This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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This flight came at the end of a very tiring business trip that had begun in glorious sunshine in LA, and ended up some ten days later in a grey and very cold New York. The end of these trips is always gloomy, and the prospect of the overnight flight back to the UK doesn't help matters at all. My colleague and I were originally booked in Premium Economy on VS10, and, with about 36 hours to go, I started to wonder whether or not we could somehow get into Upper Class and make our experience a rather happier one. What followed was interesting.
I called Virgin and asked whether we could switch to VS18, the day flight from Newark, and upgrade using miles. This was not possible because there was only one UC reward seat available. Now, prior to my call my colleague and I had decided that it would only be worth upgrading to the day flight, because the overnight ones back from the East Coast are typically quick and so, if you sleep, you hardly get a chance to enjoy all the benefits of Upper Class. Or so we thought.... However, the lady I spoke to when trying to get onto VS18 did mention that there were reward seats still available on all the night flights from JFK, and this got me thinking.
The thought of an UC seat ate away at me on the day before our scheduled flight, and I started to wonder whether or not it would be worth switching to VS4 or VS46 and upgrading. Eventually I caved in and rang back. To cut a long story short, it turned out we were on K-class tickets and the fee to change to S-class tickets and switch flights would be £518 per person -- plus the 20,000 miles (per person) needed for the upgrade. This seemed an awful lot of money, so (reluctantly) I said no. I asked if we could stay on VS10 and simply change ticket class and then upgrade using miles, but was told this wasn't possible because there weren't 2 reward seats available. It had taken 20 minutes on the phone to get this far and at this point the dream of a nice return to the UK looked shattered.
And then I had an idea... I looked at booking a simple one-way UC reward flight, and, sure enough, there were seats available on ALL the JFK departures. (So why was I told I couldn't switch to S and upgrade on VS10?... presumably there are subtleties here that I don't understand.) Anyhow, for 90,000 miles and $477 (~£150 per person) we could buy 2 UC seats back to the UK. Since my mileage balance was pretty healthy it didn't take long to take the plunge. :-)
So with less than 24 hours until the flight, we bought two UC one-way reward tickets on VS4. I cannot really adequately express our excitement: for both of us this was our first full business-class experience, even though we had both benefited from op-ups in the past (me on Virgin, her on BA). I was slightly disconcerted to find that our ticket was not an e-ticket, meaning we supposedly had to go to the ticket desk in the airport, but when I woke up on the day of the flight I discovered that in the meantime an e-ticket had been issued, which meant we could check in and choose seats. We went for 9K and 10K. It was clear from the check-in process that UC was far from full.
And so then it all began... The flight was due to leave at 1815, so we turned up at JFK at around 1500 to make good use of the clubhouse. No queue at check-in, and we were given plenty of lovely UC bag tags and the coveted (and now preserved-for-eternity) purple boarding passes. The check-in lady was courteous and professional. I have read a lot of trip reports that comment on the unfriendliness of the welcome in American airports, but to be honest I think that after two weeks of "Hi, good morning, how are you today" the curt welcome of the VS staff is actually a welcome attempt at British reserve :-). She gave us a clubhouse invitation, explained where the lounge is located, pointed out how security and boarding would work, and showed us the seat map on the A340-600. She tried to get us to switch to 16A and 17A, which I resisted -- correctly. (V-flyer knowledge was critical here.) We stayed put in 9K and 10K and never regretted it. I showed my inexperience by asking if we had to carry our bags to the TSA people -- which I am used to doing at JFK! I was told discreetly that it would be taken care of, so we marched off to the clubhouse.
I have read reports which are lukewarm about the JFK clubhouse, but we thought it was absolutely fantastic. We were welcomed, told when the flight would be called, and encouraged to take a seat wherever we liked. The clubhouse was almost empty when we arrived, though it filled up quite a bit during the following 3 hours, and we eventually chose one of the little tables on the side that overlooks the terminal (as opposed to the airfield). I really can't explain how relaxing we found it -- it was truly a haven in an otherwise busy and noisy terminal. We were mightily impressed. I ate the tandoori chicken; my colleague had the Asian dumplings. I had a fruit salad and she had some butterscotch dessert, followed by a nice cheese plate. The portions are Hobbit-sized (I don't understand why?) but since you can order as much as you like, what you lose on the swings you can order on the roundabout! :-D We both had a redhead cocktail (nice) and plenty of glasses of the oaky chardonnay, which is a good wine. Much better than expected. I was also impressed by the toilet and shower facilities, and the supply of snacks and newspapers. Maybe I'm showing my inexperience, but it totally de-stressed the airport experience in a way that neither of us really expected.
At 1720 the flight was called in the clubhouse and so we wandered down through the priority lane to the gate. Boarding was already underway, but we walked through the priority lane and straight onto G-VRED (Scarlet Lady), turning left at last! We were warmly welcomed by the flight attendant, who showed my colleague how to operate the seat, and who promptly brought us champagne. UC was perhaps 50-60% full, but no more. The suite was pretty tidy and clean, though the plastic was chipped in places. Dinner and drinks orders were taken, and we departed more or less on time, with a quick 6-hour flight promised. Turbulence was also predicted by the captain, and he was right, but it didn't really bother either of us.
Drinks came swiftly after the climb-out from JFK, and then dinner. We chose to eat "a deux", with me sitting on the ottoman. This works very well and is a real treat. My colleague had the fish; I had an enormous steak pie, after a rather silly chicken salad in a cardboard box that was pretty basic really. Neither of us finished the meal. Cheese came and went. A cinnamon cake appeared and was devoured. Plenty of wine came around -- and it wasn't great, really -- and then some port too.
At this point, without waiting for hot drinks, we made a bee-line for the bar. We were determined to pack as much in to the flight as possible! I had a G&T; my colleague had an orange juice. We were the only people at the bar, and it was quite a strange experience because for most of the time there were no staff there either. Quite quickly we hit turbulence and so had to return to our seats, but we enjoyed the experience nonetheless. At this point we decided to get some sleep. I managed a couple of hours before breakfast. I had the cooked breakfast, which was quite good; my colleague had a bacon roll. No hot drinks were served thanks to the turbulence -- this was a disappointment and I wonder whether some plastic tops could be supplied for the paper cups in such circumstances. It is a tall order to come off a night flight without any caffeine! We landed soon after, more or less on schedule, and taxied to the stand. Premium Economy passengers were disembarking at the same time as UC, which was annoying (having been made dutifully to wait on all my previous flights...), but we were 6th in line at an empty immigration hall (which has been remodelled since I last came through T3), and then the priority baggage worked brilliantly, so were through to Revivals about 20 minutes after landing.
Reflections on the flight? Well, it was good, but not overwhelming. The seat is comfy, the bed is fine, the sleep suit and pillow are comfortable. The food is sort of OK -- much, much better than the dross that is served in PE -- and the wine is alright, but nothing special. I feel terrible for saying this, but I am left just a little underwhelmed by the service. I didn't see a FSM on our flight. All the crew seemed very young -- many younger than me (I am very early 30s!) -- and sometimes you do wonder whether this is sensible. When I tasted the wine before dinner, for instance, I felt pretty self-conscious, although it is a perfectly reasonable thing to do -- a surprising proportion of intelligent people cannot tell that a wine is corked, in my experience...
However, if I didn't quite think the flight was A+, Revivals was absolutely wonderful. To come off a red-eye flight and have a shower and clean my teeth, and change into freshly-pressed clothes was priceless. I had a lovely (second) breakfast, a wonderful cup of tea (at last) and grabbed a copy of the FT and the Economist to keep me going on the journey back home. Although the Revivals lounge is rather more grotty than a clubhouse, I thought that it was probably the bit of the whole UC experience that I valued the most. It totally transformed my experience of flying. The complimentary facial made me feel great. I got through the whole day without feeling terrible, and this on only 2 hours sleep!
So, all in all, a wonderful experience. Really wonderful. In my opinion, the lounges clinch it. Flying long-haul is miserable, regardless of class. The airport experience can be transformed, and UC really does it. In this respect, no complaints whatsoever; only praise. The on-board experience was very good, but not quite the same level.
Will I do it again? Oh, you bet! :-)
