VS005 LHR-MIA 2 Nov 06 (Upper)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Seems like forever since the outward journey but will try and remember the main points.

After a stay in Paddington the evening before we were up nice and early for check in the following day. We stayed at the Quality Crown on Praed St, 96 prpn, very small room but newly furnished and very comfortable. The HEX to LHR seemed the best option and we would certainly stay in Paddington again rather than actually at the airport.

No one at UC check in and we were attended too immediately and very efficiently too. Fastrack was particularly helpful and we were through within 10 minutes and at the clubhouse by 07.45am. We were given a tour of the facilties and the service was impeccable. We both had treatments booked for 08.30 - a haircut for me and a Rhinestone Cowboy for my husband. Unfortunately they were a staff member short so the Rhinestone Cowboy was put back to 09.15, but not a problem. We were both very happy with the results. The food and drink was all top notch and the service was first class too.

Boarding was on time and so was take off. At this point things went downhill.

The cabin crew were the worst I have ever come across, I never saw the FSM and the food was abysmal. I ate nothing other than the tapas starter and had to call for a drink at every point. The staff were virtually invisible the whole flight. I did complain and a report was made by a crew member regarding the menu, however, I think 'my card was marked' and I did hear a staff member moan very loudly to other crew members about me. I found this un-acceptable and made my feelings known. I have since complained to VA, received an apology but no compensation.

Landing was around 30 minutes early and immigration wasn't too bad, around 30 minutes in total. Limo was easily located but the driver didn't seem too sure which route to take even though he had Sat Nav, we ended up telling him which way to go. However, he was extremely pleasant and I would definitely use the service again.

It was 09.30pm local time when we got to our villa, fortunately our MC had left some food and we were starving, so after a quick meal we were exhausted and straight to bed.

Jilly

Sorry to hear about the FAs - Thats not on at all. As for the food I believe there has to be a big improvment as there just seems to be complaint after complaint about the food now served on board.

Originally posted by jilly
I never saw the FSM

This seems to be norm these days [:(]

Interestingly on recent VS flights I've been on, I've noticed that when the FSM makes the announcement at the start of the flight, they name the CSS those in charge of the Upper Class Cabin.

Maybe the FSM see's it as the CSS's role ?

On most flights I've been on the FSM does make a point out of visiting UC and usually this only doesn't happen when we are a few crew down and full or something has happend elsewhere which the FSM has to sort.

Sorry to hear about the bad crew, you should email them back and maybe there is hope for compensation. I hope your future VS flights and the crew are much, much better.

Originally posted by jilly
I think 'my card was marked' and I did hear a staff member moan very loudly to other crew members about me. I found this un-acceptable and made my feelings known. I have since complained to VA, received an apology but no compensation.

I can not believe how rude they were! [n][V] I am interested to know what the FSM said to you when you over heard the FA moaning to other crew, I would of spoken to the FA with the FSM and advised that this was WAY out of line!

Sorry it wasn't a great flight!

Dominic

Thanks for the TR![y]

Sorry about the crew - certainly not what you want having paid thousands of pounds for the flight[n]

VS.

We've been meaning to write a TR for this flight but as Jilly has beaten us to it we'll just add a few comments to his thread.

We were on the same flight, but upstairs in PE which was full. The couple in front of us, as we entered the departure lounge, were upgraded to UC.

Jilly, Sorry to hear about you experience in UC.
Our experience in PE was the complete opposite. The flight crew were friendly and very helpful. Meal and drinks service were excellant.
The main meal was very good even though it was still the old Y service. IIRC we had lamb stew. It was served hot, plenty of meat and it tasted very good.
This meal was far better than the one we had in May when we flew UC. Maybe VS should take another look at the onboard UC service.
With the planned improvement in PE, apart from the UCS, W class maybe the best way to travel.
We were that impressed with the PE service that we will now consider flying PE on all day time flights and just use UC for the overnight ones in the future.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the flight. I didn't know which seat you were in until after we'd flown, and thought it might be a tad embarassing asking the whole of the cabin if they were called Tim.

I am thinking along the same lines as yourself, and travelling only in UC for comfort to sleep on the return and now can't justify the extra cost for the journey.

Hope you had a great holiday.

Jilly

Dominic I never spoke with the FSM, but just the cabin crew involved. She did apologise and was very embarrassed and I decided to leave it at that.

I am disappointed with VAs response to my concerns. Without going into too much detail, they have said that the food will be changing (as we all knew) and that the cabin crew concerned will be spoken to regarding the incident and that they agree her manner was unacceptable.

I do think an offer of miles would have been appropriate considering they have agreed with my complaints and may decide to pursue the matter further.

Jilly

Thanks for letting me know Jilly, I agree with you they really should ne more proactive in offering miles, as if this FA does it again they could lose a few high spending clients. Hope she isn't on my flight to DXB in a couple of weeks [V]

Dominic

Jilly,
I would keep complaining. My first complaint was ignored. They then said they would give me miles as compensation, which never appeared so I complained again. They said they thought someone else had dealt with it and as a way of appology, gave me an extra 5k so 15k in total for my UC complaint.
If Virgin is your choice, I agree with comments that PE is better value than UC from Manchester.