VS20 SFO-LHR 21 APR 12 (Upper Class)

[mitchja]

This was the return leg of a trip out to LAX and back via SFO - I was booked into Premium Economy, and the flight was pretty much full. Fortunately, three days before the flight an award seat opened up in UC, so I rang up and upgraded with miles.

I checked-in online, and the only seats were next to the bar - arriving at the airport just as check-in was opening (I had some work to do, so figured I might as well get it done at the clubhouse rather than the hotel bar) I asked if there was anything further forward. 12A was free...now, I've heard mixed things about 12A/K when travelling alone in the 747s (being right at the front the seats pretty much touch), but I didn't really feel it was a huge problem.

After a pleasant few hours in the clubhouse I wandered down to security...some people might object to the SFO clubhouse not being airside, but I guess you've got to go through security regardless so it all balances out in my mind.

The seat itself was a little worn, although everything seemed to work fine. Some of the buttons on the V:PORT controller felt like they were going to fall off at the slightest touch, and I was worried that the remote was broken - however, once the system got turned on it seemed to behave itself. The CSM greeted everyone one by one after take off, and handed out the menus. Service-wise everything seemed fine, but the meal itself was something else.

The starter and desert were fine, but the main was just awful. I'm a vegetarian, so I went for the spinach/ricotta pasta. The pasta itself was rubbery, the filling tasteless...I know VS can do much better than this - and to be honest, it was the only downer on the whole flight.

After the meal I turned myself in for the night, and managed to get a fairly decent sleep, waking up for the breakfast service. Stung by the dinner, I avoided the hot breakfast and went for the pastries. We touched down at Heathrow on time, and having read stories about terrible queues I was expecting a fairly bad ride...however, there was no queue for EU passports at T3 immigration, and I went straight through, picked up my bag, and headed to the revivals lounge for a more filling breakfast.

I'm doing the same route in June but in Economy, so it will be interesting to see if the vegetarian meal is any worse in Y (I don't see how it could be!).

Thanks for the TR. Any issues with the lack of overhead lockers in 12A/K? As I'm on the VS20 in June reserved seats 12A and K.

Only in the sense that you'd have to walk three seats down to get to your things: although I was only travelling with a laptop bag there was enough space that if I'd had a roll-on I wouldn't have had any problems (and the flight was full).

There is a decent sized shelf next to 12A onto which the CC didn't seem to mind me putting things like a newspaper, headphones, etc during the flight.

[Neil]

Thanks for the TR

There is a decent sized shelf next to 12A onto which the CC didn't seem to mind me putting things like a newspaper, headphones, etc during the flight.

We love 12A/K, and those shelves do come in very handy during the flight for putting stuff out of the way.

Marvellous TR, thanks for sharing Sounds like all was good although what went so wrong with your meal - heaven knows! Have had some excellent meals in Y and truly terrible ones....so good luck

Thanks for the TR, I have given up ordering pasta on flights as it appears almost impossible to get right. Glad the flight was good and fingers crossed for your trip in June.