I headed down from Lancashire the day before using my usual East Coast Skipton>Leeds>London King’s Cross>Piccadilly tube line>LHR T4 Crowne Plaza hotel journey. No issues with this going down (the same could not be said for the return). I still do not chance using an East Coast train and flying the same day.
With the VS147 departure being a quite late 17:50 departure I was able to use my IHG status to get a late 2pm hotel check out. The Crowne Plaza doesn’t offer many options for lunch unfortunately. Whilst the restaurant offers breakfast and dinner, it’s closed for lunch. The only options are a grab and go sandwich concession in the hotel or to grab something landside T4 which is a short walk. There are 4 hotel options now for T4. The Hilton, The Crowne Plaza/Holiday Inn Express (which share the same building and is the closest to T4) or a Premier Inn all linked to T4 departures level using the covered walkway tunnel.
I’d booked my usual Parker Cars for my journey from the Crowne Plaza to the VS Upper Class Wing. As usual the text message informing me my car is on its way arrived early. Whilst Parker Cars are good do be prepared; as I find they are always consistently early, sometimes upto 30mins. Having used them many times now I was fully prepared for this in fact I’d even factored this into the journey timings! The 20mins journey was straightforward as was the drive-thru. It now costs £27.55 which includes the drop-off charge.
I was warmly welcomed and whilst a few other pax were being checked in, I was offered a seat on the settee with refreshments whilst I waited. I only had a few minutes to wait during time which one of the agents made sure I had my Canadian eTA. Fantastic agents as always in the Upper Class Wing
As a British passport holder, I’d obtained the mandatory Canadian eTA shortly after booking the flights which costs CA$7 per person and lasts for 5 years. It’s a very similar system to the US ESTA system just with fewer questions. That came back as approved after around 24hrs. I’d done OLCI the day before. I’d also completed the ArriveCAN customs declaration 72hrs before departure using the specific app.
VS use the B789’s for the YYZ route. Looking at the seat maps, loads were very healthy as Economy and Premium were both almost full. Around 12 empty seats in Upper. It’s been a while since I last flew on the B789’s so was looking forward to it. I still firmly believe that seat is still by far the best for bed mode. It’s by far the widest and flattest in the entire VS fleet.
I was through Upper Class Wing security in no time at all. Everything stays in bags now. No shoe scan this time which was a first for me! After a quick stop / purchase in duty free I was soon being warmly welcomed into the Clubhouse. Whilst waiting several pax in front of me got confused as they were supposed to be in the AA lounge downstairs. I see that happen quite a bit! The Clubhouse was quite full but not too busy. I headed up to my usual spot in the loft area.
Service was as good as always whilst I was in the Clubhouse. It was nice and sunny so I spent some time
up in the roof garden as did a few other pax. We were departing from gate 13 so the usual grotty part of T3. It really is about time Heathrow spent some money renovating that pier
.The flight was called around 45mins before departure. whilst there’s priority entry into the gate room for gate 13, it only has a single boarding door/jetway. By the time I arrived though most other pax had already boarded.
I was warmly greeted at the A/C door and directed to my 8K seat. Do always remember that row 7 in Upper Class on the B789's has a missing window! I was flying on G-VBOW today which has been renamed Amazing Grace. Nice to find another little hand written welcome card waiting for me at my seat. I’ve had several of these now and it’s a really nice little touch for Flying Club Gold members.
I’d already preordered my main meal. I fancied a change today so opted for the pre-order exclusive Teriyaki ToFu. Pre-departure drinks offered. The crew came and introduced themselves, welcomed me back on-board as a Flying Club Gold member. The FSM, who was another good one, also came and introduced himself just before take-off. The crew were all fantastic on this flight once again.
With this being a late 17:50 departure, dinner was served relatively quickly after around an hour after take-off. We pushed back slightly early and soon rotated after a short taxi.
I started with the tomato soap, the pre-ordered Teriyaki ToFu which were both delicious and very enjoyable. I finished with the summer berry pudding and a mug of tea. All in all the food was excellent and very enjoyable
I would even go as far as to say, that was probably one of the best on-board meals I've had from VS in a long time. I'm certainly going to order that again (if still available) on my next flight in October.
The FSM was working hard the entire flight and came to visit me on several occasions asking if I needed anything, as did the other crew working in J. I had a change of scenery and visited the bar a couple times. One or two other pax did the same. About half way into the flight the cabin lights were turned off and the windows all dimmed as it was getting late if still on GMT. Most pax did sleep for a bit but I don't like sleeping on 'day' flights so I stayed awake and watched the IFE.
I purchased the top £29.99 streaming WiFi package which quite frankly was unusable most of the time as I could barely surf the web or check emails let alone stream anything. On one occasion I was even sent back to the payment page despite purchasing a full flight package. Once I got back home I complained to both VS & Panasonic Aero (who operate the WiFi platform). There's an email address included in the receipt email for Panasonic Aero. I just stated that I'd had issues using the service. Panasonic Aero came back within 24 hours, agreed I had issues after 'checking their logs' as so fully refunded me. VS on the other hand came back with a really poor 'not our problem, we don't provide the wifi service so you need to contact them' response.
G-VBOW was in good condition. Everything worked apart from the skymap on the IFE. My 8K seat, the bar area, Upper Class cabin and washrooms were all in good working order which was good to see.
The Mile High Tea service was served around 90 mins before landing which again was very tasty and went down well. We landed at Toronto T3 at 20:08 (so 32mins early). I Said my goodbyes to the crew and headed to Immigration. Arrival / Immigration was super quick and easy. <2 minutes for immigration using the self-service machines. You simply scan your passport as one of the many many available machines, click a couple of boxes, get a print out and head to baggage reclaim via a quick check by a uniformed officer. Bags started to come off within a few minutes and before long I was heading to T1 to catch the Union Express train which takes you to Union station in the downtown Toronto area. Th journey takes about 25-30mins. I was settling into my hotel room at the Intercontinental by 21:15.
Another fantastic VS flight with hard working crews run by a stellar FSM who were all a credit to VS
Regards
James Mitchell
James Mitchell
