VS020 SFO-LHR 13 Apr 08 (Upper)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

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Cabin Crew

Quick TR for the return leg of my first trip to SFO this month, Tinker Belle is the plane this time (and not Stringer Bell as I have written in my notes, for any fans of The Wire out there).

Saturday was a glorious day in SF, and I spent too much time wandering around in the sun so it was a bit of a relief to head out to the airport early to rest my poor tired feet - dropped off there by the shuttle at about 1pm.

There was no queue at checkin for any class & having done online the night before it took all of 60 seconds to drop my bag off & pick up my pass. Settled into the clubhouse & did a bit of work via the internet (free wireless working OK if a bit slow) + enjoyed a couple of decent Bloody Marys. Service in the Clubhouse was fine when I arrived, but seemed to slow down around 3pm when it got busy; there was some moaning from the people behind me.

No real queue at security (clubhouse being the other side at SFO) but still managed get in the same line as gumpy slow bloke ('Take my belt off ? Ive never had to take it off before', 'is there a laptop in that bag, there is ? you need to take it out' etc) - had me reaching for my imaginary cattle prod. Slowest duty free in the world, with only one till open.

No problems with boarding, we left about 10 mins late in the end as we had to wait for some tardy passengers. No space in UC on the top deck that I could see although lady in 1K was moved shortly after takeoff; where she was moved too I have no idea. Everything seemed to work OK, including both the loos & the V-port.

Food was better on this leg than on the outward one; Ive noticed that before with other flights, so I wonder if the poor food problems are a UK / Heathrow issue. Either that or Im generally more relaxed on the way back. Decent cheese - still smaller chunks than I would cut but not dried out this time + grapes + celery + more crackers than I could eat. Still didn't rate an excellent, but a distinct improvement.

Crew were excellent once again, Good Show!.

Got into Heathrow pretty much on time, T3 seems to be quite busy around then (10.40ish ?) so queues at security from other flights - no wait for Iris (and it was working!), about 5 mins for bags to start appearing, worked nicely for me until 20 min wait for the car park van... but thats my fault for being cheap I guess.

Going back to SFO on Friday, this time in PE so Ill get a chance to try the service downstairs.

[honey lamb]

Oh, I know that grumpy, slow bloke. I've managed to get behind him several times in the security line. [:D]

Thanks for the TR [y]

Originally posted by honey lamb
Oh, I know that grumpy, slow bloke. I've managed to get behind him several times in the security line. [:D]

Thanks for the TR [y]

Damn, I've been found out! Though no, it's not me, I don't wear a belt or take anything that will unduly slow down my security progress - not that that always works!

Nice to hear of a good flight Nick!

Originally posted by OxfordNick
Food was better on this leg than on the outward one; Ive noticed that before with other flights, so I wonder if the poor food problems are a UK / Heathrow issue. Either that or Im generally more relaxed on the way back. Decent cheese - still smaller chunks than I would cut but not dried out this time + grapes + celery + more crackers than I could eat. Still didn't rate an excellent, but a distinct improvement.

Yes, I always find the food toward the UK better than the food outbound from the UK. The food from SFO - somewhere I usually do between three and 4 flights a year to - generally seems to be decent.

From the UK, do people think it has a bit of a 'boil in the bag'-ness about it, or is it just me? It often reminds me of iffy pub food that came out of a Brakes/3663 truck.

Thanks for the report!

Mike