This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
And boy did it feel good. Going to be extremely hard to turn right ever again.
We are normally so down when it's time to leave Nevada that we decided to treat ourselves on the return journey home and I'm glad I did.
Didn't get off to a great start. Turned up at McCarren airport to check in and the only queue was for upper class check in. There was obviously a problem with the people infront of us so after a good 5 mins of waiting we went to an economy check in. The lady there was lovely but seemed a bit flustered to see us there. She managed to find some Upper Class labels for our luggage but sadly they were the last bags off the plan at Manchester so I'm wondering if the Upper Class check in has a sneaky shute that takes luggage elsewhere or were we just unlucky?
She also apologised that she had run out of passes for us to get into the club lounge at departures. She did phone in advance to tell them we were coming but it still took them a while of checking our boarding passes in order for us to get in. I can't say I was overly impressed but then people have commented to say as much on this forum so I wasn't expecting much. It was a tiny lounge and we couldn't get a table - just seats in separate areas but when the Gatwick flight (which was delayed) started to board we did find somewhere to sit together. Just a few bar snacks before we boarded the plane but it was all we wanted and I loved the way Virgin staff came in telling us when to board so we could relax up to the last minute.
We quickly took our seats on the Airbus 340-642 (miss Behavin) - a name which my son thought was hilarious. The seats did look a little bit worse for wear and the screen quality on the IFE wasn't great but everything worked fine. Maybe it was because it was our first time on UC and we were so excited that it didn't bother us but the guy to my left did nothing but moan to the FA throughout the flight. I don't know how she kept her patience but I guess they are used to it.
Just one bucks fizz before take off ....tried to sneak in an extra one but my husband's disapproving looks stopped me in my tracks
Lots of turbulence after take off which meant the seat belt signs stayed on for ages and the FA kept topping up my wine glass with a cheeky wink 
I wish I could have caught her name as I'd love to mention her personally but my contact lenses dried up and I didn't pack my glasses !The food service started very promptly and although it looked lovely and it wasn't great but then I never expect it to be. I had a very small and plain salad followed by beef with wasabi mash. The beef was very dry and overcooked and WAY too much wasabi for a 10 hour flight
For pud I had the velvet cake which was very dry so didn't finish it and I declined the cheese board in favour of trying to get some shut eye.I thought the supplied PJs were great quality and not sure if I was supposed to take them but are wearing them as I write
As I went to put them on the lovely FA made up my bed for me. We had what I think are the best seats of 2k 3k and 4k which is a nice quiet part of the plane (furthest from the bar) and facing a wall. Some people have said they are too close to the loo but most people used the toilets near the bar and after the lights dimmed the FAs closed the curtains on the other side of the aisle so the only people who really used them were in rows 2-8K.Sadly I just couldn't get to sleep. I'm only tiny (5' 1") so lots of room to stretch out but it just never happened. However - it was nice just to lie down and relax and definitely helped to reduce the jet lag. The only thing that did bug me was that I wanted to get up and change from the bed back to the seat so it was easier to watch a movie but I was aware that I might have disturbed other passengers in doing so and didn't want to wake up Mr Grumpy in 5K
An extra pillow - or a bigger pillow would make it more comfortable to watch TV whilst lying down.But before I knew it the lights were back on ready for breakfast to be served which I'd ordered the night before. And wow what a breakfast it was. One of the best cooked breakfasts I've had in ages. How on earth do they do that on a plane? And a piping hot cup of tea in a proper cup rather than luke warm water you get in PE
I can't believe how quickly the flight went. I never managed to get to the bar as the FA was constantly coming to myseat to ask if I needed anything. She was also SO good with my teenage son who has autism. She sat patiently whilst taking his food orders and chatted to him patiently. He stutters badly and normally people get so frustrated they just walk away but she was a genuinely nice person.
Just about to write my outbound PE trip report aswell to praise another Virgin FA. I don't know if staff are specifically trained in special needs or whether they are just selected because they genuinely seem to care. Or we have just been super lucky with our flight crew !
Roll on summer 2016. All I need to do is save up for a return UC journey.
