This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
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Cabin Crew
How are we all doing today? Well I hope. Well I’m a long time lurker and first time poster so please be gentle with me! sorry if this is abit long!
In January I decided to head over to America for a 4 night rest but due to work commitments and a credit card to pay had to wait until March for this to happen! During that time have been busy renewing passports, ESTA’s, saving money and of course work!
Now the main question was where was I going to go. I had done Boston and New York at the end of last year so that was off the cards. I hadn’t been to Washington but sort of wanted to go to San Francisco. The main determining factor was hotel prices. My budget is £100 per night. I looked through hotels.com for Washington. Oooouch! The cheapest hotel in a good location was starting at £450 for a 3* hotel and rapidly increasing. Ok not too sure. Ok lets look at San Francisco. Boom! Found it. Hotel Whitcomb on Market street for 4 night……£333! (about £80 a night!) Perfect. So San Francisco it was. Booked there and then.
Come Feb, new passport arrived, new ESTA purchased and the best news I had this month. As I was about to head to work at 5.20am on a cold weekday morning. I had 5 mins to kill before I had to leave. I had quickly looked at the hotels.com app to see how much the hotel may or may not have gone up by. I thought I was still asleep when I saw the price. IT HAD GOT LOWER!! The app was quoting me £264 for 4 nights. No this can’t be right. Surely?? Anyway I went to work, got home and double checked the price. Sure as anything the price was still the same. £264 for 4 nights. Brill!
Now when I went to New York in December I found a hotel cheaper on the virgin website than anywhere else. So with that in mind I had a look at the virgin website. And funny enough they were £1 cheaper than hotels.com the price being £263. This hotel is getting better and better. Not only has the price dropped remarkably but can also get miles as well!! Wow this trip is starting to look really good.
Once that was all sorted it was time to ring the FC helpline. I had quite a few miles in my account but not enough to fly upper class return. I enquired about a miles for money fare going out in upper and coming back premium economy. The kind lady said there were seats available. I think she must have been new because she was giving me quotes left right and centre, which was confusing us both. Anyway a supervisor came on and mentioned that since I had the misfortune of being downgraded previously they gave me a good price money and miles wise. I couldn’t believe my luck. I think the gods are telling me this trip was going to be a good one.
Now due to this great website and flyertalk.com and a few other website I have become an airline GEEK! Yes that’s right I have admitted the worst. Anyway I know that 747’s are used for this route and that 4 operate out of Heathrow. Since it was a small number surely it must be easy to work out which plane may be operating my flight. So with each plane I looked at their flight history. I worked out that the majority of the time any plane that operated the VS46 would then do the VS19 after it landed. Very occasionally it would be after the VS002. So with that in mind I kept an eye out on the 11th to find out which plane it might be. God I hope my theory works.
(may be possible with A330’s but may not work with A340-600’s)
So come 2 days before, currency was ordered online via Travelex, which gave me the best rate. Got $440 for £300!!! Bargin! Even better was that no commission was charged and I could pick it up at the airport. Every passing day was getting more and more excited. I found out that that day that two of my colleagues were going to be in the San Fran area as well!
Day before I checked in online and secured seat 22A. Easy peasy lemon squeasy! So printed off all the required documents and started doing my research on the plane I might be flying. When looking online Cosmic Girl (G-VWOW) was operating VS045 so it could be her! Tinkerbelle (G-VBIG) was flying the VS001 but I doubt it would be her. I noticed there was no VS019 so that would mean there was two girls not flying?? Surely not?? ( Tubular Belle G-VHOT and Mustang Sally G-VROC)
This has got me more and more excited to see if the theory works or if the aircraft not flying would be flying me the next day!
DAY OF DEPARTURE
Alarm goes off at 5am. 515. 530. Ok now time to get up. Finish packing and make my way to the tube to Heathrow. As im approaching the station about 630 I see lots of people with luggage coming out. Ok surely this is not a good thing??!
As I get to the station someone asks: ‘How do I get to Heathrow?’
So I reply: ‘um tube??’
He replies: ‘Its not working all tubes are not going there’
I replied: 'Taxi cab down there or bus.’
With this, he said thanks and I LEGGED IT to the taxi office before the heards got there. Just as I did there was one cab just leaving and I hopped in. I was sharing with two guys and one lady. The two guys were very anxious about getting their flight as they had left it abit tight and was making not only me but the lady and taxi driver nervous!
But credit where it is due the driver was in good spirits and helped us relax abit by making a few jokes.
We arrived in good time about 6.50 and just as the two guys legged it out, one of them decided to pick a fight over the price!! I said thanks to the Taxi guy and gave him a small tip. Now I had enough time since my flight isn’t until 11 so I could have got the Heathrow Connect but I knowing my luck something else would happened and I just wanted to get to the airport. As I arrived to check in my bag, I loved the fact that the check in area almost seems like a terminal within its own. The check in lady was lovely and friendly. I noted an American accent and we made small talk about how busy it was going to be and joked about calling in sick during the busy periods! She apologised about tearing up my home boarding pass and gave me a proper one instead.
I said: 'Oh no I love the proper ones! Its all part of the journey.'
She told me the boarding time and check the screens for the gate and if I wanted to take off the sticker from my passport then to do so once I boarded the plane. At that time of the morning was a refreshing surprise and set the tone for the rest of the journey. Had my last few cigs before heading through a quiet upper class wing and made up to the clubhouse, while buying a few chocolates and sweets for the plane.
Now as everyone knows on this site the Clubhouse is a great way to spend a few hours before your flight. Today was no exception. The lounge angel/agent gave me a warm greeting, confirmed the time of the boarding call, asked if I had been before and since it had been a while walked me in and gave me a refresher about the different areas. I’ve had the pleasure of being here only a few times and it makes me go WOW!!
Headed behind the bar overlooking the planes where a bucks fizz was quickly delivered (and consumed!) and ordered an eggs Benedict.
Waiter was very friendly and had a lovely chat about travels and how quiet it was and how great it was to work there. (apparently there was a celeb coming in but couldn’t say who!) I must say that the tables in this area are perfect for drinks when travelling with friends but feels abit too low for eating. Once I ate, had a quick look around, I asked about the blocked off area by the concierge desk, they said, they are building a new feature which will be open in the next few weeks! So watch that space!
Then headed to the bar had a few more drinks before my flight was called. Bartenders were friendly, gave excellent recommendations about which drinks to try and I was a very happy bunny.
Left on the first call to gate 19 which had… Tubular Belle (G-VHOT) waiting to take me on my journey. Said my thanks and goodbyes and within 10 mins was on the jetty walking down to was looking like a great flight.
Got to the gate where priority boarding was in place. Boarding pass got scannered, wished a good flight and she handed the WHOLE BP back.
I was abit confused since they generally keep the big bit and give you back the smaller half. I thought it must just be a Upper class thing. (it happened also at SFO!) They had just started the boarding process when I arrived and were inviting premium economy to board. Once on board was warmly greeted and shown to my seat. Champagne arrived, coat offered to be hung up, and not before long the ground crew left and doors were closed. I felt so smug sitting here. Sent my last few texts and photos with friends and family wishing me well on my travels. Pilot came on and announced we had 303 pax and 16 crew. Weather across the Atlantic and the flight time of 10 hrs and 37 min, which crew member was looking after each section. Then the CSM came on and gave the usual spiel about drinking alcohol, opening lockers all the health and safety stuff basically. Safety demonstration was played and I enjoy watching it even though I could recite it off by heart!
With doors closed we had a quick taxi to the runway but as always there was a queue. At this point it could take up to 30 mins before take off. So I decided to have a quick snooze since there wasn’t much else going on. Something must have bumped me because I woke up about 10 mins after just as we headed onto the southern runway and quickly took off.
Inflight Service
Drinks service commenced about 10-15 mins after take off with a glass of champagne and a bowl of crisps. The IFE was working normally and started watching pitch perfect which is funny and a good film to start watching. Saw the captain talk to two gents who were travelling together a few seats down from me. Cabin crew came round asked what I would like for lunch. Table popped out and the crew set it up nicely.
The Menu is as follows:
Starter:
Smoked Duck
With green beans with pomegranate
vinaigrette
Carrot soup
With Zanzibar spices and yoghurt
Main course:
Asian Shin of Beef
With bok-choy and rice
Roast breast chicken
With cheese potatoes, courgettes and balsamic jus
Cheese and butternut squash tortellini
With pea shouts and pumpkin seeds
Dessert:
Chocolate shortbread
With Vanilla ice cream
Warm bread and butter pudding
With apple syrup
Cheese and port:
Red Leicester, Shropshire Blue and Cornish Brie
Wines
White:
Minervois Les Bonnes Blanc Chateau d’Agel 2012 (French)
Villa San Maurice Chardonnay 2011 (USA)
Berry’s New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (New Zealand)
Red:
Pietas old Vines Selection 2011 (France)
Pulenta Corte Joven 2012 (Argentina)
Corliano Chianti Riserva (Italy)
I chose the duck for starters which was nice but the beans in my opinion were either raw or very under cooked. Nice and crunchy I suppose compared to being soggy and horrible.
For main course I went for the beef which was lovely and tender and well cooked nice and not overdone. For drinks I went with a very nice Chardonnay which went well with both dishes and refills were given.
For the desert went for the chocolate, which was very rich and heavy and sorry to all the chocoholics out there I didn’t finish it.
I saw the cheese trolley come round and yes I see peoples point but it does give the crew more chances to interact with passengers which really important to keep the continuality of the service flowing and makes it feel personal. I turned down the cheese as I as feeling v.full after lunch.
Plates were cleared quickly and I generally have a problem with putting the table back but not today! It fit back nicely and with a click!
After about 15 min after dinner, one of the crew ladies came and talked to me for abit which in all the flights, never has anyone does that! I wish I could have stopped the film as we were having a great conversation about San Francisco. Anyway 20 mins later back to the film.
As it finished I sat at the bar and chatted to a guy who was travelling on business and was comparing Virgin to other airlines and all the different places he has been to. Had a really long conversation about Japan and Hong Kong. Cabin crew came round and topped up drinks helped in the conversation. After 45 minutes of chatting away retired to my seat for some music and abit of a snooze!
About 4/3.5 hours before landing I went to the bar and asked for a light bite as I was feeling abit peckish! Got the Burger and was really nice and filling.
Then about 1.5 hours afternoon tea was served and scones at any time and anywhere are a heavenly treat!
A nice quick landing into San Fran and quick disembarkation. Thanked the crew for a great journey and wished them well. There was a passport check at the end of the jetty and an empty immigration hall where I was through the terminal in 30 mins!
A very good trip from Virgin and cant wait for the return!
