VS020 SFO-LHR 29 Oct 07 (PE)
Posted: 31 Oct 2007, 15:44Tubular Belle - New Config PE 747
Warning : Long Report, but some drama contained.
Arrived at Checkin early to try and get one of the 2 exit row seats, as the new config only provides 2 instead of the old 8.
Due to the later departure time, the checkin was not due to open until 14:30, and as I was first in the PE line, I was called forward pretty soon after opening. The agent was very professional and polite, but was not that experienced in my view, as he told me I could not have an Exit row as they were blocked. I said he needs to call to release one of them. I was further told they were being held back for people with infants or medical conditions. I reminded him that an Exit row seats were not available for infants or people with mobility issues, and that you had to be fit and able to assist in an emergency. After about 10 minutes of talking on the phone, I was given 28C.
Trotted off to the lounge to find what I guess was Virgin America passengers in there, and ordered a drink. Most of the usual waiters and waitresses were not on duty, so no faces I recognised.
Food was nothing special, in fact I now think the Washington Clubhouse has a much better menu.
Called for boarding around 45 minutes before departure, and boarded through the Priority Boarding to meet the line halfway down the jetway. I was the last to leave the Clubhouse, so in future I'll walk even slower.
I found that in my seat change, my F/C number had not been carried forward, so I asked the desk to add it.
Got to the door to find I was being greeted by a Witch and a monster, and sat down in my seat, to watch the other passengers being welcomed or scared.
The bar had been decorated in Haloween Style.
[img]http://www.mocgb.net/images/VS20-Bar-Halloween.jpg[/img]
I do think the crew forget about passengers in Row 28, as a few minutes before take off I had to ask if they were serving pre-flight drinks, and there was no bottle of water on my seat.
We pushed back on time, and were told that it would be a 9 hour flight back. We were airborne 15 minutes later and the crew started their services.
There was 1 drink run before dinner and as a meal option I selected the Beef, which was pretty fatty and not as good as it has been in the past.
No further drink runs, but my seat neighbour dinged his call button a few times, more on that later. After dinner I watched a movie on the iPhone, and the FSM stopped to spend time checking it out, as she had just purchased an iTouch, but really wanted the phone. After she had checked out all the features, we swapped business cards as she may want one unlocked in the future and I asked if my F/C status was on the manifest. Which I was shown that I was down as 1 of 5 Gold members on board.
The new PE seats are fairly comfortable, and I got around 4 hours sleep and missed some of the UC bar goings on, which involved some close contact between 2 passengers.[:X]
I woke up 5 mins before breakfast, and my seat neighbour woke up looking pretty unwell. He was given a few sick bags and looked very pale, I decided that would be a good time to visit the restrooms.
When I came back, they were giving him oxygen and he was reluctant to wear the mask. I headed to an UC restroom, as the line was very long for Economy, as the PE toilet no-longer exists in the PE cabin.
When i came out of the toilet, he was waiting to go in, and I returned to my seat to learn he had carried on drinking while I was asleep. The belief was that he had woken feeling the effects of alcohol and very dehydrated.
The crew were exellent, they sprung into action, they used their training and did a great job.[y]
We were put into a holding pattern, and were told we were coming in around 20 minutes early, while we were coming into land, a UC passenger looked a bit spaced out tried to go upstairs, she was ushered back to her seat.
The crew had got dressed up in their best Halloween getup, and posed at the bar, unfortunately I was strapped in and could not take a picture, but I suspect they will appear in Facebook soon.
I did feed back to the FSM that the service was good, particularly for a night flight. She acknowledged that sometimes the trips back can be variable.
We landed early and were put onto a remote stand as there was no space, and had to wait ages for steps as there had been an RTA on the airport, and therefore were bused halfway round the airport.
Wizzed through the IRIS scanning and was first down to the belt, 15 minutes later the first bags came off, which were predominately PE bags, which annoyed the UC passengers. My bag came off at the back of the PE bags, which did not have a UC tag, and I do recall the baggage handler at SFO being told to put one on.
Personally I am a fan of the new seats, but not of the layout. Other passengers felt the same.
The issues
o No longer having an option on these 2 planes to be upstairs
o No PE restroom
o Slower service in seats in Row 28 (outbound and return)
o PE Cabin is now huge
o Focus now on selling upgrades at Checkin into PE
I plan to write to Virgin to highlight a few of these concerns.
Mark