Bang on 6am the CDC arrived , not one of the Volvos which Id been expecting but a brand spanking new Mercedes S class [y] The driver explained that this was one of Tristars premium offerings whereas the Volvos normally used on the VA runs are executive. It was only down to the driver living just round the corner from us that he was allocated our early pick up! As soon as we set off the driver explained how things would work once we arrived at Drive-Thru, he then transmitted our details to Tristar. They, he said, in turn confirm with the staff at drive-thru that were on the way. Traffic was fine and we pulled up at drive-thru at 7.20. A VA staff member was waiting to greet us as the car pulled up, our driver had already let us know that 'the procedure' would be done through the rear left window, ie. where I was sitting. The whole process was complete in no more than 90 secs, throughout that time we remained seated in the back. The VA representative was extremely polite and full of the joys of spring - she had already pre-printed our LAX baggage tags & boarding passes and just needed to quickly see our passports and Eticket receipt. Our driver removed the cases while we were still in the car and we saw them being tagged. A security agent was also present, he asked the standard questions - still talking to us through the car window. The VA rep then asked us to get out of the car and led us through to south wing check-in and straight up to fast-track security.
No queue whatsoever at security, we were through by 7.30 and heading for the Club House. Well, what can I say? Last time we were at the LHR Club House it was half the size, now its truly amazing! I couldnt believe it when we ventured to the outside area on the roof only to find a gleaming Jaguar parked up there guess they mustve used a crane to winch it into position? I wont go into every detail on the Club House bit other than to say we loved every minute of it. An announcement was made at 10:45 that the aircraft operating the VS7 today is on stand but there will be a delay of approximately half an hour in boarding. After another half an hour an announcement was made that a new departure time had been set for 12:30 and we would be called for boarding around 11:45. We had a connection to make in LAX for our UA flight to PSP so were beginning to feel just a little twitchy at this delay but, hey, we had three hours between flights originally & if thats now down to two then no drama! The only thing bothering us was how long would the queue at LAX immigration be, sometimes its awful - also - how long would it take us to transfer from T2 to T8? I decided to check our flights status on va.com and was pleased to see that it was showing the revised 12:30 departure time but was amazingly showing an arrival time of 14:40, ten minutes early, guess the tail winds are in our favour today!
So, on to the all important flight. As has always been the case when weve boarded the VS7 at LHR the gate area was a scrum. No sign of any priority boarding so we just joined the end of the long queue. After 5 minutes or so there was an announcement to say that UC, PE and Gold FC members should be using 'the right hand channel'. We couldnt even see this but barged through & located it. No signage whatsoever, pretty poor show in all honesty. Surely getting premium boarding sorted out at LHR would be such a simple thing to do, they manage it at at LAS & LAX and, from what I've read on VFlyer, everywhere else apart from LHR!
Once on board we settled into our suites, 9A and 10A. The aircraft we were on was G-VHOT Tubular Belle, first time wed been on her our last few flights have been on G-VROC. Having read a few reports on VFlyer about wear & tear and general shabbiness of some of the UCSs we werent sure what to expect but on this occasion we were greeted with a pristine cabin, not a mark or blemish anywhere and everything truly clean. We found out later in conversation with the cabin crew that G-VHOT has just come out of a deep clean, she hadnt even flown last night. It really showed through, I was extremely impressed with the quality & cleanliness of everything. It all sparkled & felt like new [y]
In his welcome on board announcement the FSM did the usual introductions but also, and I thought this was a really nice touch, he made a point of saying please do not hesitate to ask for me by name - Sam at any point in the flight if there is anything you need (Permission given to use name). He made a point of repeating this at the end of the announcement.
Within a few minutes we met Sam - he came round and introduced himself to everyone in UC, sparing time with each person to have a proper conversation, not just a quick hello. Later in the flight we spent ages at the bar with Sam and other members of the crew chatting about this, that & the other. All members of the crew Sam introduced us to were a true asset to Virgin, they shone in every respect each of them genuinely interested in the current topic of conversation and frequently initiating new threads.Certainly made for a few extra glasses of champers being consumed as we chatted with them & fellow passengers at the bar. I mentioned VFlyer to Sam & his colleagues and, although they hadnt heard of us, they were really keen to find out more. I explained the ins & outs and said that Id be writing a trip report after the flight and would it be OK to quote Sams name? Not only did he say it would be absolutely fine but the others made a point of saying mention us as well! So here is huge thank you to the fabulous crew that made this flight the best weve ever had: Sam (FSM), Troy & Maxine (CSS), Sarah, Hannah, Claire, Samantha (SCC). Sam also gave me his email address so that I can email a link to the trip report!
Enough on the wonderful crew, what about the food? It was excellent, really good this time compared to last. We both went for the Fruits de Mer Thermidor. Huge chunks of fish in a delicious mushroom & white wine sauce served with potato gratin & French beans. We ate quite late on this flight, mainly as wed spent some time at the bar after take off. Later on (again at the bar!) the crew said that many passengers in UC on this flight had remarked at how good the food was, especially the seafood thermidor!
Summing up this wonderful flight: The crew made it what it was, what other airline can you fly with and feel like you end up knowing the cabin crew like friends when hours earlier youd never met them? What other airline can you pass the hours away chatting with fellow passengers around a well tended bar? The group of girls on their way to LAS via LAX on a hen weekend were a real laugh, not roudy on anything like that just extremely fun to be with!
Just as va.com had predicted earlier that day, despite the delay in departing LHR (we were eventually airborne at 13:06) we made it to LAX virtually on time. Indeed the captain had stated at the outset that with a few shortcuts Ill have you there on time.
Our cases were off virtually among the first, no delays at all at LAX immigration, only around half a dozen people in the queue. We were out landside by 15:30 and on the bus to T8 a few minutes later. We then found out that T8 actually doesnt really exist, UA are in fact T7 but they seem to have a habit at LAX of branding piers terminals! We checked in using the kiosk machines at T7 and even managed to get weight listed on to an earlier flight to PSP Id never have expected to be in a position to do that with the delay leaving LHR earlier! Needless to say we didnt make the earlier flight as it was full - so took the our originally booked one an hour later. Must admit it felt odd seeing our cases though the gateroom window being loaded on to the earlier flight, the one we werent travelling on! Wed been told by the lady at the podium that this is routine and our cases would be waiting for us on the floor by the carousel in PSP.and sure enough they were!
All in all a perfect day. From the CDC pick-up to the Club House to the wonderful flight to dinner in Palm Springs that same day! Looking forward to another UC experience in April thank goodness for FC miles, theres no way we could be UC junkies without them!
So goodbye from an exceedingly hot Palm Springs, we hit Vegas tomorrow and Boston next Fri. Ill write a return trip report from BOS later in October.
Cheers,
James
EDIT: Over lunch just now I mentioned to Steve I'd posted my trip report earlier (while he was in the pool) and he said 'what about my bit?'. So...here's Steve's bit >>
I thought Upper Class was simply fabulous and the club house is simply the best
