This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Then on Thursday, a car drove up the sidewalk outside the Bellagio and killed two people and injured a dozen, which was creepy, as I was actually taking a video of the scenery outside the window just a couple of moments before, and then we saw the emergency vehicles and news helicopters - strange (and goulish) watching the scene on TV and outside your window. And then the Jet Blue flight that had the nose wheel problem was being shown at the same time...!
But back to the flight, which started in a wierd way as well... Taxi to the 'charter terminal' as the driver called it, where there was a huge line that wasn't moving for security before check in. Fortunately the UCS pre-screener pulled us through, and we went to the check in desk as the previous group was leaving. As we presented out documents, the lady asked if we would move seats, as the plane had been changed (!). Which confused me a little.. (we had 6a and 6k prebooked since December, when the reward flights were booked).
Then she said that the previous party were elderly and disabled, and didn't want to sit near the bar. Then she said that they had been 'split' from the rest of their party, and wanted to sit near them. Strange, as the previous group didn't seem to be particularily elderly or disabled (but I know that not all disabilities are visual).
As I was more than confused by the changing story, I asked the agent to explain simply why they wanted us to move - and basically the previous party did not want to be near a noisy bar. Since my wife and I also didn't, we politely suggested we would keep the seats we had pre-booked. Especially as the alternatives she offered were 12A and 12K, way across the cabin from each other... As it happened, the bar was empty almost the whole flight. The other party were actually in 7a, 8a, 10a and 11a. - a strange experience,. I have happily moved seats on other occasions for good reason, but not for the whim of another passenger.
Anyway - back to the flight. The gate security was very fast and efficient, with jovial staff(!). The shared lounge was quiet, as only Virgin has a flight at that time. Good coffee from their machine. Flight called at 3:20pm, for the 4:05pm departure. Short priority line, and then on board. Where the chap from 7k was ensconsed in my seat..! He apologised and moved. Slight scramble about the (lack of) overhead lockers at the front. Good job it's a holiday flight, as 'business' carry ons would overfill them quickly.
Doors closed on time at around 4:05pm, but we didn't move until 4:15pm. Pilot came on and apologised for the heat at the rear of the plane, but said it would cool down quickly once we had taken off. We then did a very slow taxi all the way around Las Vegas airport, and joined a queue of 9 for take off. The first 6 went reasonably swiftly, with about 2 or 3 minutes between each, and then the America West plane at the front of the queue didn't move for over ten minutes.
We eventually took off exactly an hour late at 5:05pm. That delay must have played hell with some of the short haul schedules. No reason for the delay was given - LAS has 2 parallel runways that they use for landing and take off simultaneously. Must have been hot as hell at the back of the plane - we were pretty warm up front. Then for the 9 hour flight back.
The flight itself was uneventful - my wife pointed out the 'Freedom Menu - eat what you want, when you want' had printed just below it 'we will serve you a four course dinner just after take-off' - so much for freedom! She had the salmon, and I had the lamb. Both were excellent. Leek and potato soup was OK as a starter.
I had a problem with the connector for my headphones - it kept losing contact, so one of the FA's tried to secure it with sticky tape. Which didn't help. In the end I used a rolled up newspaper to 'wedge' it in place.
Lights went out after the meal, but as it was still only about 7:00pm I couldn't sleep yet. Watched Monster in law (pretty good), read a little, then asked for the suite to be converted. Slept a little - found it pretty good as a bed (better than it is as a seat).
CC were good at 'protecting' the UCS toilets from the economy side - much better than on the way out. Only a couple of people used the sleep suits as the cabin stayed warm all the time.
Breakfast served - bacon sandwich and ommelette were pretty good. I prefer my bacon thick and unsmoked, though..
Landed on time at 10:00, then taxied to a remote stand, where they had busses but no steps. Finally got off (this time they were holding the rear economy passengers) and onto the second bus, which then gave us a free tour of all the parts of Gatwick that you don't normally see. Wonder why they never uise the rear doors, even when accessible.
Immigration was fast. Then waited for our luggage, which finally arrived at around 11:20, and off to meet our taxi driver, who had been waiting well over an hour.
Overall a reasonable flight. As a reward flight it was excellent. I'm not sure I would pay my own money for UCS for this flight - when you leave the local time zone in mid-afternoon for a 9 or 10 hour flight, I don't want (and can't) sleep that early. We landed at 3:00am on Las Vegas time, and were woken 90 minutes before that. If we do it again, we will go from LAX on the 9:00pm flight, and get the benefit of the suite.
Sorry for the long 'what happened on my holiday' essay.