
The flight boarded on time and I was in seat 3A. The cabin was pretty full. 10 passengers in FC (max is 12).
The seats are extremely comfortable. Its leather upholstered, but not the seat itself which was fabric. Its trimmed on the sides with walnut (very nice!). There's oodles of space and you can stick your bag under the section in front which houses the LARGE flatscreen TV. Its the largest flatscreen TV I've seen on an aircraft! The nice steward addressed me by name, took my drinks order, gave me a set of the Givenchy PJs, Bulgari toiletries bag. Got changed up and the flight was ready to go.
There's something different about being in the nose of the plane. I don't know if its just me, but somehow it 'sounds' different - I mean the way the aircraft sounds when it moves. It certainly seems that on takeoff, the plane seems to be travelling faster! Whatever it was, it was a real thrill - felt like a kid on a rollercoaster for the first time! [:p]
Then came the champagne. It was Krug or Dom. And I chose the caviar for the appetiser. Served with crackers, chives, chopped egg and onions. Oh man, this is the way to travel! And the nice people kept filling up the champagne! I had booked the cook, and I chose the lobster wanton noodles. Fantastic! Dessert was honey ice cream and chocolate cake. I don't know how they do it, but I have had my share of airline food. In business class its always been passable. But I have to say this dining experience was perhaps one of the best I've ever had on the ground or in the air. Certainly the best in the air. Oh they used proper metal cutlery too - and this was on a flight to the US!
After dinner, I popped open my powerbook and GUESS WHAT! They had WiFi on the plane!!! [:D][:D][:D] Now THAT's impressive. It was US$29.95 for the entire flight or $9.95 for the first continuous 60 minutes and US$0.25 per minute after that. Pretty good if you're going to be using the internet a on the flight I thought.
Unlike the nutty seats on Raffles Class, these FC seats collapse into a real flat bed. The stewardess popped on two soft mattresses and I slept 7 hours straight. Without a Xanax! A first for me.
We landed in SF 40 minutes ahead of schedule. I think the only little negative comment was that they could've used better blankets in FC - instead of the wool blankets, I really liked the VS duvets. That would've been fab. But its really a very very small downer. Apart from that, I had a fantastic flight. How can I ever go back to travelling Y again??!
Back to London on VS20 from SF in a week! I'm really looking forward to it!
Tiggs [:o)][:o)]
