This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
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This trip to NYC started off in Glasgow, we'd been up for a wedding on the Saturday and in true Scottish style and enjoyed some amazing hospitality so having to drag ourselves out of bed at 6.30am wasn't a pleasant experience!
Glasgow airport has improved no end in the recent years and we were soon at the BA gate having a coffee and a terrible pastry. Oh well, it was helping the hangover a little. We departed on time and as is my wont, I was drifting off to sleep before we'd taken off. However, the last thing I did see was a newly liveried Virgin plane sat on the tarmac.....
Arriving at T5 domestic, it is a very quick process to be off the plane and in the main terminal. I picked up my suitcase for NY which I'd left at the left luggage place (£24 from Friday to Sunday) said cheerio to my wife and I made my way to T3 via the HEX.
UC check had people at every desk, but an eagle eyed Virgin member spotted me (and probably the hungover state I was in!) and he took me up in the lift to be checked in upstairs. The private security channel was deserted so I was soon through and in the clubhouse by 11.30am. So now a good four hours to pass! Got my haircut booked for 2pm and settled into a sofa by the window.
I had the pancakes which were excellent but couldn't face anything stronger than a beer so enjoyed a peroni. I passed the time making a few calls and messing about on the internet - the connection was much better than it had been in the past - maybe due to it being fairly quiet in there or hopefully they've improved it. Still - all good.
After my hair cut, I was still feeling a bit rancid so went off for a steam and a shower. That was the first time I've used that in the lounge - and whilst the steam took a while to get going the shower was excellent and it really made me feel better.
Settled down again to watch the football, and the match was just finishing as we were called to the gate.
Going from gate 19 today so not too far to walk. The priority lane was working well, however when the chap in front of me handed over his purple pass he got a beep and the bad news that he'd been downgraded!! Yikes - not seen this happen before - must be gutting! No idea why - does anyone know why this could happen? Therefore nervously handed over my boarding pass but all was fine. Was quickly on on the plane as two airbridges in use. Headed to 6K, grabbed a sleep suit and soon got settled in. The FSM was very much in attendance and the CC looking after our section was round very quickly helping people settle in and get drinks etc.
I did my usual trick of nodding off here, and before I knew it we were airborne.
So now the flight falls into two parts: The good and the bad.
The Good:
Seat - it was clean!
Food: Excellent. Had the haddock, prawn and salmon stater, the beef main and the sticky toffee pudding. Loved it all!
CC - really good on this flight. UC was full, and they were on top of it all. A woman sat a few rows up from me as taken ill at one point and they dealt with it superbly - very discreet.
The Bad:
The IFE. It failed completely. despite numerous attempts to re-start it they couldn't get it going at all. At one point they did manage to get two films going on a loop but that was it. This is (I think) the 3rd time this has happened to me this year. Personally I wasn't too fussed as I could watch stuff on my laptop and in UC you have enough space, and the power supply, but I did feel for those pax down the back. Of course it wasn't the CC fault at all, and they did make a number of announcements informing everyone of what was going on.
I also slept for a neatly four hours and woke feeling nearly human again!
Just before landing we were all given a voucher to claim either £20 off a VH or 4,000 miles for the lack of IFE. It struck me that I'd rather have the 4,000 miles than the IFE.....
Upon landing we were quickly off through the front door of the plane, and the short walk to the immigration hall. And then the best news....
It was empty! Completely deserted! So once through it was a wait for the baggage to come through with the priority baggage system seeming to be working as my bag was off pretty quickly. So from stepping off the plane to stepping into a cab took 24 minutes, which for a NYC airport is pretty impressive!
