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#924653 by gliderpilot
07 Aug 2016, 18:51
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This was the trip home after a week of work in the US - my first trip with VS for quite a few years as I have been flying BA. I had rung up VS the month before to see if my work travel agency booked economy (L) fare could be upgraded to UC using miles. Surprisingly It was (at the cost of £125 + 35,000).

VS22 is an A330 so has the UCDS. Looking at the various seat options, I chose 1A as it was the front row window seat, with only one person to sit next to (not to mention the kudos factor! :cool:). I have only flown UC before on the A340 and 747 so was looking forward to seeing how the UCDS compared given the rather mixed reviews when it was introduced.

My colleague and I got to Dulles fairly early, having to wait 5 minutes until check-in opened at 1455. Check-in was easy and straight-forward and the queue for immigration and security was by far the shortest I have ever seen at Dulles. We were through pretty quickly and were at the clubhouse in fair short order. A very friendly welcome from the lounge dragon - I think we were the first people in. My colleague hadn't sampled airline lounges before and was very impressed despite this being a relatively small lounge. We selected a couple of the large comfy seats near the window and started on the cocktails. After managing to get through 3-4 different ones from the very sizable selection we moved to the dining area for some food. I chose the Chicken curry for the main and the sticky toffee pudding for dessert (accompanied by a glass of white). Both were excellent.

It was getting on for 1830 we wandered the 20 metres or so from the club house to the gate as almost the last to board. I bade farewell to my colleague as I turned left and headed for 1A. Interestingly neither of us actually got our tickets checked on boarding (maybe they were pre-warned we were on our way?!).

First impressions of 1A were good, I liked the fact that it only had one adjacent seat and as such felt a bit more spacious than maybe some of the other seats. The observations by others were also noted (e.g. only one arm rest, lack of space to put drinks, slightly thinner seat etc). However, the quality of the seat trim (and wider cabin) felt very good, with cool lighting, semi-transparent dividers and modern materials giving a more space-age feel compared to the normal UC suite. Maybe because of the seat location, the dividers didn't seem detract too much from privacy.

The cabin crew were excellent and asked whether I would be eating. I initially declined as I had eaten and wanted to get as much sleep as I could but changed my mind and asked for just a soup. The soup was excellent and I managed to nap the little Orville and Wilbur salt and pepper pots :-D.

After finishing a film (Eye in the Sky) the stewardess changed the bed for me whilst I brushed my teeth. One slight disappointment, no offer of a sleep suit on this flight although I thought I saw some others wearing them (maybe due to the late boarding I wasn't offered one). The bed was comfy and more room than BA club world. Sleep was reasonable and I slept through until it was almost to time to descend. We landed on schedule and baggage was already there by the time I cleared customs.

I was in no rush so went to Revivals but was just a little disappointed that the next treatment was 1230 (it was not even 8am!). This was probably my biggest gripe with the experience - if I didn't have a chance at that time, how was anyone else after me going to?! I was, however, put on the waiting list in case a slot did come up (unfortunately it didn't).

I headed off to the Revivals showers (which thankfully were available!) and they were absolutely excellent. Following this, a very nice club house breakfast was had and I spent a bit of time reading the papers before having the fruit selection and a second pot of tea before heading back into London.

To compare with BA club world, The overall VS experience is significantly better IMHO. The lounges are better (with waiter service being the most notable differentiation), even the UCDS seat is better, and the little extras are better with the little cheekiness/fun very refreshing. There is nothing wrong with the BA product but it just feels dumbed down in order to not impinge on their F product (a problem that VS thankfully don't have to deal with).

Overall, glad to have flown the VS experience again and to see the product has not noticeably deteriorated too much since I last flew Upper some 5 years ago!
#924655 by horburyflyer
07 Aug 2016, 20:34
Really good to read your TR. Welcome back! Hopefully the first of many flights once again. I didn't like the UCDS when it was first introduced and it does have it faults of course, hence the cabin refresh in the next few months.

That said I do quite like it now and in particular 8K which is my seat of choice.

Jon
#924658 by ScoobySu
07 Aug 2016, 21:11
gliderpilot wrote:Overall, glad to have flown the VS experience again and to see the product has not noticeably deteriorated too much since I last flew Upper some 5 years ago!


Thanks gliderpilot for a great report - really pleased to see you back!
#924700 by tomthumb
08 Aug 2016, 19:29
Great TR and thanks for the different perspective on the product
#924753 by buns
10 Aug 2016, 06:26
gliderpilot

Thanks for the TR.

A very interesting perspective from someone who has not flown on VS for some time and when you say that it is up there with 5 years ago, must give some justification to us poor blighters who did not go to the Dark Side ;-) ;-)

The fact that the 330s will (hopefully) get a refresh, points to how the decision to squeeze so many seats in was, in retrospect, not such a good idea.

Thanks for making me want to go to Revivals again

buns
#924846 by gliderpilot
11 Aug 2016, 22:27
Thanks Buns,

I was worried it wouldn't be quite as I remembered it but it still has that pizzazz. :cool:

Yes, I can certainly see what people mean about the a330 being squashed compared with the other options in the fleet but it didn't feel too bad right up front as you didn't really see the rest of the cabin once sat down. Hopefully the upgrade will solve that particular problem though.
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