VS007 LHR-LAX 8 Jan 07 (Upper)
Posted: 10 Jan 2007, 03:52This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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LHR-LAX
08th January 2007
Premium Economy
Seat 18A -> 17K
G-VGAS
Warning: Long!!
Got up at 6am to pack the last of my things, and to make the journey down to LHR for my flight to LAX (and on to SFO with UA). I was off to Macworld Conference & Expo courtesy of work, woohoo!. My company has a Y travel policy, though I had managed to work a little magic by booking a Premium Economy flight through Virgin Holidays in PE, routing through LAX. Costs were not a lot different to Economy packages using the Macworld rates so I was happy, and given my managers luddite approach to pretty much most things, Ill be long back before he figures it out. My chauffeur (Richard) dropped me off at T3 about 8.30am. I had checked in the night before using OLCI, partly due to sheer curiosity as I hadnt used it before, although I have resolved that it is pretty much waste of time for PE, UC and Au passengers. On arrival, I went straight to the bag drop area, where the queue was actually a lot shorter than the one for UC - so in the end it worked out well.
Check-in
Got to check-in and swiftly bagged the coveted 18A. The agent handling me quickly asked if I was aware of the issues Au passengers were having with Fast Track? I answered that sadly I did, and she assured me that she would sticker my boarding pass and instructed me to show that alongside my Au card. She informed me that this was a BAA measure, that apparently Fast Track could not handle the number of passengers coming through after the increased security measures and were seriously understaffed, and so had been trying to cut down passenger volume. I waved goodbye to my bag and trundled off to Fast Track, boarding pass and Au card in hard, and scowl on face, ready to greet the situation. There was an unbelievable snake for non-Fast Track, passengers being pulled out of the queue at random intervals to be relived of their 105mls of liquids. I approached Fast Track and was waived through without issue after all that! Fast Track was again policed by what must be those individuals who failed the job interview for chief shelf stacker at ASDA. I am all for security, but there was one young girl skipping around behind the conveyor belt, and another play-slapping a colleague. Hardly taking it seriously, and hardly making me feel safe.
I went through security pretty quickly, standard beep, stand spread eagled, pat-down, and walk off routine. Decided to register for IRIS while I was there. I must say that its a fantastically quick procedure, literally 5 minutes to have a photo, a few successive eye scans and wait for a receipt to print out. No paperwork to fill in or anything. Ill be trialling it on the way home but if it saves me queuing then its paid dividends already. IRIS is right opposite the extra shoe screening area, but as I had gone from Fast Track to IRIS, I kind of bypassed this step and just walked clean past it.
Clubhouse
Head for the CH and sit myself down close to the bar, order tea and toast and catch up with the newspapers. I do love a relaxing morning reading the papers over breakfast, might have to incorporate that into my working schedule. Its amazing how the Mail and the Times have the same stories cunningly rewritten to suit the target audience. Also grab a copy of CNN Traveller to look at the pictures of nice locations. There are several articles about the upcoming developments in Dubai, following on nicely from the thread we had recently.
Head over to Bumble & Bumble at 9.30am for the obligatory haircut that takes just over an hour. Im advised that there is no hot water today in the salon and wince pathetically at having my hair washed in icy cold water feels like I am in Revivals! Still, I have fantastically shiny hair now!
Head back to the bar for the prerequisite Mojito (nice and strong too!). Start checking my email (work and home) and have a quick nose on V-Flyer when the boarding call is announced. Dare I check EF to see if I have the New PE (NPE)? Decide to surprise myself.
Trundle down to gate 5 with an armful of newspapers and shamelessly slide in front of the long queue of Y passengers. Priority boarding sign is up, but the queue goes past it, hardly making it easy for the less pushy amongst us. Get interrogated by the chap at the gate (i.e; What is the purpose of your visit to L.A Maam) seems he was doing it to all the passengers (much to the dismay of the American chap infront of me). Hand over my boarding pass to get the welcoming beep. Youve been upgraded to Upper Class Maam. Nice one! 17K? Dont mind if I do. Typically we are on G-VGAS with its NPE, looks damn nice too. The rest of my PE flights will be on the 744s so I wont get to experience it for some time, but hey, lets not lose sleep over that now!
Onboard
Settle into my suite and stick Floyd on the drinks rest. A chap gets upgraded onboard and is seated opposite me (apparently its full in Y, spilling into W). Chap is beaming to have been op-upped and thanks the crew enthusiastically, says hes never been in First. Reminds me how spoilt I am to have had the opportunity so many times.
FSM comes round, introductions by name, and apologises for the lack of IFBT on this flight. Christmas sickies cant still be going on can they? Damn, wont get to use the priority card I pinched from LRoM then. Scrooge Pack is on the seat, the cardboard variety and not the plastic bag that Howard received recently. Hot towels come round, then the basket of extras. In principle, this extra service could work well. I think it gives the passenger the idea of getting something extra, especially if you do not fly UC that often and regular travellers know to ask or where to find things they need. I opt for a VS pen and toothbrush, wrapped in plastic which is hygienic I guess, though the lids that were on the old Economy toothbrushes look so much better.
Take a look at the menu, partake in a glass of Champagne and induldge in another while we wait for a passenger to be offloaded. Some BBC Correspondant gets onboard and sits in 11A. Must be off doing some news piece stateside I guess.
Take off about midday and are soon at crusing altitude. The seatbelt sign goes off very quickly. For once Im rushing to the loo and not to the bar. The door is still locked and the crew are still belted in their jumpseats. The CSS offers to unlock the door for me, and I worry her by unlocking it myself (hardly a secret is it?). Get back to my suite, order a Bellini, which is superb, and ask for an Empower lead and tip for my Macbook. After a good 15 minutes of the SCC trying her best, the FSM advises that they do not have a tip onboard for the latest Macbook/MacbookPro range. I sit there in dismay. Ill be buying one at the Conference I think. Still, 4 hours battery life isnt too shabby.
Place orders for lunch. I opt for the Higgedy Mushroom & Spinach pie, not quite Square Pie but as close as I think Ill get. It was actually quite flavoursome, the butterbean relish was nice too, although there were only two Butterbeans in it, potential there for the trade descriptions act. Crew on this flight are fantastic. Lovely Brummie SCC kept encouraging me to have more Bellinis. Seriously though, lovely crew and very attentive. Probably helped by the J cabin not being full, despite several op-ups but still much appreciated. I didnt fancy either of the two puddings but I was assured that should I feel hungry at any time, whether I want a snack or another dinner, just ask a member of the cabin crew. Top marks!
Settled down to watch The Devil wears Prada. What a fantastic movie, hilariously funny, some top one-liners, and with Meryl Streep on top form! Most enjoyable! I am so glad that I dont work in the fashion industry. The scene where Andy spills Chowder down her jumper is frighteningly familiar. Followed that up with the episodes of Blackadder that are now uploaded, fantastic! Shortly after this, I converted the suite to a bed and got my head down for a few hours. Managed to get a good three hours sleep, woken up only by a glass being broken at the bar. Afternoon tea had started to make its way round so I converted back to seat mode and opted for the sandwiches, a scone and some tea. Cornish pasties and main meals were also being offered.
Starting reading my book that I had brought along on my trip, and the Captain soon announced our decent into Los Angeles. We landed at LAX approximately 3pm local. On disembarking we had Chris Rock get escorted off their aircraft ahead of the rest of us. I had no idea he was even onboard. The crew seemed delighted to meet him.
Immigration was a breeze. Empty immigration hall and a very cheery Clerk. Priority baggage was another matter I was waiting a good 20 minutes. Seems the Y bags came off first, when all the Y passengers were still queuing in the immigration hall, making it nigh on impossible for UC and PE passengers to grab their bags. Had a small straggle of Children around the luggage belt. Why do they do this? They are a danger to themselves and other people. My bag finally ricocheted down the chute, retrieved it without knocking little Billy sideways, and made my way out of the terminal.
I need to get to T7 for my UA flight, and decided to risk the bus. Met a nice young Indian chap who seemed as lost as me. Hes flying to SAN on UA, I tell him he needs T7 too and to come hither, he assumes the role of bag carrier and I offer access to UA Red Carpet Club. Nice symbiotic relationship there.
Check in for my UA1178 to SFO and head off to the lounge thanks to *G. UA lounge is a good size and has snacks and cold drinks. Much needed after landing in the 28c heat of LA! Flight was called on time, and was the archetypical US internal 3x3 confg, $5 drinks and amusing inflight magazine.
Another baggage reclaim, another 20 minutes waiting, and finally myself and all my bags were on their way to find the elusive BART. Im normally a taxi or limo girl but I thought id be adventurous, save a few bob, plus I had time to kill. The BART is a pretty grubby but cheap train that stops off in Powell/Union Square. I hadnt appreciated how far that was from my hotel when I had bags so had to haul the luggage all the way (uphill) to Stockton Street. My arm still feels like Popeyes now!
So here I am at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, enjoying a week-long Mac conference, meeting geeks and freaks and queuing for keynotes. Fantastic!