V-Flyer

I was connecting to this flight from Chicago and arrived at Terminal C just after 5pm for the 7.20pm departure. I was still not feeling quite right after that flight so tried to get a bit of shut eye by the gate which was unsuccessful. At about 6.30pm, there was an announcement that passports and boarding passes needed to be verified prior to boarding so everyone got in line. However, there was only one agent at the gate so it moved incredibly slowly, taking about half an hour for me to get to the front. Concurrently, another agent then appeared to begin boarding at about 6.45 but then turned some people away as they hadn’t had their documents checked first time round. All in all it was rather chaotic with people not really sure where to go or which line to join but everyone eventually found their way on board, me to 11D, the same seat I had occupied on the outbound to Newark and next to a couple living in Ithaca which was coincidental as I had spent a month last year at Cornell (albeit at their New York City campus).

We managed to push back a little late and were airborne at 7.45pm with a very short 6 hour flight time. A drinks service came round before dinner which was again a choice between chicken and beef. I went for the chicken which was a schnitzel with penne and very little tomato sauce, again accompanied by a lettuce-heavy salad and a cookie and cream brownie. I had mentioned in my outbound trip report that the AVOD listed TV programmes that didn’t work, postulating that this was because we were on a 757 rather than a 777, but I found out that it was actually due to my incompetence at using the system so ended up watching She’s Out of My League (surprisingly good) along with two insane US programmes called Man vs. Food and Cake Boss. Another point to mention about the AVOD was that it ran continuously from the time we boarded to when we left the plane at Heathrow unlike on other flights where it is switched off before landing.

After dinner, I tried once again to get some sleep as by now the combination of not really adjusting to Central Time, travelling and not having slept very much over the past few days were really catching up on me. However, I was once again thwarted by a combination of the heat of the cabin, the fact that I’ve generally never been able to sleep on planes and the uncomfortable seat that had very little padding and support – something I didn’t appreciate on the outbound when I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Lights came back up about 90 minutes prior to landing, associated with breakfast consisting of a croissant and a few pieces of melon. The passenger next to me had requested a vegan diet but she still received the croissant, with the flight attendant claiming that it was the vegetarian option which was very naughty. Apart from that, the rest of the flight proceeded smoothly and although we had to circle around a couple of times, we still managed to land at 6.50am, well ahead of our scheduled 7.40 arrival. However, although immigration wasn’t too busy, once again we were all left waiting at baggage claim and it was a full 30 minutes before the bags started appearing and a further 10 minutes before mine showed up. A quick ride on the tube and I was back to my bed.

As mentioned in my outbound report, Continental are fine when they are priced significantly lower than Virgin, however, I think I probably would still vote Virgin as although the Continental AVOD is better, in my opinion the VS crew are friendlier and the economy seat more comfortable.

Jonathan

jtlc2345 wrote:I had mentioned in my outbound trip report that the AVOD listed TV programmes that didn’t work, postulating that this was because we were on a 757 rather than a 777, but I found out that it was actually due to my incompetence at using the system so ended up watching She’s Out of My League (surprisingly good) along with two insane US programmes called Man vs. Food and Cake Boss.

Love Man vs Food!

Jonathan

I see where you are coming from when you compare VS Crew against CO Crew with the Vegan Breakfast episode

Thanks for the TR

buns

The CC is the main reason for me not flying CO.

On a flight to EWR from LAS, Mrs DA asked nicely for a fizzy orange (minute maid) during the drinks round. The looks and huffs from the CC caused the everyone round her to look. All because she had to reach round to the other side of the trolley to get the can.

I can't see myself using a 757 to fly transatlantic, just too cramped.

clarkeysntfc wrote:I can't see myself using a 757 to fly transatlantic, just too cramped.

It didn't feel particularly cramped, especially not in BusinessFirst I imagine!

Jonathan