V-Flyer

Following an amazing day in SF - This has been added to one of my favourite cities already - got a boat tour around alcatraz and under the Golden Gate, very beautiful in the sunshine and took a nice walk back to Pier 39 to see the sealions and have some lunch. It was then time to head back to SFO. Used the F tram from the Pier up to Embarcadero, held on for dear life on the F tram but all good fun.

Got the BART from Embaradero straight to SFO - Excellent service and fairly cheap @ £8.50 each way.

Arrived at SFO for 4:30pm ish for the 6:15 departure. Made our way down to the check-in area, I loved SFO, really spacious and light and airy. Saw the check in for the VS19 underway too.

Having completed check in earlier this morning in LAS, I had wanted to print boarding passes again as the originals had got very creased in my bag - straight to the machines and printed, no queue and 2 GC on hand to help.

Proceeded through security (after a glimpse at the Clubhouse entrance.... )

Security was fairly quick apart from making the mistake of following a guy with a bottle of water, who didn't want to lose his bottle so decided to drink all of it - must have been a 750ml to l litre before proceeding through.

Into the departure lounge and found a nice seat near an empty gate and logged into the free WIFI to catch up on emails etc.

5:45pm came around quickly and it was time to start boarding. I'd managed to secure seats 7 E and F so knew we would be near the end and didn't see any reason to rush. The boarding was extremely fast and they were quickly calling Group E - On board greeted by crew and captain (a nice touch and first i'd seen - perhaps as Flabound mentioned in his jetblue report that this is something which is happening more?)

Straight onboard and what a suprise - almost all of the overhead bins were completely full, even over our seats - it really does grind on me that americans find it necessary to take huge carry on's - it just clogs eveyrthing up - but that's how it is on all domestics there.

Crew were very enthusiastic and positive with helping everyone get settled.

Flight time announced as 1 hr 10 mins - i'd say another 90% full flight.

A quick taxi and we were off. Once up in the air, I connected to the live tv - really love this feature so managed to catch up on some news and ended up watching the kardasians on E! (I know, i know - must have been the cabin pressure!).

Drink service completed once seat belt signs turned off - again used the seat ordering for some cookies - arrived very promptly. A nice coke too.

I love that the bottom of the plastic cups say "Was it as refreshing for you as it was for me?" kinda made me laugh - it's the little things!!

A little bumpy over the mountains then started to see desert as it got dark and a beautiful landing into LAS and to the warmth - a nice 79 degrees at 7:30.

Down and through to the taxi rank 15 minutes later, back to the casino and the slots!!

I have pics but I have no idea how to post!!

Luke

Great TR, thanks for posting

enyce085 wrote: On board greeted by crew and captain (a nice touch and first i'd seen - perhaps as Flabound mentioned in his jetblue report that this is something which is happening more?)

You just reminded me actually, I also saw this on one of my VX flights too

Another nice TR. Many thanks.

You wouldn't have seen the Clubhouse entrance on the way to security. The corridor leads to a lift which takes you up to the Clubhouse

To post photos, click on the Post a New Reply button and when you go on to that page scroll down below the message box. Underneath the Preview/Submit buttons click on to Upload attachment tab and bob's your uncle

honey lamb wrote:Another nice TR. Many thanks.

You wouldn't have seen the Clubhouse entrance on the way to security. The corridor leads to a lift which takes you up to the Clubhouse

To post photos, click on the Post a New Reply button and when you go on to that page scroll down below the message box. Underneath the Preview/Submit buttons click on to Upload attachment tab and bob's your uncle

Yes we got a little lost and went up in the lift near the museum thingy before security - by little lost, I meant we went on a little look around!

Thanks for the photo tip, i'll get onto it

The museum is a nice diversion as are the exhibition cases dotted around the terminal but most people just walk past them !

Glad you enjoyed San Francisco - it is a lovelt city !

tontybear wrote:The museum is a nice diversion as are the exhibition cases dotted around the terminal but most people just walk past them !

Glad you enjoyed San Francisco - it is a lovelt city !

It really is an amazing place, really glad I did the day trip. I knew from the outset that it would never be enough time, but it sure beats the brochure to sell me a holiday there.

Trying to plan for next year to decide the best way, the lure of Vegas is there again as I loved it so much. May try 2 weeks with direct flights into SFO or LAX spend time in Cali and hop over to vegas for 3/4 nights on VX from SFO! - Planning is my fav bit.

enyce085 wrote:Straight onboard and what a suprise - almost all of the overhead bins were completely full, even over our seats - it really does grind on me that americans find it necessary to take huge carry on's - it just clogs eveyrthing up - but that's how it is on all domestics there.

And here, in my experience

When we flew SEA-SFO last year at the gate they announced that they would, for free, allow anyone with a large carry on to put into the hold on the basis of last on / first off.

There's so much to do in and around San Francisco - and I'd definitely recommend a trip up to Seattle too.

Great TR, glad to see you enjoyed SFO - looks like you did similar things to us when we were there the day before.

I checked in to our SEA to SFO VX flight earlier this afternoon... managed to get 24hr upgrades to MCS... now - do I try for a 6hr upgrade to F at 9.30am tomorrow?

Great TR, SFO is one of my favourite cities.

MrT wrote:I checked in to our SEA to SFO VX flight earlier this afternoon... managed to get 24hr upgrades to MCS... now - do I try for a 6hr upgrade to F at 9.30am tomorrow?

I don't think you can if you have already checked in

enyce085 wrote:Security was fairly quick apart from making the mistake of following a guy with a bottle of water, who didn't want to lose his bottle so decided to drink all of it - must have been a 750ml to l litre before proceeding through.

Luke

Wow, that could have got messy later.

Darren Wheeler wrote:

enyce085 wrote:Security was fairly quick apart from making the mistake of following a guy with a bottle of water, who didn't want to lose his bottle so decided to drink all of it - must have been a 750ml to l litre before proceeding through.

Luke

Wow, that could have got messy later.

I'm sure it did - glad I didn't sit next to him on the flight!!

honey lamb wrote:

MrT wrote:I checked in to our SEA to SFO VX flight earlier this afternoon... managed to get 24hr upgrades to MCS... now - do I try for a 6hr upgrade to F at 9.30am tomorrow?

I don't think you can if you have already checked in

I'm sure I've read on FT of people securing the MCS upgrade and then trying again later for the F. I'll give it a try and see later. Perhaps I just understood wrong. Wanted to secure the MCS upgrade as it only worked out $20 more for 2 persons than paying the baggage charges!

MrT wrote:

honey lamb wrote:

MrT wrote:I checked in to our SEA to SFO VX flight earlier this afternoon... managed to get 24hr upgrades to MCS... now - do I try for a 6hr upgrade to F at 9.30am tomorrow?

I don't think you can if you have already checked in

I'm sure I've read on FT of people securing the MCS upgrade and then trying again later for the F. I'll give it a try and see later. Perhaps I just understood wrong. Wanted to secure the MCS upgrade as it only worked out $20 more for 2 persons than paying the baggage charges!

Not on-line you can't. You have to use the call centre or at the airport
See the third paragraph down

OIC yes, you're absolutely right. Still, MCS was good enough for me.

MrT wrote:OIC yes, you're absolutely right. Still, MCS was good enough for me.

Glad to hear, MCS looked very spacious!

I was happy in MC but think I'll try for F in future at $70 to benefit from the extra tier point

enyce085 wrote:

MrT wrote:OIC yes, you're absolutely right. Still, MCS was good enough for me.

Glad to hear, MCS looked very spacious!

I was happy in MC but think I'll try for F in future at $70 to benefit from the extra tier point

Have done a few transcons on VX in F and all have absolutely flown by! It is fantastically comfortable and highly recommended. The WiFi comes into its own, the IFE is great, the crew great, and so on. The only thing that is a slight downer is the F food is often just a bit casual ... never tried ordering from MC options though. Even if you book flex. F transcon it's also great value compared to others.

While the F tram can't quite compare to the delights of the 71 Muni bus, it's good fun spotting old trams from European cities, pretty much all friends who've come over and seen trams from their old cities have been amazed to see them still running! But, rickety they can be, for sure, and especially when you get onto Market up to Castro, as you're sharing the road with cars, it gets very interesting.

If you cut out the slightly grim section mid-Market (but, who knows, Twitter may well help revitalize that area too) it's the best ride in town and a bargain for the price.