This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We had booked our last night in the Radisson near the airport as our Shinkansen (bullet train) from Hiroshima to Tokyo) wasn't arriving until 9pm and the following morning the Radisson shuttle bus dropped us at the Terminal at 8.30am with check in opening at 9am. Quick wander round the tat shops where we spent the remainder of the funds on our Suica cards (Tokyo's Oyster cards that can also be used in shops) before heading to check in.
UC check in had a short queue but it seemed to be moving slowly and when we arrived at the desk there seemed to be an awfully lot of typing required to check us in. But then we were off through security and immigration both of which were quick and smooth.
Narita's clubhouse is small but perfectly formed with a nice feel to it. Rather shamefully we used one of the available PCs to check in for our later BA flight before choosing the comfy seats for some breakfast. Mrs Girders loved her sushi selection and I enjoyed a bacon & sausage sandwich although finding the sausages to be more hot dog than banger was a bit of a surprise. I do have to say that the pastry section was disappointing with only a couple of options of prepacked custard or moccha pastries - and this in a country we had discovered loves it's fancy patisserie. Staff were chatty and helpful, taking the time to ask us about our trip.
Boarding was straightforward and we settled in to 8A & 9A which we'd chosen after deciding this was a better option than sitting across the aisle. FSM & CC were very friendly and chatty throughout the flight at times. Mrs Girders was catching a few hours sleep on this flight but the way the time was working I was toughing this one out and working my way through a few films (5 in total!).
Preflight drinks followed by drinks & nibbles were served and about an hour into the flight we had dinner orders taken with Mrs G again going for the Bento box option which got a definite thumbs up. With no beef or chicken on the menu I went for the lamb - of which I'm not a huge fan but this was delicious. Mrs G followed this by scoffing some mango ice cream and I had a fantastic apricot pudding. No idea what for a stater but my potato and leek soup was perfectly acceptable.
After dinner the blinds were all closed and the lights dimmed to create an artificial night flight for those trying to tackle the jet lag with a few hours sleep. Mrs G managed 2 or 3 good hours sleep before watching some films. Her one moan was that she'd only got halfway through 'Milk' on the flight out and it had been removed in the new August list. There's some good stuff on there and for me I particularly enjoyed 'The New Town Killers' and 'In the Loop'. 'Knowing' was entertaining fluff but the disaster scenes (including a plane crash') were a little unnerving.
About two hours before landing we were offered the afternoon tea menu - I had a decent enough sandwich selection and Mrs G the baked cheesecake - and our friendly CC then persuaded us to follow this with bacon rolls which again amazed me how tasty they are.
Descent was uneventful and thanks to getting away a bit early from Narita and taking a some shorter rout options we arrive at Heathrow 30 minutes early - a godsend fro us as we had an onwards flight from T5 that could have been problematic if things hadn't gone to time. Priority baggage seemed to work well and our cases arrived on the carousel just as we reached it.
I'm not sure I'll ever be able to call a 12 hour flight enjoyable but I suspect with a great crew like this one and good quality food this is as close as I'll ever get. Sadly we don't have any further Virgin flights planned and to be honest we're unlikely to be flying UC again - our Japan flights came courtesy of a competition win with Coke. And while I loved the UC and clubhouse experience, even if I had the disposable cash I think I'd probably always choose to suffer in economy and spend the cash at my destination.
Thanks to all on the forum who post tips and helped us make the most of what will likely be a once in a lifetime experience - I'm now off to search out any more competitions to win VS flights.
