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#924748 by Katcool
10 Aug 2016, 00:19
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This trip was my first attempt at an ex Dub route after following all the excellent advice on this board. I was slightly apprehensive as the itinerary involved five flights but finally the day of departure arrived and the excitement was heady. The trip was a week in Los Angeles, mainly to visit Disneyland resort and then to fly down to Orlando to spend two weeks with the mouse. We’ve visited LA in 2014 but had a desire to go back as there was so much that we didn’t see. We’ve had numerous trips to Orlando but always on the direct flights from Manchester.

I’d booked a one way Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Dublin which departed on time although having not travelled on this airline before I was surprised at the lack of legroom – I couldn’t envisage flying more than an hour on this plane. On arrival at Dublin as we were in business class to LHR we were able to take advantage of the lounge which was ideal as we were feeling really hungry. I wasn’t too impressed by the food offerings however, mainly pastries, crisps and fruit but it did the job and all too soon we were boarding a British Airways plane for the short hop to LHR. I hadn’t taken up the offer to prebook our seats for £25 each and was quite willing to be separated for the hour! The plane did appear to be different from what was shown online as we were seated three abreast compared to two on the online seating plan. A very pleasing caesar salad was served and it seemed almost immediately that we were touching down in terminal 5.

I’d booked an overnight at the Heathrow Marriot as we’ve stayed here previously and the hotel again didn’t disappoint. It’s good value, has nice restaurants/bars and the staff are very personable. We decided not to use the hoppa bus and ordered a taxi for the following morning. We were on the 23 to LA but wanted to make full use of the clubhouse so arrived at T3 around 9am and were whisked through security within minutes (it’s so much better than Manchester). We were greeted warmly at the clubhouse and I went straight to the spa to make a shellac nail appointment and then it was into the restaurant area for breakfast. We made the mistake of sitting at a reserved table and were immediately moved however we noticed that it stayed reserved for the rest of the day! DH had the full English, I had the sausage sandwich and DS the pancakes – all were most enjoyable. After breakfast DS and I went for a wander around the airport and managed to spend around £200 in the duty free shop! DH and I then tried the famous Virgin Redhead (it would have been rude not to) and decided that one wasn’t enough! We were feeling a little peckish and ordered the clubhouse burger from the lunch menu and finished off with a couple of doughnuts! All too soon it was time to board and after a quick thank you to the staff for looking after us so well we were at the gate.

I was quite surprised that there was no welcome on board but we quickly found our seats. This was our first time on the dreamliner and first impressions were excellent. We’d chosen seats 8, 9 and 10 and the cabin quickly filled up. We were offered champagne almost immediately and the captain informed us that the flight time to LAX would be 10 hours and thirty minutes. As soon as we were airborne drinks were offered and I opted for the pink sparkler which was quite refreshing and settled down to watch some TV. I opted for the Graham Norton/Adele show which was quite entertaining. Up to this point we hadn’t seen the FSM in the UC cabin apart from a fleeting glimpse but the CC working our side of the cabin was doing a sterling job of keeping drinks topped up etc. She was very chatty and made sure that we all had everything that we needed without going over the top.
For dinner I opted for the prawns which I thought were extremely tasty, the chicken with gnocchi (again very nice) however my DS had chosen the vegetarian pepper and didn’t like it so we swapped dishes! Unfortunately I could understand his dislike of this dish as I found it to be very bland whereas my son polished off the chicken. Desserts were good and we all finished the meal with a portion of cheese.

Shortly after dinner a request was made for any medical personnel on board to make themselves known to the crew and the FSM was seen taking medical equipment through to the economy section. I’m not sure what the issue was but hopefully all was okay as the FSM returned the equipment shortly afterwards.
Very few people seemed to take advantage of the bar and a great many people slept for a large portion of the flight.

All too soon the captain announced that we were flying over Vegas and we would be landing in LAX in 45 minutes. The flight had been extremely smooth – the seat belt hadn’t appeared at all. We were really impressed with the dreamliner although I do have a fondness for the smaller UC cabins on the 747. There was nothing wrong with the service on board although it didn’t have the wow factor that we’ve experienced on previous Virgin flights. The CC who was on our side was excellent but other crew appeared to be going through the motions and the absence of the FSM was apparent throughout the flight. When she did briefly appear during the serving of the meal she was pleasant but didn’t speak to the majority of people on our side of the cabin.
Immigration at LAX was a breeze and we’d collected our luggage and we were on the way to Anaheim within 45 minutes.

I’ve emailed Crawley to give praise where due to the CC who provided excellent service.
A massive thank you to everyone on the board for all the information about ex DUB flights.
#924754 by whiterose
10 Aug 2016, 06:32
Wonderful TR thank you, I've really enjoyed reading it. I have tried to persuade husband to try an ex-EU trip but he's reluctant. Did you scale down your luggage to Ryanair levels instead of UC allowance? Sounds to have been a good flight but as we see so often on here, the FSM's contribution (or lack in your case) makes a huge difference. Enjoy LAX and Orlando.
#924757 by locutus
10 Aug 2016, 07:15
Thanks for the TR! I'm doing LHR-LAX on the 787 in November hopefully.

In BA Club Europe the middle seat should be blocked with a table, so whilst there's three seats, the middle seat should never be occupied.
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