This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Following the usual mysterious tapping it was my turn to check in, or at least drop my bag - given that I had checked in the night before. The check in agent was rather distracted, so much so that he asked me if I was travelling to New York (when the e-ticket print out was right in front of him), forgot to give me the green and white forms that are the staple of any US traveller, and then asked me if I had a Gold card so I could gain entry into the lounge when hed just printed my J boarding card.
Anyway, after a brief diversion via the American Express currency desk to stock up on US dollars I wandered through Fast Track security which was actually fast this time. Not only that, but the outbound passport check seems to have been removed. I managed to bypass the duty free shop and it was mere moments before I was stomping up the stairs to the lounge.
At 7:15 the lounge was almost empty, with attentive service, a decent WiFi connection and plenty of room to stretch out. Having given my breakfast order it was time to catch up on the days Guardian before tucking into my salmon and cream cheese bagel. Unfortunately the bagel was of the sesame seed, rather than onion, variety, and had been toasted to a granite-like consistency. Still, the orange juice was fresh, the coffee hot, and the Berliner-format Guardian meant that my baboon-like arms werent clunking my neighbours in the head as I turned each page.
After breakfast things began to get busy, so I moved down the steps to the lower level and plugged my laptop into the juice. Unfortunately a busy lounge seems to be characterised by a diminution in WiFi signal quality and soon my laptop was struggling. Being a seasoned Clubhouse devotee I had booked a haircut at 9:30, and as the time came around I toddled over to the desk and sorted myself out with a reasonable chop to the barnet. Not the best haircut Ive ever had, but enough to stave off the hippy comments from my staff.
By the time Id finished in the salon the lounge was more or less completely full - we really do need the extension sorted out pronto. I took a seat at the bar and attempted to fire up the laptop once more, but the reception was now so poor that it was pretty much unusable.
I left the lounge a few minutes before the flight was called, for a fairly lengthy walk down to gate 34. My timing was just right, with the phalanx of Securicor staff just about to open up as I arrived. A perfunctory passport check and I was the third person on the plane, turning left to seat 11A which is my favourite on the 346 for day flights.
The flight wasnt full: Upper Class had three or four empty seats and there were only 70 in Economy. Arriving at my suite, Carlos and menu were waiting on the ottoman, the lunch menu being the new lamb suet / paella / vegetarian combo with the new Berry Bros and Rudd wine list. For once I actually relished the champagne on boarding: the Laurent Perrier is a huge improvement on the nasty Jacquart. Then time to sit back and enjoy the ride, rotating at about 12:15, so only a few minutes late despite the usual crush of heavy jets on the runway.
I know Ive said it before, but the A346 is a distinctly unlovely plane: you just cant imagine it inspiring affection in the same way that a Jumbo does. The UCS is also narrower and shorter, accentuating the battery chicken feel. Still, the suite wasnt in too bad nick and happily the tray table and cocktail table worked fine.
However, V-Port seemed to be a tad stubborn, with the FSM having to reboot it immediately after the system froze as it started up. And then again, and again, with each cycle requiring that seat power (not just EmPower but the electrical adjustment of the seats themselves) being turned off for 10 minutes each time. Eventually she gave up, with much apologies over the PA. They did handle this issue as well as could be expected, with the FSM making a point of coming round to FA Au card holders to apologise personally - the going rate is apparently 10,000 Flying Club miles for non-functioning IFE. They did manage to get a single channel running in the V-Port fallback mode, but hardly much consolation, particularly to those in the back of the bus who must surely have been reduced to staring at the heads of the row in front for 8 hours.
Lunch was served an hour or so into the flight. I chose the chicken salad and the paella. Both werent exactly nasty, but they werent that tasty either, and both were horribly dry. I started on the White Burgundy but moved quickly to the Shiraz which does seem to be the only drinkable wine on the menu. I finished with cheese. Again the desiccated nature of VS catering seemed to be in evidence - just how exactly is it possible to serve a dry Camembert?
I got on with work for the rest of the flight, with the IFBT calling a stream of people who werent me for their treatments. I was clearly at the back of the queue having had that haircut earlier, but joy of joys an hour before landing she got to me for the hand zone massage which was excellent.
The seatbelt sign went on just as my massage finished, with little to see outside the plane as we descended slowly into a snowy Dulles. Ive not been to Washington for many years, so it was interesting to see that they still use the mobile lounges to take arriving passengers to the main terminal - there is apparently a walkway to concourse B where the Virgin gate is, but this is only for departures. Of course, doing the mobile lounge thing meant that the so-called priority disembarkation is not really of use: you get off the plane first but the mobile lounge fills up with everyone else soon after.
Class consciousness aside, the immigration process was smooth and relatively easy, incurring only ten minutes or so delay. Baggage collection was another matter, with a whole group of us waiting patiently beneath the monitors for some hint of where the bags would arrive. The good news was that when they did, Upper Class bags were out first and it was only a short step to the taxi rank to crawl into the city.
Not a bad flight, but the lack of IFE was a disappointment. No DVD players were offered either, which did seem strange. The food is also still of pretty poor quality compared with some of the competition, but the service, whilst not sparkling, was still pretty good.
BC
