V-Flyer

This should really be dated 25th May 2010...

Anyway, heading back home from 2 weeks in the US which included our attempt at doing Bay to Breakers. Normally, getting to SFO from Palm Springs should be pretty easy as United fly direct. This as not to be one of those days.....

I was scheduled to fly out at 11:02, getting in around 12:30 or so. Checked-in online the evening before and after my goodbyes, headed to the terminal at about 9. On using the machine, I found that my flight had been cancelled and I had been moved to the 12:43 flight although they did try to get me on flight to LAX that would then arrive at SFO at 7.30 PM… They did warn about a weather related delay of about an hour.

So, all checked in and off to the departure lounge I trotted. Palm Springs airport has free Wi-Fi throughout (Nice one, Chuck!! ) so at least I could keep an eye on things. The inbound flight arrived at 13:35, with a planned departure of 13:50, so plenty of time. I sat and watched as it was off-loaded, refuelled and I could see my bags go up the loading ramp into the hold – all looking good. Then the pilot came into the gate area and started to make an announcement. On landing, one of the landing gear fire detectors had broken and as there was no redundancy, it would have to be replaced before we could go. Of course this depended on the stores having the part and being able to fit it in time. The race was on!

Luckily, the part was available and we started boarding at 15:00 and departed at 15:15 – this was going to be tight. Then the weather stepped in. SFO was delaying landing and we may have to divert to San José. No amount of praying would work now, I was going to miss the flight and we finally landed at 17:00 and taxied right behind Cosmic Girl. I’d failed. It then transpired that President Obama and Air Force One were in SFO and this would not have helped. On collecting my luggage, I headed over to the International Terminal to see it anyone from Virgin was still about, but they had (unsurprisingly) all gone home. Using the airport courteous phones I called FC to see what could be done.

Now, I was travelling on a Z, which doesn’t give me too many options. I have to say that although FC were sympathetic, they weren’t much help, immediately going down the route of “The cost of upgrading to a flexible ticket it £3000+ along with a £120 fee. A PE seat would be £1300 and Y was overbooked. Somewhat dejected, I declined this and deciding that nothing more could be done for now, headed off to find a hotel for the night to re-think my plan of attack. Using the hotel phones in the Arrivals area I got a room at the Travelodge Airport South for $89 with free breakfast and Wi-Fi. Out into the rain to await the bus.

I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting the Travelodge to be great but I was beyond caring. I needed a shower, food and a bed. I was actually quite surprised. The hotel was really close and very clean. OK, my room overlooked the Caltrain line, but it wasn’t a constant noise. Posting the details of my exploits on Facebook, it was soon suggested that I see if FC could open a G as Upper had 9 free seats.

It seemed that my particular travel god had now finished work for the day and the replacement was much more benign. A quick look on-line showed no G’s but a U at 37,500 miles and about $170 in tax etc. for the following day. Not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth, I grabbed it and then started to dream of a miles upgrade to G. Relieved to be going home, my body pointed out that I had barely eaten all day. Luckily there was a Wendy’s right next door to save the day. Bed and sleep finished the day off.

Next morning, feeling full of vim and vigour I planned my day.

12:00 – get shuttle to airport
12:30 – camp by VS ticket desk in zone 10
12:54 – give menacing looks to anyone who may want to use mile to upgrade
12:55 – spent 12,500 miles for that G
12:56 – head to Clubhouse with purple boarding card
12:59 – relax!!!

Not fancying the breakfast, I texted a friend who I knew was in San Francisco to see if they wanted some company at Starbucks. As mentioned earlier, my room overlooked the Caltrain line, but was also very close to the Millbrae BART station. This suited my plans and after a slight wrestle with the ticket machine I was heading to the Powell station. I was really impressed with the BART as even at 9 in the morning I got a seat and there was none of the mass overcrowding of the London tube and a return from Millbrae (southern end of the line) was only $9. Hotel check-out time was noon so I had plenty of time (sound familiar?)...

Arriving at Starbucks at about 9:30 we met up and regaled her with my tale of woe and how I snatched a victory out of the jaws of defeat. After a good natter, we parted company and I headed back to Powell to get the BART. Another 30 minute ride and I was back at the hotel packing. The shuttle bus arrived at 10 past the hour but the free Wi-Fi was still working.

The International Terminal was the first stop and bathed in glorious sun, I stepped through the doors. A small check-in queue had formed but Asiana and Westjet were still in occupancy so I sat down and awaited the barriers to be rearranged. As soon at the Ticketing sign went up, I was there, first in the queue! Another 10 minute wait and I was being dealt with.

My first gambit was to see if they would take pity on me and move my original booking across. It appeared that while possible, it would mean waiting until all confirmed passengers had checked in (too risky) so I played the upgrade my U to a G. As Upper still had spaces, it was accepted. Now, if you want to use miles to upgrade, this involves a call to FC in the UK to process the claim. For anyone who has ever called FC, will know that when busy, your ears are assaulted by a loop of messages about Flying Club, Upper Class, Lounges etc. etc. and I soon saw a familiar expression appear on the agent’s face. One of mind-numbing boredom due to the wait to be answered. Hopefully when Swansea comes on line, this will be a thing of the past. Eventually the call was answered but there appeared to be a problem taking the extra miles. The agent advised that she would sort it out locally. 2 bags were checked in and with a purple boarding card, a clubhouse invite and a huge spring in my step I skipped merrily to the lift and the Clubhouse.

What was I doing again?

Oh yes, that’s it, a trip report on my flight.

Sadly V-Flyer’s San Francisco Den Mother, Claire, wasn’t in but I could see the V-Flyer awards being proudly displayed behind the desk.

First order of the day was a shower as in the morning it was a quick navy shower. As there are only 2 showers, I made sure I was first. I was in no mood for scrimping and made sure I played with all the settings. The shower gel dispenser ran out after just one pump and during my attempts to extract some more, my thumb slipped and took a chuck of skin off. Then the blood flowed… Trying to dry with a paper towel loosely wrapped around by thumb is a feat of dexterity worthy of a circus act. Finally dressed and ready for food, the kitchen supplied a plaster, sorry, Band-Aid for my wound.

In need of sustenance, my first choice was for a cocktail, after all, the sun had crossed the yardarm. While not on the menu, the team managed to create a very good Vesper Martini for me. Lunch would be the pan-seared Talapia with capers and green beans. Despite a small portion, it was delicious and for me, the Clubhouse’s signature dish. I made sure the serving lady passed my compliments to the chef. Feeling greedy and in need of a treat, dessert would be a double whammy. Lemon pound cake with cream and fruit, with a side of ice-cream and all the works. Again, delicious and delivered very efficiently. It’s things like this that remind me why I like flying out of San Francisco. With the Vesper departed, a pot of tea was ordered and very good it was too.

Boarding was called and it took me a few moments to pack away and say my goodbyes and I made my way down to security. The queues were small but a father travelling with his young son held the line up as he seemed to be having a very bad day. Firstly he’d dropped is passport, then, like a magician, kept pulling things out of his pockets, dropping them, then finding more as the metal detector went into meltdown. All the while, his son was doing the “parents can be soo embarrassing” look. Through the milimetric scanner I went after repeatedly pointing out my belt buckle was plastic. Quickly cleared and on the other side, Unlucky Dad was still having problems dropping one thing, then dropping something else while picking up first object.

Boarding was from gate A9 so walk was required, especially as the moving walkway is being refurbished. Expecting the usual scrum, I was shocked to find the gate area empty and I just strolled on board. My seat was 14K (not my favourite, but hey..) All the overheads were full so my bag was stowed in the cupboards. Juice was ordered and we were very quickly underway. An enquiry to see if there were any empty suites to move to revealed that the plane was full and the jump seats were in use by crew fares.

Our takeoff route was to the West before banking to the North, giving a fine view of the city and Golden Gate Park where only 10 days before we had joined thousands of others on Bay to Breakers. Once airborne, a G&T with lime was ordered and provided, along with a dish of spicy nibbles including wasabi nut-type things. Once the fasten seatbelt sign had been turned off, in true V-Flyer fashion, I headed to the bar. There was only a couple of others there but more wasabi. For this flight we were to get the new menu/caterers. The menu can be found here.

I skipped the starter for the cheese plate and it was a good mix of hard, semi-hard and soft cheeses and crackers along with dried cranberries and apricot. I eat it all, except for the apricot. Main course was the chicken, but wasn’t too impressed with it. The chicken was a bit dry, the risotto was more like yellow rice and the asparagus spears, well, nuff said!! Hopefully the cooking time was just too long and will be changed to stop it drying out. Dessert would be the chocolate pud, taken at the bar with a Baileys and ice. Very good it was too but for me, a bit too much in amount and very rich. I actually left some of it.

Having read Buns’s TR for his return I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am pleased to report that there were no such issues this trip. As we all know, the whole in-flight experience is driven by the FSM. Get bad one and the flight will be a nightmare. Get a fantastic one and the time just flies. This falls into the latter. It was clear that she runs a tight crew and is more than happy to wade in where needed, be it water runs, landing cards or just for a natter with passengers seeking out some juice from the galley.

With food and Baileys inside me, it was time for bed. Converting the seat myself and changing into my natty PJ’s (no sleep suit here) I dozed more than slept as the cabin was too warm. I stirred myself with 2 hours to go and having drunk all my water, managed to get some juice while the breakfast was being prepared. Feeling better, I picked up watching Sherlock Holmes from where I had left off on my VX flight to Las Vegas. Guy Richie has done a great job with the stories, turning Holmes into a more flawed genius than previous portrayals. That and the fabulous sets make up for some rather wooden dialogue.

Breakfast order consisted of tea, more juice, a muffin and the famous bacon roll with ketchup. Every time I have the roll, I get this urge to go for a wander down the back while eating it. Evil of me I know. I passed on the ‘Full English’ as it never looks very appetising to me.

Our approach to Heathrow was along the Bristol Channel, with the clear skies giving a great view. Sadly, as we headed East, the cloud thickened and all views were lost. We landed about half an hour early, but then hit the usual problem of no gates. Finally docked at gate 22 for the walk to immigration and baggage reclaim. The immigration line was nearly empty (must try to register for IRIS) and by the time I got to carousel 9, the bags were already going round. For some reason, one of mine was damp on the outside but not sure if it was from water or just condensation. Inside was bone dry. A short trolley push and I was in Revivals.

Another long shower (without mishap) and a shave before breakfast II. I went for the Farmhouse breakfast, mango smoothie and some Assam tea. Looking at the breakfast, it seems that portion size is one the way up again. Refreshed, fed and watered, I headed off to get my car and head home.


Overall, the flight home was fantastic. A great crew who worked well throughout. Not too sure about the new Inbound menus, but it’s very early days.

As for the first part?

Well, it was a first for me. I’ve never had that much bad luck on connecting flights before, and hope never to have again!!

Bit of a moan time now….


OK, I was on a Z ticket and there are fare rules for very good reasons. On calling the FC, while sympathetic to my cause, I did get the feeling it was a Nelson Muntz Moment. “Ha Ha. You missed your flight and are at our mercy”. In the case of a true Force Majeure like mine (plenty of time allowed, but everything conspired against me) there should be some level of flexibility to get you home as, ultimately, the airline that brought you, has a reasonability to return you too.

To go straight in with “It’ll cost £1300+ to get home” just when passengers are confused, upset or just plain incapable of rational thought is, in my view, a hard sell worthy of a dodgy double-glazing salesman.

I would have hoped to have heard something like “There is the late flight from LA, it has seats available. If you can get there for 20:00, I can get you transferred to it. There is a transfer fee of £120, but I’ll move the ticket across.”. Or, “There is a reward flight for tomorrow for 37,500 miles. Do you want that?”

If airlines aren’t careful, they could soon find themselves being asked to justify the extra costs by the EU, and if they are not happy, having legislation forced on them. IDB regulations anyone???

Moan off.

Roll on October for my next trip, Orlando and New York, with no return flight connections.

Fantastic TR, with a real "will he won't he" story line! Glad it all worked out for you and the flight home was worth the wait.

Glad to hear you made it OK. This is a good example why connecting flights need to be on the same ticket, i.e the same journey.

If Airline A fails to get you to where you need to be for Airline B, they should put you up, and help facilitate getting you where you should be.

P.S I learned the hard way too !

What a trauma. And so glad you made it - in comfort too.

But, a lesson learned. I agree that VS's hard sell (which is usually simple ignorance as you witnessed) is tough to be on the receiving end of, but it's pretty clear that Zs have no flexiblity. I don't see why regulators should get involved in this. That said, I certainly agree that VS staff could be trained better.

Sadly, PSP to SFO is also plagued by delays due to SanFran weather. Friends who were with me recently took an earlier UA flight back to SanFran and theirs too was delayed by 3 1/2 hours. All tough luck I know, but it happens all to frequently in the US, so much so that I now never fly PSP-LAX or SFO, but drive to LAX and return from there - it's so much less stress. Add a mechanical fault to that, and well, you're stuffed .

Excellent TR Darren, thank you

As others, I had been following your "will I get home" exploits on Facebook and quite gripping it became too. At least you had a good FSM/flight as a reward!

Good TR Darren. Glad you made it back without too much added hassle.

Funny things these Zs. Rules is rules, I guess, but if a flight is going to go out with an empty UC seat and you've got a day old Z ticket, surely a little flexibility isn't too much to ask? Well, clearly it is, but I think you get my point...

Having experienced a similar "will I, won't I" flight a few years ago, the worst part is when you come to that fatalistic moment when you realise that you just aren't going to make it. OK, so a certain calm comes over you until you realise that you are now in someone else's hands and have limited control over your destiny. And, o the cruelty to find yourself taxiing in behind Cosmic Girl bent on take-off. That is the cruelest cut of all!

Obviously the solution is to have a through ticket (although United probably would have wanted to put you on one of their planes) but I suspect that you nabbed the Z fare in a sale and then added on the internal itinerary as plans developed. I do that all the time and unfortunately there is no mechanism to linking the itinerary with your VS booking

Glad the flight made up for it and you had a good team on board

I'm not worried that much about it as yes, I did lose out on earning some miles and tier points and did use some miles. I should get some cash back for the original return taxes/fees. The cost is looking somewhat sweeter at the moment too

Yes, Rules is Rules is Rules, guv' but as The Good Dr points out, if there's an empty seat, put them in it. Everyone's a winner. The passenger gets home and the airline comes out smelling of roses with a customer who is very happy, ready to build a relationship with.

Picked the right (or wrong) day as the VS20 is 3 hours late today.

interesting how it all panned out. Thanks for sharing. it's only by having your wits about you that it was resolved at fairly reduced cost - as you say, some others would have just taken the costly alternative offered.

Thanks for the TR, Darren. It sounds as though it was bit of a nightmare - glad you got home!

A great read, I am just sorry for what you went through but at least the flight home was a good one!

Good TR, the mechanical delay was bad luck, as for the weather unfortunately this year we've had this crappy weather far longer than just about any time in my 12 years here, and we're getting suckered by the delays. Given than in a month or two we'll be in "summer fog" mode, not the best time to be flying into SFO. I always allow for an overnight now if I am connecting to a flight I can't miss, especially if on separate tickets. Just easier that way.

Darren

Riviting TR and a great shame you missed your original flight from what was a fantastic holiday, which must have been a great downer at the time.

Great to learn the situation was retrived the following day with being able to get a G and having a great crew

The only thing I would disagree with the Sherlock Holmes Moview - I think i watched about 5 minutes before I could watch no more

Good luck with the "negotiations" with VS

buns

buns wrote:The only thing I would disagree with the Sherlock Holmes Moview - I think i watched about 5 minutes before I could watch no more

Dear Mr Buns (should we be enthralled or appalled by your juicilicous name?) ... I quite agree about SH.

One thing I did forget to mention was the the in-flight safety briefing was done in the traditional style. The IFE was working normally though.

All that stress and you can still work out the most financially efficient way to travel back in some style? I'd have been the one in the corner, weeping silently...

Have to agree, rules is rules but they can be bent and it can reinforce customer loyalty to a brand - my loyalty to Hilton is at least in part because of the flexibility shown by the staff at the Caley over the past year who have allowed me to book / cancel rooms at short notice (to cover snow and ash disruption) and even found me a room when I turned up having forgotten to make a booking

All this makes me glad I'm flying back into SFO from SEA two days before we take VS020.

Paul

Yes I think i'd have done the Mr Shouty routine followed by the gentle rocking in the foetal position!

Yes rules is rules but there does need to be some flexibilty (but not too much) especially for a long term VS customer. I guess the 'lets wait until all confirmed pax have checked in then look ' routine is one way of doing it.

Darren I'm so glad that you finally made it home in style after the mess on Tuesday.

tontybear wrote:Yes rules is rules but there does need to be some flexibilty (but not too much) especially for a long term VS customer. I guess the 'lets wait until all confirmed pax have checked in then look ' routine is one way of doing it.

From the perspective of someone who frequently pays full whack, I disagree. My fares give me flexibility, and subsidise others. Why should I pay for that flexibility when others do not, but then think they should get it? Nothing against any individual here - but if we all want options, we must all pay more.

Thank you for the great TR.

Bit of a saga but glad to hear you managed to get home.

Got an email back form VS. Taxes on the original flight are being refunded and they have extended my AG membership until end of October so my next Upper flight will renew me. Result.