This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Luckily, our road wasn't too bad, and we were soon on the A13 driving into and through central London. Traffic was light and by 6.20am we were on the A4/M4, and amazingly there was no snow at all. Nothing.
Therefore, we were pulling into the CDC drop off a little earlier than expected but we were soon through the barriers and up the ramp. As I only had hand luggage I was greeted warmly by the check in staff, who handed me my boarding card. I quickly used the bathroom in that area and all the VS staff disappeared to some where warm as it was cold in there!
There was no queue in security, so in no time at all I was in the lounge in the area behind the bar by the long window having a warming coffee and ordering some food. (Having a senior moment right now - I'm writing this in the lounge at JFK on the return trip, and for the life of me can't remember what I had....!! - EDIT - just looked at my own post from the way out and I had the scrambled eggs, salmon and capers. Not as good as the Kedgeree, but still excellent!)
Anyway, the lounge was great as usual, and it didn't seem to long before we were called for boarding. By fluke I timed my walk to perfection as there was no queue in the priority boarding lane and as they scanned my ticket they announced for UC to board through door B, so I was straight onto the plane and into seat 15A. Didn't manage to snag my favourite seat for this trip (2K - 5K) but this was fine. I thought I might be a bit too near the bar, but to be honest I wasn't disturbed at all. The seats are beginning to look a little worn though.
A very friendly CC took my coat, got me a bucks fizz and I was soon settled in my seat.
The captain came on and told us about Gatwick being shut and that therefore it was going to be a busy Heathrow. The good news was that they wanted our plane out the way quickly for incoming planes, so we were soon on our way. He also let us know that unusually that there would be a tail wind to the USA so we could expect a flight time of around 6 hours 45, though it would be bumpy at times.
The flight then seemed to go like clockwork, dinner order was taken (I had the new menu and had the prawns (excellent) Chicken (fine). I watched Mr Nice, and found it quite entertaining!
I changed into a sleep suit and turned the seat into a bed and was soon asleep - for a good three hours. I knew that I had a long day at work ahead of me in NYC, so was really pleased I'd got some shut eye.
I woke in time to have a round of sandwiches (not what was advertised, but still good enough).
The pilot then made an announcement that there was a bad storm in the JFK area and we might have to circle for a while. However this didn't last long as there was a sudden break in the weather and we headed in. Again the pilot did announce that it was going to be bumpy.
Once the plane was at the stand, being in 15K meant I was 2nd person off as we used the middle door. I was then greeted by the lovely and rare sight in immigration - nobody!! Completely empty so I was seen straight away, and as I had hand luggage only I had no bags to wait for and within 14 minutes of stepping off the plane I was in the CDC heading into Manhattan. Amazing!!
The travel Gods were truly smiling on me for this trip. Completely unaffected by the snow, avoided the storm at JFK and through the airport in 14 minutes. I since found out that later flights that day were being diverted to DC, so I was extremely lucky! And what made it all the better was the same high standard of service from all the VS staff I met that day.
