V-Flyer

Time to head back to the UK after a couple of weeks chilling out the US ; those of you who have been following my previous TRs will know that the flying this trip hasn't gone as smoothly as it could, so I was kind of expecting more problems - but it was (thankfully) an easy trip this time.

Checked in OnLine the night before so arrived at the airport at the two hour mark, along with everyone else it appeared. Used the bag drop line rather than the PE line thinking it would be quicker but it wasn't, since one of the two Bag Drop counters was doing checkin for the (quite long) Economy line & one of the Economy counters was doing checkin for the (less long) PE line; took about 20 mins in the end.

No problem with security, the International terminal at LAS is sooo much quicker than the internal one!

Boarded about 10 mins later than advertised by row number - which was being enforced - good to see. I had reserved my window seat upstairs in the bubble & it was as good as I remember - no new (leather ?) seats on this plane yet but the old seats have had new covers & a general tidy up. No VPort, but the movies did seem to work without problems for the entire flight (didnt watch any myself). All seats taken upstairs, I *think* that the flight was full.

Champers before takeoff. Well, they called it Champers, but I have my doubts; still its better than nothing (Looking at you American Airlines!)

Skipped the food since I had treated myself to a big lunch earlier in the day (PF Changs @ Green Valley Ranch - yum yum) but it didn't look too bad. Had a Beer & a Brandy then dozed until the lights came back on. Passed on the nasty looking cheese-ham thing - we want bacon rolls in PE !

Arrived into LGW about on time, had the 10 min tour of the back of the airport to the gate then allowed down the stairs & off before the masses queued up from the back of the plane.

Straight thru Immigration via the (one) Iris channel - quite a queue for the EU line from other arriving flights. 20 min wait for bags to start arriving & no prioritization that I could see - my bags with PE labels attached came out with the second batch of Economy & NO SIGN of any purple tags on bags at that point.

Stood next to an amusing baggage hander chappie explaining to his customer how the crews who load the bags into the hold slide heavy bags on the conveyer so that the handles get ripped off & how to drop a sampsonite bag on the corner so it springs open... thankfully my squashy purple Eddie Bauer duffle has survived 15 years of travel around the world without incident.

Quite a few people loitering in the Green lane in customs checking baggage tags ; didn't appear to be interested in the LAS flight, so I guess they were looking for people on one of the others.

Thats about it - PE class in the bubble is still my favorite way to fly when I can't afford upper; well worth the extra over cattle IMHO. Just booked a PE return to Sydney with my BA airmiles for May next year so thats the next flight for me!

Thanks for the TR, Nick [y] Glad it was hassle free.

Good call on the food. PF Chang's or airline food? Tough choice... not!
Their lettuce wraps are a reason for a visit to the US on their own. [^]

Nick

Thanks for the great TR![y]

quote:Originally posted by OxfordNick
Just booked a PE return to Sydney with my BA airmiles for May next year so that's the next flight for me!



Did BA and VS merge, I hadn't notice that.

Though guess you mean WT+ [}:)]

quote:Originally posted by slinky09

Did BA and VS merge, I hadn't notice that.

Though guess you mean WT+ [}:)]


Heh. I did notice something was different when I couldnt reserve my seat when I booked...

Brilliant TR, thanks for posting.