V-Flyer

Here's my first trip report, so please bear with me.
Completed the online check in on 8th October & was pleased to see we were still allocated 8A & 8K.
Left for Gatwick at 6.15am the following morning, only to get caught in the traffic jams due to the bad accident on the M25 which resulted in a nice scenic detour around Crawley. Finally arrived at 7.45am, so an extremely long start to the day, when it would normally only take around 30 minutes.

Upper Class check in was a breeze & issued with our Clubhouse invitations - no queues & all baggage checked in within 5 minutes[:D]

Used the Fast Track line to get through security, although this did take 15 minutes. However, seeing the lines my family had to wait in, made me appreciate this service & in no time at all, we were through to Departures & on our way to the Clubhouse.

The Clubhouse at Gatwick is fantastic & it was so quiet. There were approximately 30 people using it that morning, & a few of the passengers were travelling in Premium Economy. It felt very spacious & the staff were very attentive. We had a few cocktails (mimosas) & some champagne, then ordered some breakfast. I opted for the toast (too excited to eat much) & my other half opted for the Full English, which he said was delicious.

We were informed that our treatment times had been pushed back as the flight was delayed by an hour. This wasn't a problem, as we both had a chance to relax & read until we were called.
I had the sensational facial & Paul had the sensational shave. Both of our treatments were fantastic & the staff were lovely.

All too soon our flight was called & then came the fun part at the gate. Arrived to find a massive queue of people still waiting to board & no priority boarding in effect whatsoever[V]
Found my parents & aunt in the queue & went to join them. As we were waiting on the gangway, my aunt asked a purser why there was no priority boarding for Upper & his reply was to snatch our boarding passes out of our hands & bark 'Well, you could always come with me I suppose'

As were walking down to board, some other passengers asked if we were flying Upper, to which I replied,'Yes, follow the tall ginger haired person in front of me'. What all of us were unprepared for, was the amount of rather nasty comments from passengers waiting to board, such as 'Some people have more money than sense' & 'Who do they think they are?'

Once onboard, settled in to our seats quickly & I asked the senior crew member if she could store my wedding dress box somewhere for me. We enjoyed a glass of champagne & then read through our seat instructions for later on. Smooth take-off, although it did seem rather noisy compared to Premium Economy where we have sat before.
The Amenity Kit was quite basic - the usual socks, earplugs, toothbrush etc, although we were offered extras from a basket if needed.

Food orders were taken quickly & so settled back to read. We both had the smoked haddock pate which was delicious & Paul had the chicken, which he thoroughly enjoyed. I had to make do with the vegetable stew as they had run out of chicken, but this was rather nice too, to my surprise (not sure about adding hazelnuts though?)
We both declined on dessert as we wanted to save room for our ice cream - mmm, toffee.

More drinks orders were taken through the flight & then the FSM came round & spoke to everyone in the cabin. She explained that the flight was completely full, as there had been a cancelled Continental flight from East Midlands & everyone had been placed on this one. She even added that some passengers were having to use crew jump seats[:0]
Afternoon tea was served, although we were too full to eat the scones & cakes & the sandwiches did feel slightly frozen in the middle.

Before we knew it, we were starting our descent into Orlando. No priority disembarking for Upper Or Premium, but we didn't care as it was nice & warm[:D]
Immigration was quick, took about 25 minutes & then on to collect our bags which were already waiting for us!

A big thank you to all the fab crew for making our first Upper flight memorable & we can't wait to fly this route in Upper again[:D]

A short limo ride later & then we arrived at the Renaissance Orlando Resort for our 2 week stay & wedding, no thanks to Virgin Holidays (that's a different matter altogether[V])

If you've made it to the end of this, thank you & I'm sorry if I've bored you! I'll post the return trip report later this week.
Ang

Great TR! Thanks for posting!

GJ

Not boring at all, Ang. Glad you had a great flight!

Don't mind the comments from the fellow passengers while you were boarding. Some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue. It is a difficult situation when priority boarding isn't in effect as many passengers do seem to get very (and verbally!) annoyed at Upper and Gold passengers for their ability to just walk to the front of the queue. You've paid for the privilege, so don't feel shy about taking it.

Congratulations on your nuptials, I hope it all went smoothly?

Thanks,
Sarah

Great first TR.

Re the priority boarding, Virgin appear to be failing in this area. My last 3 trips LGW, LAS and LHR have failed to provide Priority Boarding to Clubhouse passengers.

Does n't help when the other passengers want to lynch you as you try to find out about priority boarding. I'd rather not have the confrontation prior to be in a confined space with the person(s) concerned while alcohol is in abundance.

Not boring at all and i am glad you enjoyed your trip in UCS.

Hope your wedding goes really well and wish the best of luck.

Looking forward to your return trip report!

Hmm... from the OP... 'She explained that the flight was completely full, as there had been a cancelled Continental flight from East Midlands & everyone had been placed on this one. She even added that some passengers were having to use crew jump seats'.

Firstly, CO don't fly from EMA to MCO [even on a codeshare] & I am sure that crew number regulations would mean there could be no more than a couple [at most] crew jump seats available - even if normal pax were allowed to use them.

That said, a great TR & pleased to see that another couple enjoyed their first UC experience... hope the Wedding goes well too. (No offence to the OP intended - but it sounds like they were fed a bit of dud info from the FSM). As to not holding back the main Y cabin on arrival at MCO - no excuse for this either, it's very easy to do & at least ensures that UC, PE & the few in the mini Y cabin get out first.

Not long until my next TR now... not that I am counting or anything!

Thanks
James

Great trip report IRONMAIDEN.

I've never had the privilege of travelling in upper but would love to one day. As HighFlyer said, You've paid for the privilege, so don't feel shy about taking it. I'm sure all the people who were making the comments would jump at the chance to travel upper and jump to the head of the queue.

Cheers [y]

Trev

Ironmaiden,
Excellent report. Welcome to V-Flyer and thank you for your support.

Chuck-

Firstly, CO don't fly from EMA to MCO [even on a codeshare]

You beat me to it,maybe from Birmingham?

Anyhow thanks for an interesting read and congrats hope everything runs smooth.

Originally posted by ukcobra
I'd rather not have the confrontation prior to be in a confined space with the person(s) concerned while alcohol is in abundance.

If you find you have a problem, maybe you should drink less... [;)]

Thanks for a great 1st TR. Priority boarding is an issue that Virgin need to address especially at their home bases. It seems to work well at the overeas stations, so why not in the UK.

Hope the wedding goes well.

Iain

Great first TR. Congrats on your wedding!

J

Ang

Hi and welcome to V-Flyer.

As a frequent traveller on the LGW - MCO route I can truly say your TR was excellent[y][y]

It has already got me longing for my next trip[:w]

The Clubhouse at Gatwick is fantastic & it was so quiet

I personally believe it is the best - the attentive and friendly staff give it the edge

As others have said, don't fret over those comments around priority boarding - it was your special treat (congratulations on the wedding by the way) so you deserved the service you received.

Knowing that the use of the priority boarding sign is a bit hit and miss in the Gatwick satellite (they have a sign but leave from so many gates there that they forget to move it) that Mrs Buns and I linger in the clubhouse for as long as possible[}:)]

Thanks once again

buns

Originally posted by mdvipond

Originally posted by ukcobra
I'd rather not have the confrontation prior to be in a confined space with the person(s) concerned while alcohol is in abundance.

If you find you have a problem, maybe you should drink less... [;)]

Huh ?[:0] I was referring to the other passengers. Apart from the pre-flight fizz, I do not drink alcohol on a plane.

Originally posted by ukcobra
Huh ?[:0] I was referring to the other passengers. Apart from the pre-flight fizz, I do not drink alcohol on a plane.

Whooooshhh! Right over the head [:p]

Originally posted by AlanA

Originally posted by ukcobra
Huh ?[:0] I was referring to the other passengers. Apart from the pre-flight fizz, I do not drink alcohol on a plane.

Whooooshhh! Right over the head [:p]

Get thee behind me, subtlety...

Originally posted by jaguarpig

Firstly, CO don't fly from EMA to MCO [even on a codeshare]

You beat me to it,maybe from Birmingham?

Nope- CO dont even fly a single direct flight to MCO from anywhere outside of the US.

Great TR- and welcome to the boards.

Originally posted by IRONMAIDEN
What all of us were unprepared for, was the amount of rather nasty comments from passengers waiting to board, such as 'Some people have more money than sense' & 'Who do they think they are?'

You just have to laugh this thing off - other people are just jealous!

I was once trying to get through the gate to the jetway at Heathrow and was given a look that could kill by other passenger along with 'They are only boarding Upper Class at the moment!' To which I replied 'Yes I know' and waved my purple boarding card in front of her face! Ahhh the satisfaction!

'They are only boarding Upper Class at the moment!' To which I replied 'Yes I know' and waved my purple boarding card in front of her face! Ahhh the satisfaction!

I've done that too and it is such a fantastic feeleing[:D]

Thank you all for the replies, glad you enjoyed reading it.
Good luck Sarah & Richard on your upcoming wedding [:D] & I hope you have lots of fun planning it.
Our day went so quickly, but it was the most memorable day for both of us & our family & friends that came with us.