This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I thought I would offer up a pair of trip reports for my recent trip to Antigua. This is 1 of 2. We went out in Z/Upper and came back in S/PrEcon (as purchased) and I will go into the issues I had with that in a little more detail in the other report.
Check-in for us was pretty straightforward with no queue in the upper class aisle. There was another couple in front of us who had trouble with their luggage; apparently only one piece of hand luggage is allowed at LGW (while two are allowed at LHR). They were trying to re-arrange everything accordingly. I offered to lend them the spare bag I carry in my luggage but they managed to re-arrange things OK. We checked in with the agent who was very nice and pleasant. She gave us our lounge card and fast-track stickers.
Fast-track customs was unfortunately shut due to passenger illness?!? so everyone was going throught the normal lines. This caused quite a backlog and a lot of people were not happy having to mingle with the 'great unwashed'. I think the main issue though was the lack of communication and that there was no clear signage as to what was going on. Custom s clearance took around 30 minutes.
Check In: + for check-in staff, - for no fastrack/bad comms, - for inconsistency on hand luggage. I bought my ticket from VS - they are who I hold responsible for the entire experience from airport checkin to airport exit.
Once through and air-side we were subjected to the the sheer hell that is LGW duty-free shopping. Saturday morning and the queue in WHSmith is 50 people long and the whole place is like Oxford Street the weekend before Christmas. Mrs C goes off shopping while I head to the lounge
A bacon sarnie and a few coffees later and the call to board comes through the tanny with around 45 minutes to take-off. We mosey on down to gate 17 and join a long queue of aroung 100 people all waiting on the skybridge
Once on board we get settled in 8a/9a and get ready for the flight. An attendant pops over to offer us a drink each. At this point, apart from the seat its no different to PE. We are then advised that the crew are one short so things might take a little longer than usual....
We took off slightly late at around 10.15 instead of 09.45
Once underway we get the little black kit. The last time I did UC was in 2004 and we got these proper zip-bages full of goodies. The difference in quality and quantity is very apparent, and not for the better! Food orders were then taken and I had the impression that the crew wanted to get the food services out of the way all at once and did not stress the freedom part of the menu. I also asked for a second Ron and Coke, and never got it until I asked again 30 minutes later. We both asked for chicken from the same menu as shown here.
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/tridion/ ... 590747.pdf About 10 minutes later we were asked if we wanted something else as everyone wanted the chicken! but to be honest, there was nothing else we wanted and told her that. In the end we both got the chicken and it was rubbery, overcooked, and actually the worst meal I have had on a Virgin flight in any class in eight years. We also were not offered the cheese. I went and asked for that about thirty minutes later and had that then. The cheese and pudding part of the meal were fine.
Food/Drink -- for quality (Winner would open the emergency exit door mid flight if served with the tripe I had).
Seat - for marks, otherwise excellent
I bring my latpop on flights for alternate entertainment so we watched Omarosa get fired and Lost in HD. We also chatted with the couple I mentioned earlier and got invited to their wedding in Antigua
The seat in itself was fine - it all worked but had plenty of pen marks over and round it.which was good. We were first off of the flight and first through customs which was great. The luggage came through about 15 minutes after clearing customs.
Ent, as I didn't use it only average. Had it been v-port I would have scored it higher.
Crew. Only average as while I understand they were one short, my service did suffer and I Didn't pay 5/6ths of the advertised fare (or was offered 1/6th of a refund). For an UC trip I would say that anything less than a 'Good' rating is poor.
Overall I didn't think the experience was that great, and compared to earlier visits in UC to St. Lucia, even in the old J2000 seat, I thought it has gone downhill. Would I do UC again? Of course I would. However if I had the choice of UC or a daytime flight with quiet/empty PE and bulkhead or exit seats, I would probably go PE. Based on this experience I would see that as better value for money, and as I am paying for both myself and Mrs C, VFM comes quite near the top in my list.
The flight was pretty quiet in terms of ride. There was a little turbulence but nothing major and we arrived slightly early which was good. We were first off of the flight and first through customs which was great. The luggage came through about 15 minutes after clearing customs.
Overall I didn't think the experience was that great, and compared to earlier visits in UC to St. Lucia, even in the old J2000 seat, I thought it has gone downhill. Would I do UC again? Of course I would as I think/hope my experience is the exception rather than the norm. However if I had the choice of UC or a daytime flight with quiet/empty PE and bulkhead or exit seats, I would probably go PE. Based on this experience I would see that as better value for money, and as I am paying for both myself and Mrs C, VFM comes quite near the top in my list.
