This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I checked in online the night before (seq 16) and confirmed my seat as 4A. All very easy and efficient as usual! Only thing I always notice is the printing of boarding passes seems to be for UK paper size and therefore doesn't fit on US paper. Don’t know if there is a way around this?
Arrived at LAX check-in at approximately 20:30, just under two hours before the flight. There was no queue at the desk and I walked straight up. There was two members of staff seated at the desk and two others standing behind. The staff seemed pretty uninterested and were having a private discussion. When they finished one of them asked for my passport and boarding pass. No greeting or smile, just passport. They promptly seemed checked I was actually flying upper (you could see the suspicious looks), they then handed them back, gave me my lounge pass, took the suit case and that was it. Not a friendly welcome and certainly not the UC service you would expect. All the while the staff continued their personal conversation. I guess it was rude of my to interrupt them in the first place!
Security was quick and easy, and I head straight to the Air New Zealand lounge where the welcome was certainly better (point to ANZ). As some of you may know the lounge is nothing remarkable but comfortable, has wifi and a reasonable self service drink selection. The lounge was pretty full due to the earlier VA flight being delayed and the plane still not having arrived (felt sorry for you guys) but as I was travelling alone getting a seat was not a problem. After about 30 minutes the first boarding call was announced and I headed downstairs and boarded straightaway.
On boarding the aircraft I was greeted by name. Shortly after sitting down I was asked if I would like a drink and something to read. The seat was fine, in better condition than some (I think UC is starting to look a bit old) and reasonably clean. Certainly a lot more comfortable than the outbound economy seat! Boarding was quick and after the manual safety demo we took off on time with the UC cabin about half full. Once in the air menus were handed out and then drinks, food and duty free orders were taken. I opted for no starter, steak main and the apple crumble cheesecake. The menu said there was a lava cake which I originally wanted but was told it was wrong and it was actually bread and butter pudding. Nevermind, the cheesecake was good. The steak was ok but nothing special.
Whilst having dinner I watch Django Unchained (well most of it). Nice to see new films had been added since the outbound flight, which had a less exciting selection! The look and feel of the entertainment system seems to have changed since my last flight (October) and not for the better. It seems harder to navigate and was probably designed for touch screen. The whole in-flight entertainment system is look a bit out of date. Small screen, poor quality and no touch screen. Seems the number of movies has been reduced too?
After dinner I changed into my sleep suit and converted the seat. My seat would not fold flat no matter how much the staff struggled with it. Seems the operation of the seats is a dark art! Luckily as the cabin was half full I was moved to the seat opposite where I managed to get about 4/5 hours sleep. The bed and pillow were comfortable and sleeping wasn't a problem. I'm 5’9 but if you are any taller I would think it'll be slightly uncomfortable due to the bed being a bit short.
About 2 hours before landing we were woken up for breakfast (they did ask us before if we wanted to be woken!). Breakfast was good (bacon roll and croissant) with orange juice and coffee. Landing into Heathrow was on-time, only having to circle once. Passport control and bags were also very quick!
Overall the flight was fine and given the price I paid I was happy with it. Had I paid full price I think I would have been disappointed. Other airlines like ANZ seem to have moved ahead, particularly in terms of facilities onboard. The staff onboard were very good, but the ground staff service at check-in left much to be desired. Given how Virgin advertise the service (being extra-ordinary) they have work to do. Sorry if that sounds a bit negative, just trying to be honest!
