Please use this forum is for Virgin Atlantic trip reports. There is a subforum for other airline reports.
#922235 by SlimpyJones
01 Jun 2016, 19:03
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Way back last December I was browsing the Google Flights map and chanced upon some exceptionally low prices to DEN on Virgin. I was fairly familiar with Denver as it was a starting point for a roadtrip for me last year. At the start of said trip I drove through the city of Boulder, based right at the foot of the Rockies, and after getting back heard glowing reviews about it and why I should have stopped off there for a while.
And so I decided that a long weekend hiking trip to Boulder was in order and managed to secure a round trip to Denver in Economy for a mere £393. For 6 TPs in return, I didn't think I could have gotten a better deal than that!

The day rolls around and with a new wheeled rucksack and leather jacket in tow I made the motorbike trip down to LHR, arriving at about 6am. Zone A is still being done up with new belts and so Zone B was to be my checkin area instead. I wound up checking in at a DL Sky Priority desk as the UC desks were nowhere to be seen (turns out they were hiding on the other side of Zone B...), but regardless there was no queue and was greeted by a friendly girl at checkout. I asked her about the current temporary checkin setup which helped her open up and become a bit more chatty. Fortunately the lift up to the private channel was still in operation, and so with bags tagged all the way to DEN I was off through security. No line and so was through in minutes!

I arrived at the Clubhouse a little ahead of opening time (6:20am) to find the operation in full swing. Apparently there was something of a queue forming and so they opened up a little ahead of time. So with around three hours to fill I went straight to the spa to book my hair appointment.
The three hours passed quickly (sadly), and after more than my fair share of breakfast burgers (yum) and Redwings (also yum) it was off to Gate 19 for boarding. I left a little before the priority boarding call as I hoped to be called in with the UC/Au boarding call, but alas by the time I got there, Au's were boarded along with several rows of Y, so there was a fair queue for Door A. Nevertheless, I was on fairly quickly!

G-VINE was to be my chauffeur to DTW today, and she was in pretty good nick. I was greeted at the door with a "welcome back!", which I've never had before and was a nice touch. My seat was 53C, an Extra Legroom seat. At 6' 4" it was pretty essential that I had one!
Initial impressions of the seat were very good indeed. It had been four years since my previous trip in Y and it was a very positive first impression. The seat was in good shape, clean, clear IFE screen in front and was very comfy, if maybe a little hard, but that's me being very picky.
The extra few inches of legroom were essential really. It made all the difference. I think if I was stuck in a "regular" seat it could have been a bit of a struggle. Bonus picture of my legroom, for reference!

Image

Push back was on time, and the FSM announced over the PA system that there were 224 on board, plus 2 infants, of which 150 were in Economy. I'm afraid I didn't get a look in the PE or UC cabins, but having looked before the flight I believe UC was sold out. By those numbers, PE was probably quite full also.

Food menus were distributed, as well as the usual drinks offerings. To save me typing, below is a pic of the current Economy menu :)

Image

I eventually opted for the Spaghetti, though with some hesitation as I often worry about things like spaghetti, rice, etc being watery or overcooked on flights. However my suspicions did not come to fruition and the dish was actually very tasty indeed. The salad was fresh, the main very good and the dessert was a lovely treat, if a little on the small side.

Shortly after lunch, my seat neighbour and I (also a Au holder) were warmly greeted by the CSS who was in charge of the Economy cabin, she welcomed us back, introduced herself and shook our hands and asked if we would like any bubbles as a treat. In what is probably a V-Flyer scandal I declined and asked for Amarula, however there has apparently been something of an issue with the product recently (it's been curdling, ick) and so I took some Cognac instead. Very happy indeed. The CSS was a perfect ambassador for the company, and she truly made the flight special. It definitely rubbed off on the rest of the crew in Economy who were friendly and helpful alike. Feedback will definitely be winging it's way to VS about them.
It was also at this point she mentioned to me about the new LHR-SEA VS105 route, but before I could spread the news someone had stolen my thunder and posted about it! :P

Onto the IFE. I went for a few familiar TV shows this time as I rarely have the attention span for a full movie. I watched Moaning of Life, Peep Show, a bit of Alan Partridge, and to my delight, the two episodes from Series 4 of Luther which I had been meaning to watch for a long time. The main reason I marked IFE as 4/5 instead of top marks is because I often struggle with the touch screens on the A330s. They aren't the best sometimes at detecting touches, especially in the corner of the screens.

On a final and humorous note, I went hunting for some of the little chocolates served with the afternoon tea. The CSS was there and was more than happy to look. Bless her, she didn't quite know where they were and opened pretty much every cupboard there was before finally finding them. She opened every cardboard box and took out the chocolates and gave them to me, so I went back with four! :-D :-D

And thus it was time to land, which was bumpy and on time. Unfortunately I didn't get to say goodbye to the CSS, but I left a very happy flyer. Here's a bonus shot of the cabin, for those interested in the view from 53C:

Image

The immigration queue was probably the shortest I've ever seen. There was practically no queue at all and I was seen by a TSA agent within seconds. He was a little suspect of my reasons for going to Boulder for only a few days and not knowing anyone. Which I often get as a solo traveller. However he let me through eventually.
Thankfully I have my Global Entry interview in LAS in a few weeks so with fingers crossed I won't have to go through the usual immigration process for much longer!

A bit about DTW-DEN, flight DL1854:

Through immigration and it was off to the DL bag drop desk where I inquired about an upgrade to Comfort+. Unfortunately it was not meant to be - the lady did not really explain why but it appeared as though it simply wasn't possible. My chat with her caused me to get stuck behind a much busier security line, so this took the shine off my quick trip through immigration and left me with only around 30 minutes to hang about DTW before boarding was due to start.

I managed to locate a Sky Club and spent all of 5 minutes in there before I deemed it wise to begin boarding! The staff were very friendly and welcoming. It was a small lounge. Quite busy but had plenty of seating with views of the tarmac and a fairly standard selection of drinks and snacks.
The lady at the desk also advised that my FC Au status had made me eligible, and eventually cleared, for an upgrade to Comfort+! I was assigned a middle seat, which I wasn't too unhappy about as I was just grateful for the extra room! She suggested that I not stick around for long as boarding was due in about 15 minutes - so I had just about enough time to sit down and have a drink before I set off.

I've always found the boarding process to be efficient with DL. Despite the crowds gathering round the door, the plane was boarded by the appropriate zones, with my zone being called shortly after I arrived.

The plane was an MD-90, and 13D was to be my spot for the next two and a half hours. The plane itself was very nice, it looked to have been recently refurbished as it was sporting the new Comfort+ branding on the seats (instead of Economy Comfort). The rest of the flight was fairly unremarkable, the snack offerings were good and my seat neighbour and I chatted a little. There was no IFE on this plane, but fortunately was able to download a Sudoku app to my phone just before takeoff!

Landing in DEN was on time, and after what was probably the longest taxi to the gate, we arrived in Concourse A. Bags quickly picked up and it was off to find my shuttle to Boulder. And in signing off, may I present you with a few photos I took while climbing Mt. Sanitas, right next to where I was staying :)

Image

Image

Made it to the top!! :cool:

Image

Thanks for reading. :)
#922243 by ScoobySu
01 Jun 2016, 21:53
Many thanks for a great report & wonderful pictures!

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests

Itinerary Calendar