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#237760 by jilly
05 Sep 2005, 21:19
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Left Peterborough for LGW Saturday lunchtime and it was a smooth journey around the M25 with just a slight hold-up at the Dartford tunnel. (My partner taxied me there).

Thought I might as well get rid of my very large suitcase at twilight check-in. There was no-one there and three staff waiting to help. Duly checked in and given clubhouse invite and boarding card for 6A as pre-booked.

Walked across to the Gatwick Hilton, quite busy around the lounge bar but reception pretty quiet, was given a triple room (it was huge) but no invitation to executive lounge even though i'd just been approved gold status -http://www.v-flyer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7707. (sorry don't know how to shorten link).
Didn't really mind as all I wanted to do was relax and do all the girly things I hadn't managed to do before I left home. Didn't sleep to well as there was a lot of noise by guests in the corridors all night.

Headed to the clubhouse the following morning at 8am. Walked through security within a couple of minutes as there were no queues. At the clubhouse I was offered a treatment and given a card detailing what was on offer but declined as I had done the girly things yesterday in the hotel. There couldn't have been more than 20 people in the lounge, in fact there seemed nearly as many staff as pax. Had the signature breakfast and a couple of lattes but decided not to indulge with champagne and keep that pleasure for the flight.

Left the clubhouse before the flight was called as there were a few things I wanted to get in the shops. Pretty Woman was at gate 31 (presumably VSO15) and I believe Virginia Plain at gate 34 flying to Vegas (is that the grey one?) Sorry but I didn't see which plane I was on -do I lose marks for that one[n][?]

Boarding at gate 33 was delayed by around 15 minutes - it was announced that this was due to late arrival of the aircraft.

Priority boarding was well organised as there were large notice boards at each of the gates to make it obvious. I have never seen these before. I was first on board and was immediately made very welcome by a female senior cabin crew member (sorry I didn't get her permission to use her name)who said she usually worked UC out of LHR and liked the fact that there were so few pax to attend to. She served champagne very quickly to all on board and offered a choice of newspapers. Amenity packs given out and I was very disappointed with the contents.

A very jolly captain then apologised for the delay and said that the aircraft had arrived on time but had to park on a remote stand and so cleaning and loading of food was delayed. He had a pop at BAA in a very dry humoured fashion. He also said that any complaints on any aspect of the flight should be directed to the FSM as he was always of a very cheery nature.

We taxied a long way out before take off and the cabin crew remarked that he was doing hand brake turns all the way - I think he was definitely having some fun with the aircraft.

The ascent was like a roller coaster ride over London and can imagine that some pax might have felt slightly queasy if they weren't used to it. Drinks were served pretty quickly but within minutes we hit turbulence and I had to knock back my G&T pretty quickly (it seemed a shame to spill any). It was pretty rough for around 10 minutes and unfortunately the lady behind me had opted for a pot of tea and I think she lost most of it. Cabin crew were again fantastic after it was over and apolgised that they couldn't clean up immediately as they had to remain seated.

Opted for the salad to start and the steak. I quite liked the salad but could have had a bit more Salmon in it. The steak was OK if you like it medium (personally I like to see blood). The vegetables were excellent though especially the potatoes dauphinoise(sp). Decided to pass on a sweet.

Unfortuantely the IFE system was playing up and there was no sky map or comedy channels. Only 4 films out of the full selection were playing too, not a great selection either. Watched Ashton Kutcher (too young for me but know he likes the older woman)and Jada Pinkett Smith (now I would like to take her place at home)in a Rom Com which was a remake,with races reversed, of 'Guess who's coming to dinner', the old Spencer Tracy film for anyone out there who's old enough to remember it. It was quite funny but personally I like to watch something that stimulates the brain a bit more.

6K oppposite and one other seat were empty so asked for the spare pillows which was no problem and had my bed made up. I hadn't done this for my last few flights but decided to try as I was very tired. The extra pillows obviously did the trick as I slept for over 3 hours and after a glass of juice and a freshen up it was time for afternoon tea. Sandwiches were very average but enjoyed the ginger scone along with a pot of tea. Cabin crew also brought around a selection of mini cakes on a very pretty cake stand (very english) I opted for an eclair which was really nice. I now had my sugar fix for the week.

Landed at 15.40 (so made up the time more or less). Immigration took around 20 minutes so luggage was waiting and no further queues. Picked up a Sebring Touring convertible and with the top down I headed south on the 417 to my villa in bright sunshine and a temperature of 32C.

All in all a very good flight, excellent crew,food slightly better than my last flight but let down by the IFE.

Jilly
#310959 by n/a
05 Sep 2005, 22:13
Thanks for the TR, Jilly.

Would you mind expounding a bit more on the disappointment you had regarding the amenity kit contents? I suppose if you got cufflinks, that might not appeal too much to a woman [:D]...or was it something else? The new kits have gotten some positive response so your viewpoint would be most interesting to round out the discussion.

Cheers!
#310967 by jilly
05 Sep 2005, 22:29
Cufflinks would have been very well received being as I never got any in 6 sectors of flying with the first OB kits. I have mirrors and key fobs.

My gripe now is the lack of content of the kit. No moisturiser, no polos and the little gift is instead a pen. Personally I think the new kits are inferior.

Jilly
#310974 by Edna Cloud
05 Sep 2005, 22:42
Enjoyed the trip report, Jilly. I tend to agree with you about the new amenity kit contents: just seemed a bit 'thin'. Still, glad to hear that the rest of the trip was good.

Edna
#310980 by Decker
05 Sep 2005, 22:56
Thanks for the report Jilly! The LGW config is great for that feeling of exclusivity isn't it? :)

I had gathered the impression that the gift was the luggage tag in differing internal colours. I'm actually currently leaning towards the whole wallet being more of a useful pass on to friends. The only real shooting self in foot of the pack is that whilst my travel wallet fits in the popup arm rest the VS OB ones don't [}:)]
#310985 by n/a
05 Sep 2005, 23:01
Originally posted by jilly
no polos


Horrors! No Polos? There goes my fresh breath and with it any hope of Mile High Clubbing with fellow pax. [;)]

Maybe you could write a letter of dismay to SRB with the pen and thereby imbue it with some utility? [:D]

Cheers.
#310986 by preiffer
05 Sep 2005, 23:01
Originally posted by Decker
The only real shooting self in foot of the pack is that whilst my travel wallet fits in the popup arm rest the VS OB ones don't [}:)]
I noticed that, too. It also struck me a little weird if I started using it with the other 1000's of people @ UC check-in on future flights... [:p][:0]

The other pain being that I only have red-cornered ones. I wanted a purple one... [V]
#310989 by Decker
05 Sep 2005, 23:03
Paul - hence the giving it away [}:)]. Did get a purple one on the way back though...
#310992 by mike-smashing
05 Sep 2005, 23:11
Wonder what's going on with the IFE on the Gatwick ships?

There seems to have been reports of both poorly Nova and poorly Odyssey out of Gatwick recently.

Thanks for the TR, interesting that so far the Upper UK-US menu out of Gatwick has done better in Trip Reports than it's identical Heathrow equivalent.

Cheers,
Mike
#311003 by sky
05 Sep 2005, 23:41
Originally posted by jilly
Cufflinks would have been very well received being as I never got any in 6 sectors of flying with the first OB kits. I have mirrors and key fobs.

My gripe now is the lack of content of the kit. No moisturiser, no polos and the little gift is instead a pen. Personally I think the new kits are inferior.

Jilly


Sugar being like meth for me, I am happy with the polo replacements being the extra strips! So at least the mint option hasn't been removed but replaced.

The rest is just cost cutting though.

Cheers
sky
#311017 by jilly
06 Sep 2005, 00:50
Originally posted by Decker
Thanks for the report Jilly! The LGW config is great for that feeling of exclusivity isn't it? :)

I had gathered the impression that the gift was the luggage tag in differing internal colours. I'm actually currently leaning towards the whole wallet being more of a useful pass on to friends. The only real shooting self in foot of the pack is that whilst my travel wallet fits in the popup arm rest the VS OB ones don't [}:)]


Decker you may be right, I never even thought of the luggage tag as a gift and didn't consider using it because after attaching my gold card and v-flyer tags I thought it was a poor third option. If anyone wants one I'd be happy to give it away - and Paul it's purple if you're interested. Unfortunately never got to see if it fitted in the arm rest as that was broken and I only remembered that when you mentioned it.

Tony - How disappointing that you've managed to get to 30 and still haven't joined that club yet. I would book another flight soon if I was you[;)]

Jilly
#311019 by n/a
06 Sep 2005, 01:03
Originally posted by jilly

Tony - How disappointing that you've managed to get to 30 and still haven't joined that club yet. I would book another flight soon if I was you[;)]


Oh I've joined and rejoined again so many times that people refer to me as Mr. Denver [:D]...but the lack of Polos will now keep me from joining anymore.[:(] But there's always the 'bring your own' option, right?

Happy flying!
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