V-Flyer

Everything went to plan for a change.


We got to Gatwick on the day before the flight having checked in online at home with SEQ1 and 2. I had already booked a room at the Hilton through Rocket Miles to get a bonus 5000 miles. I phoned the Hilton and asked about upgrading to an executive room and was given a free upgrade so we had afternoon tea in the lounge followed by snacks and drinks in the evening.


We are always up early and were in the lounge in the morning for a light snack and tea before going over to the terminal. It was a bit of a struggle with four cases on a trolley but we were at the UC check-in just after eight o'clock. We got rid of our cases and went upstairs to the security gate. The priority channel worked well and we were in the CH by 8.30


For us that was a bit too early to start on the Champagne so we had a couple of cups of tea. I lost count of the number of times we were asked if we wanted anything and by ten o'clock we decided we would have something off the menu.





Mrs D had the chicken and brie sandwich while I opted for Eggs Royale. We were still on soft drinks tea for Mrs D coffee for me.





After a while it was time for a drink. Mrs D had a redhead and I opted for a Bellini.





The flight was due to go off at 13:00 so we went off towards the gate at 12:00 and on arrival at the gate were told to board straight away. Except that Mrs D was stopped for a secondary search just after our boarding passes were checked. She was not happy especially as the search was rubbish and half hearted and the searcher was a right miserable person. Anyway that done and we boarded the plane.


The FSM introduced herself as did other crew. 77 passengers and 17 crew were quickly settled and doors shut. Not before we had time to down a couple of glasses of Champagne each. Once up in the air more drinks were offered and I decided to have something slightly less alcoholic. A buck fizz.





I declined further drinks until the meal. We both chose the Waldorf salad followed by Chicken Biriani. It was the best meal I have ever had on a plane.








Mrs D had a sticky toffee pud and I waited for the cheese and port.








After the meal was cleared we hit some turbulence and were confined to seats for over an hour. It also meant we took a bit of a detour and it slowed us from being ahead of time to a few minutes behind time. When we disembarked we joined quite a queue but on ESTA and having been last year we were guided to use the kiosks and it didn't take long before we were through. We were in the Hyatt hotel an hour after landing.

Dick D

Thanks for the trip report, a good start to your holiday. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. A very light load indeed.

Very nice Informative trip report with some really nice pictures, especially the one with you two at the bar
Well done on the SEQ1 and 2.

I am heading to Gatwick myself in a couple of weeks and flying into Orlando, so your report was very relevant for us. We are also staying at the Hilton overnight but we fly out on the earlier flight so less time in the clubhouse!

Enjoy your trip up to South Carolina and I really hope the weather is kind to you. Have a brilliant holiday, Hev

Enjoyed the trip report, thanks for posting.

Only 9 days to visit to CH there for me so nice to see the menu and pictures of the 'diet' menu I'll be testing, will try to show the same restraint and start with a tea (or maybe not).

Hope you both have a really great trip and an equally great trip home (minus the bumpy bits)!

Thank you for an enjoyable read . It brought back many happy memories : the LGW Hilton, the friendly CH, UC , and the Hyatt. Thank you also for the photos.

Have a great holiday.

77 passengers.... Wow!

Great TR and great pics to brighten up a Monday morning.

Glad you enjoyed the flight and hope you have a great holiday.

thanks for posting

David

LHRrules wrote:77 passengers.... Wow!

Can't say it's that surprising, Friday before the end of half term won't be prime time for Disneyland trips! :P

Thanks for the TR and I hope you're now into having a great time in the USA...

fab trip report
I love reading these especially the MCO ones .. cant wait for your return one .. have a great time

Lisa x

Thanks for the illustrated TR

Well done on getting SEQ1 & 2 and snagging an upgrade from mr Hilton - Hope the rest of your trip provides continued benefits.

With such a light load, I can only imagine UC was full (by ex-EU travellers perhaps )

Thanks for the pics of the Clubhouse brekkie - makes me naxious to get back in there

buns

Thanks for the TR & picks Dicky. Sounds like an increadibly small load to me, I never been on a VS flight with so few passengers.

Have a great holiday.

SlimpyJones wrote:

LHRrules wrote:77 passengers.... Wow!

Can't say it's that surprising, Friday before the end of half term won't be prime time for Disneyland trips! :P

Bet she had a bigger load back...

Great TR and pics. Im off to Vegas on wednesday. Been couple yrs since i last went via lgw ch so looking forward to see if anything changed

Great trip report Dicky, thanks for the photos.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and I look forward to reading your return report.

Thanks Dicky for a lovely TR and photos. Food looks great, as of course does your lovely wife. There have been a lot of light loads recently from reports on numerous routes, hope that's just a seasonal thing and not an ongoing trend.

Anyway, hope you both have a great trip.

Cheers Dicky, great photo at the bar too!

Out of interest any reason the IFE only got 3 stars?

Fuzzy14 wrote:Cheers Dicky, great photo at the bar too!

Out of interest any reason the IFE only got 3 stars?

I didn't take my own headset, which is just as well because I don't have an adapter to take the two odd size jacks anyway. But I found the supplied headset uncomfortable. I didn't find anything I particularly wanted to watch but did try the new Mad Max film but the sound quality sent me off to sleep.

It all worked fine though.

Dick D

Thank you Dicky, lovely photos, you both look like you should be/are on a private jet!

Great TR. I too had the bacon and brie toastie in the CH, delicious. Perfect start to a holiday although I did wash mine down with bubbles and yes, it was very early.....

Thanks for the great report and pics.