This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
12th November 2005
UCS Seat 15G
I thought I would do a trip report for the return leg of the Vegas social as nobody seems to have done that yet.
I grabbed a taxi to SFO Intl with LRoM from the Westin St Francis at 11.30am. We arrived around 12pm to be met by Pix & Mitchja, who advised us that check-in wasnt open yet. As I walked into the terminal I saw the emergence of what could be the longest queue for Upper Class ever. Slowly, the rest of the group arrived and waited complete with their grey v-flyer polo shirts for the occasion!
Check-in opened and one by one we all grabbed our boarding passes and headed off to the SFO Clubhouse. Myself, Buns4vs & LRoM were all booked into PE and set about trying to secure seats in UC. After being relieved of a few miles, LRoM and I had a nice purple boarding pass to our name (Buns had his confirmed in the CH). With invites in hand, we walked off to the Clubhouse to meet the rest of the motley crew who had started to get the party into full swing.
We were met in the CH by Sky and mcmbenjamin, who some of us had the pleasure of meeting earlier in San Fran. Orders for food were placed and many a glass of Champagne and the odd Blue Lagoon came our way.
(apologies to LRoM for the last picture, but it was too good *not* to post!)
The flight had been delayed from its usual 16.30 departure time, not that it made any difference to our group who were gladly drinking the bar dry of its Blue Curacao! We watched the BA SFO flight arrive, with Tubular Belle arriving shortly after, our home for the next 11 hours.
Our flight was called shortly after 1700hrs, and the group moved en-masse through security after saying goodbye to the wonderful CH staff and to Sky and mcmbenjamin.
After security, we had to complete the US-VISIT exit procedure, something new to me (and probably not best completed by somebody who had a few too many blueys in the CH). Most amusingly, as my passport was scanned a different name came up and hence my fingerprints did not match those on record. Eventually I managed to get through, and headed down to gate A8 where I got on board.
We were greeted by Jetstreamer, who was lucky/unlucky (edit as appropriate) to be working the UC cabin on our flight. We all settled into our suites and shared a glass of Champagne. While waiting for take-off I scanned the Freedom menu (different from the one I was given in the CH I hasten to add) and carefully planned my evenings dining. We were airborn fairly quicky and eagerly waiting for the seatbelt sign to go off. Sleepsuits, amenity kits and Carlos were all handed out.
No sooner had I heard the bing from the seatbelt sign, I saw Mcuth & Preiffer running past me (gleefully i might add!) to grab a seat at the bar. I followed, along with LRoM, Pix and onionz, and ordered the first few drinks of the flight.
After downing a nice Baileys I returned to my suite after changing into my ninja suit. LRoM and I had been allocated 15 D&G, which had the removable divider on G-VHOT. Our seats had been converted into a fantastically large double suite so that required exploring.
Whilst the concept of a double bed in the air isnt quite evoked by the double suites, I did actually really enjoy these seats. There is an awful lot of room created by removing the divider (especially if you are small like myself anyway) although with the high sides it did feel like being in a play-pen (probably well suited then to the two passengers it occupied)
The IFBT called me over for my massage which was absolutely wonderful. After the massage I headed back to my seat, and around this time the seatbelt sign came on as we encountered a little turbulence, which created an opportunity for the v-flyer trivia challenge event (first round won by Decker I believe?). For some reason V.Port kept kicking me out of the game (usually by the time I had gained a credible score) although the same was happening to LRoM as well. The annoyance is that you have to rejoin the game and enter your player name all over again although it did create the opportunity for a few interesting players (such as BA Boy and another that will go unannounced - to join in the fun)
Around this time the meal service started. I ordered the Chicken which was very yummy, although the trivia challenge interrupted my usual ability to clear my plate in minutes. I took home my Cruet set which is staring at me from on top of my computer monitor at work as I type this. My tray was cleared away but I wasnt actually offered any Cheese or Pudding, probably a good thing given the volume of food I had managed to consume in a week on vacation.
Once the seatbelt sign was switched off, it was back at the bar. I was there with Mcuth, Preiffer, Mitchja, Onionz and Bazz and believe it or not we all sat there consuming the fruit basket over a drink or two. It was around this point that a photo opportunity arose as Mcuth got into the double suite and cuddled up to (a not too amused) LRoM, sadly the photo didnt come out, and so it was back to the bar for a refill. Onionz had got me completely addicted to White Russians whilst in Vegas (thank-you!! Hehe) so we had a few of those mixed up for us. We decided to go back to Y to say hello to Dave and Nick, who we caught having a nap. I believe Mcuth took a picture of this event, although I was too busy laughing at the spectacle of onionz and myself mincing around Y in our sleepsuits, both clutching onto a White Russian from the bar (a drink I hasten to add!) We decided to do a tour of duty down the back, but as soon as we got there the seatbelt sign went on I believe Mcuth was paying a visit to the restroom at this time. Onionz and I recalled the words of Pete, who encountered a little turbulence on his outbound flight and had to take a seat in Y until it passed so I do believe we ran back to the safe haven of J and were in our suites within moments. (sorry Michael for doing a runner).
I had another go at trivia challenge and by this time the majority of the group seemed to be heading for bed if they were not there already. I decided that I should really get a bit of sleep I think it was only a couple of hours before we were due to land, so I got comfy in my suite and I think I had about an hour before being awoken by the lights coming back on in the cabin.
I refused breakfast, and took a refreshing orange juice instead as I knew I would eat in revivals. I sat in my suite feeling a little dazed to be honest, I had hardly any sleep and way too many drinks on this flight, but hey, this was the party bus after all. I got changed back into normal clothes, turned my bed back into a seat and waited for arrival at the gate.
We had to wait a few moments for a gate, and we were swiftly all disembarking and heading to collect our luggage, and then to make our way to Revivials. A shower and nice breakfast later, one by one we made our departures and headed for home. My brother picked me up around 1.15pm, and before 2pm I was at home with a coffee and a heap of washing that is still there!
What can I say I had a fantastic time on the social, better that I could have anticipated, made truly wonderful by each and every one of the good people that made it happen. Bring on the next one!!!
