VS012 BOS-LHR 24 OCT 14 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

After a week in Boston which was hectic, involved a lot of walking and visits to the odd museum, the aquarium, the opera (The Magic Flute by South African Marimba singers, amazeballs), the trolley tour and a bit of shopping, it was time to come home. By the way, I now worship at the altar of Macy's on sale days - I got amazing deals thanks to a sale and presale and I love, love, love Macy's. Kerrching!

Although we don't actually live in Boston Lincolnshire, we did used to leave very near there and so whenever anyone asked where we came from during our trip we'd tell them Boston, which was received with various degrees of amazement. One person even said we were "originals". It was fun, but I was also surprised by the amount of people who didn't know that Boston MA was named from Boston Lincolnshire. We went to Salem, a quaint little town, and enjoyed the Salem Witch Museum telling the story of the witch trials, and the memorial to the 20 who died. But the rest of the town was full of the same shops all built around the witch / paranormal theme, each one the same as the last. We got bored, and although we booked onto the last ferry back to BOS at 7pm, wished we'd taken the 4pm boat! A quaint town has been spoilt by too much commercialism on one theme that detracts from the actual history.

Right, time to get off my soap box. We'd arranged for a late checkout at our hotel since normal checkout was 11am and as you all know it's a late departure so we opted for a 5pm checkout so we could freshen up before leaving. We hung around in the lobby for another hour and then got a cab to Logan Airport. Check-in was quick and the ground crew polite and friendly. I've read some TRs that said the BOS ground crew have sometimes been a bit surly, or inexperienced trainees, but not today, they were lovely.

Off we went through security, into the priority lane and then one of the airport staff tried to get me to go into the other lane which had a slightly shorter line; should have seen the look I gave her when she suggested I leave the priority line! No honey, that ain't happening, DYKWIA?

We were quickly through security, but I left my passport and boarding card in the tray in my rush to pick up everything I'd had to shove into it. The security officer politely called me back. Then we had a look round duty free - not very good, very small and small selection of items. We had some dollars left so bought a shed load of chocolate, some Godiva, and got a free bag (nice pressie for sister in law!). Then off we went to the Clubhouse.

It was busy as it was also full of Icelandic Air PAX, but we got a seat in the dining area and got settled. There was a nice selection of hot food and charcuterie and desserts. OH had hot roast beef and mashed potatoes which he loved, and I had a bit of smoked salmon, later some soup noodles, all washed down with a couple of Redheads like a seasoned v-flyer! The lounge had a nice vibe, I people watched a bit, surfed the net for a while and then it was time to board.

We were boarding Champagne Belle , this was to be my first flight on the A330, and I liked the look of the cabin, the lighting etc, all very nice . The seats looked good. CC offered me champagne or orange juice, and I quickly said "ooh, champoo I think" which got a chuckle. OH asked for green tea as usual and I made a crack about him being teetotal so the CC didn't need to worry about him. Which is what I'd been saying to restaurant waiters all week as I ordered my margaritas! Push back and take off were a little late, we were scheduled for 21:40 and I think it 22:10 when we took off, but it was only a 6 hr flight so were scheduled to land on time.

I've decided I don't really like the UCDS seat and am with many others on this now I've had experience of it. Things I like about the seat are the IFE, although the touch screen isn't very responsive at times, and the location of the drink tray is better than on the UC suite. The seat is comfortable. But it's not comfortable to try and sleep on and to narrow for the upper body and I felt cramped and had difficulty sleeping when the time came. Also they're difficult to convert because they're not motorised (one of the CC, told me that the UCDS was rushed into production within a couple of months because the 787s were behind schedule and so VS had to buy the A330s, and they're smaller and can't handle the weight of a motorised seat). So I'm not keen on the seat, but not completely averse to it.

Service on board was great. More champoo and crisps offered once we were airborne. Not quite what we'd had the week before, as no FSM coming round introducing him/herself, and I'm not quite sure who the FSM was! We had 4 guys attending to us in UC, I suspect one of them might have been the FSM, and otherwise service was great, but being a red eye it was the usual meal service, convert to bed, night night everyone etc.

Let's eat...

The menu was similar to the outbound.
Starter: boring mesclun salad, "a taste of Provence".
No other starter. I didn't bother.

Mains:
Fillet of beef with spelt risotto, carrot purée and sautéed field mushrooms.
Shrimp and cabbage colcannon served with corn fricassee.
Agnolotti pasta with artichoke and cheese, roasted pepper and almond sauce.

Pudding: salted caramel cheesecake.

Cheese and port: Port Salut, Stilton, Swiss.

I had the fillet of beef which was not as good as the week before, and was nowhere near the quality of steaks I'd been eating in Boston. But it was edible when washed down with Claret. No dessert or cheese, I was stuffed!

Some people had opted to bed down before dinner service, and then after dinner most of the remaining PAX did the same, so everyone needed assistance with the seat conversions. I'd changed into my own jimjams, and tried to sleep, but as mentioned earlier, the seat is not conducive to it and I couldn't really sleep, maybe dozed for an hour.

Unable to sleep I went to the bar to annoy the CC (we had a hot one, and he was looking after us! ) and ordered a hot chocolate. He'd noticed my OH was awake and went to check if he wanted anything, and I sat at the bar drinking my choccy whilst the crew went about setting up for breakfast and had a bit of a chat which is when one of the CC, whom I think might have been the FSM, told me about the seat and the plane not being able to take a motorised UC suite. We chatted about the new 787s and I learned (and reported elsewhere) that Birthday Girl was scheduled to do only a couple of trips to/from BOS at the end of October and then would go back to training until the end of November. He seemed very excited about Birthday Girl and the other 787s.

This guy was Irish and was referred to by his colleague as Fearghal (not his real name), and I laughed at the reference. 'Fearghal' didn't get the reference so we explained it was Come Fly With Me, and the hot one did a lovely little impersonation of Fearghal dealing with a vegetarian and offering the turkey! We had a giggle and then I returned to my seat for breakfast service, the hot one had to convert it back for me as I couldn't figure out how, and I enjoyed a breakfast of poached eggs and bacon before changing again and getting ready to land.

We were on time, UC exited whilst PE and Y were held back, and after a brief trek through the airport we were through immigration and off to collect our bags which arrived quickly. Then it was off to find the Revivals Lounge for the first time and I was dying for a shower. OH wasn't keen, in spite of my. Warnings that it was going to be 4pm before we got home (I always leave time for delayed flights, and had noted form review of the schedules that VS12 is often half to one hour late). But he still said no, so to coax him I leaned in and sniffed and told him he smelled sweaty (I'm rotten aren't I?). That convinced him. We rocked up to Revivals where we were given a very cheerful welcome, the OH moaned about Americans to the very sweet staff, and me and one of the staff sang the praises of Macy's. We got straight into the showers. O.M.G. It was just what I needed and I had a nice long shower and changed into fresh clothes and headed out for breakfast. There was no-one else in and we had a bite to eat and chatted with the staff about how quiet it was, which apparently is normal for a Saturday, with weekdays being very busy.

We headed back to London for our train back to Lincoln with a couple of hours to kill. All in all this was another excellent flight, pre and post flight experience, with great service, but I'm not so keen on the UCDS after all. Our next flights are SFO next summer unless I make plans for summat else...

Thanks for a very entertaining report as usual.
I enjoy visiting Boston, always plenty to see and do and you certainly timed it right for the Macy's sale! Hope that you got a visitors card from them for a bit more discount, not always allowed on sale items but works sometimes.
Generally a friendly bunch, surprised that they were not aware how Boston got it's name but then I suppose the people of Lincoln don't know it is named after an American car?
It's a long time till next summer, get out that credit card.

Thank you for an enjoyable read! Sounds like a good experience, UCDS aside...

Thanks for the wonderful TR John! I hope your OH enjoyed Boston, too, and because of it you might be able to convince him to visit NYC!

I agree about Salem (and you can get there by train) it plays far too much on the Witch Trial 'industry' whereas the maritime history is much more fascinating.

The Peabody-Essex is a wonderful museum and not a witch in sight!

Great TR - thanks for posting. Sounds like you had a good time in Boston.

Just to add that Bloomingdales in NY do a visitors card too for "out of state / overseas visitors". We last visited in Sept 2012 & were directed up to the customer service counter to get the card, whilst the sales associate held onto out items for commission reasons no doubt. Still, think it was 10% off, so sales tax and a bit paid for you.

That was a stinking hot weekend in NYC too - 35C and drinking all the Saturday afternoon on a tour around Brooklyn... had to be done!

Great TR, can't wait for my east coast trip to Boston, Washington and New York next August now I've read this! ( hopefully can avoid the UCDS at all costs)

Thanks for comments folks. We enjoyed Boston, though I think I did more than OH, but it didn't give us the wow factor that Vancouver or Japan gave us. I'd go back for a couple of days though before moving on to somewhere else.

On another note, and no offence to any yanks who read the forum, but my OH wasn't keen on the Americans he met in Boston, and complained they were too loud, too brash. I heard traces of the old wartime slogan 'over paid, over here'. Mind, he is a bit antisocial and positively grumpy by default.

Still SFO is the next destination but there is a chance we might end up in Florida at some point on the invitation of some American friends! And mrsw, NYC is still a possibility yet.

Sounds like you a nice time over there shopping!
shame about the food and seat but it sounds like a great flight!
I met a 2nd generation Portuguese Bostonian whilst in Miami, she said it's lovely up there.
I know how frustrating it is when the OH doesnt like somewhere as much as you do. I love Thailand Simon not so much. And I didn't think I'd like the US as much I do now.
We're off to NYC, Atlantic City and DC in March.
But for our summer break we couldn't agree (I wanted to take advantage of cheap upper fares ex DUB but Simon didn't want another long haul) so we fell back on what we know, so we're of to the algarve (we have an apartment out there). My mother lives over there and we always go to Lisbon, a city we both love and know very well!
Hope you're well
Darren

Thanks for the TR, and Salem aside sounds like you had a great time in Boston. I think I may be looking for a short break there this time next year...

I enjoyed a breakfast of poached eggs and bacon before changing again and getting ready to land.

You enjoyed the bacon ? What magic spell had they weaved over the item they have always managed to (look away those of a nervous disposition) royally b*gger up?

You enjoyed the bacon ? What magic spell had they weaved over the item they have always managed to (look away those of a nervous disposition) royally b*gger up?

I think Bretty has pretty much burnt out all his taste buds with all the booze he drinks!

Okay, pjh, so the bacon was okay. The bacon in revivals was much better - I like it crispy.

Tontybear - I'll have you know I'm a good boy I am...

Darren - you're right, it isn't easy when one of you likes a place more than the other. To be fair, I can't say he disliked it, it just didn't impress him the way other places have, and for some reason he thinks all Americans are loud and brash, blah blah. I'll change his mind though...

Shopping was great, but we didn't shop much this trip, though what we did get was clothes rather than souvenirs. I have some lovely Calvin Klein shoes and a fab cashmere sweater, and a nice Ralph Lauren casual sweater.

It's surprising how we can fall back on what we know when we can't make up our minds. We're the same. We don't do beach type holidays in hot climates, so if we can't think of anywhere to go then our failsafe's are Krakow, Prague, Amsterdam or visit friends in Germany!

Great TR as always john ,sounds like you had a reasonable time in Boston but not blown away , I've only been there once and think I would describe it as a gentle city so maybe it hasn't the wow factor of NYC and similar places but I guess it's not that kind of city , not sure what your OH will make of New Yorkers either lol !
As you know I'm of there in 4 weeks so will see what my second impressions are .
Ps thanks for the tips

Great TR thanks John, shame about the seat, I'll have things to say in my overdue TR on that subject. We really like the Americans but I wonder if our experience differs because we're in small-town America rather than tourist hot-spots. I remember something similar when we lived in North Norfolk years ago and though you knew tourists were the life-blood of the local economy, you did get so fed up in the end of being utterly unable to drive, park, walk or shop in a hurry because they bless them had all the time in the world.

Macy's and Bloomy's definitely, we get lots of stuff every trip and usually manage to hit sale time on our spring and autumn visits. I've given up with the visitor's discount card though. Every time I try to use it it doesn't apply for that merchandise/department.

With your love of shoes and all things good, you really ought to visit a branch of Nordstrom.

Keep trying to get your OH to NY!!!

Okay, pjh, so the bacon was okay. The bacon in revivals was much better - I like it crispy.

That's what surprises me, as the bacon on the plane (in my experience) is the examplar of 'not crispy'

It's surprising how we can fall back on what we know when we can't make up our minds. We're the same. We don't do beach type holidays in hot climates, so if we can't think of anywhere to go then our failsafe's are Krakow, Prague, Amsterdam or visit friends in Germany!

Know what you mean, though with us it's Southwold, St Lucia, New York or Edinburgh at Festival time. I tried to get adventurous last summer...and kind of failed...

@pjh, the bacon on board could be described as limp but I didn't let it ruin my enjoyment of breakfast

@whiterose, I'm going to keep working on OH, his problem is he easily compartmentalises and generalises, which isn't always a good thing! Funnily enough there was a branch of Nordstrom in Back Bay but I never went in. You're not the first to mention it for shoes though. However, given my Imelda Marcos tendencies I think 'im indoors might actually kill me, our wardrobes are already full with my shoes, half of them in their boxes

Thanks for the TR,

Sounds like you had a great time.