This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
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My taxi had been on time, and due to very little sleep during the evening, I was hoping to catch a little shut eye on the way down to LHR. No such luck - a talkative driver soon put paid to that. We made good time down a traffic-less M4 (albeit with speed-camera-controlled-roadworks) and arrived at LHR just gone 0615hrs. With a little time before the appointed meeting time, I headed upstairs to sort out some drinking & gambling tokens.....er, I mean.....currency [:)]
Made it downstairs just after 0630hrs to meet Pix's sister, Ginny - no sign of buns as of yet though, apparently he'd been held up dropping the car back to Avis, and he turned up ~0650hrs. We were checked in at UC check-in without trouble, me & Ginny taking seats next to each other in EC (42D&E), buns getting his requested PE seat, 74C. Buns had a small tax charge to pay, so while he headed off to ticketing to sort that out, Ginny & I went outside so I could indulge in nicotine addiction. Buns joined us, and at that point we realised that only my BC had the fast track sticker on [n] Of course, I still took advantage of Fast Track while buns & Ginny went through the normal line [:D] Whilst waiting for them, I got a moment to buy some water & chewing gum.
After satisfying Ginny's chocaholic purchasing needs in World Duty Free, we were CH-bound at last - yay [:)] A little consternation at the door - my Au card was to be used for me & Ginny, and buns could get in on his Centurion card - despite telling the 'doorman' this, he still turned round to me and said 'you can only take one guest in on your Au card'. Ummm, yeah, that's why I told you what the craic was already [n][n] Anyhoo, we were soon inside, coats & bags checked, and up to the Cowshed desk for treatment bookings. Buns booked a back massage, Ginny a haircut, and I let them know I was in for my pre-booked Rhinestone Cowboy. No problems, and we took seats just by the bar. We had a wonderful waitress looking after us - very friendly, funny & attentive - and our drinks & food orders were taken (buns & I were on champers of course, but Ginny ordered English breakfast tea, since [:0] she doesn't drink [:0] - I'm still trying to work out how that works...[:D]). Ginny was soon despatched to the hair salon, while buns & I gorged on salmon & scrambled eggs, and a full English respectively.
We'd noticed that G-VBIG was sat at gate 23, right outside the CH smoking area's window - of course, I got the correlation between the reg & the name right, stating it was Tinker Belle, but could I remember if Tinker Belle was the one LHR 747 without V:Port [:I]?:
G-VBIG on stand @ gate 23
Before very long, I got a text from Decker saying that he, Nottingham Nick & Derby_Dave were at check-in - they were soon up to the CH to meet us, and we all retired to the 'sunken' leather sofas. Suddenly it was time for treatment for myself, buns & Decker. Off we went, letting Ginny (who was still in the hair salon) know what we were up to. My Rhinestone Cowboy was once again excellent, and I fell asleep during it again - though at least this time I made it to the end of the thorough shoulder massage [:D] Post-treatment, we went back to sit down. I guess the different area meant a different waiter was assigned to us, and this chap wasn't very good at all. I decided to order a Blue Lagoon (well, to be honest, it was about time!), and he came back with the awful news that the barman couldn't make one up [V] Instead, I ordered a 'redhead' (some raspberry liqueur & champers mix - very tasty actually), along with another glass of champers & another full English brekkie. Somehow I managed to end up with 2 glasses of champers & the redhead - I wasn't complaining, but I think it was somehow due to a little incompetence on the waiter's part.
All too soon, it was time for boarding - but before heading off, there was just enough time left for a little play in the swings:
Nottingham Nick in the bubble chair
Me in the bubble chair
We were indeed boarding G-VBIG at gate 23 - a wonderfully short walk. The gate bringing back fond memories for me, it was the gate that I boarded my very first VS flight at (shame that every single one since has been at the other end of the pier!) [:)] Priority boarding worked well for us all, and we stormed through the holding area onto the airbridge - I think we got some funny looks here, though this was probably due to boarding by rows for the masses [:D]. It was a dual airbridge in use, but for some reason, UC/PE weren't allowed to use the one going to the UC doors [?] Anyway, we were soon on board, with Decker turning left to UC, buns climbing the stairs to PE, and me & Ginny turning right to traipse down to EC.
We had a delay announced while the final bags were being loaded - turns out this was Prof. Stephen Hawkings' medical equipment, him being onboard in UC [:)] I was napping through most of this (just for a change!), but we were pushed back at ~1145hrs, and a short taxi to the runway saw us roll & wheels up at ~1200hrs. Luckily, the flying time was 10hrs, so we should make the time up and get to SFO just on time.
A very smooth climb-out saw the seatbelts sign turned off after ~10mins, and the Sky newsreel & ads were started on V:Port - although by the end of this, it was a full hour into flight before V:Port was ready for full use. The drinks service was started, and a G&T taken. After speaking with Decker, the FSM came down to see me, introduced herself & gave me her card. She was very interested in the LAS itinerary, and it was a nice touch for her to come down like that [y][y]
Once again, I found the seat comfortable-ish, and the leg room just ok - though there wasn't quite as much room in the D seat as there had been in the H seat on my last return. Meal choices were braised beef, chicken & pasta, or mushroom risotto. Despite being tempted by the risotto, I played it safe and had the chicken - it was the same as my outbound VS019 in PE on 21st Sept, and just as delicious - I really love the Yumbo profiterole dessert too. The shame was that, as Ginny doesn't drink, I got her wine measure [:D]
There followed various rounds of Decker/buns visits, stretch legs tours, trivia (wasn't on form at all), naps, attempts to watch TV & movies...I ended up listening to my iPod Shuffle & fitfully sleeping. At some point, the CSS from UC came back with a couple of glasses of champers, a tray of UC mixed nibbles, and 2 of the redbox chocs for me & Ginny - a special treat, and again, a lovely touch [y][y]
A ham & cheese pannini was served around 4hrs before landing, and afternoon tea of cream cheese & rocket sandwich + a bag of apple pieces & grapes was served the usual 1.5hrs before landing. All very tasty.
Descent into SFO was nice & smooth, the seatbelt sign getting switched on at around ~30mins to go. Landed bang on time at 1400hrs local, a short taxi to the gate and a fairly swift disembarkation. There was quite a queue at immigration, but sense prevailed and the immigration guys let us use the US citizen booths as well - top marks here, it was the first time I'd seen this, and the immigration officer was really friendly (even if my fingers were once again too dry for the print pad). Through to baggage reclaim, where Decker & buns were waiting for us with the bags already off the belt. Off to customs, which was smooth for Decker, buns & I, but Ginny got diverted to secondary inspection. We'd promised Pete that we'd see her safely onto the connecting UA flight, so we waited for her outside. The customs guys must've directed her to the 'connecting flights' lane and there was no sign after 45mins. The Virgin Limo people were very helpful and got customs to confirm that Ginny wasn't being held - so we dashed over to domestic and checked with check-in to be told that Ginny had had a boarding card issued, and had 1 checked bag. She must've made the flight, so we were somewhat at peace with that!
With that, Decker & buns headed off in their limo to downtown SF, whilst I waited for the Evans bus to take me up to Napa for a couple of days.
All in all, a cracking day & flight, very good company made it all speed by. Now we're ready for LAS - bring it on!
Cheers
Michael