VS010 JFK-LHR 3 Dec 07 (Upper)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

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After a few days in NY, it was time to head home. As there were 6 of us travelling to JFK, we decided to travel in style and booked a stretched limo. However there were problems with numerous street closures around our hotel which meant we were about 30mins late leaving. In addition the traffic to the airport was very slow moving. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but there were 5 of us travelling back VS and me and the other half could only get 2 into the lounge and we were relying on a further friend travelling back upper on the earlier flight to get the 5th person into the club house. Despite my concerns we made it with a little bit of time to spare.

We knew that we were travelling on the new config plane, with 4 of us in Premium and 1 in economy. Since they had obviously overbooked economy due to the new config, they were offering a BOGOF for economy to premium upgrades. We only had one friend in economy so not much use and by the time we got to the airport (at 550), they had already 'oversold premium'. so no chance of moving our friend again.

The JFK lounge is obviously not the same at the LHR clubhouse, but the staff there are all very friendly and the meals and service are great. However there were a few problems - no blender for some of the cocktails, no limes and would you believe it....NO champagne!!!! However the remaining cocktails that were available and the wine and meals were all very good. Halfway through dinner, I was called to the concierge desk and was told that I alone had been upgraded to Upper. Really good news for me as I had to go to work in the morning, but slightly odd as we were in a group (not all booked together). Returned to collect my original boarding card, but felt really bad explaining that I was now in Upper. Sat there feeling rather bad for the next 10 or so minutes until the other half was called to the concierge desk to be informed that he had also been bumped up. That meant that 2 of us were in upper, 2 in premium and 1 in economy. None of the remaining group got bumped up, and I think that they all understood it was nothing that we could do anything about....but slightly odd that a group was broken up like that! It appears that with the new config plane, that a lot of Gold people are regularly being bumped up to make room for the overbooked economy passengers on the flight.

After a nice few hours and cocktails, and feeling a little bit less bad about it, we were called for boarding! Headed off to board and settle myself into 21G downstairs on what was a full flight. Noticed straight away, that the suites on the B747 are much bigger and longer than the A340 aircraft.

The flight back was only 5 hours 45 minutes, which meant minimal sleep time. However as I was coming back upper decided I might as well have a couple of drinks and chance getting a treatment, which I managed to get!! [:D] Got about 3 hours sleep, before waking to grab some breakfast and change back into normal clothes. The friends in premium were VERY disappointed with the premium breakfast - a muffin and something from the fruit bowl! Managed to sneak a bacon roll from the upper class bar for one of them, to make up for not travelling back upper which was very appreciated.

Did the usual circle around for a while as we were early, followed by sitting on a taxi-way at LHR....when will they get the gate problem sorted there???

After all the bags arrived (the 2 not tagged PE or UC took for ages to appear, although we had all checked in at the PE or UC desks, it appears that they forgot to tag 2 of the bags at check in!), the 2 gold card holders said their goodbyes and nipped off for a shower and freshen up before heading off to work (those in PE/Econ actually had the day off anyway!).

Overall a really good time in the clubhouse and in Upper, although slightly odd how JFK deal with upgrades and split up groups booked in together!

What a wonderful Trip Report - thank you very much! [y]

Although, only 3 hours sleep? You should drink more wine, man... [V][;)]

GJ

Thanks for the TR. I seem to recall that VS downgraded the second PE meal / breakfast after surveys showed many people didn't want a full meal / left a lot of waste. The result of course is a rather cheap and miserable presentation that doesn't go with the rest of the PE service.

Originally posted by slinky09
The result of course is a rather cheap and miserable presentation that doesn't go with the rest of the PE service.

Agreed. Something really simple like a good quality warm croissant (or choice of croissants/danish) with preserves and tea/coffee is quick to serve and probably about right for PE on the shorter flights from the East Coast to London. Given the small size of the PE cabin, I reckon that this service could be achieved easily in the first 30 minutes of the last hour.

Mike

The other thing that I forgot to mention, is that my friends were not impressed that with the new config of the B747 with the larger downstairs PE cabin, is that there are no dedicated PE toilets anymore!