V-Flyer

Arrived at south terminal at 7:15 am after staying overnight in the sofitel, departures hall was quite crowded and every check in seemed to have endless queues of tired eyed travel. As we entered the upper class check in zone there were 3 desks and no one queuing, got checked in by one of the most unfriendly miserable check in agents I have ever come across in my life! Our luggage was weighed and boarding passes were issued all without a smile or polite word being exchanged and we were then pointed to fast track and given directions thereafter to the clubhouse.
We arrived at fast-track with no queuing and were straight trough in to the hub of the packed departures hall within less than 1 minute.
We made a fast exit from the departures hall in to the sanctuary of the Clubhouse and according to my watch we had made it in 7 minutes from check in to clubhouse, now thats what I call fast.
Soon we were settled down and tucking in to our smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and a glass or two of the fizzy stuff, we both decided to forgo any treatments today as it seemed totally unnecessary and unwise to have our bodys pawed by strange hands at this time of morning anyone who knows me would say I am one of the most miserable irritable human beings in the world when I get up and I dont mellow until my second cigarette and cup of black tea have been consumed The lounge was nice and peaceful for the first 20 minutes or so and then slowly started to fill up also I noted that a group of European staff had congregated by the bar area and were talking rather to loudly amongst themselves for my liking, after a few glares from grumpy old me they turned it down a little and dispersed to carry out their duties of the day. We finished breakfast and decided to sit near the window at the top end of the clubhouse near the entrance as it seemed much quieter there.
I got settled with my cup of black tea and the wife informed me that she was leaving to go check that the credit cards worked in duty free.
I sat quietly for about 15 minutes when a group of Premium Economy travellers parked in the next lot of seats and started downing copious amounts of Champaign and talking loudly about being on the top deck in the business class seats for their flight to Tobago??? I smiled to myself and decided to have a speed nap in the hope I would wake up smiling and all mellow for our departure.
My power nap lasted longer than anticipated and I was soon awoken by the wife returning from duty free with a bag full of goodies thus confirming that the credit cards worked >. We ordered another glass of bubbly and about halfway through our drink boarding for the VS63 was announced for gate 32. The wife wanted to rush off but I told her to take her time as priority boarding would probably not be in operation and that a second call for boarding would be announced which would give us plenty of time to get to the aircraft.
We finished or bubbly and with the long awaited smile on my face we decided to take a slow walk to the gate.
Upon our arrival we were greeted by the sight of G-VLIP and a very short queue for boarding. We joined the queue and were quickly summoned to the priority boarding lane and were soon boarding the aircraft and greeted nicely by the door and pointed to our seats 6A +6K respectively. Upper class was deserted with only 2 other passengers at this time, we were soon settled down and drinking a welcome Champaign a 5th passenger then arrived in the cabin and soon after all passengers were boarded and we were looking good for an on time departure.
Then the bubble was burst when the captain came over the pa informing us that they were having problems getting some paperwork and we would be delayed until it arrived, after about 50 minutes we were informed that the paper work was onboard and the doors were being closed and we would soon be on our way.
We were soon taxing to runway and departed from 08R heading east before turning right and heading down over the south coast for our routing over the Atlantic and down to Cuba.
The cabin was very clean and I am glad to say that our seats and entertainment system worked flawlessly throughout the flight.
The seat belt sign was soon disengaged and within minutes we were being greeted by the F.S.M who was absolutely excellent as was the C.S.D and the 2 crew members who worked the cabin for our flight. Our meal orders were taken and more drinks were served about 40 minutes later we were tucking in to our not so excellent meal. I had a salad to start and chicken for main course opted out of desert I chose to lubricate my throat with the rose which was nicely chilled and very welcomed by the pallet. After lunch was cleared away we were joined by the F.S.M who stayed for about 30 minutes chatting about our holiday and giving recommendations on places to eat in Havana.
It transpired that the F.S.M was travelling with her husband on this flight he was the first officer, she went to see him to get the name of a restaurant they had previously eaten at in Havana but she could not recall the name.
After the F.S.M left us we put our seats in to bed mode and settled down for a few hours sleep, I slept on and off throughout the flight being offered drinks by the superb crew every time I sat up. We reached the eastern seaboard and made our way down from Nova Scotia towards the Bahamas we stayed way out from the coast as we flew down the states.
The wife was also awake by now and we were again soon joined by the F.S.M who now had the name of the restaurant in Havana it was actually a restaurant that the wife had already researched and decided upon visiting.
We chatted for about 10 or so minutes and was then joined by the male crew member serving us who was delighted to find out that we were staying in Havana for 4 nights after our 10 nights in Varadero. He said that most people seem to just fly in to Havana and go to the beach resorts for the full duration of their holidays. It also transpired that the hotel we were staying at in Havana was the same hotel that the crew use.
We were soon served afternoon tea, I had a chicken salad wrap and some fruit and the wife had the assorted sandwiches and scones. I had pre ordered a special meal for the flight as I am very sensitive to butter.
After afternoon tea we chatted with the rest of the crew in upper class and before long we were flying over the Bahamas and making our decent towards Havana.
The landing was very smooth and we arrived on schedule despite our late departure.
We disembarked by door L1 and were given priority disembarkation we passed pleasantries to the crew on leaving the aircraft and again the F.S.M came over to us to bid us farewell and wish us a happy holiday.
We were the first passengers in the immigration hall and was actually greeted with a smile from the immigration officer who told the wife politely to go to another immigration officer as we could only be processed one by one and not together, after a short time in the immigration cubical I was let through and wished a pleasant holiday by the immigration officer.
I rejoined the wife and we went through security and customs control and made the short walk to the baggage hall. Our luggage arrived on a separate belt after about 5 minutes and we were soon out in the arrival hall and greeted by our tour rep who arranged for our car to pick us up outside the terminal.
We were soon in our private transport and settling down for the 2_ hours drive down to Varadero.

To sum up our flight was excellent and the crew were the best we have ever had in a long time I would especially like to mention the F.S.M who was absolutely wonderful and lead an excellent team in the best way possible that is by example.

Great TR. ! Glad you had such a great flight.

I think I know who this FSM is - I have flown with her a few times and she is a member of v-flyer too. I am sure that when you get a fantastic FSM like the one you had it makes the flight fantastic too.

Regards,

HG

Just goes to show the wonders that an amazing FSM can do.

Am looking forward to your return TR and will be interested to hear about what you make of the food. I believe on the HAV route the food for the return is loaded at LGW in the hold.

Originally posted by hackneyguy
Great TR. ! Glad you had such a great flight.

I think I know who this FSM is - I have flown with her a few times and she is a member of v-flyer too. I am sure that when you get a fantastic FSM like the one you had it makes the flight fantastic too.

Regards,

HG

Hi Hackneyguy
thanks fir reading my TR, Indeed it dose make all the difference when you have a fantastic FSM who as I said in my TR leads by example.

Actually through all of our chats I forgot to mention V Flyer, shame on me[:#]

Hi willd

Thanks for reading my TR.

I will do a return TR in a few days but just to let you know the food was ACE on the return flight and I refused my special meal which was the exact same as my outbound meal.

Originally posted by willd
Just goes to show the wonders that an amazing FSM can do.

Am looking forward to your return TR and will be interested to hear about what you make of the food. I believe on the HAV route the food for the return is loaded at LGW in the hold.

Jerseyboy

Grateful thanks for a very informative TR[y][y]

We arrived at fast-track with no queuing and were straight trough in to the hub of the packed departures hall within less than 1 minute.
We made a fast exit from the departures hall in to the sanctuary of the Clubhouse and according to my watch we had made it in 7 minutes from check in to clubhouse, now that's what I call fast.

This makes a change from the situation when they did not have the dedicated Fastrack section = of course the new V Room could put paid to such a speedy transition in the future.

Once again, your TR demonstrates that VS can do wonders when the FSM is on par.

Thanks once again

buns

Hi Buns

Are you saying that passangers who purchase accesss to the V Room will also get fast track?

Not sure I like the idea of that if it is the case.

Thanks also for reading and commenting on my TR

Jerseyboy

Originally posted by buns4vs
Jerseyboy
This makes a change from the situation when they did not have the dedicated Fastrack section = of course the new V Room could put paid to such a speedy transition in the future.

Originally posted by buns4vs

This makes a change from the situation when they did not have the dedicated Fastrack section = of course the new V Room could put paid to such a speedy transition in the future.

Once again, your TR demonstrates that VS can do wonders when the FSM is on par.

Thanks once again

buns

Hi Buns,

Passed through fast track a couple of days ago and noticed it's had a revamp. Entrance is in the same place ( to the left of the normal entrance) but there is now about 5 channels after you enter. It was Very Quick - infact was through in under a minute. The normal channels are in a seperate area to the right.

Good to see BAA spending some money !

David

jerseyboy - many thanks for the comprehensive TR.

It is the first UC report we have had on the HAV route. [y]

Your check in experience, and your comments about the staff on board; show that no matter how much money VS invest in infrastructure and advertising, it is still the people on the front line that will make or break a product.

Nick

Originally posted by jerseyboy
Hi Buns

Are you saying that passangers who purchase accesss to the V Room will also get fast track?


Jerseyboy

Yes, it is mentioned Here

That said, if there are five lanes open then it will not be too much of a problem.

buns

David

Thanks for providing news which is music to my ears[y]

buns

Thanks for a great TR and Cuba is an amazing place.

It is soooooo good to hear that you are not a morning person either, people know not to talk to me until I have had at least 2 black coffees!!! [:w]

Dominic