VX22 SFO-JFK 30 AUG 11 (First Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Here's a quick report on this very impressive flight. It was booked at the last minute because the post-hurricane travel disruption meant that it was almost impossible to get a flight to New York from the West Coast.

Check-in was a breeze -- beckoned over by an agent who saw I'd been waiting in the queue for all of 3 seconds. Fast-lane security took about 4 minutes. The new terminal is clean and airy. There is plenty of seating, including nice comfortable swivel chairs near the gates. There seemed to be a good selection of shops and catering.

The flight was called on time. Priority boarding worked well. I was welcomed to my seat with an offer of a drink (declined -- it was 9 am!) and we were off on time aboard "airplane 2.0", an Airbus A320. The flight was absolutely full and the aircraft door was, in fact, re-opened to accommodate late-arriving transfer passengers.

The seat is comfy and the legroom is extremely impressive. We had one flight attendant looking after the First cabin. She was excellent, coming round frequently to check all was OK and to offer more drinks. When she wasn't busy she stood like a sentinel at the head of the aisle, guarding the cabin (and the front toilet) from incursions from the economy cabin!

The flight left at 9.45 am so the meal service was breakfast. I would not normally be very enthusiastic about this, but it was great! I had granola and then a fruit plate, followed by cake of some kind. Served with apple juice and a lovely mug (NB mug, not cup) of Earl Grey. It actually tasted like real food. I had been up since 4 am, so appreciated something wholesome to eat. Midway through the flight we were given a choice of snacks -- I had some salted cashews. Later, as we approached New York, we were given some "chicken sushi", which was nice enough and beautifully presented. I had a glass of white wine at this point, which was properly chilled (makes a change), though nothing special. Rather a lot of cork was floating in it, but given the space in the front galley on the A320, it would be churlish to make a fuss.

In First you cannot order from the IFE -- you are given things by the FA. This is fine, but since there isn't a menu you don't know what you are going to get and when. I noticed that some passengers asked for things from the Main Cabin selection anyway. Speaking of the IFE, it looked impressive. I was working for most of the flight -- the inflight wifi is excellent -- so didn't make much use of it, but there was a good range of movies and programmes. I was particularly impressed by the choice of classical music -- this was MUCH better than the selection on VPort, both in quantity and quality. Given the youthful marketing of VX, and it's rather disco-like ambience, this surprised me, but in a really good way.

We landed a little early at JFK and I was 2nd off the plane. Bags took a while to come through (I don't think there's any priority luggage handling), but no worse than VS in SFO earlier that week, and then it was off to the subway for the ride into Manhattan.

Tier points and FC miles appeared on my account about a week later.

All told, I was very happy with this flight. It was extremely good. If there is a better transcon service, then I'd like to know what it is. (It certainly isn't United's Premium Service...)

Thank you for the TR.

Thanks for the TR, have to admit i havent been on a VX flight yet but all good comments so far

[honey lamb]

Tier points and FC miles appeared on my account about a week later.

Gee, I'm still waiting for mine 2 months later!

Yet another excellent TR for a VX flight - I'll need to check them out at some oint when their limited route network coincides with my travel needs.

Thanks fr posting.

[mitchja]

Excellent TR thanks

My miles + TP's where also credited in around a week.

Great TR thanks for it.

By the way how does the CO/United business first shape up compared to this with its flat bed service? I have never tried it but i had the choice to try it if i routed thru jfk instead of dallas later in the year?

cheers

alex

Alex -- haven't tried CO, so don't know.

Alex -- haven't tried CO, so don't know.

Thanks anyway thought i would ask just in case you knew.

cheers

alex

Thanks for the TR - if I have to do a transcon it's certainly my preferred way to fly.

On the food and drink options, I too find that the lack of a menu on the IFE, or knowledge of what's available in the main cabin (cause you can order anything) is one small downer on the VX service.

Great TR thanks for it.

By the way how does the CO/United business first shape up compared to this with its flat bed service? I have never tried it but i had the choice to try it if i routed thru jfk instead of dallas later in the year?

cheers

alex

Bit long in the tooth as a cabin, but a great service overall, far superior to anything else you get on UA/CO. The PS service, that is. Business has a recliner seat pretty much like the old UA TATL product, a seat I actually like a lot for a non-night flight, plus iPad type ent and Wifi on board. Proper meals served, choice of three dishes, warm nuts with drinks for lunch and dinner, sundaes after dinner etc etc. I like the UA P.S. service a lot. The planes are due to be retrofitted with the CO flat bed product, in single premium class mode, starting later in the year, which will cut the number of seats in the premium cabin area down by 12, but give you an even better seat product. CO to EWR just the regular transcon service, nothing special.

Thanks markedman appreciate your input and experiences of this class of travel, my parents may be using this ps service to hnl so they might end up being my guinnee pigs.

cheers

alex

Great TR, thanks for posting.

Personally, I love the VX experience, can't wait to fly with them again!