V-Flyer

Aircraft: Scarlet Lady (G-VRED)

Arrived at a very quiet Terminal E around 5pm, no one at the UC desk so was seen straight away. Before I even had the chance to open my mouth the check in the agent asked me if I would consider a downgrade to PE as UC was oversold by 2 (I know it was by this amount because I asked ). The offer was a free economy ticket anywhere in the world (except Sydney) or 40,000 miles. I decline the offer even though she continued to try to make a very good case for me to accept even adding in an offer of any of the bulkhead seats (Row 18) the use of the Clubhouse as well as revivals on landing.
Next issue was with my seat which had moved from 17K to 2K at some point after I had done OLCI. Obviously by the reaction on my face she realised I wasn’t too keen on being in the Snooze Zone so she said she would swap me with a lady she had checked in earlier who wanted my seat. Job done I was moved backwards again this time to 17A.

The security queue was a manageable 5 minutes with every passenger going through the new full body X ray/scanner machine. Once through it was into a fairly busy Clubhouse which luckily began to empty after around 10 minutes. The Deli was well stocked and I had a beef salad despite the best efforts of the server to get me to try the seafood . After eating I settled down and watched the World Cup highlights that were showing on the TV. What did surprise me was the fact that even with an oversold flight the Clubhouse remained empty, I can only guess that most passengers must arrive late at the airport.

Flight was called to board at 19:15(or should I say shouted as the PA system in the Clubhouse was broken ), it was my first time flying from Boston and pleasantly surprised by the short walk to the gate. Boarding was painless and I was soon seated with a drink in my hand. Take off was only 5 minutes late with 279 passengers, 14 crew and 2 on the flight deck onboard with a flight time of just over 6 hours.

The seat belt sign seemed to be extinguished very shortly after take off, hot towels and drinks were served almost immediately and my Vport was reset as it hadn’t work from the time I boarded (I even missed the safety video ). Food was the hot beef supper tray and a glass of Pepsi, I had forgotten to bring on my supply of coke but at least it’s an improvement on that awful Virgin Cola they used to serve.

Next I reclined my seat, got out my pillow and began watching an episode of Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Road Show, not quite sure what happened next as I awoke some 4 hours later with the offer of breakfast, which I declined. I Didn’t even make it as far as a sleep suit, a duvet or a fully flat bed .

We landed bang on time on 9L and had a slow taxi to the gate (I think it was 16?). As I was in seat 17A I was first off and made the long haul to immigration. On entering I saw one of the biggest queues at both the EU and Overseas desks I had ever seen, however, Iris was empty and despite having to move backwards and forwards for it to read my eyes I was through in no time

Had about a 10 minute wait for baggage, luckily my bag was 5th off so it was through customs into the lift and up to revivals which was almost empty. Had a great shower and was even offered a treatment which I passed on. Opted for the full English breakfast which was delicious, I then spent half an hour online and reading the newspaper to kill a bit of time in hope that the traffic on the M25 would have cleared a little by the time I departed. What did surprise me was how quite Revivals remained, there was a maximum of only 10 people in there for the entire time I was there (8am-9am).

Finally I had the long walk to the short stay car park where I had bagged a bargin for my 5 days parking.

One other thing to note was despite being asked to concider a downgrade there were still at least 2 empty seats in Upper, so there obviously must have been a few no shows.

-Steve

Thanks for the Great Trip report..

Steve

Thanks for the TR

Our resident Boston expert (aka Nottingham Nick) always speaks highly of the Boston Clubhouse and my only visit there confirmed to me that the staff there are up there with the best.

When I came through Heathrow last month I thought to myself how dire the Immigration Hall is and there does not seem to be any attempt to refresh the place What an image to give to overseas visitors.

I do wonder if they ever did bump down someone, or that some of the bookings were J's that transferred

buns

Excellent TR !

One other thing to note was despite being asked to concider a downgrade there were still at least 2 empty seats in Upper, so there obviously must have been a few no shows.

If you had accepted the voluntary downgrade, might you have then got an op-up. at the gate?

Many thanks for the TR.

Thank you for the great TR.

timely report, i'm heading out to boston on monday & returning on thursday.

i can confirm that the Boston clubhouse is very nice but can get over-full as it's not the biggest & people tend to bag a seating area itended for 2 or even 4 to themselves.

Was UC actually full by the time the doors were closed?

Thanks for the TR!

I used Iris for the first time in May and it was great - the queues were long when I passed through too. The baggage hall at T3 has seen better days too...