Based on feedback from my outbound trip report I've made this another detailed report, hence the length. Many of you seem to enjoy every detail...so here goes:
Stopped off at Wrentham Premium Outlets (huge place with every name under the sun - run by same people as Cabazon Premium Outlets on I10 nr Palm Springs) en route from Newport to Boston for final shopping and arrived at Dollar around 5pm. After doing the rounds around BOS terminals in the Dollar courtesy bus we finally arrived at the VS check-in area at 5.30. Friends who had joined us for the east coast part of the trip were flying back on BA whose check-in area was just over to the right. Long queue at UC check-in and Fast Bag Drop so were asked to proceed to the security agent covering the economy line and, once done with the standard questions, checked in at a PE desk. The agent was chatty, polite and professional, even though she got into a bit of a tiz when the machine that prints the baggage tags ran out of tags! She overheard us talking about our friends checking in over at BA and asked if they were in Club, to which we explained no. She then said we can get them lounge access, you're each entitled to take a guest into the Northwest Lounge and promptly wrote + guest on each of our lounge invites. I said that I thought they needed to be travelling on our flight to accompany us to the lounge but she said no they never check it wont be a problem. She even suggested we hurry up as Virgin serve a buffet in the lounge from 6.20pm! John & Geoff were delighted with the news re the lounge so off we all hopped to security search which was very quiet & took only 5 mins to get through.
A VS uniformed rep was sitting alongside the NW rep at reception and I explained to her that Steve & I each had a guest, to which she responded thats fine and ushered us all through. No question of checking which airline they were flying on! Despite the many reports here on VF about the NW lounge at BOS it honestly could have been worse! Yes, the NW lounge is indeed dark & dingy and nothing like a VS Clubhouse but it was nonetheless a welcome retreat from the hubbub of the terminal upstairs. We didnt touch the VS buffet having pigged out on lunch in Newport earlier that afternoon but, as mentioned on other threads, many people made a mass bee line for the VS buffet the moment it was served, clearly not all these people were flying on the VS12 that night! Goodness knows why they dont make it clear that it's for VS pax only after all they go to the trouble of providing authentic Clubhouse plates & other crockery - only to end up with non VS fliers using them!
We were called to board at 7.20 and made our way back upstairs and along to Gate 8A at the other end of the building. Priority Boarding was nice and prominent and was also being well enforced. Im still at a loss as to why LHR & LGW fail consistently to get Priority Boarding right; it seems such a simple thing something that the outstations consistently do right.
And so on to the A340-600 sorry not sure which one - and straight to our suites, 8A & 9A. First impressions were great, really nice ambience with the purple lighting and no signs of wear & tear - great boarding music as well. This was our first time on the 600 & as such I was keen to compare the suite experience against the 744. The only key difference I picked up on was the shorter armrest on the 600, a stumpy thing (compared to the longer one on the 744) that was set too far back! The storage area behind the suite was also smaller than that on the 744. Extremely pleased with our suite choices, thanks to VFlyer Seat Ratings, much nicer not to have people within line of sight opposite you. The wall in front of this run of suites gives nice privacy whilst still affording a feeling of open plan as its not that high for instance it's still well possible when seated to see over the wall to the other side.
Quickly offered champagne, then IFBT came round asking if we wanted treatments. She asked if we had received treatments on our outbound flights, presumably as youre placed lower in priority if you did? No personal intro from the FSM although she made a point of stopping to saying hello and asking if wanted more champagne just no actual intro.
Push back bang on time only to be informed by the captain that there were 12 aircraft in front of us in the take off queue so wed be a while. Once airborne the seatbelt signs were off promptly and a buzz of activity started in the snooze zone, i.e. beds being converted & meal offerings for some. We had already been asked prior to take-off when we wanted to eat to which we confirmed wed like to eat an hour or so after take-off so we can spend some time at the bar first. No problem with that and, importantly, no sign of being pressed to eat earlier.
The bar visit had to wait as the moment seatbelt signs were off three people had taken up position on the only three stools & were eagerly awaiting the crew to set the bar up! After about half an hour one of the people vacated which created some space for us, albeit one of us standing! Im sure the bar is the same size on the 600, its just that they dont have the extra stool each end like on the 744? Shame, as the bar on the 744 is definitely more of a social thing, purely as theres extra space to spread out. Got talking to various crew members whilst at the bar, including the FSM she had a great sense of humour. I mentioned I was gonna be 40 in a few hoursshe said it would be her turn in a few months. (Not quoting names on this occasion as I did for the outbound, indeed never thought to ask probably as I was far more tired on the return leg than the outbound!)
After a good hour at the bar the chap who had originally taken our dinner order asked us if we now fancied eating again no pressure which was nice. We decided we would and he made up a table for two at my suite very nice, dare I say it...romantic [:D] We both opted for the vegetarian Thai curry which was fine. Mind you, I saw some of the encrusted lamb dishes going out which looked fab kinda wish Id gone for that instead. We washed the meal down with an unusual but fab tasting Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc. Finally we accepted the offer of a brandy each which we ended up taking over to the bar so we could stand & chat while our food went down!
We converted our suites into beds around 3 hrs into the flight, so leaving us a couple of hours sleeping time (flight time only 5 hrs 50 mins on this occasion!) Fell asleep pretty much straight away and slept soundly until the FSM put out an announcement asking if there was a doctor on board. Then slept soundly until woken for breakfast, I was asked if I wanted it in bed or to have the bed converted back to suiteI went for the former! Something very special having a tray of breakfast delivered to you in bed at 37,000 feet! In the course of delivering my breakfast I was asked what my first name was odd request I thought but was still half asleep and thought nothing of it.
Yes youve guessed it, a short while later the FSM put out a special announcement wishing James Watson sat in eight alpha a very happy 40th birthday. I felt somewhat embarrassed what with the claps that came forth and a few looks from people sat in the vicinity! I couldnt believe that a casual mention of my birthday over drinks at the bar hours earlier had led to this, such a nice touch. But that wasnt it, shortly before landing one of the CSSs came up to me with a Duty Free carrier bag containing a boxed bottle of Moet. She explained that the FSM felt 'we havent been as attentive as we otherwise would have been, due to the medical emergency and we're keen to send you off on your 40th birthday with something special!' I was really touched at such thoughtfulness heck this was a night flight, wed been asleep for a third of it and certainly hadnt felt short changed in terms of attentiveness or service, quite the opposite in fact.
Before landing the captain explained that Heathrow was somewhat misty that morning but this aircraft would have no problem & wed be on the ground by 7.25. The FSM also made an announcement explaining there had been a medical emergency and asking us to bear with them after landing, as paramedics would need to board first. We had no idea what had been going on, if it hadn't been for the announcement earlier asking for a doctor we'd have been none the wiser.
Well 7.25 came & went, it was evident we were stacking but could see nothing out of the window other than whiteness. You can imagine our surprise when, whilst looking through the windows behind us, trying to see how close to the ground we were, the aircraft actually touched down - nice & smooth! Still nothing visible out of the window other than the thickest fog on offer. Reverse thrust engaged and then we stopped stationery still on the runway. Odd I thought, normally wed taxi straight off to stand. After a good 30 secs of being stationery on the runway we started moving again, the captain then came on and said for those of you who are interested that was a fully automated landing, I've just taken control for the taxi to stand. Wow a few years ago wed have been diverted! The fog was indeed thick and our taxi to stand painfully slow presumably owing to such poor visibility.
On parking we waited for the paramedics and after a few minutes the FSM came on to say they were ready to disembark the aircraft, commecing with Upper Class. She went on to ask Upper Class passengers sitting on the right to proceed to the front of the aircraft and walk back down the left side to the exit door. It turned out they were using the area to the right of the bar to attend to the sick passenger.
Bags off among the first and straight through to the limo desk from where our chauffeur whisked us along to car park 1A for the journey home.
All in all a fabulous trip, I can highly recommend the guest houses we stayed in at Provincetown & Newport, along with the Langham Hotelin Boston, Pepper Tree @ Palm Springs and Signature Las Vegas. Ill stick a few details in the Hotels forum when Ive a moment.
Finally, thought it worth mentioning that we were well pleased with the TPs we earned on the DL domestic flights between LAS & BOS, must admit I hadnt reckoned on earning 4 VS TPs off a flight costing 160! Wed clinched DL 1st class tickets on Expedia way back last Dec. This has to be an efficient means of earning TPs, provided of course you can secure a cheap web deal.
Apol's again for the length, believe me I've chopped loads already [;)]
EDIT: Just found out from http://www.lhr-lgw.co.uk/ that we were on G-VFOX (Silver Lady)
