V-Flyer

Now I know you all like a nice long trip report filled with lots of interesting observations and people watching. Hopefully I wont disappoint you. I write this as I fly for reasons that will become clear later so please excuse the narrative form.

You know a trip is going to be interesting when things start to go wrong before you have even left home...... I usually pack my bags, unpack them and re-pack several times before actually leaving but for some reason, this year was different. Only one attempt was made to get it right and everything looked rosy. To make sure I dont get any surprises of the expensive kind at the airport I have a very cheap spring balance to weigh my luggage on. After packing everything in my 2 bags I weighed them and to my shock, both were over 32kg. Enter panic mode. Just about to pull everything out to make sure the lead fairy hasnt been helping me, I checked the scales again. Guess what? Yep, I was looking at the lb scale and not the kg. Exit panic mode. I didnt think they were that heavy but who was I to argue with a precision weighing device.

As the flight was a 09:30 departure I had booked into the Premier Travel Inn on the Bath Road for an overnight stay. I paid 77 for the night including breakfast and 8 for parking. I can recommend the place over many of the hotels on the A4. The room was clean and the showerhead was scale-free, a noticeable improvement on other hotels. OK, the restaurant wont win any Michelin stars but the food was fair and without all the pretentions of hotels although the service left a lot to be desired.

This, dear reader, is where the story starts to get interesting......

After parking at the Q-Park right next door and fighting my way through the chaos that is and will always be T3, I arrive at the Virgin check-in. The bouncer on the PE desks wanted to see my passport and itinery as usual. What I hadnt noticed was that all the HTML parts had not been printed out so there were no essential details. As such, I was directed to the kiosks to check-in. Taking the opportunity, I got some quality people watching in. At one check-in desk there was a lady who appreared to have everything including the kitchen sink and was trying to get it through as hand baggage Failed! There were carrier bags, boxes all over the desk and floor. It always amazes me how some try to blag it like this. After doing battle with the kiosk, I presented myself at the bag drop. Now I know T3 is being refurbished so a bit messy around zone A but I wasnt impressed by the appearance and attitude of the check-in agents. Either they were very new or were agency staff filling in. There was none of the usual smiles and chatting, the uniform appeared to be just a scruffy red polo shirt (one was even wearing a brown leather jacket on top!!! [V]) Definitely not what I expect from VS and will be feeding that back to CS on my return. The attitude was Im here to work, not smile or be nice Overall a poor start.

Now the story gets more interesting.

After check-in off to TravelEx to get writers cramp from signing the travellers cheques and undergo the trauma of bag screening. As I was carrying my laptop I was already for the checks and had tucked the skin for it into my main bag (laptop wont quite fit so I had 2, yes read it and weep, 2 pieces!) No issues and was through quite quickly. No signs of anyone sneaking on more liquids that are allowed. Perhaps the message has finally got through. As the gate was way down at 36, I headed straight through Duty Free and actually enjoyed the long walk to the gate. On getting there, I could see African Queen waiting for us. The PE cabin has been updated with the new purple leather and felt quite fresh and new. My seat was 19H. Then the bad news came in the form of the IFE was not working and would not be working for the whole flight. No big deal really as that most rare of things happened. Shock-Horror, people started talking to each other!!

Breakfast consisted of a cuppa and a muffin. The passenger in front must have seen breakfast and thought Ooo goody, a full English Haa!! Wrong. Im not quite sure where they got the idea from but now they know.
The current menu is:

Breakfast...

LUNCH
Salad Seasonal leaf salad with cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette dressing.
Main Course:
Chicken korma with basmati rice and vegetable jalfrazi
Braised beef served with horseradish mashed potato, green beans, carrots and a mustard sauce
Penne pasta with Sicilian tomato sauce and parmesan cheese.

DESSERT
Gu cheeky pot au chocolat
Cheese and biscuits

Tea and Coffee

As I write, I have finally found the Empower plug in these new seats. It is located between the seats near the floor but cannot find anything to indicate this. Now I can write this and listen to music/books etc. without the laptop running out. For the technos out there, Im using a Dell Inspiron 6400 and the power supply is a Targus APM12 90W using tip S20. Although it doesnt charge, it does supply power

I have spent the hour and a half listening to what I think is one of the best and most definitive travelogs ever; Michael Palin in Around the World in 80 Days and have just enjoyed a very nice mini pot of Minghella toffee ice-cream.

Although I dont have a passenger load details, PE is pretty full and during my wanderings I have noticed that down back is pretty empty with lots of empty seats. What you think is an empty row is actually taken by one person lying down and looking like a pile of abandoned blankets.

At the very back, a couple of crew are fast asleep. Normally I would find this behaviour quite unacceptable for a morning flight but given the amount of passengers in Economy I am prepared to let it slide. Also the crew covering PE are being attentive without being overbearing.

Just hit a spot of turbulence so on goes the seatbelt sign and half the cabin gets up. It only lasted a couple of minutes but very nearly made me spill my drink!

Dinner has been served and I plumped for the korma, and very tasty it was too. Much better than the usual fayre I have faced. Although not a full meal, it filled me up and the Gu dessert was wonderful. A little pot of pure chocolate. Yummy.

Just as it was announced that we were starting our decent into JFK, we hit more turbulance and I had to dump everthing into the overhead and strap myself in.

Is it just my imagination or is the approach to JFK a long one? We seemed to be on finals for ages. Landing in a good thunderstorm and torrential rain too.

Over all, a good flight but shame about the IFE and the check-in staff.

Return to follow later...

Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
Breakfast consisted of a cuppa and a muffin. The passenger in front must have seen breakfast and thought ÒOoo goody, a full EnglishÓ Haa!! Wrong. I'm not quite sure where they got the idea from but now they know.

I think I prefer the sound of this style of service for the VS3, hot lunch later, light breakfast (or 'elevenses') first - though some warmed croissants/danish really wouldn't hurt in PE, surely?

However, most people automatically expect a full meal within the first hour of flight on most long hauls, so I think the key here is to warn the passengers that the service is slightly different before they board the plane - maybe just a mention at check-in, so that the pax can make an informed choice.

As for landing at New York, it can seem expeditious or long and drawn out depending on traffic conditions, runway configuration, and weather. I've had both - from a Transcon where the crew were rushing to pack the cabin away, to a short hop (from BOS or YYZ or somewhere) where we seemed to fly vectors for an age before final.

Cheers,
Mike

[i]
Then the bad news came in the form of the IFE was not working and would not be working for the whole flight. No big deal really as that most rare of things happened. Shock-Horror, people started talking to each other!!

I would not have been pleased. I am not a laptop carrier. Would I be expected to actually talk to my husband for 7 hours straight? [}:)] [:p]

Was any compensation offered?

Originally posted by stars

[i]

Was any compensation offered?

£25 off a Virgin Holiday[n]
£25 worth of pre-ordered duty-free[n]
5000 miles.[y]

The holiday and duty-free have a few T&C's with it but none for miles.

Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
5000 miles.[y]

Ah the standard VS compensatory offer[ii]. I guess for a 6hr or so flight no IFE isn't the end of the world especially if you have other means of entertainment, so 5k miles is a nice bonus, bit of a bummer if you are only a very occasional flier and the miles are of no use.

Thanks for the detailed TR, a good read[y]

I would not have been pleased. I am not a laptop carrier. Would I be expected to actually talk to my husband for 7 hours straight?

Was any compensation offered?

I normally don't get to enjoy the IFE because DW insists on talking and having dinner together[:(!]

Originally posted by Darren Wheeler



As I write, I have finally found the Empower plug in these new seats. It is located between the seats near the floor but cannot find anything to indicate this. Now I can write this and listen to music/books etc. without the laptop running out. For the technos out there, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 6400 and the power supply is a Targus APM12 90W using tip S20. Although it doesn't charge, it does supply power

Is the Targus....etc supplied onboard only I can't find it in the list of power supplies VS cary. If not, guess I'll have to buy one for my Inspiron 6400 on my next trip [:)]

Not sure which one is supplied as I took my own. Looking at the tip list, the tip 20 is the same number as I used.

Thanks for the TR. I would of been anoyed if there were no IFE, my OH sleeps the whole flight, that means make my own entertainment!!! [}:)]

As a postscript to this, I've had a reply back from VS about the check-in staff in which I mentioned in passing the IFE not working. 10000 miles sir? Thank you very much.

Just waiting for the other 5000 from the letter to be added, then buy some miles and Hello UCS reward flight.

One Happy Bunny [^]