VS001 LHR-EWR 24 Apr 06 (Upper)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

An acceptable journey, but by no means a thrilling one...

Check-in and Clubhouse

No matter what class of travel I am flying, check-in remains the most potentially stressful part of any flight for me. I hate it. The check-in area is always full of people, who are all stressed, with unhappy children running around and unhappy parents arguing with each other about who forgot to bring the toothpaste and extra socks.

T3 Virgin check-in at midday on a Monday is no different. Having checked-in online 23 hours previously, we made our way to the bag drop desks. A queue of about 10 people is more acceptable than the queue of 30 (yes, I counted) at Upper check-in! Very friendly check-in girl chats normally to us, and we are swiftly on our way through Fast-track security and across the (mobbed) departure area to the Clubhouse.

The Clubhouse was heaving... yes, it was 1pm, but we had to wait 30 mins for a table to sit and have lunch. There were almost no seats available in the entire Clubhouse.. we found the two white leather chairs in the balcony area free, and settled there until we could return to the restaurant area. When we did get lunch, it was very good, and the mojito cocktails were splendid. A game of pool, and coffee in a far quiet corner occupied the remaining hour before the flight. Verdict: Before a flight, I just want somewhere quiet to sit and be left alone in peace. That is clearly not an option at peak times in the Clubhouse.

Celeb spotting: Steve Coogan in white t-shirt and jeans, unshaven, looking unhappy and clutching several newspapers, as he left the Clubhouse for the Los Angeles flight.

Flight

So we stand in the long queue heading down the tunnel to the aircraft (Ruby Tuesday), at Gate 35 arent we supposed to get priority boarding? Up the stairs to 3K, and take-off 20 minutes after scheduled departure time. Not bad.

No drink. No welcome from CSD. Lots of attention to the young lad in 1A.. must be SRB family member or similar!

Suite table doesnt work; cant even yank it open with the safety-card trick. Soon discover that the TV display is also bust... only Odyssey, but even so.. no films or TV for me. Cabin crew shrug it off. Eventually CSD turns up and tells me Ill get 5k miles as compensation. Big deal.. Ive got plenty miles. How about a bottle of wine?!

Bangers and mash for lunch, and red wine that is colder than the white wine. *sigh*

Console myself with the knowledge that this may not be luxury, but its a darn site better than sitting at the back of the plane.

Mrs McCoy gets a manicure at her suite. I drift off in an alcohol haze, glad that this is just a 7 hour sector. Landed roughly on schedule.

Immigration at EWR an absolute breeze.. no more than a 10 minute wait, friendly immigration man, and no silly questions.
Bags on carousel, and VS limo man waiting to whisk us into Midtown Manhattan... where I am now enjoying the hospitality at the Barclay.

[Decker]

Well I have to say you're a lot more reasonable about it than I would have been - sounds a bit pants. I'd probably still go with a letter or email to Customer Services. A non working table AND a non working IFE ought to give you some form of accumulator [;)].

Thanks for the interesting report!

[preiffer]

Guess this goes back to this topic. To have both the IFE and table broken in a seat that costs £3-5k is unaccaptable, let alone if it's 'shrugged off' by the crew.

Just so I'm clear - if the table was broken, where did you eat? On your lap or at the bar?

[Nottingham Nick]

Thanks for the report. [y]

I agree with Decker, I don't think I would have been so laid back about it. It is certainly worth pointing out the shortcomings to the FC.

You can NEVER have too many miles in your account. [;)][}:)]

Good news about the US side of the trip, the last thing you needed was for that to go pear shaped. [V]

Nick

preiffer: I joined my lady friend at 2K, and sat on her Ottoman. Not much room on the one table, but it was intimate!

To be honest I deliberately haven't let it trouble me. Life's just too short. And here I am in Manhattan, having a darn fine holiday so far.. and there's a lot of people who will never get to enjoy something like this, so I am just grateful for just being here.

Sorry if that sounds a bit wooley..

However, giving serious thought to trialling BA F.. never done that before.

[Nottingham Nick]

Enjoy the rest of your trip. [y][y]

[Scrooge]

Well Jim [y] for your attitude,I would be less than happy with the flight.

Is it just me or does VS need to take a serious look at the way they figure out mileage compensation.IMHO i would thank the CSD and say thanks but no thanks.

As Jim points out,for a lot of people flying in Upper offering them 5k miles for a non working IFE and seat table is pretty a non starter,they don't need the miles,for me I would probably react in the same way I have with Carnival and the strawberries...

I can see if your flying in Y it being a nice bonus for a long flight,but if you have spent $3500 - $8000,5k miles is well....a joke.

As Jim said,maybe a bottle of wine..I dont know,hard to work out the value I guess.

Yeah, it's not the value as such, as you say.
A 'bottle of wine' was said as a joke, but thinking about it, a bottle of something nice from the duty free trolley and maybe a perfume/after-shave would be an immediate compensation, designed to improve your mood there and then.. rather than the somewhat more airy promise of a few miles.

[Scrooge]

Exactly,as I said in another thread,VS touts it's IFE a lot,when it can't produce it can be a real let down.

Don't think I would have been so laid back sounds terrible,no pre- departure drink would wind me up to start with.Have a good trip,and I hope the return is better.

[Decker]

Mrs D reminds me that before we were VS FFers we were opupped to UC. The Power wasn't working for my lap top and we got either £50 or £100 in Duty Free vouchers to use on board. I guess they've cracked down a bit.

When my seat threw a wobbler on the way back from HKG,I was offered a free pick from onboard duty free there and then.

Interesting.. that's certainly a reasonable attempt at compensation - immediate action goes a long way. *shrug*

PS. Having a fabulous time in Manhattan!

Glad your having a good Holiday! - Let us know how the return trip goes (it cant be worse than the outward!)
Also if you contact FC let us know what they say - I cant believe 5k miles is all they offer! - I'd want more than that for a busted IFE in Y let alone J!!

5 TP's would be MUCH more useful!