V-Flyer

This trip was to be my first VS LHR flight and it was the most impressive flight I've done with an airline by far.

Being almost the first to check in that morning, I was greeted with a smile, and the usual courtesy I expect from Virgin Atlantic staff. Check in took about 5 minutes and no problems were encountered; I also received two vouchers to claim on my next flight refunding the APD tax.
Luggage gone, and crowds suddenly appearing (it turns 6am and people just appear from nowhere), we headed upstairs and to pr_t a manger where I was totally screwed over for a sausage sandwich (I think it cost 4 something). Thankfully, it didnt taste that bad (I can be very picky with sausages) and washed down with a glass of lemonade it filled me up enough for the time being.
After that we decided there was no point to stay landside and headed over to security. It may have been 7am, but it was soon building up, so we were thankful to have got there when we did. After the obligatory belt off, coat off and bags onto conveyor routine that we so often do, we were now in the departure lounge of Heathrows terminal 3. Or should I call it World Duty free shop? At least half the lounge was one huge shop with a smaller one tucked away from it. I know LGW has a fairly big one, but the LHR T3 one really took the cake. This wasnt my main quibble with terminal 3; my big one was the lack of windows. Besides a skylight in the roof, there were no windows there whatsoever. Thankfully, you could easily walk to gate areas and look at aircraft without too much of a hassle, and we managed to see a few planes, including the one below. This actually turned out to be our aircraft.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0168.JPG[/img]
(Our plane, 'Lady Penelope')

The flight

LHR SFO
VS019
Est. Dep 1100 Act. Dep 1105
G-VFAB
747-400
Flt. Time 10hrs 51mins

Boarding began, and we were almost the first on the plane considering I had chosen seats 62A and 62C.
Legroom seemed excellent. Much more than my previous trips on VS, whether it was the V:Port style seats or the fact im near the back, or perhaps that trip on Ryanair last august made the legroom feel better.

Below are some photos from the taxi, the first one shows Air Canadas A330 and the second shows a Thai 747. This was my first time seeing the air Canada toothpaste livery in person, and I was quite impressed with it. Made a nice change from silver and white, so kudos to the designers.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0174.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0175.JPG[/img]

The Pilot came on to tell us a little about our flight, and I use the term little lightly, what we were given was an incredibly detailed list of the route so detailed I'm sure I could have driven it. This was then followed by an announcement from the crew telling us about the use of toilets in our section, and information about the plane (our load, the planes name, registration and airborne date) along with what was for lunch today.
After what felt like a really long take off roll (I guess a half loaded 737-800 does kind of shoot down the runway) we were up into the (for once) blue skies of the UK, and of towards Scotland. With the V:Port system not yet active, I decided to read my copy of Airliners World for a little while (the perfect magazine for any aircraft enthusiast). After about half an hour, they announced that they would now activate V:Port and that it could be a little temperamental.
Mine thankfully worked, as did everyones around me and it stayed this way throughout the flight. I was utterly amazed by the amount of choice Virgin offers you on this system compared to the joys of Nova and Odyssey.
After choosing The Simpsons drinks were served. I passed on the free beer option, but went for a coke instead. Pretzels were served as usual with the drink.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0176.JPG[/img]
(The drinks service, makes a change to have Virgin Cola)

Meal service soon began, as did my next choice in film, Jackass 2. Maybe not the best choice whilst eating but it was funny enough for me to drop my fork down myself.
Todays choices were:
Braised beef, with roast potatoes and vegetables
Chicken with pasta in a mushroom sauce
Mushroom Risotto

I chose the beef, which was tender and juicy and the potatoes were just right. The portion seemed ample enough, as it filled me up.
The usual crackers cheese and roll was served with it, and the roll had a great twist, it was literally half brown and half white bread. Desert was a fru a fruity yoghurt mousse like thing from the makes of Gu. It was very nice but very rich, rich enough for me to decline the offer of my mates dessert which he didnt want (I think he was full after pretty much licking his meals packaging clean. I chose wine to go with the meal, and it was a very rich and fruity flavour.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0177.JPG[/img]
(The meal)

Meals were removed and I went back to playing around on V:Port. The map function is excellent, allowing you to zoom right in on some cities, very similar to Google earth, except less detail, and slower.
Ice creams were served a little later:

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0180.JPG[/img]
(Chocolate filled ice cream bar)

After cleaning up on a round of the airline quiz game (I was the only one playing, so expected to win) a second meal was served. This consisted of a choice between a chicken, roast vegetable and tomato Panini or a mozzarella cheese, roast vegetable and tomato Panini.
I chose the chicken one, but I found it to have processed chicken meat in it, and the tomato base was way too spicy.
More TV, this time I watched an episode of peep Show and almost died laughing at That Mitchell and Webb Look. The sketch called numberwang was just fantastic.
Final meal service consisted of either a chicken Caesar sandwich or a cheese sandwich. I chose the cheese sandwich thinking aha no mayo; however, I was to be deceived. They had cleverly hidden the mayo amongst the cheese. Luckily I read the label of ingredients. Thankfully, the bag of fruit served alongside it was nice and fresh and kept me going until landing. Well, that and the bag of hula hoops I had shoved in the night before.
There were a few things worth photographing from the window, notably the mountain shown below.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0182.JPG[/img]
(Not sure what mountain this is...)

Landing was dead on time, and smooth too, defiantly one of the better landings Ive had. We parked at gate A8 and then faced the lengthy immigration queues. I expected them to be worse, but was pleasantly surprised. The officer was friendly and efficient. He even smiled, which makes a change compared to the Orlando officials.
After getting our luggage (which as typical was last to come up) we were off onto BART (bay area rapid transit) for a journey to Montgomery station for the walk to our hotel.
Overall this was one of my best trips with Virgin Atlantic so far and if you asked me, they once again pushed the bar with my expectations. The meals, entertainment and crew were all excellent.
Below are a few snaps from my holiday there. It truly is a beautiful city.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0187.JPG[/img]
(The golden gate bridge in the distance at sunset)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0199.JPG[/img]
(A very colourful house near Ocean view)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0203.JPG[/img]
(A street car running on the F line)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0239.JPG[/img]
(Me at the Golden Gate Bridge)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0253.JPG[/img]
(A quick view of Alcatraz before arriving)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0337.JPG[/img]
(A photo during an Oakland A's vs. Yankees game)

And now for the return journey:

The Airport
After a quick and comfortable trip on BART, we arrived at the clean and tidiness that is SFO airport. The airport puts LHR to shame, and wasnt crowded either.
I checked in at about 1330, with a queue of 0 passengers in front of me. The normal economy line had a few, but the online check in one was empty.
We were greeted by a friendly check in assistant again; she even talked about hockey with us after noticing my mates Mighty Ducks Jersey.
The process was again quick, with us declining an offer of a free round trip on a future VS flight if we volunteered for the next days flight. Im still kicking myself about this now, as it settled in later that this was a good offer.
After having a really juicy and filing hotdog from Burger Joint, we had a little browse of the aviation museum, and headed on through security.
Now considering that it was about 3pm, and there was a few international flights, I expected long queues. However, I was literally straight through the scanner, with no problems. Perhaps the domestic terminals are worse? Or is SFO just better than other airports. TSA seemed friendly and even greeted me with a smile when I presented my passport.
Flights also leaving in the time frame I was there was an AF flight to CDG, a KLM flight to AMS and a NW flight to NRT.
There was also a CX plane, a BA plane and a QF plane parked at the terminal when we walked around. Below are some photos. Besides the NW flight, all the aircraft were 747-400. I wonder how much longer this will be the case, as more airlines phase out the 747-400.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0381.JPG[/img]
(Qantas flight which moved later to a remote stand)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0382.JPG[/img]
(KLM flight - Those colours look amazing on a 744)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0384.JPG[/img]
(CX flight to Hong Kong)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0389.JPG[/img]
(Our plane after landing)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0391.JPG[/img]
(Our plane now at gate - looking a little dirty)

The plane landed later than the week before (about 1415) however, we still got away on time.
Today's flight was to be on Tubular Belle

The flight

SFO - LHR
VS020
Est. Dep 1630 Act. Dep 1635
G-VHOT
747-400
Flt. Time 10hrs 51mins

Boarding began, and again we were amongst the first to board, being seated in row 63.
The crew on this flight didnt announce as much as the ones on the way out, however I found them friendlier.
Service started off with drinks as usual and I opted for a Stella Artois, which again was served with pretzels.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0392.JPG[/img]
(Beer and pretzels)

No need to review either the seats or the IFE, thats all above, so Ill get down to the meal service.
Todays meals consisted of either:

Chicken with noodles
Beef in a BBQ sauce
Vegetable cannelloni

I chose the beef again, and found it to be tender and juicy with the sauce being sweet and delicious. Unusual to find it with beef, but it worked., it was served with mashed potato and vegetables. The usual cracker, cheese and roll affair also accompanied it, and the desert was a slice of key lime pie. The pie was also delicious.
Meals were cleared, not before the turbulence of course, it does sure know when to occur, always during meals.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0393.JPG[/img]
(The beef, quite a generous portion)

Duty free service began, and I purchased another model 747-400 to add to my collection, and as always it was presented in a collectors tin with a certificate of ownership.
I took a break from V:Port a little later and went to get some drinks from the galley, where I ahd an interesting chat with a flight attendant. I asked several questions, and found out that she preferred the LHR flights (less noisy kids I guess).
Back to V:Port for a little while and also a quick few games on my Nintendo DS, accompanied with some Threshold and Sonata Arctica from my Zen Vision M.
The sky outside never really became dark, but we followed the sun and it was amazing to see the glow it left in the sky (especially over Greenland [shown below])

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0399.JPG[/img]
(The sky over northern Canada)

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0400.JPG[/img]
(The sky over greenland)

Breakfast was served about an hour from arrival, and was the usual fruit salad and muffin experience Im used to from VS, except this time the fruit salad was larger, and they served a hot croissant with an egg and cheese filling. I didnt eat that however, I dont like egg.

[img]http://www.powerplaygoal.com/holiday/IMGP0403.JPG[/img]
(The breakfast)

Meals were collected and the sudden change in altitude was noticeable, and pretty soon we were over the grey skies of London.
At about 1005 we touched down and taxied to one of the gates at LHR parking next to an A343. This part of LHR was very nice. It felt modern and spacious, however that soon changed when I reached customs and the baggage hall, which is halfway through a revamp (about time too). Bags came out in once piece and we were off into the maze of LHR to wait for my mates Dad.

Overall, I was incredibly impressed with VS both on and off the ground. Maybe its better from LHR, but whatever it was, these two flights felt much better than any other flight I've taken.

I'd like to thank all the crew on both these flights for the excellent service, and on the way back, it was great talking to a few of you.

I hope you enjoyed my trip report and the pictures, and if you want to ask questions or comments, please do leave feedback. I have higher resolution pictures if you want them.

Kev.

Kev - Thanks for the excellent detail in your TR and great pics also[y][y]. Glad you had a good flight and its always good to hear positive Y reviews, hope VS can keep the standard up.

Neil[:)]

Utterly fantastic report which i loved with the pictures.I like these kind of reports![y]

Hope you had a fab time in SFO, by the way what did you think about Alcatraz? Was it quite creepy?

Thanks for a very detailed and enjoyable read. The pics were great too!

Glad that you enjoyed both flights, good to read a good report in Y.

Dominic

Kev

Thanks for a great (illustrated) read. Looks like you had a great time in San Francisco..

Paul

Thank you for an excellent TR and great pics too. [y]

I wanted to comment on this TR on a.net but couldnt! So thanks for posting on here-

fantastic TR- with lots of grreat pictures! [^]

Thanks for the comments so far.
In response, Alcatraz definably was creepy but next time I return, I must do a night visit. That should really be something worth seeing.
Forgot to add earlier, thanks for all your help in previous threads about what to see and do in SFO.

Kev.

Originally posted by kkempton
Thanks for the comments so far.
In response, Alcatraz definably was creepy but next time I return, I must do a night visit. That should really be something worth seeing.
Forgot to add earlier, thanks for all your help in previous threads about what to see and do in SFO.

Kev.

An excellent trip report Kev. I just got back from SFO yesterday (18th) and had great flights both ways (I'll get around to doing a report soon).

As for the Alcatraz night tours, we did this and were slightly disappointed with it. The last tour started at 17:15, and the last boat off the island was at 19:55, so it was still daylight when we returned, so how they can call it a 'night tour' is beyond me! Other than that it was slightly better than the day tours as there were not so many people on the island and you got to see certain parts (like the hospital) that are not normally open. The cellhouse tour has also changed slightly since my last visit a few years ago.

Anyway, thanks again for a great report.

Fantastic report, you just set the bar for Y reports which I will try to match in a few weeks time. Makes me want to go back to SFO.

Best wishes

Paul

Very good report Kev thanks! I can see why you were kicking yourself about turning down the flight to fly the next day though! How gutting! Great photos and as everyone says, so nice to hear a thoroughly positive from a less reported on cabin. Looks like you might have opened the floodgates here! Let's hope so at least.

Originally posted by kkempton
The process was again quick, with us declining an offer of a free round trip on a future VS flight if we volunteered for the next day's flight. Im still kicking myself about this now, as it settled in later that this was a good offer.

Kev

Sorry, missed that bit the first time round.

It is a great offer, but console yourself with the knowledge

(a) that volunteering doesn't necessarily lead to you actually being bounced and receiving the reward. We've volunteered each time we've been asked and only once has it actually happened (though I did get an upgrade to PE another time..).

(b) flights on the vouchers you receive are, I think, drawn from the same seat allocation as reward flights so you can't always go where and when you want.

Always worth volunteering though....

Paul

Awesome TR, spot on.

great tr kev good read and super pic's I would bitten off the arm of the VA staff to take free round trip and run to the BART before they changed minds!!!!!

Kev great TR.

BTW they are now the Anaheim Ducks..not the mighty ducks now.

Kev, great trip report and thanks for sharing your experiences and photos. Sounds like you had a wonderful time all round. I think that is Mt Adams in the photo. You can really get some great shots on that route. I've uploaded a picture under 'views' in the picture gallery that I got of Mt Rainier on the same flight route last year.

Phil

Kev

Thanks for the incredibly detailed TR[y][y][y]

For many who come to this site for information on flying with VS, your blow by blow account, punctuated with pics will help enormously - especailly as this covers the Y Cabin.

I presume as you have made no reference to it, that you did not find being close to the toilets at the rear of the aircraft (and therefore the inevitable queues) too much of a problem.

Once again, thank you for sharing your journey with us all.


buns

Kev,

Great TR and excellent pics to go with it. Stella and pretzels[y]

Iain

Great TR. I like including pics in mine too so this was an enjoyable read.

Regards

John

BTW they are now the Anaheim Ducks..not the mighty ducks now.

Well aware of that lol. It just happens to be that he only has the old Mighty Ducks jerseys. (I personally don;t care for the ducks as I'm a stars fan myself)

Thanks for all the comments. really means a lot to me that you enjoyed reading it.

Kev.

Originally posted by kkempton

BTW they are now the Anaheim Ducks..not the mighty ducks now.

Well aware of that lol. It just happens to be that he only has the old Mighty Ducks jerseys. (I personally don;t care for the ducks as I'm a stars fan myself)

Thanks for all the comments. really means a lot to me that you enjoyed reading it.

Kev.

Ok..then you have enough issues to deal with...

Again a pair of great TR's..thanks for taking the time to post them.

Thanks for the detailed TRs. The inclusion of pictures was great!

Originally posted by philadam
I think that is Mt Adams in the photo.

First of all, a delightful TR.

Second, the first thought I had was 'that's one of the Cascades volcanos' so [y] to you, philadam! I don't know which it is, but its conical perfection and relative isolation from other mountains leads me to believe it is a Cascade. One of the great joys of living in Seattle is when Mt. Rainier is 'out' and shimmering, snow-covered, in the sun. I suppose I shall change that opinion when it belches magma, pyroclastic flows and the lahars are running past my front door. [:?]

I hope you have the chance to travel again soon!

GJ

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes

Originally posted by philadam
I think that is Mt Adams in the photo.

First of all, a delightful TR.

Second, the first thought I had was 'that's one of the Cascades volcanos' so [y] to you, philadam! I don't know which it is, but it's conical perfection and relative isolation from other mountains leads me to believe it is a Cascade. One of the great joys of living in Seattle is when Mt. Rainier is 'out' and shimmering, snow-covered, in the sun. I suppose I shall change that opinion when it belches magma, pyroclastic flows and the lahars are running past my front door. [:?]

I hope you have the chance to travel again soon!

GJ

One of my abiding memories of Seattle was driving to the airport one evening and seeing Mt. Rainier bathed pink in the setting sun. The fact that we were on the freeway meant we couldn't stop and take a photo of it but I have one from my NW flight to GSO which I will try to upload

kkempton, it was a terrific TR and thank you for including photos [y]

One of my next cruise ambitions is to do the Pacific North West and a stop in Astoria, Oregon. I would love to see Mt St Helens up close and personal, but during a period of geological calm as GJ points out well![:0]

Phil