After my recent escapades 'down the back', I bought 1k miles to take my FC account to 50k. I'd been in contact with FC all the week before the flight to see if an UC reward seat had opened up so I could get a 1-way reward ticket. Unfortunately, one hadn't and the US FC guys couldn't (or wouldn't?) speak with Revenue Management to get one released and kept advising to try again nearer the day or at the airport on the day. I tried calling the UK FC number, but was having no luck getting through. Anyway, I'd not managed to secure a place in the pointy bit and hadn't availed the use of OLCI, so I figured I'd go to Ticketing right off the bat to see what they could do. Of course, with me arriving at SFO so early, the Ticketing desk was closed (though there was a queue building for Economy) and I wandered outside to top up on my nicotine levels.
At around 1220hrs, there was still no-one in line for Ticketing, and no sign of activity behind the desks, so I took my place at the head of the queue and waited. It wasn't til around 1240hrs when the Ticketing desk opened, and I enquired as to the availability of 1 UC reward ticket - explaining that I was on an 'N' ticket and couldn't upgrade it. Good news, there was 1 seat available [y] The agent was very professional & friendly and had to make a load of enquiries, then ring FC to get the miles deducted. On giving me the slip of paper to authorise the mileage deduction, it said 30,000 miles - I asked if that meant they were simply upgrading my existing ticket and that was confirmed - wow [:0] I was soooo happy! I was checked into seat 16K, but had to go to the Economy line to get my passport & ticket checked & receive the obligatory red sticker on the back of my passport. No problems there. The agent was then about to start writing out a CH invite, and I said not to worry about it, since I had my Au card and purple BP. I couldn't fault the process & the Ticketing agent here, a very nice experience and thanked her profusely [:)]
I went outside to get a bit more nicotine before heading up to the wonderful CH. Here, I found out why the Ticketing agent was so keen to write out a CH invite - it was actually asked for! That's got to be the first time that'd happened to me, so I just explained that I had my Au card & BP, and I was admitted without a problem. I took my regular position here and sat at the bar, the gentleman behind it looked familiar and recognised me too - he's 'A' the Executive Chef/Manager (didn't ask for permission to use his name [:I]) but I couldn't see many of the other regular faces - turned out that they were all off for the day. Still, 'A' served up a couple of Anchor Steam beers while I chomped away at 2 bowls of kettle chips and he was highly enjoyable company & conversation while my time was whiled away in this oasis. As for food, I can't remember the actual dish I had (ravages of time & alcohol I'm afraid), but it was very tasty & up to the usual extremely high standards - after this, I moved onto multiple Blue Lagoons as my liquid refreshment (surprise? [:D]).
There were some great views from the CH of the apron & runways - it seemed that the domestic departures were doing parallel take-offs from the runways, which was good to watch. At around 1320hrs, we saw the VS019 arrive and taxi right in front of the CH windows as usual - it was G-VHOT (Tubular Belle), and looked splendid in the California sunshine [:)]
It must've taken a good 90mins for the UK's Sunday papers to arrive off the '19, but when they did, I got into a Ryder Cup conversation with an American couple who were flying over specially for the competition (bless, I hope they had a good time anyway, despite the thrashing [;)][:D]). All too soon, paradise was disturbed when we were called for boarding at around 1600hrs. I gave my thanks to 'A' for yet another superb CH visit, we shook hands, and I made my way outside for a final dosage of nicotine. After dispatching that cigarette, it was off to security for the obligatory shoe carnival - but again, it was the US security check that seemed much milder than the one we had leaving the UK and my book of safety matches was left intact (go figure, the 'mericans being less paranoid than the UK? [ii]).
Made my way down to the usual departure gate, A8, and realised that in the kerfuffle by checking in at Ticketing, the departure record portion of my VWP was still in my passport. An immigration agent advised that I could hand it in at the gate, but knowing how things can go wrong when there's a departure from normal procedure, I decided to make use of the US:VISIT machine at the top of the escalator at the gate. No problems there, and with printed receipt in hand, got into the right hand queue for the dedicated priority boarding line - working well as usual [y][y] I still handed in the remaining portion of the VWP, but felt a lot more comfortable knowing that my departure was recorded properly at least.
Boarded G-VHOT and made my way to 16K - the suite was in decent condition and my 'amenity kit', such as it was, was waiting for me on the seat. If you haven't seen the pics on the megathread or the gallery, here they are again (heading links will take you to the pictures, where the contents & text are described in the comments):
Exterior shot:
Interior shot:
Apart from the text in the kit, no-one made any mention of where the extra items were, and to be honest, I wasn't that bothered about asking - I spotted a bowl of toothbrushes & toothpaste in the loo though.
There was no FSM introduction, but as I was settling in with a glass of champagne, I was asked if I wanted a Sleep Suit - yes, a large one please. That was soon supplied and I dashed into the loo to change into it. I'm not sure whether the IFBT came round before or after take-off, but I requested a back/shoulder massage and volunteered to be woken up if necessary.
We were pushed back slightly early, and taxied out for an on-time take-off. While we were taxiing, one of the CC came around and told those of us with reclined seats (it wasn't just me) to have them upright for take-off. Since when has this been in effect??? [n]
V:Port was started up and was all working correctly - however, the FSM came over the PA to tell us it was being rebooted. For some reason, when it was rebooted, only 2 channels would work and it stayed this way for the remainder of the flight. I'm sure you can see why Entertainment gets a 'Very Poor' rating (I've included this in my letter to VS regarding priority baggage handling on the outbound) [n][n]
Here's the menu for the flight:
Dinner
Starters
- Seasonal leaf salad with smoked duck, blue cheese, grapes and cranberry & orange vinaigrette
- Oriental vegetable spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce
Main Courses
- Crusted lamb served with parsnip fries, green beans and Merlot & thyme sauce
- Poached salmon with vegetable julienne, red bliss potatoes and Napa Valley Chardonnay sauce
- Thai green vegetable curry served with jasmine rice and toasted coconut
Cheese
- Buttermilk Blue
- Aged Cheddar
- Double Cream Brie
Dessert
- Fresh autumn berry sponge served with mascarpone cheese
- Dulce de leche ice cream served with chocolate sauce and crushed Crunchie pieces
Smaller Bites
- Roast beef sandwich with Portobello mushrooms and caramelized onions
- Panco crumbled goat's cheese with sun-blushed tomato vinaigrette
- Asian shrimp cakes with cucumber salsa
Breakfast
- Selection of breakfast cereals - Cornflakes, Weetabix, Fruit'n'Fibre, Special K
- Warm bagels served with cream cheese
- Butter croissants and blueberry muffins served with a selection of preserves - marmalade, honey, strawberry & blackcurrant jams
- Seasonal fresh fruit served with natural yoghurt
- Bacon roll served with either tomato ketchup or brown sauce
- Cheese omelette served with smoked bacon, sauteed new potatoes and Roma tomato
Champagne & Wine
Champagne
- Champagne Laurent Perrier Brut nv
- Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, Trevisol & Figli nv, Veneto, Italy
White wines
- Domaine de Coudoulet Chardonnay 2005, Languedoc, France
- Sauvignon Ormoz Jeruzalem 2005, Slovenia
- Pinot Grigio 'Nec Otium' 2005, Veneto, Italy
Red wines
- Corbieres 2004, Chateau du Tour Grand Moulin, France
- Barolino 2005, Mote del Fra, Italy
- Berrys' Own Selection Rioja 2001, Bodegas Amezola de la Mora, Spain
I took a couple of pieces of garlic bread, and selected the Corbieres to start with - it's a while since I've had a Corbieres, and this one didn't seem as 'full' as I remembered it. My starter was the spring rolls - nice, tasty & hot, if a little thin - the sweet chilli sauce was perfect. For the main course, I had the crusted lamb, which was cooked very well. To accompany this, I had a glass of the Rioja, which was really dry and just didn't hit the spot for me.
To be honest, the wine list wasn't really inspiring anyway. My biggest gripe with it being that there was no 'local' influence on it - having just spent 2 weeks in Napa, and departed 50 miles south of there, one would imagine that there'd have been at least a little Napa influence. VS certainly used to manage this quite well before the 'professional' Berry Bros got involved [ii] For this, 'Food & Drink' only gets a 'good' rating.
The cheese came round soon after, and I was offered an accompanying glass of port - most civilised, and highly enjoyable. For some reason though, I never got asked if I wanted a dessert - I don't remember making dessert selections when ordering the meal at the start of the flight previously. Anyway, maybe it's just as well, 'cos this little piggy was full by this point [:D]
After dinner, I went up to the bar while my bed was made up. I had a 'fallen vodka', and I think I interrupted a drunken guy's attempts to hit on a lady sat at the bar too (don't think he was too impressed, but hey, what can you do? [:D]). When I returned to my newly made-up bed, I decided to order a carton of Lambert & Butler, being as they were still on special offer. I left an approximation in dollars with the crew member, and handed in my breakfast order card. I also managed to get one of the iPod charging leads [y]
Getting into bed, V:Port was still not working, so I switched on my iPod, connected it to the power supply, and drifted off into an alcoholic sleep to music, safe in the knowledge that the iPod was also being recharged - excellent [y]
Some 6.5hrs later, I awoke when breakfast was starting to be served - great timing. Just as my breakfast arrived (I'd ordered Seasonal Fresh Fruit' without the yoghurt, a Bacon Roll with tomato ketchup and the Cheese Omelette + coffee), the IFBT came to call me for my massage. The massage was perfect and just right to wake up to.
After breakfast was cleared away, I went to get changed back into my civvies. En route, I collared the CC who I'd placed my smokes order with and she went off to get the order. It was then placed in the overhead locker while I transformed [:D] I didn't notice onboard, but my change ($2) had been put into the bag - shame though, as it means I now have an extra couple of bucks that didn't make it into the currency exchange.
While the CC secured the cabin for descent, the same member of crew that'd told us to put our seats upright on departure came round to tell us to put our seats upright for landing. The guy in 15K and I exchanged glances and we both said that they'd never requested that before. It certainly was strange.
We landed at 1020hrs - 10 minutes early - and ended up taxiing to a remote stand, though this didn't take long and the bus was there to meet us. Priority disembarkation worked nicely - UC got onto the first bus at least. When we arrived at T3, the staircase we were dumped at the bottom of was such a tip, and a couple of us commented about what an impression visitors must get as their first view of the country [ii]
Anyway, we ended up right next to the immigration hall, so no real route march required [y] The EU immigration queue was deserted, so we were straight through that and down to the baggage hall. After getting a trolley, I was gobsmacked to find that priority baggage handling had actually worked at LHR - my bags were probably in the first 25 to come out [:0] Walking through the 'Nothing to Declare' Customs channel as usual, an officer stopped me to ask where I'd just arrived from. While I answered, I thought this was it, the first time I'd ever been stopped at UK Customs - but the guy didn't want to question me, just thanked me and waved me on [:D]
Although the excess alcohol consumption was definitely still in effect, a hangover seemed intent on kicking in. I made my way up to Revivals, desperately in need of nicotine - checked in there, dumped my luggage, got a shower room, then met up with Andrew (radar) who was idly surfing the net ([:D]) after being in there since arriving from MIA that morning. It was Andrew that had to be the brave man and pass on the awful news that Revivals is now non-smoking throughout (apparently been that way since January)! Quickly cancelling my shower room, the pair of us went downstairs to smoke & talk V-Flyer. It was good to meet you Andrew, and hope to see you on a social event soon - that way you can see the drunken-ness before the tiredness [:D]
Anyway, back up to Revivals and secured a new shower room - the shower was excellent as always - very powerful, and the Cowshed branded potions are just the right pick-me-up. Housekeeping managed to get rid of the millions of creases in my shirt too [y]. Outside, I managed to squeeze in the speciality breakfast - smoked salmon, asparagus, creamy mushroom sauce (did it have scrambled egg in too?). Had an OJ & several cokes and tried to sleep a little more before my taxi came to pick me up at 1320hrs. Another great Revivals experience, even if the anti-tobacco brigade have struck there too!
In summary, a decent enough flight & experience all-round. SFO CH remains one of my favourite ever places to be before a flight, priority baggage worked at LHR, and the actions by the Ticketing agent at SFO restored some of my previously damaged VS faith. However, I can't quite shake this feeling that, in general, the onboard service (although not dropping below 'Good') isn't the same 'special VS' that it once was.
Cheers
Michael
