This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We had a fun day in Dublin, before heading home for the night. We had a rather disturbed sleep, however, as we realised after coming home at almost 11pm that our TomTom Go 5100 not only required hours to switch over to American maps, it also needed our input every couple of hours (to either confirm an action, restart, etc)… Reluctantly we set our alarms for every couple of hours throughout the night, and took turns to keep it going. With some luck, by about 5pm the maps fully downloaded, and we were able to sleep for another hour and a half before getting up and ready for our taxi.
DTCI had been arranged over the phone two days ago (without any issues, I should add, given my slight concern over our eligibility to use it due to it being an ex-DUB itinerary), and I called up when in the taxi to provide the vehicle details. However, upon arrival, there’s a queue of 3 cars in front for the DTCI barrier! After a wait of around 5 minutes (thankfully our taxi driver was most patient, and I think that part of him really wanted to see what was on the other side, too), we were allowed in. It looked like DTCI was having a very busy/chaotic morning, as no boarding passes were ready for us, and we had to drag our own luggage to the bag drop. The check-in lady was nice and friendly, though, and was pleasantly surprised that we only had one checked bag between us for a 2-week trip.
A bit of a shaky start, I thought. Security was nice and fast, and we were walking up those marble stairs before we knew it. The CH was pretty busy at 7:30am, but what an amazing place! In the typical v-flyer manner, we walked over to the spa to get our treatments booked, and 9am they were to be. It was time for breakfast, and a much needed coffee. We sat down in one of the booths, and a CH lady came to check that we would be ok sharing it with others as it was busy. Of course we would be happy to, we responded. And a couple of mins later, a retired couple came and joined us. We all ordered our breakfast and beverages, and then spent the next half an hour or so enjoying great company and vacation-related conversation whilst waiting for the food. They were off to Boston and New England, and had arrived by CDC all the way from Birmingham, before flying with Delta shortly after breakfast. It was a very long wait for breakfast, and there was also some mix-up with beverages for the other couple. I also didn’t find the CH lady to be all that friendly. Once the food came, though, everything was delicious, and it all got better from there
. We said goodbye and bon voyage to the lovely couple, as they were boarding, and moved to the spa area to enjoy a nice steam shower (separately, before anyone asks!) before our treatments. The treatments were fabulous. I had the bumble and bumble conditioning treatment (couldn't believe how soft my hair was for days afterwards), followed by a trigger point massage, and hubby enjoyed a haircut and a safety shave. As someone who is not terribly keen on being pampered and fussed on, he very much enjoyed both treatments, and looked very dapper when the therapists were done with him
. All the therapists were very friendly and also very good, and my trigger point massage was excellent. At the end the lady gave me a massage ball to purchase if I wanted (for a discounted £4.25) as my shoulder knots were so bad, and a great purchase that was as I used it almost every day during the trip. We spent the next hour sipping cocktails (I tried the Red Head of course and the Lady V – both absolutely delicious), and checking out a few different areas including the “garden” and the loft. We loved the chairs that hang from the ceilings, and had a few brief chat with fellow pax, many of whom didn’t even know (or believe) that there was a spa! Oh how they were missing out! Time flew by, and before long it was our turn to board.
You know how sometimes you have let yourself build up a huge expectation for something, when it comes you are nervous that you would be disappointed? That’s exactly how I felt as I headed to the gate. What if the crew is not very engaging, what if someone else takes our 12A/K seats?
We were greeted warmly at the door, with champagne offered and accepted. First impression of the seats wasn’t great, as hubby’s seat refused to move at all, and there was quite a bit of wear and tear with broken bits and bobs. Tinkerbelle is showing her age, sadly. That said, I was very happy to have got our bums on a LHR 744 before they retired, so shouldn’t complain.
As we sipped our champagne (which we didn’t mind too much, but that could be that we didn’t have a Lanson in the CH), the FSM came to introduce herself. This was the first time my AG status was recognised
, and I knew from there that it was going to be a great flight. She was very bubbly, and managed to fix hubby’s seat by, you guessed it, turning it off and back on 
. We had the best flight. Sure, the Vera is a bit old and the screen not the sharpest, and the seats a little worn, but the service really made up for it. All the CC were extremely friendly and helpful, and nothing was too much trouble. There were drink and food offers non-stop. Dinner was very tasty. I had prawns and avocado to start, followed by a Thai vegetable curry. This may have been my first vegetarian main that I’ve had on a flight, and it was really very nice indeed. I also appreciated that the CC didn’t bat an eyelid when they came to clear the tables and that the salt and pepper shakers were not there
. When I was waiting for the loo in the galley, I had a quiet word with the FSM to say that this was a special birthday trip for the hubby, and asked whether a CC could kindly mention it and wish him an early happy birthday. She gave me a wink and promised to sort something out.
I had a little sleep after dinner (after getting over how hot it was under the duvet), as I was absolutely wiped out from the Dublin day trip (with a very early start the day before) followed by the TomTom drama, and felt much more refreshed after a couple of hours rest. A quick glance over 12K showed no sign of the hubby, and I knew instantly where he would be found – at the bar! I proceeded to join him, and his new friend who was a very successful chap in the IT industry travelling to SFO for a business conference. We spent the next 3 or 4 hours at the bar chatting about all sorts. As a FC gold and a frequent flyer on BA First, he claimed to often find himself enjoy UC more than BA First.
We also had a few nice chats with the CC at the bar. They seemed genuinely excited about our road trip, and were amused by my fear about the bears in Yosemite. It was a very pleasant few hours, with drinks constantly topped up, and burgers consumed (man they were delicious! How do they manage to make it so yummy on a plane?) As hubby puts it, the CC were great “enablers”. I was quite surprised that on such a long flight, they only get one break of an hour or so each.
It was during that time when the FSM appeared with a hamper including a bottle of prosecco, together with some Thai crackers, chocolates and sweets for the hubby to wish me a happy birthday. It was so much more than I had hoped for (which was a nice birthday message), and the lovely surprise was really appreciated by him.
As the CC was getting ready to serve afternoon tea, they needed to take records of the amount of alcohol that was left. This seemed like a painful process especially as it was constantly changing. During this process one of the CC asked, “which aircraft are we on?”, I whispered back “VBIG, Tinkerbelle” before hubby could shoot me a “you are embarrassing me” look
Time flew by at the bar, and soon it was time to go back to our seats, as afternoon tea was served. Hubby had a mixture of everything, whereas I went for the salmon sandwiches and a Battenberg and a couple of mini farmhouse cakes. They were all pretty nice. Shortly afterwards, we were preparing for landing, which is when the IFE had simply had enough and completely stopped working altogether for the whole plane. Thankfully I was kept entertained by the beautiful views from the window, and better still, a live commentary of what I’m seeing from a lovely chap in 13A who is a pilot of smaller planes and is very familiar with the route. I will upload some photos shortly.
As the CC checked our seatbelt for landing, she wished us a great road trip once again. Landing was pretty smooth, though I felt that it was a little bit more wobbly since where were right at the front. I recall a recent question here about motion sickness and sitting upfront – for the record, as someone who suffers quite badly from motion sickness (eg I still felt a bit disoriented at the Top of the World in Vegas even after taking Dramamine), I found the flight completely fine without the need of any tablets.
Just before we disembarked, the nice man from the bar came over to us with a piece of paper with his details on, and asked us to give him a call/email if we needed any help when we were in the US. What a lovely chap!
We felt genuinely sad that our flight was ending, as we had such a great time. As we disembarked, we thanked the CC wholeheartedly, and were met with even more “have a lovely trip” messages, plus one special message of “be careful with the bears!” which made us both chuckle.
When on the ground, there was only a small queue at immigration (so much so that I didn’t bother with the self-service machines), and once we went through our bag was already on the conveyor belt waiting for us. Within less than 30 minutes we were on the Bart towards Montgomery Street. We were returning to the Omni, and were welcomed back at check-in as Select Guests and upgraded even though both of our stays had been booked via a third party website. We were pretty tired at this point, and just as I was getting ready for bed, the hubby pulled out the mug from his bag! As it turned out the hubby had a quiet word with a CC when I was asleep, to explain how obsessed I had been with both VS and the mug, and they happily gave one to him. Apparently the CC also tried giving him some salt & pepper shakers, before hubby explained that we already have a full shelf of those
. Overall it was a really wonderful experience. Although I was slightly underwhelmed on the ground experience by a few elements, this was more than compensated for by the in-flight experience. It was the best start that we could’ve hoped for for our road trip.
Return TR (with blurb of the road trip) to follow.
