This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Much to organise. New passports, new ESTA, taxi to airport....
And then two important things;
First, all that had been available (on line, at least) from the time I made the reward (upgrade) booking was VS9,initially on a 346. I had selected VS26 on return to try a return leg day flight, and hey, if it was a 330 so be it, at least the reports were that the UCDS was fine as day seat and we'd have tried another facet of the VS experience. However, soon after I made the booking VS9's 346 got stuck on a hot wash and became a 330, and I wondered just quite how much of the 330 experience I wanted. So I started looking at reward availability for our departure date. Stubbornly it stuck at VS9 / 330 only, until a few weeks before our departure date when two seats on VS45 / 747 popped up. A call confirmed their availability, that there were seats still unassigned in the A Zone and for a fee we could be in Manhattan in time for an evening meal.
Second, I found a recommendation for a restaurant which, as I discovered, turned out to be in the basement of the hotel where we would be staying. Had we invited our children, they would have been proud and more than astonished that we were not to spend our arrival evening wandering around a city "discussing" where to eat.
The Trip To The Airport
In short, a breeze. So little traffic on the M25 on the Friday morning that I had to phone ahead to tell VS we'd be arriving half an hour early for DTCI.In some respects a bit of a shame as our driver was regaling us with tales of his previous employment as a driver on the guided bus route into Cambridge, how he could hit the guide tracks at 50 mph, and the time it served as an emergency ambulance to get him to Addenbrookes Hospital.
Once at the airport, we located the DTCI entrance at our first attempt. A wee bit of a sharp turn in to a constrained space, but we felt happy that our driver's experience firing a double decker into a concrete channel would serve him well. We weren't quite sure that, however shiny and new, the silver Passat quite matched up to the parade of sharp black Mercedes and Volvos heading down the ramp.
At The Airport (This End)
Check In: Very smooth, with a charming member of staff who informed us we were on time today and advised us to enjoy our time in the CH.
Security: Not so smooth. It seemed very slow, with a queue building up so much that a member of the check in team came down to ask what was going on. "They are bringing too many bags through" was the gist of the response from those running the service.
Clubhouse: Booked treatments quite easily - not surprising given we had a window in excess of three hours - then partook of first glass of champagne of the day to wash down a sausage sandwich (with brown sauce, naturally). Wireless was initially rubbish, then a couple of flights left and it became rock solid. Some more champagne supped. After a quick head polishing and side order of chat about working at the CH and travel, back to the seats we'd vacated for a deli lunch of ham and wonderfully crisp sourdough bread, again with a champagne accompaniment. In retrospect I'm not sure why I didn't go for British Tapas (as mentioned by Martin in another thread) as the father and son on the table next door enjoyed working their way through most, if not all, of the options before moving on to the main menu items. And what greater recommendation can there be than that?
Unfortunately, at this point a chap sat a couple of seats away dropped to the floor and had a fit. Both CH staff and a couple of customers (who seemed to know the drill) got around him and helped him through it in a professional and calm manner. By the time the paramedics arrived he was back sat in a seat chatting away to the staff, who were presumably assessing whether he would be fit to fly.
Now, I'm not sure why this happened but the charming young lady who had been tending to our needs passed by and asked whether I would like "a soft drink". Now at no point had I put a headlock on anybody in the CH, customer or staff, whilst stating "you're my beshtest mate, you are, and no mistake". Honestly, I was acting my age rather than my shoe size and embarked on a carefully paced campaign.
As usual, being convinced that we must have already missed the call for the flight, we showed how callow we are and took off at the first call. And were then recalled as the aircraft was still being prepared. Oh well, time for another champagne and then the actual call came. Despite having been advised to "go to the front of the queue" there was a clearly marked priority boarding channel, no queue anyway and separate airbridge for UC so no chance to show how important we were.
On the Aircraft
Seating: I know there are fans of the A346 out there, but the A Zone of a 747 is *the* place to be. The suites we had were clean, tidy and a little battered (but still in better shape than the seat on the 330 on the return). A full cabin, with only 12A empty with a big "do not use" sticker. This seemed a bit odd as the lad in the seat in front of me told his companions that he had been moved from that seat to 14K, yet when I'd done seat assignment when I'd upgraded neither 12A nor 14K was available for selection.
Service: Excellent throughout. It felt as there was a least one member of the cabin crew in the section at all times (there probably wasn't, but there was certainly someone there every time I wanted anything). Champagne on boarding, pre lunch drinks, lunch, post lunch drinks, high tea, post high tea drinks all served up with a smile, enthusiasm and a word or two. Particularly charming was the young man with the same accent as Bobby from "Stella". He was particularly concerned to make sure the sleeping MrsPJH missed out on nothing, so that when she awoke after the tea service there was a small macaroon mountain awaiting her.
Food:
Peat-cured salmon with shaved black radish, cucumber and wasabi mayonnaise
English pea and mint soup with creme fraiche
Roasted rump of lamb with pearl barley, mixed vegetables and olive jus
Roast breast of chicken with macaroni and cheese, creamed leeks and Parmesan crisp
Lemon and ricotta tortellini with pea shoots and basil cream
Marscapone and clotted cream torte with strawberry and lime compote
Warm sticky toffee and chocolate pudding with toffee sauce
Cheese
Butler's Secret Cheddar
Camembert
Double Gloucester
White wine
Minervois Les Bonnes Blanc, Chateau d'Agel 2012
Villa San Maurice Chardonnay, 2011
Berry's NZ Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Red wine
Pietas Old Vines Selection, 2011
Pulenta Corte Joven, 2012
Carliano Chianti Reserva, 2009
Graze
Mini beefburger with rhubarb relish
Selection of savoury nibbles and treats
Fresh seasonal fruit
High Tea
Ham and mustard, cheese & pickle, poached salmon
Warm sultana scone and strawberry jam
Lemon curd, red velvet and Black Forest cupcakes and a section of macaroons including rhubarb custard and strawberries and cream
Usual selection of spirits, only one vodka (Grey Goose)
We dined together. I opted for the soup, the pasta and torte and enjoyed them all. MrsPJH had the chicken, where the leeks were distinctly mushroom in appearance. Stuck to the Sauvignon Blanc.
Entertainment:
Vera On Demand (her demand was for three reboots before finally settling down) seems to have undergone a system refresh since the last time we used it a couple of years ago. From an Oscar heavy selection, I opted for a starter of "Veep", main course of "Zero Dark Thirty" and dessert of Alan Partridge's "Welcome to the Places of My Life". None disappointed, though I may well have dozed off during some of the visits to flatter parts of Norfolk.
We usually find some entertainment in the antics our fellow passengers, but this was in short supply. Only the fact that the three lads in front of us, evidently on their way to present some funky new piece of software, decided to hold start a business meeting in the cabin. This left the passenger in 12K somewhat isolated, but eventually the trio repaired to continue their meeting at the bar. This put that facility out of use for the rest of us, but MrsPJH opted to sleep and the at seat service continued at a high level so it didn't really matter. One other curiosity was how the lady over the way had managed to get knitting needles into the cabin... ..
At the Airport (other end)
Last time we used VS45 we were through border control in two minutes. Not so this day, where the fates decreed an hour in a rather fetid hall. After shuffling around in a Disney style queue (thankfully without smiley people asking "and how are you enjoying the magical kingdom) we popped up in front a agent who was quietly grooving to Latino music on his radio. Some initial confusion on my part about whether his thumbs up sign was saying "all good" or "put your thumb on the scanner"(it was of course the latter) but then finally through to collect bags (sprouting cobwebs by this time) and make for the taxi rank...
..where there was an enormous queue, a rank but no taxis. At this point I was seriously wondering whether we would make the carefully planned dinner reservation. After about half an hour it was as if someone had switched on the taxi tap (sorry, faucet), and by 7.10 we were checking in at the hotel, in time for dinner at 8 and to take advantage of the remaining time of the evening wine and cheese offering.
An excellent flight, made mostly by the excellent service received from all the VS staff we encountered.. Pleased I shifted to the 45 to (a) give us something of an evening in Manhattan and (b) the 747 experience.
We can get better, because we're not dead yet
