My first UC trip

I've flown in various BA classes and with VS in economy only until now. My first Upper Class trip is in June to LAX on VS23. Any suggestions for how best to enjoy the experience are welcomed.

Thanks

Arrive at the clubhouse early, we are on the VS023 in July and planned to have breakfast and lunch in the clubhouse

Just enjoy every minute, we thought it would a lone in a lifetime trip, but as the saying goes "once you have turned left"

Sharon

Buy a PE ticket instead, save a couple thousand, and indulge elsewhere You can buy a lot of awesome food, massages, etc for the cost of UC

Unless, of course, the ticket was paid for by someone else. In that case, enjoy!

[buns]

Buy a PE ticket instead, save a couple thousand, and indulge elsewhere You can buy a lot of awesome food, massages, etc for the cost of UC

Unless, of course, the ticket was paid for by someone else. In that case, enjoy!

I must agmit I am a little surprised that you are able to offer an opinion.

You have been forthright elsewhere on the Site about only travelling Economy ?|

bartinbrook

As Sharon has already said, get to the Clubhouse nice an early - you will not regret it

buns

Buy a PE ticket instead, save a couple thousand, and indulge elsewhere You can buy a lot of awesome food, massages, etc for the cost of UC

Unless, of course, the ticket was paid for by someone else. In that case, enjoy!

I must agmit I am a little surprised that you are able to offer an opinion.

You have been forthright elsewhere on the Site about only travelling Economy ?|

bartinbrook

As Sharon has already said, get to the Clubhouse nice an early - you will not regret it

buns

As per buns ! oo)

I have to say that when people say don't bother to fly UC and spend on other things I think that I would rather save up fly UC and also save for the spending money on holiday too.
If I only get to travel long haul once per 18 months I definitely would prefer UC and save extra for spending.
As to advice about enjoying UC; book it! If possible arrange DTCI and as others have said get to the CH early and head over to the spa first thing to book a massage and a facial then relax with a nice breakfast...cocktail etc"

I have a right to share my opinion As I've mentioned, I'm a frugal traveler - but my net worth is very high. So, I don't fly economy for lack of money. I do it because I've lived my life examining the marginal benefit of exponentially higher costs - and whether they are worth it in the long run.

I put my money where my mouth is - literally

Flying Upper Class will give you a fleeting sense of what it is to be a high net worth individual. But saving money will make you one of those people.

As this is a thread from you asking at how to best enjoy the UC experience, I would say:

Seat requests at t-60 which must be soon? Having of course trawled the boards for the best UC seats.

DTCI if you can - we live in Cornwall and have never managed to arrange it.

Or ONCI/Bag drop the evening before and soak up the airport atmosphere. Alarm set to silly o'clock to get you in the CH early. Take the few moments to be welcomed and then head to the Spa, book your freebie and perhaps another one or two treatments. Head to a comfy seat, sip your cocktail or champagne and peruse the breakfast menu. If you do nothing else, you must have the eggs Benedict or Clubhouse Burger (preferably both). Wash those down with champagne or Redheads.

Advice is usually to order a final drink at first call.

When you board, turn left and let your holiday really begin. Explore the seat, the bar, the whole cabin all with champagne in hand. Munch the bar snacks, I love the Tyrells chilli crackers and select your choices from the menu. Don't forget the graze menu.

Sit back or lay, snuggled with the duvet on you and read, eat, drink, watch films, drink and eat. Sit and chat at the bar, dine there if you wish. Rinse and repeat. Perhaps with a toddle around the cabin/plane once every couple of hours to add variety. ):

When you arrive, you should still feel like you are on cloud nine. Hopefully you will disembark to an empty immigration hall with your luggage off first you might even clear the airport before the last economy pax get off the plane! ii)

UC for us is all part of the holiday, not about who can afford what and why. Each to their own. But only when you've tried it can you really be qualified to have an opinion on it. Enjoy your trip, absorb UC and all it wants to give you and then come back and share it with us.

Get to the airport the night before and stay in a hotel. It completely cuts out the stress of travelling to the airport on the day of flying. Sadly Terminal 3 doesn't have it's own hotel so it would mean a shuttle or taxi in the morning. Some hotels, such as the Hilton, have executive lounges which provide limited food and free drinks for the evening.
Enjoy the clubhouse, but don't overdo it. (it could be easily done since eating and drinking are the two main pastimes there.)
Once on the plane make full use of the services.
Take loads of photos to look back on. Cabin crew will happily take your pic at the bar.
Make full use of your luggage allowance 2x32kg, but bear in mind you have to handle them at some point.
But most of all, Enjoy. (I'm just off to look at last years photo album to remind myself, then tomorrow is the first day I can try and book my next UC)

Re. Zenithar's comments on PE: don't even think about it.
Dick D

UC for us is all part of the holiday, not about who can afford what and why. Each to their own. But only when you've tried it can you really be qualified to have an opinion on it. Enjoy your trip, absorb UC and all it wants to give you and then come back and share it with us.

^ couldn't agree more. From the moment you arrive at DTCI your holiday has begun.

Enjoy every moment of it......

Flying Upper Class will give you a fleeting sense of what it is to be a high net worth individual.

Does it? Never noticed it myself. Personally I'm comfortable in my skin and fly UC on my money..sorry, our money... because it's fun and enhances the whole, once a year, long haul experience.

As to the OP's original question, a +1 to the suggestions of others, including the wise observation to not overdo it....

Get to the airport the night before and stay in a hotel. It completely cuts out the stress of travelling to the airport on the day of flying. Sadly Terminal 3 doesn't have it's own hotel so it would mean a shuttle or taxi in the morning. Some hotels, such as the Hilton, have executive lounges which provide limited food and free drinks for the evening.
Enjoy the clubhouse, but don't overdo it. (it could be easily done since eating and drinking are the two main pastimes there.)
Once on the plane make full use of the services.
Take loads of photos to look back on. Cabin crew will happily take your pic at the bar.
Make full use of your luggage allowance 2x32kg, but bear in mind you have to handle them at some point.
But most of all, Enjoy. (I'm just off to look at last years photo album to remind myself, then tomorrow is the first day I can try and book my next UC)

Re. Zenithar's comments on PE: don't even think about it.
Dick D

Make that 3 bags x 32 KG Dicky y)

Flying Upper Class will give you a fleeting sense of what it is to be a high net worth individual.

Does it?

Of course it does! If it is not something you've ever done before or can afford to do regularly, it gives you a glimpse into an entirely different world. And it is marketed as such -- enticing the middle classes to move on up...

Flying UCS does not give me a feeling of high net worth, it gives me a comfy ride and I save up for that like every other element of my trip. Enjoy your flight, and the lounge.

I went to The Savoy grill and had caviar and a porterhouse steak washed down with a bottle of DP ( my 50th birthday ) last week, it all flushed the same way as the hotdog I had the next day.

Its got nothing to do with what other people think its worth, its what you think things are worth to you.

I've flown in various BA classes and with VS in economy only until now. My first Upper Class trip is in June to LAX on VS23. Any suggestions for how best to enjoy the experience are welcomed.

Thanks

If you can, make use of the DTCI - as an UC pax you can book to use this even if you are not provided with a CDC by VS.

Arrive at the LHR CH as early as you can to fully enjoy the preflight 'hospitality'.

Take the first boarding call from the lounge as a cue to order your final drink

Upon boarding, accept another glass of champagne (or juice if you need a bit of a break after the CH hospitality) settle into the suite and ask the cabin crew if you have any questions - if they are good they should be offering to explain this to you anyway ii)

Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.....

I would also recommend you stretch your legs in flight and meander along to check out the bar. Have a few conversations with the crew and fellow passengers whilst keeping your glass ever full and the time will literally fly on by.

Enjoy 8D

Flying UCS does not give me a feeling of high net worth, it gives me a comfy ride and I save up for that like every other element of my trip. Enjoy your flight, and the lounge.

I went to The Savoy grill and had caviar and a porterhouse steak washed down with a bottle of DP ( my 50th birthday ) last week, it all flushed the same way as the hotdog I had the next day.

Its got nothing to do with what other people think its worth, its what you think things are worth to you.

y) . I am not very good with putting words into what I want to say very well but this is exactly what I would put.

Didn't mean to cause offense or be a troll. Enjoy your UC flight - ignore tightwads like me

Didn't mean to cause offense or be a troll. Enjoy your UC flight - ignore tightwads like me

I don't think your postings are likely to cause offense. Weighing up costs and benefits is a sensible thing to do - but we all have different ideas as to what is a cost or a benefit.

Didn't mean to cause offense or be a troll. Enjoy your UC flight - ignore tightwads like me

I don't think your postings are likely to cause offense. Weighing up costs and benefits is a sensible thing to do - but we all have different ideas as to what is a cost or a benefit.

Zenithar - your postings didn't cause me any offence, I understood your point, but if I can afford I always fly UC......I love it! It makes me feel just a little bit special...pathetic I know.

Thanks all for the advice, very helpful. I live in Chiswick, west London, so don't need to stay in a hotel the night before. I was planning on arriving my tube, which means I'll miss the DTCI - wondering now if I should rethink that.

I've got 6K as my outbound seat - from that I can tell that seems a good choice. Any opinions on that?

A friend of mine is also on the same flight in economy. I understand that I can guest him into the Clubhouse - anyone had any issues with doing that? I'd also like to invite him to use the on-board bar - is that usually allowed or not?

Breakfast and lunch in the Clubhouse sounds good. Just need to get there earliest enough.

Didn't mean to cause offense or be a troll. Enjoy your UC flight - ignore tightwads like me

No offence taken
As has been said different things have different value to different people
For me I found that after arriving in a far flung destination after travelling in UC (meaning I could lie down and rest/sleep) I didn't feel totally busted, plus it's extra fun in UC lol
So for me the value is being able to get straight into my holiday with almost zero jetlag feeling
As to OP just go for it and try to make the most of what flying UC entails

For what it's worth, I just booked a PE flight between JFK and LHR So, I guess I'm changing my cheap ways a bit

For what it's worth, I just booked a PE flight between JFK and LHR So, I guess I'm changing my cheap ways a bit

Ha ha ,see we are turning you already

Didn't mean to cause offense or be a troll. Enjoy your UC flight - ignore tightwads like me

I think you raised an entirely legitimate point and the blowback is quite interesting. In many ways I agree with you. If you look at it on a mercenary basis, the marginal cost of a revenue UC fare over Y is crazy -- all for a so-so meal in a lounge, cocktails and drinks, maybe a haircut, perhaps a 15-minute treatment, a very so-so meal in the air, very mediocre wines onboard, non-premium drinks onboard, the same IFE as everyone else on the plane. Priority boarding and bags (along with the class below...). More space, quicker security checks... For a relatively small amount of time in your life, I don't think it makes much sense.

But some of the value (as you hinted) undoubtedly comes from the feeling of exclusiveness as you sail past the queues and feel a bit pampered. I can still remember the amazement I felt in the old Clubhouse at JFK as I realised that travel could be relaxing and really enjoyable -- probably in direct proportion to one's distance from everyone else... I don't there is anything particularly wrong with that and I'm happy to admit it -- perhaps not everyone is.

Anyway, note that I said "revenue UC fare" above -- precisely the way to avoid the cost is to use miles (etc.) which makes the marginal cost much closer to the tangible benefits gained. Last week I upgraded to UC (with miles) coming back from NYC for about £200. I am a miserly tightwad (beyond belief) and that seemed like a lot of money (especially given that I am gold so get the lounges anyway), but the relative tranquility and comfort seemed worth it to me (just -- as a treat), but admittedly the incremental gain is a lot less than upgrading to PE from Y, which is the really smart move on VS.

I'm rambling, so I'll stop. But basically, I think you're right in a lot of ways -- in my view, every pound I hand over should be prised from my hand. Only last year I think I started a thread asking whether I should upgrade to UC for about £50. :0

Didn't mean to cause offense or be a troll. Enjoy your UC flight - ignore tightwads like me

I think you raised an entirely legitimate point and the blowback is quite interesting. In many ways I agree with you. If you look at it on a mercenary basis, the marginal cost of a revenue UC fare over Y is crazy -- all for a so-so meal in a lounge, cocktails and drinks, maybe a haircut, perhaps a 15-minute treatment, a very so-so meal in the air, very mediocre wines onboard, non-premium drinks onboard, the same IFE as everyone else on the plane. Priority boarding and bags (along with the class below...). More space, quicker security checks... For a relatively small amount of time in your life, I don't think it makes much sense.

But some of the value (as you hinted) undoubtedly comes from the feeling of exclusiveness as you sail past the queues and feel a bit pampered. I can still remember the amazement I felt in the old Clubhouse at JFK as I realised that travel could be relaxing and really enjoyable -- probably in direct proportion to one's distance from everyone else... I don't there is anything particularly wrong with that and I'm happy to admit it -- perhaps not everyone is.

Anyway, note that I said "revenue UC fare" above -- precisely the way to avoid the cost is to use miles (etc.) which makes the marginal cost much closer to the tangible benefits gained. Last week I upgraded to UC (with miles) coming back from NYC for about £200. I am a miserly tightwad (beyond belief) and that seemed like a lot of money (especially given that I am gold so get the lounges anyway), but the relative tranquility and comfort seemed worth it to me (just -- as a treat), but admittedly the incremental gain is a lot less than upgrading to PE from Y, which is the really smart move on VS.

I'm rambling, so I'll stop. But basically, I think you're right in a lot of ways -- in my view, every pound I hand over should be prised from my hand. Only last year I think I started a thread asking whether I should upgrade to UC for about £50. :0

Ahh, the frugal shall inherit the earth

The only reason I decided to buy a lower fare PE ticket, is because it wasn't that much more (percentage wise) than the lowest cost economy flight. But, going forward, I'll use my miles to buy "free" economy tickets, or upgrade (I'll have about 100k miles to spend after this trip).