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#918642 by mikethe3rd
10 Mar 2016, 21:30
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We live in Maida Vale, so it was a quick Uber to Paddington for the 12:40 Heathrow Express. We arrived outside T3 at 12:55 and were seated in the Clubhouse by 13:10. There was enough time for a light lunch and quick drink before boarding our 14:35 departure, VS45, LHR -> JFK. As ever, Clubhouse staff were superb and very attentive. We ignored the first call to board and walked to the gate around 13:55. The systems were down so they were having to check boarding passes manually including writing down our sequence numbers. Not sure she was expecting us to disappointingly bark back 3 & 4 on the off chance we knew.

The Dreamliner was scheduled for this flight and having visited the Boeing factory around 5 years ago, I was very excited to travel on my first one! I’d expected an aircraft swap up until the final moment so it was great to finally step foot onto an aeroplane I’d read so much about. I’m not sure what I was expecting or why I held it in such high regard, but I was a bit deflated upon boarding. It was shiny and new, but it really didn’t have the wow factor I was somewhat expecting.

We’d opted for 8&9A with myself in 9. Really happy with the seat as I had control over two windows. We took our seats and the crew visited us quickly to take our champagne orders. I was under the impression you couldn’t get champagne on the 787?

Boarding was complete and I was hoping for an on time push back of 14:35. That hope didn’t last long when the Captain greeted us at 14:30 explaining how he had no First Officer. Something to do with a broken down train, but I’d imagine you’d have to be running very very late not to make your own flight. With the Captain passing time, I thought I’d try my luck at a cockpit visit. I used to love doing these as a kid but now I prefer to rush through immigration. He declined my services as FO but he did let me hang out on the flight deck for 15 minutes.

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We finally push backed around 15:50, 15 minutes after our first officer made an appearance. During our wait on board, there was no offer of extra champagne, water or orange juice but instead we had a delightfully loud cabin crew discussing their future boyfriends by the bar. There was one main culprit and she even refused to pipe down after the FSM had asked them to keep the noise down. He wasn’t exactly forceful with his request but more of a passing remark as he scooted through the cabin.

Short taxi ride out to 9R and before we knew it we were up in the air. Given our delay we were pleased that we’d be arriving in JFK only 10 minutes later than scheduled. Or so we thought…. More on that, later.

The loud one I mentioned above… This turned out to be her first flight on the 787 and I’m not sure she had adjusted her vocal level accordingly. If anyone would like to know her life story or where she was storing the ladies bag in 3A, please feel free to ask. This aeroplane is a lot quieter than the others in Virgin’s fleet. I’ve flown on the Emirates A380 and as far as noise level is concerned it’s a coin toss between them.

One of the selling factors of the Dreamliner is of course, the blind less windows. I’m not entirely sure I got on with them. This was a day flight but it looked like late evening throughout the flight. This is a picture of how the cabin looked…

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…and this is a picture of how bright it was outside.

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I didn’t really want any sleep on this flight but with the cabin so dark, you end up in a drowsy state – the complete opposite effect of the 787.

Entertainment was good on board and the onboard wifi was surprisingly decent throughout the flight. Food and drinks service throughout the flight was all okay and I do appreciate the extra bar stool so you can now sit opposite each other. We perched here for afternoon tea.

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Before we knew it we were making our final descent into JFK. We were on the ground 10 minutes after our scheduled time and at the gate 10 minutes after that. It’s now 18:10. We finally left the aircraft at 18:45 due to us being parked in the wrong position and the air bridge couldn’t make L2. I know delays can happen but I don’t have much sympathy for late running crew or parking an aeroplane in the wrong position. This did allow for 35 minutes of the crew discussing what they go for in a guy and one of them repeatedly shouting ‘if I had a connection, I’d be so nervous right now!’ If I had a connection, I would have told her to shut up on more than one occasion. The FSM was stood by L2 and he’s taken voluntary redundancy – he has about 2 weeks left and I think that explains the crew’s lacklustre performance. As the redundancies arrive, I’m fearful this might become the norm over the next few six months. This was, unfortunately, the worst crew we’ve ever experienced.

Immigration and customs has improved so much at JFK over the years and we were happy to be in the fresh air by 19:00. A quick Uber into town and we were at our hotel by 19:45. I love hotels.com. Their reward/loyalty scheme is great. I had made 10 qualifying stays last year so we had £250 in credit to spend on a night in NYC. We’ve been a few times and stayed all over the city but this time we settled on Marmara Park Avenue. It’s on 32nd/Park Ave, just around the corner from the ESB. It opened last September and has been getting great reviews… I really can’t wait to stay here again and would highly recommend! We had a deluxe room – not much of a view but I’m a believer of any outside space is NYC is great. The lobby smells superb and it's one of few hotels with a pool. Room was of a decent size and there are some pictures below.

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We’ve stayed in a few hotels in NYC over the last year and this would be our personal order of preference:

Marmara Park Avenue
Pierre by Taj
Trump International Hotel & Tower (Central Park)
The Iroquois (Not sure why this was ever so high in TA)

I’m currently on our internal flight from LGA -> MCO, flying with JetBlue 1199. Great as always and running about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. We have extra legroom seats – mainly so we’re first off. If you’ve never flown with them, their standard seats give you more room than Virgin Y.

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It was also our first time flying out of La Guardia. Nothing to do there but a quick 17-minute car journey from our hotel and a very east airport to navigate. Really do arrive last minute though as there’s nothing. We got half excited when the fire alarms rang as it gave us something to do.

I must take a moment to highlight Southwest. I’ve flown with them a few times and I was due to fly with them last October. We weren’t getting along with Chicago so we changed our itinerary and headed down to the Gulf coast a day earlier. We ended up flying with United. Anyway, when you cancel with Southwest they make it ridiculously easy to reuse the credit. So, our internal flight from MCO -> DCA next week is effectively, free. I’m also very excited to be flying into Reagan and hoping for a runway 19 arrival!

VS On-board menu

Starters
Chicken and smoked duck terrine
Waldorf salad
Tomato and basil soup

Mains
Chicken Biryani
Garlic and herb marinated beef
Grilled salmon fillet
Spinach and ricotta tortellini

Pudding
Toffee apple pecan sponge
Chocolate brownie

Extra Bites
Warm vegetable pakora and samosa
Cold charcuterie

Thanks for reading.

Mike
#918652 by hiljil
11 Mar 2016, 07:38
Thank you for an interesting TR. Rather worrying if crew are becoming disinterested as you suggest. I am so surprised you were allowed into the cockpit with today's regulations but lucky you !
#918659 by buns
11 Mar 2016, 09:39
Thanks for an interesting TR

I particularly liked you comments about the 787 - I have yet to fly on one, but I am sure it is a lot better than the 330

Enjoy Florida

buns
#918667 by marshy11
11 Mar 2016, 10:42
Thanks for a really full TR, great to have some photos too. Can't say I would be too happy out on that balcony though!

Enjoy.
#918672 by pjh
11 Mar 2016, 13:10
Thanks for the TR and the pictures. I will put the the hotel recommendation to MrsPJH to add to our list of NYC hotels.
#918684 by tomthumb
11 Mar 2016, 21:07
Great TR and nice you managed to visit the flight deck - pre 9/11 I used to talk my way onto the flight deck for take off or landing - always good fun
#918685 by Maximus
11 Mar 2016, 21:15
Great review and photos, thanks.

Will that be the menu for April to MIA?
#918720 by hazban
12 Mar 2016, 18:38
Thank you for an in depth review, I always enjoy reading them though rarely get around to writing one, maybe I was never cut out be an author!
Hope you are enjoying your time on the Gulf coast it's gorgeous, sunny and warm here in Sarasota at present, shame I forgot to pack a pair of shorts!
#918726 by Bretty
13 Mar 2016, 01:22
Thanks for the TR Mike, and the photos. The visit to the cockpit was cool, I've never done that, must be great.
Pity about the CC though, will you send feedback to Crawley Towers? I think you should, they need to know.

Enjoy the rest of your trip though.
#918915 by mikethe3rd
17 Mar 2016, 21:41
Yes, she's Alex! Small world.

You can still visit the cockpit providing you're on the ground. I just never bother as it would normally mean after the flight.

Flew home last night and the FSM so much better which in turn meant for a much better crew. Really can be hit or miss.

Unsure if the same menu in April but it was certainly different from the one we had in Jan. Unsure how often or when they update.

Thanks for reading all,

Mike
Virgin Atlantic

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