This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Their recently-introduced rules meant having to book a high-price Y fare to actually be considered for an upgrade, which meant weeks of poring over seatcounter.com, phoning GF's call centre trying to get a guarantee of an upgrade before actually booking the flight, but all to no avail.
When Virgin suddenly announced their PE sale a week before departure, I jumped at it, as it was coming in for less than GF's Economy fare, with which I might have scored an upgrade!
With the Atlantis confirmed, although they did warn that there would be some disruption as they were setting up for THE party of the decade, it was time for a few days in the sun.
The hotel's nice enough, but I actually preferred the night I spent in The Shangri-La before hitting The Palm. Nicer room (club floor), better service and more relaxed pool time. Plus points at Atlantis were the beyond amazing breakfast, restaurants (Nobu was nice) and the Waterpark. It was my third time in Dubai and suddenly everything seemed eye-wateringly expensive - perhaps it was just The Atlantis?
Anyway, a limo whisked us to the airport and traffic was light, thankfully. When we arrived in Dubai, a crane had fallen over onto the main road, causing even more traffic mayhem than usual, resulting in a journey of over an hour from airport to Shangri-La - luckily the only bargain prices in Dubai are the taxi fares!
Bowled up at check-in, after enduring the maze of security checks, and asked about availability in Row 18 (which me managed to get on the outbound, briefly, although that's a whole different story!). The check-in agent spent ages tapping away, brow furrowed, causing us some concern. She eventually came back with 'There are seats in Row 18, but you might be happier with Row 15 in Upper Class? It seems you've both been upgraded!' Well, you can't argue with that! Still reeling, I cheekily asked about lounge access, but was told, not unexpectedly, that it wasn't possible as it wasn't a paid upgrade.
We made our way past more security checks into the busy terminal with all the usual attractions - bodies slumped everywhere, rubbish duty-free shops and general mayhem. With the prospect of a few hours to kill and nothing to lose, we headed for the Gulf Air lounge to see if the combination of a UC boarding pass and GF FF Silver cards might substitute as a lounge invitation.
Sure enough, in we went without any problems. However, as the lounge started to fill up, I started getting a bit uncomfortable in case some paying passengers were denied a seat because of my brass-neckery - I just didn't feel that I should have been there in the first place. Luckily, it was time to board before it reached capacity so, with some much needed sustenance in place (we left the Atlantis before breakfast had commenced), it was off to the gate.
Boarding was handled well, with two separate buses for Premium and Economy passengers, although the Economy bus arrived at the plane first, so we had to wait in the bus before we got on - no biggie though!
It's funny when you get upgraded like this that you don't really mind too much if the flight's delayed, the food onboard is rubbish and the cabin crew treat you like dirt. It's even better (obviously) when none of the above apply. The CC were amazing - mostly Indian and I was welcomed in my seat with a firm handshake and the promise that nothing I required during the flight would be too much trouble.
I had very little sleep the night before, so out came my bed as soon as the seatbelt sign went out. This coincided with a mass surge to the bar area by some particularly garrulous passengers, but even their raucous laughter and general hubbub didn't upset me as much as it would have done, had I paid full whack for my ticket.
OK, it was a daytime flight but I think folk should maybe consider that there might be people trying to sleep and maybe keep it down a bit at the bar? *lights the blue touch paper and retreats*
A relatively short flight and eventually managed a few hours kip. Circled a couple of times before landing and headed straight for the stand. Quick disembark, long walk to Passport control, straight through IRIS and to the belt, where my bags were just starting to appear.
All in all, an almost perfect trip with Virgin - My next trip's in F to LAX with UA; it will be very interesting to see how the two compare!
