VS021 LHR-IAD 20 FEB 11 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

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This trip was my first with VS in over a year, travelling to the US via Washington with a work colleague. Unfortunately this time we were in Y due to the cutting back on travel entitlements . I had done online check-in the day before and had a slight faff when I realised that the earliest tube train on Sunday morning wouldn't get me into Paddington and onto Heathrow in time to meet my colleague at 8am. Eventually I decided on a pre-arranged taxi as the easiest and least risky way to get to Paddington (and only £16 from across town - bargain! ). Taxi picked me up on time and I got to Paddington just in time to get the 7.25 Heathrow Express, using the 1st class gold card upgrade for the first time. Still amazed that people actually pay the extra for a 1st class journey of just 15 minutes!

Got the Heathrow and given I was ahead of schedule for meeting my colleague took to opportunity to get some dollars from the Amex exchange (with some Flying Club miles hopefully coming my way). Met up with my colleague just after 8 and checked in at the UC desk, with the check-in agent being knowledgeable and efficient. My colleague hadn't experienced the world of the Virgin UC treatment before and so he was suitably impressed as we breezed through the private security channel and to the Club House (start of check-in to CH was about 10 minutes flat).

In the CH (great to be back after a long time without flying), we sat down for couple of Club House breakfasts and booked a couple of haircuts with the cowshed. The breakfasts and service were great as always, but I was surprised at how much the portions have shrunk yet again It is starting to get silly with the extent that they are skimping on portions, I can't see how it is saving many £££ either.

After the breakfasts we grabbed a couple of papers and established ourselves in two of the comfy seats near the bar to order the first round of cocktails. Its still amazing at the range of seating you get in the CH, I can never work out which ones are the comfiest! After the second cocktail it was time for my treatment so went off to get my haircut. The haircut was great as always and the post cut wash was just excellent at getting me thoroughly relaxed. The whole cut must have been closer to 25 minutes rather than the nominal 15.

After the treatment I noticed that the clubhouse still wasn't too busy (guess due to it being President's Day in the US the following day, combined with it being half term in the UK). Ordered another cocktail and a bacon sandwich whilst my colleague went off to get his hair cut. One thing I did notice was that it was surprisingly difficult to get service given our central location near the bar. In the end I had to make some obvious menu reading motions to get someone to come and ask if I wanted anything.

All too soon it was time to leave for the gate and the real world of Y Most people had already boarded so we walked straight on. No welcome back or personal greeting from the CC at the door to the aircraft this time - a shame as it is a really nice +1 and it really doesn't take much effort to read the first three flying club number digits on the boarding card. We got our seats in a cabin that was about three-quarters full - overall the aircraft was a bit over half full with some 180 people on board.

We pulled back on time but there was quite a queue for the 09 right runway so it was almost half an hour later by the time we got to line up. Once airborne the standard VS service kicked in with drink and snacks and then lunch. Lunch was a perfectly edible Beef stew and the GU dessert very nice as always. No V-port on this 343, I didn't bother with the films but the TV comedy selection was reasonable and passed the time reading, with a bit of a snooze mid-flight. Not too much else to say about the flight really, it was all standard VS with nothing being particularly bad, but nothing notably good either.

The flight went reasonably quickly and we were quite ahead of schedule into Washington, touching down about 3/4 of an hour early. From the gate we had the joy of IAD's 'mobile lounges' to get us to the main terminal - amazing bits of kit. Queue through immigration wasn't too bad and bags were already waiting by the time we found the carousel. Was slightly annoyed that the baggage handlers were pulling the bags off into different groups of piles, making it difficult to find your bag.

All in all, a reasonable, if unremarkable, in-flight VS Y experience. A good Club House experience, albeit with some very minor irritations. Report of the return flight to follow shortly.

Dave

Thanks for the TR Dave! Sounds like Y wasn't too bad at all!

What are the 'mobile lounges' you mention at IAD?

Thanks enyce085, the mobile lounges are these things.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_lounge

Although we used it to get from the concourse to the terminal rather than actually off the aircraft.

[honey lamb]

Thanks for the TR Dave! Sounds like Y wasn't too bad at all!

What are the 'mobile lounges' you mention at IAD?

They are "bus-like" things that trundle you across the tarmac from the plane to the terminal. See here

Thanks Dave and HL - how very odd they are!!

Luke

I saw some lurking at the DL terminal last month at JFK looking a tad forlorn.

And not odd at all. They were the height of modern airline thinking when they were introduced.

My colleague hadn't experienced the world of the Virgin UC treatment before and so he was suitably impressed as we breezed through the private security channel and to the Club House.

The breakfasts and service were great as always, but I was surprised at how much the portions have shrunk yet again It is starting to get silly with the extent that they are skimping on portions, I can't see how it is saving many £££ either.

Thanks for the report.

I assume your colleague was not Au, so does this mean you can bring a guest through the private security channel? I am interested because I am travelling with my mother later this year - I am in UC and she is PE. Sadly I am a lowly Ag.

As for the small breakfast, why not get your own back at the bean counters by having a second breakfast, hobbit style.

[

Thanks for the report.

I assume your colleague was not Au, so does this mean you can bring a guest through the private security channel? I am interested because I am travelling with my mother later this year - I am in UC and she is PE. Sadly I am a lowly Ag.

As for the small breakfast, why not get your own back at the bean counters by having a second breakfast, hobbit style.

Yes the private security lane can be used by anyone travelling UC (no matter their FC status) as well a a guest (just like with CH admittance). I did exactly that myself - I was in UC but my friend in PE.

However I imagine she would need to be with you to use it, unlike with the CH I don't think you can leave a name at the door

And yes asking for a 2nd one is always the option.

Thank you for the great TR.

An interesting and informative TR, gliderpilot, thank you
Love the look of the mobile lounges, almost a tad Heath Robinson-like

Great TR....GU pots to the rescue !!

Interesting to note you haven't flown VS for over a year and are still AU

Great TR
Overall good experience thanks for taking the time to write one up, ch food is always tiny but i always think that its complemented by the deli where you can have a great starter.

cheers

alex

Thanks guys, glad you liked it.

NorthernHenry, my year runs out in June, but the last time I actual flew VS was Dec 2009! (far too long ago ) Luckily I had run up enough tier points to keep the AU for 2010/11 - unfortunately going to be losing it soon

Alex V, DocRo, well I did have a bacon sandwich to tide me over!

Dave

I'll be doing this route in just over four weeks (though PE and no CH), so thanks for the insights.

CDG used to have those mobile lounges too..

Paul

i always try to use names on boarding but this isnt always possible specially if i cant pronounce the surname! as for fc status i didnt realise this was on your boarding card! and when we check them we are actually checking other things on there as a security check. names and seat numbers aren't part of it just a nice touch!

the bus things at IAD always look like something out of a star wars film lol they are really odd!

i always try to use names on boarding but this isnt always possible specially if i cant pronounce the surname! as for fc status i didnt realise this was on your boarding card! and when we check them we are actually checking other things on there as a security check. names and seat numbers aren't part of it just a nice touch!

the bus things at IAD always look like something out of a star wars film lol they are really odd!

Thanks John,

the flying club number should be at the bottom of the boarding card. Golds have numbers starting 009 so it should be fairly easy to notice if there is enough time to check. Obviously appreciate there are times when it will just be too busy - but the Golds may tend to board with the UC call, or later after the rush, having milked the CH dry! As I said, it's a nice plus 1.

Agree that the lounges look like something from another planet, wouldn't seem out of place trundling along the surface of the moon that's for sure!

Regards,

Dave

i always try to use names on boarding but this isnt always possible specially if i cant pronounce the surname! as for fc status i didnt realise this was on your boarding card! and when we check them we are actually checking other things on there as a security check. names and seat numbers aren't part of it just a nice touch!

the bus things at IAD always look like something out of a star wars film lol they are really odd!

Johns comment just sums the issue up in a nut shell. The fact that VS crew are not made aware of this in training. Same old story with VS, one department not talking to the other. There is the FC team spending lots of dosh on sending out fancy AG/AU welcome kits, fancy emails offering us 'VIP' to the o2 which are all very nice and cost money and done to make us 'feel good'. And yet on the other hand there is the CC on the front line unaware that they can recognise status by the boarding pass. Whats ironic about this is that the members of this board would value a welcome back far more than a a fancy AG/AU welcome back that is really full of a load of PR guff. Not John's fault or that of any other CC....more the fault of management within VS.

Whilst John maybe looking for 'secuirty details' the vast majority of crew manage to say 'your seat is 7a, thats to the left' or '39g, go throught the galley...' so surely a quick scan also of the FC number and welcome back is not too tall an order. Sorry to open that whole can of worms again.


Great TR btw GP, what a god send the CH was for you and colleague.

Johns comment just sums the issue up in a nut shell. The fact that VS crew are not made aware of this in training. Same old story with VS, one department not talking to the other. There is the FC team spending lots of dosh on sending out fancy AG/AU welcome kits, fancy emails offering us 'VIP' to the o2 which are all very nice and cost money and done to make us 'feel good'. And yet on the other hand there is the CC on the front line unaware that they can recognise status by the boarding pass. .

I just wanted to add that I was certainly taught about Flying Club during training - they covered the different benefits of each level, how to reach each level and what 006, 007, 008 and 009 on the boarding cards and the manifests meant.

yes we did get told how to recognise flying club on manifests but i dont remember being told about it being on boarding cards! (maybe i just dont remember!) i recognise gold status pax during a flight by the manefests and always have a quick hello did you use the lounge etc. we know exactly about the benefits as mentioned above. we used to even have a card which gave aprox mile for upgrades, free flights, how many point earned on each route, but they dont seem to have these cards at the moment.

sometimes when boarding over 400 pax on a lgw for example its hard to fit this in, we do a security check then try to incorprate the name and we always direct people to where they are sitting, we also try to do this as quickly as possible to maintain on time performance.

i am going to look out for it now though lol

John! what else dont you remember from training!!!

Its a shame when you see 005005005 that people dont realise that often its a gold card or Silver card customer using miles to upgrade or travel..

A 009 on a boarding card always gets a warm welcome from me and if your in Economy a glass of champers (not sparkling wine) and a few choccies!!


Just to confirm it is in Cabin Crew training from when you first join the company and all crew are reminded when they get promoted to each rank... and how many times do we see promotions on the intranet about flying club!!!!???

haha very true think its my age! i always do the same when i see the manefest and have just knowticed it on my last flight on the boarding cards, so will be more aware. declan im guessing your a junior like me then, always wind me up when we tell the fsm we have gold card holders in premium or ecconomy (so they can introduce themselves) and they dont. least we are doing our bit even if i did forget about the boarding card thing!