Arrived at T4 at about 1pm after a overnight stay at the Renaissance hotel, Had my last ciggy of the day and we headed off to check in, Check in was a breeze and the agent was extremely helpfully in allocating us seats on the upper deck so that we could all sit together, A wheelchair was also arranged for mother in law as we were advised that the gate would be a long walk from the lounge.
Got to the lounge after slowly ambling through duty free and decided on a few glasses of wine and some snacks, the lounge was quite full but we managed to get some seats overlooking the front of T4, The lounge is no where near a patch on the clubhouse but I guess most of you already know that, after a hour we decided to go to the lounge near gate 10 so another slow walk up and a bit of duty free shopping before arriving at the lounge, Decided to have some soup and bread to soak up a bit of the alcohol and then started on the wine again. About 1 hr later we were called to go to the reception desk and was informed that a buggy had arrived to take mother in law up to the gate, The buggy driver was very friendly and offered all four of us a lift up to gate 24.
Very soon boarding was called and we had a short queue at the priority line, handed over our boarding cards to be informed that we had a seat change, when I asked why the ignorant gimp posing as ground crew turned to my mother in law and pointed we have changed the seats as she needs a wheelchair and cant go upstairs, Being slightly ruffled to say the least by his rude address of my mother in law I calmly explained that Mrs Pietrogiovanna was only booked for wheelchair assistance to the gate due to the long walk and that SHE could walk up and down the stairs without to much problem, I also informed him that the check in agent had allocated upstairs seats for all 4 of us to be sat together knowing that mother in law was also able to make the stair without too much problem. The Gimp then replied she couldnt go up the stairs because if the plane crashed she would not be able to get down the stair quick enough.
His manner and tone of voice was now starting to upset me so much so that I asked him aside and gave him a bit of a earful, I politely informed him that his sort of unfriendly, derogatory manner of dealing with customers was the kind of behaviour that could lead to a perfectly calm civilised customer loosing their cool and make then retaliate in an even more derogatory, unfriendly and highly verbal manner. I also informed him that She had a name and it was printed on her boarding card which he had in his hand and that I nor indeed anyone else in my group took kindly to his address of my mother in law, I then had to turn away and usher the family to the air bridge ready to board.
Leaving the gimp in the mist of my anger hoping never to cross paths with him again we were soon halted in our tracks and being informed that due to a failure of the air bridge we would be boarding our aircraft from the stand via external stairs.
Much to my horror the same gimp was at the bottom of the stair leading up to the aircraft, He totally ignored my family and me and watched as my mother in law made it up the stairs unassisted.
As we got to the middle of the stairs the C.S.D came bolding down past us to assist another passenger who was having trouble getting up the stairs Mr Nice Friendly ground staff stood at the bottom of the stairs and ignored the obvious need for help of the elderly passenger who could not make the stairs.
Once onboard we handed our boarding passes in and to our surprise mother and father in law were still in their original upstairs seats and in fact it was my wife and I that had our seats changed to downstairs.
We were then greeted by he C.S.D who had by now arrived back on the aircraft she had spotted the obvious no verbal behaviour of the ground staff toward us as we came to the stairs and she asked if everything was ok as we seemed unhappy.
I quickly explained what had happened and she then asked if me and the wife would take seats upstairs and mother and farther in law would take our seats on the main deck and that as soon as boarding was complete when would personally sort our seats for us all to sit together.
About 10 minutes later and after a few glasses of Champaign to calm the nerves the C.S.D arrived and told us that mother in law was in tears downstairs and asking for my wife to go down and sit with her, 5 minutes later the C.S.D arrived and informed me that she had moved some sets around and that we could all sit together in the middle seats.
After getting seated in our new seats it was time for a very short taxi and were airborne within 10 minutes of leaving the gate.
Soon after the in-flight entertainment (A.V.O.D) was switched on and drinks were served. Mother-in-law had by now stopped crying and was quickly sipping Champaign as we made ourselves comfortable in the new next generation club world seat.
Meal choices were taken from the menu at the same time as the drinks round and after about 15 minutes our food was served piping hot and very very tasty, I had a smoked salmon starter and lamb hotpot for main meal which was divine. I jumped desert and settled down to watch some movies. After about 1 _ hours in to the flight the C.S.D came to talk to me about the problems on boarding and spent approximately 40 minutes talking to me and apologising for the ground staff. She also informed me that she was submitting a report to head office when we land in Cairo about our experience. The rest of the flight was pretty un eventful and after a few circuits of the aircraft to get the old blood flowing again I put my seat back in to seating position from the bed mode and watched part of the Simpsons movie. Accompanied by a mango sorbet or two.
Pretty soon we were flying over the coast of Alexandra and making a smooth approach down to Cairo. The seatbelt sign was switched on and the cabin was prepared for landing. The C.S.D re appeared at my seat again apologising for the ground crew and she spent about 10 minutes chatting with me and the now awaken out laws and Mrs JB. She stayed with us right up until the point that the crew were told to take their seats for landing.
I must say the C.S.D on this flight was absolutely wonderful even when she was not talking to me or my family she was always very visible around the cabin and took time to chat to quite a few of the passengers.
The rest of the crew in Club World were also very attentive, friendly and focused on the job at hand. This made for an excellent flight experience and made up for the bad ground crew experience.
Not sure if I am the first V flyer to fly in the new next generation club world seats? So I have taken the time to add a detailed comparison between the new seats and the upper class suite.
Seat Comparison with the upper class suite.
Seat Mode
Positioning
BA seat has a much wider verity of positions to set the seat at and this made for a very comfortable experience whilst watching the A.V.O.D
Comfort
BA seat felt much more comfortable in seat mode than that of the U/C suite
Sociability Factor
N.N.G.C.W allows you and your travel companion to have a good face to face conversation without having to move from your seat the forward and rear facing seats also allows for better usage of the windows without having to contort your neck beyond the realms of comfortableness.
If travelling alone the isle seats are much less private than the U/C/S but the window seats are extremely private with the electronic divider in the raised position.
Bed Mode
Space
Ba felt less cramped than the U/C suite but I did find it difficult to lie down totally flat so V/S wins on overall length.
Comfort
U/C/S was much more comfortable in respect of the matrices than the N/N/G/C/W the foot stool felt slightly unsafe and tended to flex a little causing a ridge where it met the seat.
Ease of Use
U/C/S wins hands down on this, a simple one-button operation to flip the seat in to the bed mode.
The N/N/G/C/W seat you have to recline the chair and then either release the footstool or alter its position as necessary although I did find it easier to get in and out of the N/N/G/C/W seat whilst in the bed mode.
The table on the n/n/g/w seat is very difficult to release from its housing and when it is folded out with a meal on it becomes a bit like a spring board and feels very unsafe.
Also when in bed mode if you have a drink you have to at least have the table out of its housing in the unfolded (Half size) mode as the new seats do not offer a separate drinks holder or shelve, The table is also very easily knocked if you are in bed mode and move around, this resulted in many spilled drinks throughout the flight.
U/C/S table wins hands down as it is generally more stable and much larger, and of course you have plenty of little areas and the small drinks shelve to safely stow your drink whilst in bed mode.
Entertainment
V-port has a wider more varied choice of entertainment but the B/A A/V/O/D is a much simpler system to navigate.
Position of screen on U/C/S is at a more user-friendly level especially in bed mode. The screen on the N/N/G/C/w seat seems a little high and limited in movement for optimum viewing.
Food
By far B/A served a better quality of meal than V/S and the new larder is a great little resource with a nice selection of snacks and drinks available after meal service has been completed.
Drinks
Well as long as I have Champaign and sprite I am a happy guy although my wife informs me that v/s had a better selection of drinks available onboard.
So I guess I have to take her word and say V/S has the better selection.
Cabin
Even though the ba cabin d_cor was less than 1 year old it seamed very dated and a little dark the new lights in the central overhead console looked very out of place and the shades were full of dead flies.
V/S wins hands down with its clean, modern inviting d_cor and soothing cabin lighting. Also with v/s you still get personal overhead air blowers, which is not the case with B/A . Also the bar provides a nice social space away from your seat and makes it feel that you have somewhere else to go if your feeling a bit bored or sleepless and dont want to take a wonder in to the back of the aircraft.
I hope you guys have not been to board by this long trip report. If you wish I will also include a trip report from our Egypt air flight from Cairo to Aswan and returning from Luxor to Cairo. I do promises they will not be anywhere near as long as this one.
Happy reading[:D]
Jerseyboy
