This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
On this visit we opted to stay in SoHo, in a wonderful boutique hotel called the Broome. Fourteen rooms arranged round an inner courtyard, it proved to be a wonderful bolthole. Quiet, lovely little locally sourced designer touches like their own branded toiletries and a little Field Notes book that reminded me a little of the exercise books I used to have in primary school (once we’d modernised from slate).
Broome_Courtyard.jpg (59.3 KiB) Viewed 2799 times
Broome_Field_Notes.jpg (33.75 KiB) Viewed 2799 times
Aside from just wandering through SoHo and Greenwich Village we took in;
- The Whitney Museum of American Art,
- “Misery” (which was “Die Hard” meets “Father Ted” as Laurie Metcalfe seemed to be channeling Mrs Doyle when Pat Mustard appears on the scene) on a day which saw us walking a total of 14 miles,
- a trip to the viewing platform at WTC One (on a zero visibility day – they were offering rescheduling but we were time constrained),
- a Greenwich Village tour which was based on food but took in a lot more.
We also managed to revisit a number of favourites such as The Ginger Man and McSorleys, and resisted the temptation to buy a puppy from one of the stores in the West Village and have MrsPJH bring it home disguised as neckwear. Still can’t get used to the American obsession with over hopping their beer…
Back to the car anxiety. Impressed by the efficiency and ease of use of Carmel Limos I had booked them for the return trip from SoHo to EWR to leave at 5pm expecting a trip of at least an hour. On the afternoon before New Year’s Eve we returned to our hotel late afternoon, to find that area of the city in complete traffic gridlock that lasted at least until we left for dinner that evening at around 7pm. Rather than adhering to the mantra of the Mark Rylance character in “Bridge of Spies” who, when asked “Aren’t you worried?” replies “Would it help?” I did worry enough to phone Carmel and to ask their advice as to whether we needed to bring the time forward. “No” was the response “it’ll be alright on the night…”
And it was. We were at EWR (albeit at the wrong end of the terminal) at 5.30pm and after an interaction with a cheerful agent at the desk on our way, with our boarding cards marked for an 8.50pm call, through priority security about five minutes later. Well, we started in priority but got shifted out as a flight crew came through. They amusingly announced “Well, if we don’t get through, you don’t get to fly” which would have been a turn up for the book as they were clearly in Alitalia uniforms. To be honest though it didn’t really cost us any time though.
So to our first experience of the airside CH at EWR. I guess a bit like the LGW LHR relationship, it doesn’t feature all the bells and whistles of the JFK CH but, from our nest in a corner just near the entrance, was a very comfortable way to pass the time and watch the comings and goings.
Given that when I had checked in the evening before only twenty one of the UC seats were shown as being assigned, I wondered how busy it was going to be. When we arrived, the only other occupants were a family with a small hyperactive child who was hurling things around (at the other end of the CH), and it only got slightly busier with four or five groups of people.
Service was as good as anything at LHR, with the lady serving us letting us know that it was her turn to do brasserie duty but just to ask her for anything we needed and true to her word she kept the champagne topped up. We decided not to eat in the CH as we expected an early serving on the flight. As it turned out, this was a mistake but I really couldn’t face another burger at that point.
Apart from cheery greetings, there wasn’t much sense of New Year’s Eve. We toasted the UK’s transition to 2016 listening to Radio 4, and later – about 8pm – the staff came around with trays of Redhead cocktails and champagne, so I finally broke my duck in respect of cocktails in a CH.
At 8.30pm – not 8.50pm –the call for departure came, and when we got to the gate all other passengers were boarded. The flight crew thanked us (not personally) for getting on board promptly as this meant we could get away slightly ahead of time.
The FSM came round and introduced himself to all in the UC cabin, which was only around half full. He explained to us that they were full in Economy and Premium. He and his team were as good as those on the outbound, professional, attentive and personable. At the start and at various points in the flight festive headgear was sported by the ladies of the team, and throughout several of the men sported hipster beards (which I don’t think would come off).
We were on G-VBUG on this leg. This was ding-less, so presumably one of the refreshed aircraft.
Once service started drinks and meals orders were taken, sleep suits offered and a New Year’s gift of a small bottle of St Germain aperitif handed out. I gambled on a JD &diet coke, the beef and a large sleep suit. I guess two out of three ain’t bad. The beef did make me long for a CH burger….
Though no conga based activity was in evidence in recognition of New Year, at midnight EST (so 5am UK) champagne was offered out in celebration to those of us who were awake. Most of the passengers were actively sleeping (including hyperactive CH child) or just resting their eyes whilst their IFE flickered. I opted to convert the seat into a bed and rest my eyes in front of “Socario” which proved very strong meat and not for the faint hearted. Probably a good job I slept through much of it, though that did mean I missed out on keeping my bar tally up.
At 7.30am UK time I was visited by consciousness and a need to “freshen up”. Just as I locked the door the flight crew announced we were now in our descent into Heathrow and could we all return to our seats. If this was true – and no reason to believe otherwise – we were nearly an hour early! Just enough time for an orange juice when back at my seat (which had already been converted from the bed) and in no time we were at the gate.
We were directed to use the e-Gates at immigration, which slowed things down as two machines were out of service and passengers kept getting their passports refused. This seemed to be down to a combination of passports being put in the wrong way or not pressed flat on the scanner.
Once the baggage carousel started up our bags appeared promptly, and so we were in for an extended stay in Revivals as our car wasn’t due until 10.30am. Thoughts of an extended graze, read of the papers and doze were dashed by the arrival of Mr Complaint who berated the lady at the desk in a loud, arm waving, finger wagging manner for a full hour over the fact that a wheelchair hadn’t arrived at the aircraft door for his mother’s use. The young lady who did MrsPJH’s treatment said that he was known to them and this was his standard mode of interaction. Eventually he trailed off with his mum in tow mention loudly that he would be in the CH that evening at 7.30pm. Not sure why he was quite so specific about the time…
Our car arrived as promised, for the shortest trip back to Cambridgeshire I’ve ever had. Seemed to take about ten minutes.
So two great pre flight and flight experiences, which extended to five days the three day break we were having. I
know they were doing their job, but I thought all the VS team (save for the spa receptionist at the LHR CH) were top notch. So I completed the on line feedback form, and have already had a response from Customer Relations saying that my comments will be sent on to the teams and their managers.
We can get better, because we're not dead yet
