V-Flyer

I had been back in the UK for just a week for a wedding, and as seems to be the case just as I was over the jet lag it was time to fly home again.

Sadly I hadn't thought of the M25 traffic when I booked Monday morning flights - traffic was very bad, but we got to a deserted checkin by 9am (for an 11am VS19 - thank goodness it isn't the 9:30am flight like last winter). I had a ridculous amount of luggage - 3 suitcases and a pair of skis, but they were swiftly dealt with and soon I was on my way upstairs for a coffee with my parents (I won't see them for a while now).

I headed off to the lounge through the private security channel (people faffing as seems to be the case...). Champagne and cooked breakfast was ordered, and arrived in good time, swiftly followed by a sausage sandwich - all excellent.

I decided to check out the Galaxy Tabs - despite my waitress claiming they didn't have at the concierge desk - one was swiftly provided in exchange for my boarding pass. I had very quick play on it - seemed very nice - much smaller than the ipad, but then I find the ipad far too heavy for things like book reading. Second boarding was called so I collected my stuff, handed back the galaxy and gave them some feedback.

I meandered slowly to the gate - in fact so slowly that as I arrived they were on the radio to someone (presumably the lounge), and all I could hear was 'put a call out for Mr crispin' - I nodded at the guy on the radio and a swift 'never mind he is here' was said.

Obviously no line at all, and I was straight on board to 10A. The plane was very quiet, perhaps 2/5's full in Upper, 4/5 in PE and Y. I think they did the entire of Upper with 3 members of staff - and service was excellent, I couldn't really fault it.

I settled down having declined a large sleep suit, and after a bit of a delay we pushed back and I was basically asleep when we took off. I surfaced in time for a G+T (with lime ), and then just had the mini bite burgers - which are AMAZING

In the end I decided I was far too tired and wanted to get some proper sleep, so got a large sleep suit, and went to sleep for about 3 hours which wonderful.

<aside>Is it me or are the A340 suites smaller than the 747 ones - the seem shorter, and less wide with the pop-up cubby hole in an awful position compared to the 747 ones...</aside>

The rest of the flight passed relatively quickly with some email handling, photo editing from the wedding, and some entertainment watching (although the time on it was wrong, and some of the documentaries started the wrong programme...)

Landing was pretty uneventful, and the immigration hall was absolutely deserted - however as I have a visa it all takes a lot longer (more paper work and computer fiddling), so by the time I was finished there was a bit of a line for the immigration person who dealt with me ...

Priority bags didn't seem to be working well - my 3 bags came out in a pretty random positions - my skis came out at the oversize baggage spot.

The taxi driver who picked me up (No - I'm not going to use the BART with all that luggage!) was thankful for a fare - he had been waiting for 2.5 hours apparently!

Another good flight - and sadly probably my last UC flight in a while, and my last entry to the clubhouse as well - all my miles have gone, and I definitely wont renew Gold

After a ridiculous year of traveling (15 flights between LHR and SFO) finally I'm settled here

Crispin

Thanks for the heart felt TR

At least VS did look after you for this trip and you were able to partake on all UC has to offer - the private security channel is a unique service in T3 which helps VS sell its UC product.

Hope all is going well for you in San Fran - you never know, us V-Flyers may be descending again next May

buns

Thank you for the TR, I hope you do find a way to fly UC again, with or without miles! I agree the sleep suits appear smaller but I bring my own now since being given one that was clearly reconditioned! Very pleased to hear you enjoying living in SF.

The big trip! I am glad it was a good one - sad to be leaving your parent behind and not returning for a while, but there are worse places to settle in .

I too love the mini burgers.

Yes the A340 suites are narrower that the 747 ones.

I wish I could sleep for take off .

Keep posting from afar!

Thank you for the great TR.

Great TR what ski resort you going to? feeling very envious i must say.

cheers

alex

Alex, I have moved out to San Francisco, so hope to visit Lake Tahoe a few times next year....

Crispin, out of interest why do you find it takes longer getting in WITh a visa. we arrive next Tuesday (our first 'visa'flight) and exepect that one to be a longer process, but i was hoping my subsequent trips back might get easier ?

Crispin will be able to speak to his experience, when I used to have to do it it was mostly down to sometimes being asked a bunch of questions about your job. Perfunctory for the most part, just what the drill was. IIRC ESTA speeds up the Visa Waiver program, but if you have a visa it is still paperwork-based (white slip), which might also add to the time. Alas, this does not decrease over time - the process is what it is.

Crispin, while you might not yet qualify due to insufficient credit record, have you looked into the Virgin black amex in the US?

In terms of immigration, they have to feed the information into the system, and then do things like work out the date you can stay in the country for. They also have to write things like the I797 number on the back of the I94 and various other things. The questions are all very simple 'who do you work for?', 'what is your job title?'

I tried the Virgin black amex - instantly rejected - presumably too short in my current job (no box for 6 months, so had to put 0 years). I've got a secured bank of america card, and plan on transfering over my standard amex in April when I will have had it for a year.

crispin wrote:I tried the Virgin black amex - instantly rejected - presumably too short in my current job (no box for 6 months, so had to put 0 years). I've got a secured bank of america card, and plan on transfering over my standard amex in April when I will have had it for a year.

You could call them up, this is almost certainly due to non-existent credit history. It can be a huge PITA when you first move over. I got out of the secured BS because I had a colleague in the department i worked in when I first moved out, who happened to be on the board of the college's credit union, and he vouched for me. When I pull my annual credit report for checking, it still says insufficient credit history after all this time, although this is no longer a significant issue.

I did try speaking to them, but just got a monkey that said 'computer says no', and I really couldn't be bothered to argue. I'll try again in a year after putting loads of stuff through my current cards.

Yep, that makes sense. It figures it would be much harder anyway now, crisis and all. I have a friend with a house in Noe Valley who recently refinanced, she's VP at a big tech house, hubby is top engineer at a gaming company, they have about half the place paid off and it still took them six months to get past the monkey to someone who could override the "no" on the system. I figure your odds right now aren't too high

crispin wrote:I surfaced in time for a G+T (with lime ), and then just had the mini bite burgers - which are AMAZING

Did you have the relish with the burgers? That stuff is HOT and I like spicy food!

Yes - I had the relish - absolutely superb