This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Aircraft Name: Miss Behavin
The daytime flight may be a boon for avoiding jetlag, but the 4.30am alarm call after a fairly big night out with a colleague wasn't that welcome. Still, as other people have noted recently, it does mean you can leave a Manhattan hotel at 5am and be at JFK by 5.30.
Check-in was pretty quiet, though there were a few people at the UC desks, so as I'd checked-in online the previous afternoon (problem-free as usual) I just went to the Fast Bag Drop desk, and when the check-in agent saw the Flying Club Gold tag on my bag she asked why I hadn't used the UC desks, I pointed out that she had the shorter line. I asked her if I could upgrade with miles, which she sorted very quickly, and then spent a few minutes evaluating seats for me to work out the best balance of convenience and space. In the end, once I'd made it clear that the view wasn't a major issue for me we settled on 10G and I dropped off my bag and headed for the Clubhouse.
This was my week for shoddy service in Clubhouses (see my TR on the LHR-SFO leg of the journey), as I'd been sitting for ten minutes without attention before finally getting up to go to the bar to place an order. Once ordered, I was served pretty quickly, and the American Breakfast (I did say it had been a big night) went down a treat.
I headed through security when the flight was announced, and discovered that the fast track just filtered into the main line anyway, so that was hardly a saving. Once onboard I was offered a drink as my jacket was taken and the lovely Crew Member who was going to be my primary caretaker introduced herself. As recently discussed elsewhere, the Suite on the A346 is definitely narrower than on the Boeing.
The early part of the flight passed quite straightforwardly - despite my best intentions I did nod off for about 20 minutes, and so as I later discovered missed the introduction from the FSM, and rather than having a second breakfast (tempting), settled on tea and juice. UC was quite busy (probably around two-thirds full), and certainly moreso than the last time I did this flight, and the elderly couple sitting across the aisle from each other in a nearby row were on their first UC flight and both the demanding and complaining types, so the crew were kept quite busy. I mostly settled down to work and just had tea and juice top-ups as they were needed.
We had been late leaving, because as the pilot announced, the crew transport from the hotel had been fifty monutes late collecting them that morning, and it was due to be a longish crossing.
Quite early in the flight, in order to 'do a count and make sure we have everything we need', one of the crew had come round to take lunch orders (I selected the Prawn Salad and Chicken). The irony of this became apparent when lunch was actually served about 1.5-2 hours before landing. Most people had been served when my main crewmember approached me looking very upset.
'I'm terribly sorry sir, I have to apologise to you.'
'What for?' I asked.
'I'm afraid that we misjudged the catering numbers and we don't have any of the chicken dish left. And I know that you're a Gold Flying Club member and you absolutely should get first choice for your meal. There's no excuse I'm afraid.'
'That's okay.'
'No, you spend a lot of money with the airline, and we should respect that and make sure you're properly looked after.'
She looked so distraught that I felt horribly sorry for her. I said that it was fine and really not a big problem, and she offered me the alternative options, from which I chose the steak.
When she brought the food she apologised again and told me that she'd spoken to both the Cabin Supervisor and the FSM and explained what had happened, and they were going to arrange for 5,000 extra miles to go onto my Flying Club account. I said that although I wouldn't object, obviously, that there was really no need for all the apologies. Then she said that I was being so nice about it I was actually making her feel like she'd let me down even more badly. I said I could start shouting if she liked, and while she politely declined the offer ( :-) ) she was clearly so worried about it that I asked how people usually reacted in this kind of situation.
At this point I'd just like to say that I'm horrified that there are people who would lose their temper and shout, which she said had happened in the past. What has happened to people's sense of perspective?
Anyway, the meal was great. I wrapped it up with cheese and biscuits rather than something sweet, and as I was finishing the FSM came to introduce himself and apologise again. He asked me to complete an in-flight questionnaire and stressed again that the Supervisor was sorting out my compensation miles. I told him that he should be very happy with the crew he was working with that day, and should pass on my personal thanks to them all.
I had nothing to complain about as far as the questionnaire was concerned, except that I marked down the Clubhouse service slightly, and noted (though didn't complain about) the lack of first choice meal option.
Landing at LHR (about 30 minutes late in the end) I made a point of thanking my primary crew member and hit the *long* walk to Immigration. IRIS got me straight through, but then I had to wait for an age for my bag. There were no bags for a while, then what looked like an initial container of Priority bags (some UC tags in evidence), followed by a gap, then a lot of Economy bags before eventually the woman who'd been across the aisle from me and I got our bags one after the other. It was 45 minutes after leaving the plane that I finally left the baggage hall, which was annoying.
In the three days I'd been away, they'd opened up the changed Terminal 3 'forecourt', which included moving the Valet Parking booth. The whole place was in chaos, and even once my car arrived it took me another ten minutes to get away from the kerb and into the flow. Let's hope that's just new layout teething trouble.
Overall, a very good flight, great crew, and apart from the baggage delivery, not enough in the way of major problems to spoil my day.
