V-Flyer

VS200 LHR-HKG
12th March.
Varga Girl - G-VGAS

So I was off to Hong Kong for work again. I tend to fly here a couple of times a year for work. I have always tried to fly Virgin over the years due to living in the States. I was a with Continental Onepass for years and so this kept me on Continental, but I mostly flew Virgin. However when going to Hong Kong I tend to go for the cheapest ticket available, while also enabling me to spend the most time on the ground to get work done. I have a small business and need to keep budgets down.

I was pleased when Virgin came up as an option and did not hesitate to book it. I checked in online the night before and selected 33H. I figured it was a good spot, away from toilets. Being that the A346 is so long I also like to be nearer the front when disembarking.
I arrived to a busy T3 check in. It seemed chaotic to be honest, with lines all over the place and not much organisation. This being said I got in line and a really charming, chatty check in agent took my bag. Very sweet and a good start to the journey. I am always nervous about these trips, as I put a lot of pressure on myself to make them worthwhile for the business.
I cleared security, not too bad tonight, and headed straight
to Chez Gerard for a large Viognier! Great.
A little tipsy after a few glasses I headed to gate 19. I spend most of my time dreaming of the rejected economy boarding pass and an upgrade. But this being Virgin I have learnt not to expect anything. I have, to be fair, always used my Onepass card on Continental so although I flew more on Virgin I didnt build up loyalty. I am now switching over so we shall see if this helps. Both BA and Continental in the past have been reasonably good about and its always a great bonus. I do completely understand its a nice bonus and don't want to give the impression of expecting it. Its just nice. In fact I may try to upgrade on return to PE if not too expensive.

So dreaming over, reality had me turning right, and just to rub it in , we boarded the very front door so had to walk the long length of UC and PE. The walk of shame!! Lots of happy people drinking champagne!!
Arriving at my seat I quickly settled in and was excited to see many great movies to watch, The Hurt Locker and Precious being first.
All was fine and as we taxied on time to 9R for take off I settled in and looked forward to what should be a good flight. Taking off shortly afterwards we turned left slightly and passed through usual clouds to the north of London to reveal a wonderful orange glow stretching for miles out the right side.

A good while after takeoff, I would say 20-25 mins the IFE was switched on. Hmmm, the fun begins. I decided to watch Michael Jackson's" This is It" first. The sound kept cutting in and out. The picture would stall. I tried another movie, the same thing. I tried TV , the same. At this point the cabin crew, mostly Chinese based I think, were serving dinner. I asked someone , she said she would come back after serving. She never did.

So I settled into eating and left the movies for a bit. I ordered the beef stew. Two bits of chewy beef covered by a dumpling and veg. It was bizarre to be honest and not good at all. I was starving and asked for another meal, the veg pasta. They very kindly brought this after they had finished. It was awful as well but I was grateful they had brought it over. I love airline food normally, love the process, the little pots etc ,the whole thing but this was by far the worst I have had on a major airline.

So back to the movie. The CSD of economy eventually came by and I was able to ask him about the screen. They tried a couple of times to reboot the system but this didnt work. A sweet crew member **** said she would try to get me a DVD player. By the time this was all said and done I dozed off. When I woke up **** had left a very polite note, handwritten on a sick bag no less, saying that she could get me DVD player when I woke up. Very sweet. I woke up somewhere on the Chinese / Mongolian border. At this point with under 3 hours to go I didnt think a DVD was worth it and so thought I would play games. As the "up" button on the handset didnt work I wasnt able to play many of the games so I started to read.
At this point breakfast was served. It was ok, better than dinner that is for sure.

And then we began to descend into HK. Flying through smog / cloud / mist I didnt see the usual collection of ships off the airport and the first I saw of land was the parallel runway and thump. We landed and they had obviously been asked to exit quickly because we braked heavily and turned off the runway. We headed to Gate 36 and very shortly afterwards we were off the plane, with transit passengers being told to collect a transit sticker. HKIA was its usual efficient self with half the population of China working and directing us this way and that. So many staff!!
By 6.30pm, about 45 minutes after landing I was on the train to Kowloon.

All in all the flight was fine. Not having TV was really annoying. I did kind of get the impression that things have slipped a bit to be honest. Having flown so many times transatlantic on Virgin I had higher expectations. In the past year and a half I have flown Air France, Cathay and they were both better. I really expected more from Virgin as its always an experience and a pretty cool airline. I fear this is really only when you fly up front. There were highlights however, check in, good seat, ontime and the helpful cabin crew, **** especially. She went above and beyond. But it was not that good and I am hoping the return is better. I am flying from here to Bangkok on Emirates Tuesday, my first time, before heading back to HK next weekend and back on VS201 on the 21st. We shall see how that is. At least a movie would be good.

Edited to remove staff names - honey lamb

Thanks for the detailed TR

I think your comment towards the end where you compare VS to AF and BA speaks volumes

VS must be consistent if it is to suceed

buns

Thanks for an interesting trip report and welcome to V-Flyer.

I've edited your post as forum rules (which appear to have been lost somewhere in the changeover to the new site) do not allow staff names to be used unless with their express permission.

As a matter of interest, as you were so impressed with her performance, if you contact customer service in VS they will make sure that she gets to hear it as will her line manager

Thank you for your TR (and your first post).Don't think that being up the front guarantees a stellar experience. It doesn't -my last trip (in UC) was dire - it's very much a hit and and miss affair these days I'm afraid when flying with VS.
Let's hope for a better experience on the way back.
DL

Thanks for the comments. I will make sure to contact VS about the staff member and Ill make sure to follow rules next time! Thanks for letting me know.

alwaysturningright wrote:Thanks for the comments. I will make sure to contact VS about the staff member and Ill make sure to follow rules next time! Thanks for letting me know.

You weren't to know as a newbie as we are still tweaking the site following the changeover a couple of days ago and the forum rules aren't there currently.

Enjoy the site and the learning curve we are all on. It's a bit like a VS flight! Generally good but with a few inconsistencies from time to time

Great TR. Glad you managed to get some sleep. It is a shame to hear further evidence of inconsistency on VS.

Welcome to V-Flyer and thank you for a very interesting TR. I really hope you have a better experience on your return journey.

Thanks for the TR. I also hope that you have a better return on the VS201. Small comfort I know but at least the Viognier in Chez Gerard was good!

Thank you for the informative TR. Sorry to hear about the inconsistencies of the flight and crew. Hope your return flight is better.

StuartPreston wrote:Great TR. Glad you managed to get some sleep. It is a shame to hear further evidence of inconsistency on VS.

Inconsistency is the name of the game with VS im afraid.

cheers

alex

Wanted to just mention in follow up that my flight home was better. I took the advise and emailed Virgin to compliment the cabin crew member on this flight and received an email yesterday thanking me for doing so and apologizing for the lack of IFE on the flight. They credited my flying club with 2000 miles.

V unexpected and a nice gesture.