This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
A swifter than expected Uber ride from where I was saying to the airport led to an exclaim of surprise from the check in assistant (as I walked straight to the check in desk) at my early arrival for the VS42. Check in was friendly and efficient, although somehow my bags seemed to be somewhat heavier than on my trip from London. I'm sure there's no correlation between that and the significant amounts of shopping done during the week. Definitely not the (within limit, for the avoidance of doubt!) bottles of wine being brought home. Or the clothes. Or the chocolate. Oh no. Definitely not. Must be some phantom extra weight...
A brief meander through the museum (worth a wander if you have a few moments) took me to the SFO Clubhouse. And what a lovely place it is. Long and thin. Well designed. Wonderfully friendly staff. At-seat service (as ever!). All of the elements of great Virgin Clubhouse service in one place.
Almost as soon as I was seated, I was offered drinks and these were regularly topped up throughout my stay. I was never left wanting. A panini later, I had a good chat with a lovely bartender and extolled once again the differential this amazing space makes. She agreed and said one of the reasons she continues working here is dealing with lovely English people who (unlike their American counterparts) know how to say please and thank you (her words, not mine). Excellent chats with other members of staff as well - then shower time (during which my seat by the window was reserved for me, well done to the team, although to be fair by this time the Clubhouse was pretty much empty as the VS20 had been called). The shower was lovely as ever (although a lack of proper towels, which was unfortunate) and after a hot day in SF was a way to look and smell better before a 10 hour flight. As well as for the cabin crew, who would hopefully be attractive, attentive and better than on the way out. Did I actually say attractive there? Evidently so...!
A slice of cheesecake and a glass of dessert wine ordered (after all, it was dessert) and delivered with the usual attentiveness and promptness. Watched Varga Girl depart on the earlier VS20 (the A340-600 remains, in my mind, a beautiful aircraft, RIP Queen of the Skies).
And thereafter more Clubhouse time continued, with the paper being read, a cocktail or seven being consumed, with the majestic Queen Bee, the lady for this evening's flight, being watched onto stand. Oh - and the cheese plate as well - together with enjoying some tunes which have been a mark of my trip.
First 'duty free' call made at 1945. I wasn't looking for duty free, so held on in the Clubhouse to finish my peach Bellini. Yum. I did, however, leave slightly early given recent reports of security in the US but I was relatively efficient through to the departure gate. Priority boarding in operation and onto Queen Bee. Barely a welcome on the door from the lady manning it, but a very pleasant welcome from the gentleman working my aisle, with champagne (but no refill - not that it was needed! Having written that, a refill was then proffered and accepted - this is what comes with 'live' TRs) and sleep suit promptly offered. 9 hours 23 minutes flight time promised, with a lovely welcome over the tannoy onto 'one of Virgin Atlantic's newest aircraft' (but not as new as my outbound Dreamliner, not that others would know that!). 266 'guests' on board for this evening's flight. The Captain and FSM were apparently married (confirmed later) which was nice to hear. Take off at just after 2130 from runway 28L.
Within 20 minutes of take off the crisps and drinks were served. A raspberry mojito for me. The lady on my side of the cabin seemed perfunctory, businesslike but not very friendly. Deadpool watched which was perfectly acceptable and quite amusing at points (especially when the lead character takes his clothes off...). Thereafter, the dinner orders were taken and a lovely chat with a lovely lady who sat down and chatted with me for a good 10 minutes or so and was surprised and disappointed to hear about my outbound experience, and clearly tried to make up for it. Apparently she had recently gone part time but continued to fly with Virgin because she loves the travel and the people she meets and really wanted to offer people a fantastic experience onboard (which she did).
Options today were:
Starters
Summer vegetable broth
Seafood ceviche
Strawberry and mozzarella salad
Warm breads
Mains
Beef fillet
Tropical chicken and quinoa
Salmon fillet
Cobb salad
Pudding
Pecan pie
Chocolate chip cheesecake
I had the seafood ceviche which was very pleasant and a great starter. I then had the beef which was well cooked but not to my taste in the sauce it was in (but that's my issue rather than the way the beef was cooked, given recent TRs). The meal was concluded with cheesecake (yum - I had definitely not been to The Cheesecake Factory whilst in SFO or had cheesecake at the Clubhouse... Oops) with a small glass of port. Both of which were excellent
A quick trip to the bar for pre-snoozing hot chocolate led to an interesting conversation with a fellow lawyer, although from the U.S. Upon request, my seat was converted into a bed and it was time for sleep. And sleep arrived fairly quickly, waking up just as the breakfast service was commencing about 1 hour 45 minutes out of Heathrow. The lady serving my side of the cabin (the one I had chatted to earlier) continued to be excellent, insisting to people that they did not need to be bound by their breakfast cards. However, I did and was promptly delivered a hot breakfast and, most importantly, tea! Mmm lovely tea.
The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful, with a brief bit of circling before landing about 1510 and relatively swiftly onto stand. I thanked the staff as I left the aircraft and it was a bit of a walk to immigration, with a bit of a wait to see an officer, who asked more questions than usual given I was returning home on a British passport. Bags arrived on the carousel promptly thereafter and I was in an Uber and home by just after 1615. Somehow, I forgot to get to Gatwick in time for my flight back to Dublin, which was *ahem* unfortunate.
Overall, a vast improvement on my outbound flight, although I did spend half of it asleep so wouldn't have quite expected the same presence of service on an overnight flight! Still, credit where it's due; the lady stopping to spend time chatting and thereafter delivering really made the flight! Have dropped an email to Crawley Towers to outline both the good (return) and not so good (outbound) aspects of the trip, to which I received a prompt reply, which clearly had read my email. However, I have followed up with a few "clarifications" so we'll wait to see what happens there...!