VS019 LHR-SFO Dec 06 (Upper)

[Scrooge]

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Well let's get the good parts out of the way.

The crew on this flight were fantasic, FSM and I spent a couple of hrs chatting at the bar, about V-Flyer and VS in general.

The food was the best of British which will only help the onboard comics with thier British food is crap jokes, im sorry but VS spends so much $$$ on the suites, PE and clubhouse then offers up something that just reminded me of school lunches from the 70's...without the good pudding [B)]

Well on to the bad part.

After a great night at a friends house ( thank you again[B)][oo]) we arrived at LHR terminal 3.

We had 30 mins to check-in and get to the club house for our treatments, no problem me thinks, only 5 people in line ahead of us and 4 desks open, we may have to hussle a little but we should make it.

45 mins later I have moved 5 feet, I am now on the red carpet thinking I may have a problem actualy getting to the gate on time.I look behind me and the line for UC check-in must now be 40 deep, of course it's at this point that sone of the check-in agents disappears [?].

PE is checking the the pax through like crazy people so I figure that they will start pulling paxfrom UC to check-in...nope not to be.

Anyways finaly get to the desk, get checked in, agent points us to the stairs to get to security and tells us to enjoy he club house, at this point I felt the need to point out hat it had taken over an 1 hr 1/2 to check-in and in fact our flight would start boarding in 20 mins so there was no way we were going to make the club house.

We get to the gate just as general boarding is announced, find our seats and the fantastic crew take over, our FA (getting a hero's nod) got us settled then made the mistake o asking us how the clubhouse was...Next thing I know the FSM is sitting talking to us, offering us miles and a very sincere agology, he call's the ground manager who also starts throwing miles at us (being a miles whore who am I to say no) this action of course sets of the rest of the cabin who have to point out that in fact they had not made it to the clubhouse because of the 2 hrs they spent waiting to check-in, including the guy with his wife and 3 young kids who explained that the person checking them in must of been on a day release program because he had no idea what he was doing.

Anyways I put this behind me, just get settled in for the long flight.

As I said, the crew was great, they made every effort to help me out with my food need's, including offering me one of their meals which did in fact look better than the UC offering and as the crew members here will be more than happy to point out that is not saying much.

All in all a good flight let down by the food and the total joke that was LHR UC check-in, but saved by a great crew.

Thanks for the TR Jetwet[y]

We had a similar experience last year. Unlike yourself, we had managed to get to the CH to be confronted by a most appalling and rude VS staff member at the front desk. This was when they were building phase 2 and the place was in chaos. Suffice to say, our flight to Boston that day in UCS was the best VS flight we have had so far and made up for the earlier poor service we had received.

As far as the food is concerned, I think VS could learn a lot from the CO Business First offerings[:D]

OMG 1 1/2 hours, what reason did they give for the slow queue?

-Steve

[Scrooge]

No reason given, from what I could see it was pretty much a result of a busy morning, only having 3 desks open to handle all the UC + Goldcard holders, for an airline of VS's size at LHR it is a crazy situation.

[Decker]

Wow Dave that REALLY sucks. Hopefully you both got miles? Mrs D always forgets to complain when luggage is delayed and then calls me jammy when I do and then get compensated [;)]. Glad to hear that the crew made up for it but still that is a ludicrous amount of time to be kept at check in - I start shuffling at 10 minutes!

[honey lamb]

DREADFUL!! I wonder what would have happened if you had reached check-in at the 60 minutes cut-off point having queued for so long? [:0] Ususally when there has only four or five waiting for check-in at UC someone has whisked me off to another check-in point.

The worst I had ever had to wait was 1 hour for PE and that was in the days before OLCI and the crowds were caused by a combination of a Bank Holiday weekend which was golden Jubilee weekend, the start of half term, Aer Lingus on strike and BA down a couple of long-haul aircraft which meant accommodating those pax. There seems to have been no apparent reasons for your delays other than inept staff [V]

Don't know how you managed to remain so calm Dave. This episode would've sent the present Mrs Treelo into the biggest hissy fit of all time [:p]

[ChuckC]

Dave,

Can't say that I've had the check-in issue at LHR but your situation makes me wonder, where was the VS station manager?

Glad to hear that the crew was outstanding. For me, this is the first thing I look for in a great flight and the only variable that compensates for nearly every disappointment.

Best,
Chuck-

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by Treelo
Don't know how you managed to remain so calm Dave. This episode would've sent the present Mrs Treelo into the biggest hissy fit of all time [:p]

Honestly if I had been half way awake I would of been, but after the previous night I was not my normal self.

To me other than the fact that I was looking foward to a breakfast I honestly couldn't care less about the CH.

No idea where the station manager was.

As many will agree a great crew (this was) will help settle most problems, it is just such a shame that the crew is left holding the bag for ground inability to get things working correctly.

I was there yesterday too heading to IAD, I was looking forward to using the UC checkin as a new Gold member, but I gave in and headed straight to the PE line, as a) it was shorter and b) I was traveling in PE.

I had the Gold/Fast Track problem mentioned in another post, did some shopping and got 45 mins in the club house.

The M4 was stationary yesterday morning from Reading, it took an hour and 15 mins to get in, when the trip normally takes 30. With the M3 having issues and so did the M25, I suspect people were delayed from an early arrival to T3 and they all pitched up at the same time.

Really sounds like a great 'save' from the crew on your flight, after the sloppy performance from the LHR ground crew - who, I have to say, have usually been great.

Not surprised about the food at all. Particularly ex-London, the J cabin food has become very, very samey (yet more fish pie?), and very dull (in terms of taste, quality and preparation). It's gone from bad to worse, and I have a couple of theories why.

Thanks for the trip reports Dave, much appreciated.

Cheers,
Mike

[Scrooge]

Ok Mike I wil bite, why as the food become samey?

Originally posted by jetwet1
Ok Mike I wil bite, why as the food become samey?

Okay, I have two theories:

1) I think LSG ex-London are not making the VS food freshly anymore (i.e. within 24-36 hours of departure), but instead bringing in a lot of pre-prepared ambient stable, chilled or frozen items either from outside or from elsewhere in the LSG organisation, and then 'assembling' the meals from these components. I think this is evidenced by the lack of a salad course in the last two ex-UK menu cycles - that's something which has to be fresh. ISTR that almost all the J food used to be freshly prepared at the flight kitchen under the GateGourmet contract.

2) The catering has become even more bland and samey since LSG bought out Abela Catering and started to move customers over to being catered from the former Abela facility. They (Abela) were originally a Lebanese company, so maybe that's where the 'Med menu' came from? Whatever, they don't seem to know how to cook grilled meats such as steaks (or maybe they are just being massacred on-board in the galley?), and the sauces have been terrifyingly bland. They do seem to be heavily into fish pies and seafood in sauces, maybe because it is something they are good at?

Those are my thoughts as to why the ex-London food particularly isn't great. My feelings about VS food generally are that it's designed by managers with only minimal or heavily structured feedback from passengers, and limited input from cabin crews. There isn't tight enough quality control on suppliers like LSG, and while the test menus probably taste great on the ground when freshly cooked, they just won't stand up to the rigours of airline catering.

Cheers,
Mike

[Scrooge]

I can see where you are coming from, the food compared to say BA club is well... diappointing to say the least.

It just seems that the bean counters have gone to far, if VS is trying to capture more J pax they are going the wrong way about it, food not up to scratch, removing cabins amenities and only limited check-in when compared to say BA.

But they do have a great Club house at LHR..so I have been told [:#]

Thanks for the TR - does not sound like one of VS LHR's better days[;)]

VS.

Virgin food is fantastic when you compare it to the awful stuff United have the cheek to serve and charge you $5 on their 3 hr 15 min flights.

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by ukcobra
Virgin food is fantastic when you compare it to the awful stuff United have the cheek to serve and charge you $5 on their 3 hr 15 min flights.

But here is the difference, VS charges around $4k for their UC flights and then promotes the hell out of the food etc, UA (not counting PS service) does not.

[ChuckC]

Very, very good point, Dave!

Chuck-

Originally posted by ukcobra
Virgin food is fantastic when you compare it to the awful stuff United have the cheek to serve and charge you $5 on their 3 hr 15 min flights.

I fear we're comparing apples with oranges here.

The UA business class food ex-London (catered by Alpha) is usually pretty good, from my experience of it. At one point, I was flying UA *a lot* and the menu seemed to be changed monthly - not the entire menu, just one or two items, so the whole menu 'rolled over' in about 3 months - but there was almost always different to try month to month. (Also, SFO/LAX get different menus to IAD and ORD.)

What UA may lack in menu originality and gimmicks, they more than make up for in variety, taste, quality, size, and execution.

Mike

[Scrooge]

The same goes for CO as well, but of course they have their steaks as well which are normaly the best in the air.

What UA may lack in menu originality and gimmicks, they more than make up for in variety, taste, quality, size, and execution.

Although UA may not be the best example (and things certainly have got bad if VS is being shown up by a US legacy carrier[;)]), but I fear that VS is going for style over substance far too much these days[:?]

VS.

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by VS045

What UA may lack in menu originality and gimmicks, they more than make up for in variety, taste, quality, size, and execution.

Although UA may not be the best example (and things certainly have got bad if VS is being shown up by a US legacy carrier[;)]), but I fear that VS is going for style over substance far too much these days[:?]

VS.

That could well be true, the 'feel like your in 1A while sitting in 43A' type add is a prime example of this, in a lot of cases the VS onboard product has no chance of living up to the ad hype, this leads to a pax that end up disappointed.

quote:
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Originally posted by VS045


quote:
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What UA may lack in menu originality and gimmicks, they more than make up for in variety, taste, quality, size, and execution.
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Although UA may not be the best example (and things certainly have got bad if VS is being shown up by a US legacy carrier), but I fear that VS is going for style over substance far too much these days

VS.


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That could well be true, the 'feel like your in 1A while sitting in 43A' type add is a prime example of this, in a lot of cases the VS onboard product has no chance of living up to the ad hype, this leads to a pax that end up disappointed.

I think it may be our dear friend Homer Simpson who said that if you aim low, you'll never be disappointed[;)]
However, I policy I'd recommend to VS would be aim high and fulfil those aims[:D]

VS.

Originally posted by Stevieboy
OMG 1 1/2 hours, what reason did they give for the slow queue?

-Steve

Why i do believe some of the issue here is LHR now has a 'Premier Team' for Upper Class check in and most of these agents were recruited externally.

Whereas before, to sit on Upper Class you had to do your time on Economy check in and then become a 'Senior Agent' to sit on Upper. This taught agents one good thing - speed!

The Premier Team were selected for exceptional customer service skills which is fantastic, but they've not been given the skills of how to check in quickly.

The W queue was most likely goig quicker because old agents were on it who use an old version of check in and just want to get everyone on their way ASAP!

[Scrooge]

Well as was mentioned by the couple sitting across from me on the flight ' the agent seemed to have no idea what he was doing'.

Now not wanting to beat a dead horse here, but FFS VS when are you going to figure out that ok you are saving a few $$$ by not using senior agents.To give you an idea, BA check-in under 10 mins, Maxjet check-in under 10 mins, CO check-in under 10 mins, VS check-in...90 mins.

It seems to be a stupid situation as wll from the POV that VS are trying to draw J biz pax from BA at LHR but they only have 3 desks open, they have more desks open at SFO FFS which only gets one flight a day, your hub should have enough desks to cope with the number of flights.

As a side note 20k miles appeared in my account today, didn't ask for them so a very big [y] to the FSM on this flight.

Still it would of been nice to see the LHR club house, oh well next trip I guess, fingers crossed.