This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
When I got to the UC check-in desk there were about 5-6 people ahead of me comprising of 2-3 parties. I was aware that in the background economy check-in was proceeding but like the rest I was content to wait. Besides, the orchid was being brought out and we all know what that means. [:D] However the real entertainment was to the side. Between the left of what would be the UC check-in desks and the tensa barriers separating VS from the outside world, a group consisting of three women, one man, numerous children, even more numerous suitcases, a porters trolley and a weary looking porter were gathered. The chattering of the group was of such a high level that a swift prayer heavenwards escaped my lips as I contemplated a routing of SFO-LHR-DXB. Yes, these delightfully beautiful and black-clad women were robed entirely in Muslim garb and the purpose of their stay there was to re-pack their suitcases to comply with weight restrictions and were using VS scales. So we watched as one woman grabbed a pair of shoes, did a tour of the cases and replace them in the same case from which she had removed them. [ii] Other women, chatting furiously and totally unconcerned shifted stuff from one case to another but it appeared to me that they were replacing like with like. While this was going on the porter was muttering phrases like No jobs worth this, Ive got better jobs to do and the like.[:o)] Eventually the cases were closed and loaded on to the trolley and to the immense relief of us all they trundled elsewhere. We counted 11 cases on the trolley and one wag (me) opined they were off for a weekend somewhere. Eyes rolled and opinions were expressed but the consensus was that it had helped shorten the waiting time! [y] Actually the thing that had struck me the most that one of the children who was no more than 6 and still with her milk teeth had braces. [?] Perhaps any dentists on board would care to comment?
While all this was going on UC check in had opened and the guy at the head of the queue had been summoned forward. A second desk was opened which would eventually become PE but there was no-one there and the family in front of me was called forward. There was a vacant middle desk and I was to the left and a guy in the ticketing to the right. The overhead monitors were advertising upgrades to UC but at that stage were not giving a price. The middle desk opened and to my surprise the guy in ticketing was called forward. However the family at the soon-to-be PE desk vacated (the guy at the head of the queue was still being dealt with) and I was called forward. It was as pleasant a check-in experience as I have ever had in fact possibly the best although he had been unable to give me 21K. [^] The fact that 20K, the bulkhead was available told me these seats had been released. As he filled in my invite to the Clubhouse I asked if Claire was on duty as I keep missing her. He thought she wasnt but rang through. There was no reply but I told him that last year when I had checked in at this time the Clubhouse had not been open till nearly 1:00pm. He stated that it opened earlier now and I said Oh yes, because of Virgin America. He agreed and said that Aer Lingus used the lounge. I had forgotten that and said so and as a conversation piece that I was flying Aer Lingus the following day. I said that I knew Aer Lingus flew to SFO but it was easier for me to get from LHR than DUB and in any case I preferred flying VS. He glanced behind him and my cases were still there so he told the guy waiting to put them on the belt to hold them and asked for my ticket on EI. I told him I had already checked in but that didnt seem to be a problem and with a few swift keystrokes he turned round and tore the baggage tags off my bags and replaced them with ones to Cork. I asked for one of them back temporarily so that I would take some stuff out for Revivals which request was granted. Then the two bags were re-tagged and sent on their merry way. Ive had some superlative check-in experiences but this one topped the biscuit. How I wish there was a ++ rating.[y][y]
Floating on a little cloud of ecstasy (the feeling, not the drug) I wafted my way up to the Clubhouse. On my way there a VS guy, seeing my purple boarding card asked if I knew the way. I assured him I did but went up feeling even more cosseted. In the Clubhouse Claire was not there but I was welcomed as warmly as if she had been. I had a mission. I had been asked by a V-flyer who had a long connection after arriving on the VS19 to ask if he could use the facilities and once the details had been given it was logged in the diary. Once in the Clubhouse the service couldnt have been more attentive. [y] Actually I needed to ascertain the V-flyers details for the diary so I went straight away to the business centre to log into V-flyer and get the date of travel and immediately was forced to listen to a VX passengers phone calls about emails and their subtexts at the next station. It was a relief to suss out the details and go back into the main area. I really didnt want to hear about her love life. (Well I did really, [:I] but her voice was beginning to annoy me)
Once ensconced in the main area I opted for a glass of champagne and having perused the menu for the night flight, the asparagus and citrus salad. At one stage I saw someone coming in with newspapers but as VS19 hadnt arrived by then I figured they were the Irish papers. They were, but I would have liked if they had included the Irish Examiner. However I got in touch with what was happening at home (not a lot). I should say that the clubhouse was not very busy. There were a few VX passengers sorry, guests but they didnt stay long and there were about 3 or 4 Aer Lingus passengers (5 if you count me) identifiable by shamrock-headed travel documents. Also as a token to them some of the music was Irish but fortunately not diddley-di stuff. [:$] The Aer Lingus crowd were summoned at about 1:30 and after that as far as I was concerned, the Clubhouse was in the sole possession of VS.
Shortly after VS19 arrived, G-VWOW a plane I had been on shortly after she had joined the fleet but not since. There was no delay since the Korean airlines plane had long since left and she was able to go straight to her stand well after an Alaskan Airlines plane had pushed back out of her way. Hard on her heels came a Cathay Pacific flight so I hoped the VS passengers were able to get to Immigration first.
At one stage a middle-aged guy and his wife came into the Clubhouse. He was wearing a football jersey, which things in my personal opinion should be banned. They took the table behind me but something was niggling me about the shirt and I couldnt figure what. [:?] However later, when coming from the Ladies I realised it was a Cork shirt and I got talking to him. He and his wife were coming to spend the summer as they did each year in a town about 25 miles from me. I told him where I lived and he said that he had golfed there but couldnt remember at which one of the courses. I named the one where Aer John is a member and sure enough that was the one. Small world!
I left the Clubhouse shortly before the flight was called and security was clear enough with only a small line waiting to go through. However they must have called the flight almost immediately after as all of a sudden a crowd arrived most of them waving purple boarding cards and the queue got backed up. The ladies managing the entrance to the security line at one stage opened the tensa barrier and allowed a couple of gentlemen through so that they could by-pass the main queue. One or two of the people from the Clubhouse saw this and ducked under the barrier but the guys at the door of the security area were having none of this and they were made to go back from whence they came. Security moved fairly quickly and soon I was on my way to gate A8.
Boarding had commenced and indeed was nearly finished as far as economy was concerned. Just as I was approaching the priority boarding area a family was called over from the economy line to expedite matters. A supervisor noted my boarding pass and realised that UC and PE passengers were on their way so went over and told the gate agent not to take any more from the other line as this line was now only for UC and Gold passengers. Once through the gate I headed towards the plane but then got held up by the family who stopped just where the two paths diverge and effectively blocked up the entrance to the UC jetway. However a staff member saw what was happening and so ushered them on straight away and I was able to make my way on board to seat 22K
Once on board champagne and sleep suits were distributed and there was a general stampede for the loos as everyone opted to change before take-off. My ninja suit was definitely one of the newer ones. It certainly had a more cottony feel and I wasnt swimming in it as previously so they definitely have reduced in size. And for those of you who might be impolite enough to suggest that perhaps I was a bit chubbier than heretofore, [V] yes that is true but the new suits still are slightly smaller in all directions. We pushed back slightly ahead of time and trundled along to the runway where we had to wait a bit for incoming traffic but then we were soaring over the Bay before turning homewards. A deep sigh of regret escaped me as I had had a truly wonderful time but a perfect Ten and tonic with lime soothed me. There had been a momentary panic when the cabin crew didnt think there was any lime aboard [:0] but a couple of seconds later she came back to re-assure me. A second one was offered and good manners dictated I should accept. For dinner I had the soup but cant remember what kind it was. Its not that it was so bland as to be unidentifiable, its just that Im having a combined blonde and senior moment! [?] I had the chicken in tarragon sauce which was OK but I was sorry I hadnt chosen the braised short ribs. For dessert I had ice cream which was rock solid and it was a good hour before I could eat it properly! My wine glass was refilled and the service was faultless.
I didnt see much of the FSM. He came round the cabin with the basket of goodies and was visible in the cabin but didnt really interact with the passengers. Incidentally there were a couple of empty seats in zone B and I nearly drowned in a sea of testosterone as I think there was only one other lady in that zone way over in the A seats. I had watched some television and listened to some music before converting my suite to bed mode well to be more accurate I started to convert it but one of the cabin crew came over and did it for me. She was going to switch off my IFE but I decided I might listen to so more music or the relaxation tapes. However the IFE had seemed to have frozen so I gave up and tried to sleep [|)] thinking it would go off during the night.
I dont think I slept that much. I possibly dozed. After all I was still on Pacific Time and it was still evening. However at about 8:30am our time I gave up and changed out of my sleep suit and converted the suite back to a seat. I hadnt ordered breakfast for the simple reason that any time I have done so before, I didnt really want it in the morning and I preferred to decide first thing. I was therefore a little bit miffed that no-one was coming next or near me but that they were waking up the guy in front since he had ordered breakfast. However shortly afterwards I was asked if there was anything I wanted and some fresh fruit hit the spot. [:)]Incidentally the IFE was still frozen from the night before and I mentioned it to the cabin crew who went off to reset it. That didnt work and after a bit the SCC came forward as she was able to do a more complicated reset. This didnt work either in spite of a couple of attempts. I was feeling guilty as this was in the middle of breakfast service and really all I wanted to do was to look at the sky map to see where we were! The SCC offered to move me to the seat across the aisle but I didnt really want to do that for the sake of the map but she insisted on switching it on and facing it towards me. The sky map didnt really work on that monitor either! At least it never changed or showed any details. Of course the minute the IFE was unavailable, I, who prefers to read, thought of all the delights I was missing. A challenging game of Trivia against the person in 44D perchance? Winning Who wants to be a Millionaire? The back-to-back editions of Little Britain? No! These now became forbidden fruits and therefore became all the more attractive. I was glad when they switched off the IFE. [:w] Incidentally the SCC was terrific in making sure I had all I wanted to eat and during the course of the conversation she expressed the opinion that I had been on one of her flights recently. I thought back and we both agreed it was on one of the Dubai flights and I think it was the inbound.
All too soon we were circling in our descent to LHR. At one stage there was a beautiful example of synchronised flying as an Aer Lingus plane flew in parallel formation a few hundred feet below us. I wish I had had my camera out. It was cloudy over London but at one stage we broke through the cloud just as we were turning downstream of Tower Bridge. The view was incredible stretching way up past the new City Hall to the London Eye and Parliament and I could see a friends apartment block near Tower Bridge with stunning clarity. There were a few wisps of clouds over the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace but as we neared LHR the Wembley Arch was very clear. I love the approaches into LHR. Whichever direction you come in from there is always something to see. [^]
We landed on the runway near where the BA plane from Beijing was cordoned off and began a long taxi in to the gate which was gate 23. Yes, folks, we were pulling in alongside the Clubhouse and from the plane it was quite easy to see the roof garden. Well lets face it, thats the only way you are going to see it these days. [:w] Of course the other advantage of gate 23 is that it is very near Immigration and so not far to walk. The FSM had been insistent on giving us all Fast Track vouchers even though as EU members we dont need them. However when we got to the Immigration Hall it was virtually deserted and there really was no need of Fast Track. When I got to the EU area there was only one person ahead of me and I sailed through while the guy at the next desk was being berated because of the state of his passport!
As my bags had been checked through I had no need to wait in the baggage hall and so was ahead of the posse into Revivals. I had a refreshing shower but suddenly realised that all the lotions and potions I use on my face were in my checked bags. No matter. A quick word at the reception desk and I was whisked in to the beauty therapist to be creamed and moisturised to my hearts content. A most satisfying breakfast followed and soon I was ready to face the rigours of T1
