V-Flyer

Hello all, hopefully the following gives a good view of our recent trip. Sorry if I've rambled on.

This was an eagerly anticipated trip as myself and the mrs had not been anywhere for over 3 years, and 6 since we had visited Nairobi. Part of the anticipation was also the fact that we were travelling on VA for the first time, as well as higher than economy ever. This wasn't really a typical holiday as we would be visiting relatives, having said that it was also a chill-out trip for us as we had not planned any activities apart from the odd shopping trip.

We left for the airport early as we were getting there by tube and just to factor in any delays. The online checkin was a simple process, so we went straight to the bag drop desk on arrival. A lot of desks were open so not many people waiting, and it was only a few minutes before the bags were taken through. Both our hold bags had the heavy tags put on (one weighted about 27 and the other about 25), not sure what the cut-off point is for 'normal' as opposed to 'heavy'!

Had a quick look around the pre-security T3 shops but remembered from a previous trip that there were more past security than before, so went through without any fuss. We had ensured that our pockets were empty by putting all valuables in to the mrs' larger purse (there are some uses for it after all![:D]). I had decided to take a laptop in a backpack, and just put the pack through the scanner. I was also taking a new Acer Aspire One netbook (thoroughly recommend it if you're after a mini portable for light work or net access with most of the bells, runs XP Home SP3 with 1GB RAM and 120GB HD) as a present for someone which I had put in the other cabin baggage and everything went through without a problem.

We had some time to kill before the gate opened so had a look around the shops and did some shopping and eating. I kept an eye on the screens for gate status but got carried away shopping until about 18:40 so then we hurried off as it was open by then. On arriving to the gate we found that there were only a handful of people waiting there so presumed that a lot had already boarded. We went straight through and found our seats quite quickly as they weren't far from the door. I've always had a somewhat negative feeling about leather seats/sofas but on sitting down in the PE seat found that it was very comfortable, with a firm enough base and back yet flexible enough that you didn't have to shift around to get settled. [y] This was also the first time I had looked at the UC 'seats' and it was impressive, although didn't get to see it in the sleep position. BTW, although I could see the plane before boarding I couldn't quite see the registration. The flight database shows that G-VAIR was the aircraft on this trip.

The crew were quite pleasant and welcoming and helped settle the last few passengers then brought out drinks on each side. There were mineral water bootles for all PE seats which were welcome (do economy have these as well?). The bucks fizz was nice as was the mrs' orange juice. The glasses were collected a few minutes after everyone had been served and the safety video shown with the crew only required to show doors. The amenity kits were distributed before the safety video and an eager examination revealed nothing much different that what we had received on a previous trip in economy with another airline. I would have thought this would be an ideal area for VA to show more exclusivity.[:?]

It wasn't long before we were pushed off and slowly moved to queue for the runway, being about 5th behind various other aircraft. It was a smooth takeoff and as it was quite light outside got to see Heathrow and surrounding rural areas before we were enveloped by clouds. The plane was full in economy & PE, with quite a few empty places in rear UC, so maybe majority UC passengers were in front.

The vport system was available about 20 mins after takeoff and I had a good look around the menu, before settling for a movie (unfortunately can't remember any names). Both our feeds were a bit fuzzy and no amount of changes would resolve this. We got talking to some other passengers before takeoff and even they mentioned the fuzziness. Vport first impressions: more of a set system as with Qatar Airways we were able to choose when we wanted to start a particular program. A few of us also got duff headphones which were replaced faily quickly.

It wasn't long before pre-dinner drinks were served with nibbles, I elected for a Stella and the mrs went for more orange juice (with a topup as well). The crew were serving drinks via the trolley so didn't take long before everyone had been served. Again, the glasses were collected a short while after everyone had been served.

Before long it was time for dinner and as we had requested Asian Vegetarian meals we (along with other non-standard requests) were served early. It wasn't long before the trolleys were out and the rest of the passengers were tucking in. I have to say even though I eat most of it I've never been too impressed with airline meals. The main meal was hot and a little bit different from what I've had before, as it wasn't too dried out and still had juicy bits. In common with all other meals there was also salad, a dessert and various condiments. Although I do eat properly I'm usually a quick eater and so by the time the rolls came around I had more or less finished my meal, so enjoyed the warm roll with some butter and tea. Requests for extra soft drinks during the meal were happily fulfilled by the crew. The silver & china were definitely appreciated. The liqueurs came around and I think about half the people in PE had some. I've always enjoyed Baileys so plumped for this [y], and the mrs' topup request was quickly filled.

I settled down to finish the movie and snoozed off a bit before starting the 2nd movie (again, the name escapes me). During this time the crew came round to ask if anyone wanted drinks, and also let us know they were happy to serve drink/snack requests anytime. I don't really sleep well on planes unless I'm really tired and even then not for too long. I had a walk around as well and quickly reached the rear, the first time flying on an A300.

Well in to the 2nd movie the crew came round with hot drinks and snacks and the early wakeup break was quickly over. I had kept a frequent eye on the skymap, tracking our course across the map and the anticipation was slowly building as we neared our destination. The crew went through distributing landing cards to those who required it. It didn't feel long before we were descending but didn't see much as it was still dark outside. As we came nearer the airport we slowly got to see the lights around it. The landing, still in the dark, was a bit bumpy but it was good to be back on the ground. It wasn't long before we were on stand and were early off the plane with UC passengers. I appreciated this more this time as the last time I was there I flew economy and it felt like we were the last in the queue for immigration. Luckily then the other immigration counters were free soon after and people were re-directed. This time as we were early off we didn't have to wait at immigration for more than a few minutes.

Some of the bags were already on the collection belt but we didn't see ours until after a good 15 minutes, and then both came through a few bags apart. I had seen other comments indicating that UC & PE bags should come off first but given that Nairobi airport is not as advanced as some others, I wasn't sure it would work this way. I support it also depends how they are loaded before departure. I did notice that while we had got our bags there were still some UC passengers waiting for theirs.

My previous experience of immigration at Nairobi airport was not good as both our hold bags were inspected and a lot of pointless questions were asked. We didn't even have any valuables or electronics (apart from a camera) at the time and just ended up saying that they could keep the things they were asking about (sweets and clothes mainly) if they wanted. In the end they let us go. This time I had 2 laptops with me as well as our mobiles, camera and a camcorder. Although we were stopped by an immigration officer on the way out and asked, specifically, it seemed, if we had any gifts we just said we had some sweets and clothes. I don't know if it was the sight of the growing queue of people waiting to get out but we were passed through after only a couple of questions, with a lot of relief on our part.

We were soon on our way as we were met by a relative who had come to pick us up. It was quite light by this time and we could see that the nearest car park was already full!. The drive home through the city was an eye-opener as there's been lots of new development, although some roads still need to be improved.

+: great crew, seating, quick service overall from check-in to deplaning
-: somewhat fuzzy vport feeds, meal content could be better

Thanks very much for an in-depth report from a rarely reported route [y]

A couple of geek points:

Originally posted by svsvf
the first time flying on an A300.

It was actually an A340-300. VS only fly A340-300s, A340-600s and B747-400s

Originally posted by svsvf
Vport first impressions: more of a set system as with Qatar Airways we were able to choose when we wanted to start a particular program.

G-VAIR is actually an Odyssey equiped aircraft which is a much older form of IFE and hence why you correctly were not all that taken with it when compared with Qatar. V-Port is a digitial system with full pause, play rewind etc on demand. It's only on one A340-300 (G-VSUN)

Thanks for the corrections McMaddog, always good to update one's knowledge.

Really enjoyed your TR, thanks very much[y]