This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
G-VFOX Silver Lady
After my domestic flight down MAN I made my way from T1 to T3. Its slightly different now as no longer come up into the zone A VS check-in area. You now come up outside T3 in front of the entrance to check-in zones B and C. The VS check-in area is now starting to take shape, although theres still quite a lot of building work going on.
My orignal VS booking was a reward economy flight as when I booked, that's all there was available. HKG flights are often full at the front. I'd been checking for weeks/months before, watching all the J seats sell out. Even W seats where been sold at a fair old rate.
Entered the Upper Class check-in area, where there were about 4 people waiting, three of them being off my domestic flight from MAN! Whilst waiting I enquired at the J ticket desk (which is directly next to the J check-in desks) about spending more miles to upgrade my reward economy flight to either Premium or Upper. I was told nothing was available, which was what I thought. I hadnt given up hope though as it was still only about 16:15 so plenty of time for some no-shows.
Got back into the check-in queue and was checked in by the same very nice and friendly agent as last time I was at LHR. Not mentioning any names, but she is a credit to VS [y]. I just mentioned to her in passing that I was looking to upgrade with more miles and to my surprise, she came back and said there was a PE reward fare available. She just had to make a quick call to make sure she could give me this fare to which the answer was yes. I had to pay the extra 40 APD tax but that was not a problem. My FC account was debited with another 6000 miles and I was also given PE seat 18K, the bulk head row. Result [8D]
Whilst queuing Id noticed the lift next to the check-in area was taped off, so I wondered if the new Upper Class wing would be open or not.
The agent then informed me the new wing was open and gave me instructions on how to use it. For the time being, you just go up one level to the departure level either using the lifts or escalator in zone B.
You walk past the Travelex desk towards the internet caf_ and coffee bar. You will see the lift that brings you up from the check-in area and next to it there is an entrance area with VS signage on the door so there would be no issues for people who pre-order currency from Travelex and need to collect it, as you can visit Travelex before entering the Upper Class wing. You need to scan your boarding card, wait for the access granted message (how cool is that), then walk though into the drive though check-in area. No issues with the system recognising my Flying Club Au status on a non-Upper Class flight.
There are agents greeting you as you enter who direct you towards the security area. Your boarding card is first checked and stamped before you enter the dedicated security area. Usual thing, with my shoes having to come off and be x-rayed, lap-top having to go though separately etc. etc. You do get some nice sofas to sit on whilst putting your shoes back on though #61514; You come out at the far end of the normal security area next to where the immigration desks and shoe scanners are. If you want to avoid the shoe scanner, use the immigration line on the left hand side, closest to where you leave the VS security area as for some reason this line by-passes the shoe scanners. Total time from check-in to Clubhouse was about 5 mins
The CH was quite busy with not many free seats. Once again the patio area was closed is this now a permanent thing? I found a seat near the bar and the service was up to the usual high standard. I then enquired at the concierge about upgrading with yet more miles to Upper. The agent checked her system and called Flying Club but at present nothing was available but they would keep checking for me. After a very nice bacon butty and glass of champers it was almost time for my treatment which Id pre-booked. For a complete change, Id decided to go for a leg and foot massage (I normally just have a shave). All you need to do is remove you shoes and socks and roll your pants up to your knees. The massage was amazing and highly recommend, although if you have ticklish feet, you might find it too sensitive. I was fine with my right foot but had to hold back a couple of times when having my left foot massaged!!
By this time the CH was starting to get less busy with a couple of flights all been called within 15 minutes of each other. I never tried the WiFi today and just used an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet. I was flicking between checking for a reward on the VS web site and Expert Flyer keeping an eye on availability. At about 18:00 a G reward fare appeared for sale on the VS web site (Id noticed that on some days this happens for HKG/SYD flights so if you are after a G or U reward fare on this route, keep checking even once checked in). A quick trip back to concierge and I was in Upper. The only thing was Flying Club had told the concierge agent that this was the last seat in J and that there was an issue with the tray table. They needed to confirm I was OK with this. I didnt see this as a problem as I could eat at the bar if needed anyway.
Having a 12 hour flight in front of me Id decided I needed a nicotine top up and enquired if it was possible for me to go back land-side and back outside the terminal, which is was, although its a bit complicated and can take up to 30 minutes.
Once back in the CH I had a few more drinks before the VS200 was called. We would be departing from gate 16 which is one of those gates where most of the US flights go from. After leaving the CH you turn left and the left again. Its about a 5 minute walk. Boarding had just started and as I entered the gate room, J, W, FC Au, families or people needing extra time to board where being called so I was almost first onboard.
Turned left after boarding and found my seat 14A. The first thing I did was try the tray table. It seemed to work fine as did everything else on my seat. The table did in fact work the entire flight. The table was the original chunky design which was pretty battered on the corners as well. The seat controls did have the protection cover on it and the seat belts where also the original type too. All in all my suite was in quite good condition.
Usual pre-flight drinks where offered. The IFBT came round and introduced herself offering the usual on board treatments. The A/C door was closed and we pulled back at about 21:40 and by 21:55 we were airborne. Upper and Premium where completely full with economy also not far off been full as well. Take-off on a full A346 can be quite an experience as you seem to travel down the runway for quite a long time before you rotate.
The IFBT and the FSM then came and gave out the amenity kits. One of everything from the bowl please [:I] During the flight I visited the bar a few times, although the bar seemed fairly quite for most of the flight.
V:Port seemed to have been left on, but it had to be re-booted shortly after take off as a few zones were not working at all. The full A/C re-boot takes about 20 minutes. I really would like to know how the system works as the few screens I could see in J where all at different stages of booting up. Once back on, after about 15 mins, my V:Port was acting up as the films where all jumping and skipping but it then re-booted itself again. My seat had to be re-booted a third time towards the end of the flight as my system locked up when I was trying to use the i:map, the map itself worked, but stopped responding when I went into the i:map options.
Dinner was served about 2 hours after take off and consisted of thee following items:
Starters
Smoked haddock pate served with black pepper oat cakes
Mild spiced butternet squash soup
Prawns, yellow courgette and spring onion tempura served with sweat sweet and sour sauce
Mains
Roast Chicken with potatoes and veg
Steak and mushroom Square Pie served with mushy peas, mash and gravy
Hoi sin chicken stir-fry
Stir fried Shanghai noodles with shiitake mushrooms
Deserts
Treacle tart with/without cream
Profiteroles
Small Bites
Mini beef burger served with tomato sauce or relish
Chicken tikka
Vegetable pastry
I opted for the spicy soup for started followed by the Hoi sin chicken stir-fry which was very nice. The service was spot on the entire flight. The where no introductions from the FSM but she was very visible the entire flight helping out serving in J.
I did manage a few hours sleep but even in J, I dont sleep that well on flights. I think its because of the noise? And yes is was too warm!
Breakfast was served about 90 minutes before landing. You do get a breakfast order card, but its a bit pointless as the crew come and ask you want you want anyway.
Breakfast
Selection of cereals
Pancakes with maple syrup
Toasted English muffin
Fruit (with or without yoghurt)
Bacon roll
Full English breakfast
As my breakfast order was taken, the IFBT came and invited me for my head, neck and shoulder massage which was good.
Before long it was time to secure the cabin as we had started our approach into HKG. We must have jumped a few slots as the landing came as a bit of a surprise to the cabin crew as the announcement for the crew to take their seats was only 3 minutes before we actually landed (its usually about 10 mins I think) so there was a frantic rush to secure the cabins and take their seats. The First Officer came on after landing and did apologise for the quick landing. We where about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.
Immigration was pretty quick at HKG. My bag took ages to come off. Priority baggage yeah right!!!
Once though I popped outside for a nicotine fix and then headed to the Airport Express train to take me into Hong Kong.
All in all another good VS flight. The crew where excllent [y]
Regards
Regards
James Mitchell
James Mitchell
