V-Flyer

Aircraft - Maiden Tokyo
Seat - 18C
Connecting to Denver

Checkin was very quiet, and i used the Upper Class checkin, where I was the only customer waiting, and only had a 5 minute wait. The other checkin lines looked quiet.

I suspected as this was back to school week, it was the reason for the ghost town appearance. Was offerred an upgrade to PE, but at a cost of 900+. Asked for my favourite seat in PE.

Fast Track was a little busy, but I was in the Clubhouse within 15 mins, after the usual shimmy at the foot scanner.

I was not prepared for how quiet the lounge was, at 8:30 there were only a handful of people. Waited 15 minutes for a waitress and then gave up and went to the bar to order a drink a breakfast.
[n]
Tried the Wifi, and that said the Virgin account or password was wrong, spent ages on the phone to T-Mobile, on behalf of the concierges, no resolution, so I used a network cable. I later learned that WiFi issues have been going on for some time at the ClubHouse. I'm back on Mon 22nd Oct, so I'll go prepared with a cable next time!

The flight was called at 10:45, strangely was able to walk straight on board, and found a half full flight, no wonder they were offering paid upgrades. Had a chat to the teamon the door, to ask them for priority disembarkation, as Amex had booked a much tighter connection than normal, and IAD can be a bit of a zoo to get through immigration.

They said the senior crew would come and talk to me about it.

We pushed back on time, and had a short taxi to the runway, and were airborne within 15 minutes of the pushback time, things were going well for me to catch my connection.

Around 30 minutes into the flight, the Senior Cabin Crew responsible for PE came to have a chat, she called me by name, and normally only 1 FSM has done that. I was asked to move to UC when the seat belts came on for landing.

Thye food was a big improvement, read the return report later for the IAD feedback. The rest of the flight I was very well looked after, and as far as I could tell, I was the only passenger called by name. The LHR to IAD crew on this flight was very , very good.

We made our approach to IAD, around 15 minutes ahead of schedule, with a little bit of crosswind, and when we got to the gate, I was the first by the door. I took this opportunity to speak to the FSM about the good service, and re-iterated, this was why I fly Virgin in-direct to Denver and not direct with BA.

Immigration was not too busy, although we landed after a non-UK flight, where it is my experience, people do not fill out the forms until they get to the immigration officer.

The bags were waiting for me, so I took them round to United, who said they would expediate them to my waiting aircraft. I went through security and got to the gate, and had around 45 mines to make some calls and do some email. The Denver flight took off on time and landed a touch early, meaning I could visit a friend for dinner.

I spoke with a United Baggage Agent as soon as I got to the baggage belt, to learn that my bags had not made the flight, despite promises. So 4 out of 6 times, United have not got my bags on the same flight as me. So I saved 30 mins of waiting and went to collect my car.

Overall, a very good Virgin flight, an average United one. The clubhouse service could have been better.

The return TR will appear at lunchtime.

Very nice to hear of such good service Thanks look forward to the return!

Looks like you got a first class crew on your flight, good to read.[^]

Thanks for the TR[y][y]

The attention given to you on the flight, did not cost VS a single bean, yet its impact to both you and every single reader is immense - VS Take Heed[:?]


buns