This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
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2,384 miles across California, Nevada and Arizona in the V8 beast known as the General Lee (think Dukes of Hazzard
– although you may recall we booked a Camaro SS convertible … but that’s another story), one extremely fried SatNav, and one speeding ticket (not me – hubby!!!), it was time to draw the road trip to an end and head back to reality.I had been monitoring the seat map since making this booking, and as at 11th May 24 seats had been selected out of the available 31, so it looked like being a full flight. Following advice from fellow V-Flyers, to reduce the risk of “bumping” as we were on G’s I wanted to complete OLCI as soon as possible. I eventually managed to connect to Wi-Fi 50 minutes after OLCI opened and managed SEQ 40 & 41.
We stayed in a hotel in Beverly Hills for the last night, with the original plan to see a bit of LA before departing to the airport. However the journey from Vegas to LA took 5 hours and we were absolutely shattered from driving the I-15. So a change of plan for our last day - we would just gently cruise round – big mistake with LA traffic! I did manage to persuade hubby to take a drive down Rodeo Drive, but unfortunately we couldn’t find a parking space – well, unfortunately for me
but perhaps luckily for the credit card 
Then on our way to Santa Monica we managed to see an RTA – fortunately nobody was hurt but hubby volunteered to be a witness.We ended up back at Hertz at approximately 1.00 pm, and after the formalities got the shuttle bus back to LAX T2, arriving I would guess at around 2.00 pm. Check in was open but the sole UC agent was dealing with another passenger so we were dealt with quickly by PE for our three checked in bags. We were asked if this was our first time to LAX, and then given directions to the Clubhouse. I did ask if there were passes needed for “Fast Track” and was told that our boarding passes would be enough.
Overall impressions of the Check In experience was that it was polite and efficient, but definitely doesn’t have the “Wow” factor of DTCI – as to be expected. One thing that surprised me however was the small area allocated to Virgin Atlantic – a total of four desks, being 1 x UC, 1 x PE and 2 x EC, with a very small floor space on the very far right hand side of T2. We were there very, very early (scheduled flight departure was 5.50 pm) and so there were no queues but I would hate to see it two hours before departure!
Off to Security we toddle – past the first agent checking boarding passes, then up the escalator to the queue marshal. As the check in agent had said, once she saw the UC boarding passes the queue marshal opened up a tensa line which took us straight to the next available agent. Once he was happy it was then onto the screening machine. Again a new tensa line was opened as we walked up but this time I think it was because there were more people behind us rather than being UC!
There was no need to remove iPads, iPhones, and liquids, from the carry on before it went through X-Ray, although I did have to put my Fit Flops through the machine. Then it was time to assume the position for the mandatory 3 seconds and we were through. Overall security was a very easy experience compared with the horror stories of MCO recently!
T2 at LAX has just been refurbished and is very bright, shiny and light. Security brings you into a lobby rather than into the smoke and mirrors of duty free usually seen in UK airports. The retail outlets were small and there weren’t that many of them – although there was a dedicated Spanx shop that appeared bigger than the duty free shop????
There seemed to be more eating places than shops. Not that we spent any time looking at the Departure Lounge as we were Clubhouse bound!Directions to the Clubhouse are not signposted as “Virgin Clubhouse” but are captured under the generic “Airline Lounges”. As you get to the top of the stairs at the end of the main departure lounge the Clubhouse entrance is first on the left, and was manned by two agents. As this was our first visit we were given a brief introduction. I did ask if there were showers, and was told that there weren’t any in the Clubhouse itself but they could arrange for us to use the Air Canada lounge if we did want showers.
The LAX Clubhouse has only been open for around a year, and is very airy and bright. There are a number of chairs scattered around in small groups along with a couple of sofas, along with a formal dining area. Views are over a number of gates (23, 23A, 25 and 27) and overlooks T1, which is used just by South West! I would say size-wise it’s very similar to the SFO Clubhouse. However, we found the sofa’s very hard and the chairs much more comfy!
Shortly after we arrived the Mystery Girl was pulled onto the gate:
Despite being so early we weren’t the first ones in the Clubhouse – much to our surprise! We were greeted by one of many waiters/servers, who advised us that today was the first day of their new menu. As all the Clubhouse menus appear to have currently disappeared off the website the menu was as follows:
Tapas
Japanese curry arancini
Deviled egg (V)
Chinese pork belly bao bun
Kale salad (V)
Over baked chicken wings
Chilli crab toast
Chunky chips (V)
Local and exotic fruit salad
Mains
Fried chicken burger
Korean beef wholemeal tacos
Lightly curried grilled tilapia
Pho noodle bowl (V)
Salads
Butter lettuce salad (V)
Ratatouille salad (V)
Greek salad (V)
Desserts
Miso donuts (V)
Fresh fruit salad (V)
Raspberry sorbet (V)
Californian sparkling wine jelly
Selection of local cheeses
As we hadn’t had any lunch we decided on some Tapas, both ordering the chilli crab toast and chunky chips. The toast was piled very high with a slightly spicy warm gloop (sorry – it’s the only way to describe it) and the chips came in the current fashionable wire baskets. Tomato sauce was provided but I forgot to ask for mayo. To wash this down it was only right to order a Redhead to compare against the LHR original
We then settled down with papers, iPad and a pot of tea or two to whilst away the time. The Clubhouse gradually filled up, certainly with more that the allotted 31 UC seats so there must have been a number of Gold and/or guests – or of course some very early arrivals for the VS024 due to depart at 20.55! However at no time did service falter – ok maybe it did once when we ordered a Cosmo each but only one arrived #firstworldproblem
Hubby then whispered the name of somebody of some status in the Clubhouse – to which I replied who??? You can tell I don’t follow wussball! But no – it wasn’t David
The individual sat by himself and was not demanding attention from the staff (possibly they didn’t know who he is!), and no guests bothered him, respecting his privacy. He was reading the business papers and eating donuts so that might be a clue that he's retired At about 4.00 pm we felt hungry so decided to order some more food – hubby going for the pho noodle bowl and I for the fried chicken. Both came promptly and were very nice – if I ordered again I’d ask for the chicken not to be served with the bread roll as it was also served with chips! Hubby then asked for the donuts, which took a few minutes to arrive. He was surprised that they were hot – until the waiter explained that they were cooked to order! They also arrived with a little pot of caramel sauce.
To be honest, we were at the airport far too early – I find the last day when travelling solo i.e. not on a package with transfers, really difficult to judge, and of course we had the notorious LA traffic to factor into our plans! At least we had the sanctity of the Clubhouse to relax in
The first call for boarding was made and it was announced that there was not far to travel – just downstairs to gate 23A! Some passengers left at this time but hubby and I finished our Cosmo’s (and my cup of tea!!) before we wandered down. Priority boarding was in place but there was the usual little queue on the jet way into L2.
For the return we had selected seats 5 and 6 A (as 3 & 4 A had already been selected at time of booking). As we went to our seats “I”, badged as CSM, was showing a solo passenger in 7A how the suite worked. Once that was done sleep suits were offered, which came with a “thisworks” lavender, vetivert and camomile “deep sleep pillow spray”. Fizz and re-fills were given without request – “I” making some comments as he went round along the lines of “your glass is empty, we can’t be having that now can we” – my kind of guy!!!
An American couple were late to board, and it became apparent that although they (or their agent) had selected their seats even before hubby and I booked they were not familiar with the seat plan, as they had selected 3A and 3G. The passengers in 1G, 2G and 4A all offered to swap with them so they could sit together, and so no input from the CC was needed. However I had a little chortle when I saw the size of their carry on – it needed two people to lift it and at one point was even balanced on the male passengers head!!! Thank goodness the luggage bins on the Dreamliner are so big. And on a serious note I would not want that landing on my head - I thought there were weight limits on carry on?
The usual welcome announcement was made, with 250 passengers and 10 CC, with an additional 3 flight crew. UC and PE again were full with few seats left in EC. Now at this point I was beginning to wonder if this was going to turn into a “going through the motions” flight, as the announcement was very muffled and delivered in a monotone, and I assumed it was the FSM. However I was proved wrong!
The captain then came on and advised of an expected flight time of 9 hours and 40 minutes (against the published 10 hours 30 minutes) and he was not expecting any bad weather on route.
We pushed back at 17.48 and wheels were up at 18.01 – a big difference to LHR!
After the seat belt sign was released the crew made the usual hot towel run. Our celeb immediately turned his suite into a bed and was not seen or heard of again until landing.
Hubby and I nearly missed the towel run as we were changing into our sleep suits at the time! Whilst waiting to use the UC facilities I could see the FSM, John (permission asked & granted) beginning to set the crisps up for the first drinks run. I asked him what flavour they were and was relieved that they were sour cream and chive. John and I had a bit of a joke about some of the strange flavours that the inbound flights have been serving recently – with him agreeing that some of them have been very weird!!!
On returning to the seats hubby and I were greeted by N, a female CC, to take the cocktail orders. Unfortunately they had run out of the elderflower mix, so I couldn’t have the Elderflower Collins, so decided to go with the Cranberry Martini.
After the cocktails were delivered N then came to take meal, duty free and breakfast orders. She was a bit surprised to hear that I’d pre-ordered my duty free, but when I explained I got points and beat the April price increase she understood! As with the outbound flight she, and “I” serving the G and K aisle, were sitting on the ottoman and chatting with every passenger before moving on.
One thing I found interesting/strange is that in the front galley for the whole flight (that I was awake) there was S, a badged CSS, who explained to me that she was just in the galley rather than serving the flight. I hadn’t noticed the same on the outbound flight even though I assume there were the same number of crew (reported 13 which I assume is 10 CC plus 3 flight).
The return menu is as follows:
Starters
Red pepper and sweetcorn chowder (V)
Smoked salmon plate
Goat’s cheese and cranberry salad (V)
Mains
Blue cheese beef fillet
Chicken in mushroom sauce
Mushroom teriyaki (V)
Nicoise salad
Pudding
Melt in the middle chocolate orange sponge
Raspberry cheesecake
Cheese and port
Beemster goat’s cheese
Ewe’s blue
Le Chimay a la Biere
After tables were set up, John and N served the A aisle with the drinks and bread trolley. Again I thought that this was more interactive as we got to talk with both crew, and they were taking the time to do so as they moved down the aisle. As with the outbound, the crew said they preferred the trolley, but did admit that it is a bit of a squeeze on the A330’s, but they are so looking forward to the A330 refits!
For my starter hubby and I both choose the chowder – in true V-Flyer style I can report it was warm and gloopy
It did have a little kick but not too much.
(Apologies for the purple haze on this and subsequent photos – the lights had been dimmed by this point!)
For my main I chose the chicken:
This was very pleasant, and the asparagus was nicely cooked. I was surprised that the mash had some substance to it – unlike most USA mash!
Hubby had the beef:
He reported it ok – overdone for his taste but not tough!
I declined dessert but did have a mouthful of hubby’s chocolate orange, and we both turned down the cheese and port, but was offered another cranberry martini instead – it would have been rude to refuse!
The tables were cleared and all of a sudden it became a little bumpy so the seat belt sign came on and John made the usual announcement that the bar and toilets were now closed. The jolting became worse and crew were asked to fasten up too. S in the galley ended up sitting on the ottoman in 1A! The turbulence continued for a good 10 minutes or so – it was so bad I thought my martini might spill!
Once things had settled down hubby and I went to the bar for a night cap and had a really good chat with John – as with A on the outbound flight he was a great ambassador for Virgin and very keen for the passenger experience to be the best that it can be. He was amazed at the number of miles we’d done on our road trip! Also – he’d never heard of packing cubes (which I am now completely converted to – well we needed to be after 10 hotels and weather ranging from snow in the mountains to Death Valley & Vegas heat!!!).
After a drink or two hubby and I retired to our beds and had some sleep. It was a good three hours or so that we had.
We awoke to the sounds of breakfast, and my full English with a mug of tea was delivered – I am pleased to report that the eggs were scrambled perfectly! Unfortunately hubby’s breakfast card hadn’t been collected in, but that was no problem and N got S to rustle him up a full breakfast which was with him in say 5 minutes.
The cabin was secured for landing and wheels were down at 11.52 am. We were on stand at 12.00 pm and it was a quick walk and straight through border control. There was a short wait for our bags but the priority tagging had worked and our bags were in the first batch on the carousel – even beating the crews!
As the flight had landed early we were able to use Revivals, where I managed to squeeze in a facial. We didn’t have anything to eat there but it was so nice to have proper tea again! I was surprised how quiet Revivals was – only one other couple seemed to follow us in from the VS008.
Then it was time to go pick up the car from the Sheraton Skyline. Our original plan was to catch one of the free TFL busses – I’d even saved the route numbers in my phone (the 105, 110 or 140) but when we started to follow the signs to the Central Bus Station both hubby and I felt that it was taking us to the National Express depot, so walked back to the T3 car park pick up zone and called an Uber. This cost £ 10 but would have included the car park fee. I’m guessing that if we’d carried on we would have found the buses!
We then hit the road round the M25 and up the M1. I struggled to stay awake so hubby did all the driving. We got caught up in traffic at J18 so hubby took us cross country for a while. We eventually arrived home to find the house remarkably clean – thanks to our 23 and 19 year olds – and two very excited dogs.
So in conclusion – for a night flight I thought the service was excellent. There was no drive to bed the cabin down to get an easy life. The crew, again led by a good FSM in John – were keen to please and make sure everyone was happy, and the level of interaction with passengers was tailored to passengers needs/wants. There was no fawning over our celeb – to be honest I don’t think he wanted it and would have pushed back!
Would we do it again? Heck YES!!!
I really liked the Dreamliner – it seems so open when on board if that makes sense? The much-hyped ventilation system does seem to work – I didn’t need to use my moisture spray on either flight.Hubby is already asking when are flights released for next year and would even consider an ex-EU trip now that Bretty managed to explain it to him better than I’ve been trying to for the past two years! We knew we’d crammed a lot of driving in but the plan was to light touch a number of places to decide where we would like to spend more time. Let the miles collecting begin again
