V-Flyer

Not being to sure how the traffic would be crossing London, I booked the Addison Lee for 6am, and as it turned out, town was pretty deserted and I was dropped off at Paddington by 6.25am.

So it was just gone 7am when I arrived at T3 check in, and it too was deserted! So it was straight up to the UC check in where I was warmly welcomed. She did also check that I had a print off of my itinerary as sometimes US immigration can ask to see it, which was nice of her to check.

The security channel was pretty quiet and I was soon picking up some dollars and a newspaper and there on swiftly into the lounge.

Opted to get a 'hair trim' and I was seen pretty quickly.

At this point pjh and I met up and I sat with him and his charming wife for a short while and we chatted about our upcoming trips. Not wishing to gatecrash the pre-holiday CH experience, and with a quite a bit of work to so before getting onto the flight I took a seat by the long windows and ordered the eggs benidict. They soon arrived and suddenly feeling really hungry I gladly devoured them.
It was about now I spotted in the distance the plane with the new livery on it - see the 'hello from LHR Clubhouse' thread for more details!

The time soon passed, and on a trip to the bathroom, I noticed on the screen that VS003 was on final boarding. I also then realised that it was 5 minuted past the time I'd been told we would be called - and I really didn't recall hearing it. I'm not saying it didn't happen - but I had been listening out to the other calls, and had no recollection of the one for my flight.

It was the long walk down to gate 23 (or is it 21?!) where we were quickly boarded and I was settling into seat 2A.

It was full in UC, and the staff were busy. I did notice that the crew members for the D seats and K seats went round and did the personal introduction and explanation to those new to UC, but we didn't get that in the A seats.

However, once airbourne the CC member looking after us was quickly around to take the drink order and for the rest of the flight she was great. But the couple next to me hadn't flown UC before, so they were asking me how I got the table out, how to make it into a bed etc...

Am getting a bit bored of the menu now, so didn't opt for a main meal and had some sandwiches instead, which did the trick.

I watched 'The disappearance of Alice Creed' which was excellent. Not suitable for family viewing and a few moments of uncomfortable violence, but a superbly acted film.

I got a couple of hours sleep, and was woken up by some turbulence. I started to watch something else (some American legal drama) and we passed through the bumpy air.

At some point the stewardess asked if I'd like some tea, sandwhiches etc, which I did - just at this point the seatbelt sign came back on as we started to go through more turbulence, which meant I couldn't change the bed back into a seat. my food and tea still came, so I had to sort of wedge myself against the window in a strange half sitting/lying position. And of course just as lifted the tea to my mouth, there was big bump - and tea everywhere.....

Anyway, that all passed and the cake stand came round. They're a bit too sweet for me, but a nice touch none the less.

Soon we were preparing for landing and we had touched down and I was stepping off the plane at 1.30pm local time. The hike to immigration and the wonderful shock of an empty hall, so I was at the luggage carousel way before the bags! The priority bag thing was hit and miss, my bag came off after a short while but all classes of bags were coming off together.

I was soon in a cab, and checking into my downtown hotel only one hour after stepping off the plane, which is pretty unheard of for arriving in New York.

So, again, another good flight with Virgin UC. My only gripe? It would have been nice if they dimmed the cabin lights during the flight as the majority of the cabin had opted to get some sleep, so it seemed odd to leave them on, but otherwise, I'm still a happy flyer!

Thank you for the great TR.

Great flight fast to LHR and fast out of JFK, a rare treat.
Thanks for taking the time on writing your TR.

cheers

alex

Thank you for the trip report .

I too often opt for a plate of sandwiches in place of the meal, especially is nothing grabs me or, like you, I'm bored with the options.

Thanks for the TR, Rich...

I had the same ecperience with my flight back in May - it was beyond the time they said they would call and the board said final boarding but no announcement had been made. Indeed when I queried it with the hostess on the door, she said oh it will be a few more minutes yet...

Thanks for the trip report. It's always nice to meet other V-Flyers in the Clubhouse

The time soon passed, and on a trip to the bathroom, I noticed on the screen that VS003 was on final boarding. I also then realised that it was 5 minuted past the time I'd been told we would be called - and I really didn't recall hearing it. I'm not saying it didn't happen - but I had been listening out to the other calls, and had no recollection of the one for my flight.

It was the long walk down to gate 23 (or is it 21?!) where we were quickly boarded and I was settling into seat 2A.

It probably hadn't been called. Remember the screen is the one that is shown all over the airport and obviously they want to get all the passengers at to the gate and so will start showing final call quite early. If my memory serves me, the screen showed Closing when we were called for my last flight with VS in June. On the way to the gate we got held up as they closed the gates on the corridor to allow arriving passengers to exit the plane and a "Last and Final" call was made for our flight. When we got to the gate they were just starting boarding!

It would have been gate 21. Gate 23 is the one next to the Clubhouse. The aircraft directly outside the CH window is at gate 23.