V-Flyer

This will be a much shorter TR than the outbound as not nearly so much to report.

We arrived at MCO two hours before departure and check in was painless (OLCI never seems to work for us for the inbound flight) and happily we had held onto our allocated seats in the bubble . Headed straight off to the departure gates and started queuing for security. It was extremely busy and extremely slow . I had asked the check in agent if there were any additional security checks following the death of Bin Laden and she said “no”, but the security lady was being very diligent in checking passports and boarding cards, hence the long, slow queues. They even had signs up saying “Wait time from this point 15 mins” etc. Reminded me of being back in the parks.

Finally got through security and headed off to Duty Free. Happily I found the Tanqueray prices very competitive but unhappily was told that I was too late to purchase aforementioned bargain as our flight was now closed for DF purchases . Bother. Still, made time for a large T&T in the Outback bar before heading off to the gate .

Boarded pretty quickly and straight upstairs to our seats. There were three CC upstairs, two buzzing about doing their stuff and one just stood by the CC seats chatting to the couple in the bulk head seats. This was not just a “Hi, how are you, welcome aboard” kinda chat, it was a full on “Let’s put the world to rights” kinda chat. If I had been one of the other CC, I would have given her a kick and told her to get on with some work

Slightly disappointed that only one glass of fizz was available – we were told that they only had two bottles – a bit mean methinks

Drinks service was fine and the meal was good – we both had Stir Fried Chicken – very tasty.

Neither Mr B or I bothered with the IFE – there was nothing on that we particularly wanted to watch and the quality of videos on our iPad is just sooooo much better so we settled down to a couple of hours of recorded TV, popped a couple of pink pills and tried to sleep. I never sleep very well on flights but did manage a few hours despite the plane being really hot and the inevitable “restless leg syndrome” – does anyone have any tips for avoiding that?

We landed at LGW bang on time – it still amazes me that the captain can land one of those big birds so gently – mind you, how they get into the air in the first place amazes me more.
As we were taxiing to the stand, the FSM made an announcement that Virgin and Gatwick were working together to ease the passage of VS customers through customs and that we should follow the signs to the “Smart Zone” but in order to use this new channel, we would need to have our boarding card stubs. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but once I am on the plane, I pay no attention to those little scraps of paper – more often than not, they just seem to disappear. Hence, I spent the next 5 minutes frantically searching for it and finally found it lurking in the bottom of my super sized travel handbag . This was just as well, as there then followed an announcement to the effect that there was no choice in the matter, we MUST go through the “Smart Zone” channel – might have been a good idea if they had made this announcement at the beginning of the flight, rather than at the end. The “Smart Zone” worked really well and we were through in no time. Not sure if this is just a VS / LGW thing or is available elsewhere but I am sure there are others on this forum who will know all about it and can fill us in on the details.

Our bags were off by the time we had cleared customs and we had collected the car from valet parking and were on our way home within an hour of landing – I think that was some kind of record

All in all a good flight for a night flight.

So much for the shorter TR...

Cheers,
MrsB

Of course the year should read 2011 not 2010! I blame the jet lag.

MrsBear99 wrote:Boarded pretty quickly and straight upstairs to our seats. There were three CC upstairs, two buzzing about doing their stuff and one just stood by the CC seats chatting to the couple in the bulk head seats. This was not just a “Hi, how are you, welcome aboard” kinda chat, it was a full on “Let’s put the world to rights” kinda chat. If I had been one of the other CC, I would have given her a kick and told her to get on with some work

MrsB

MrsB

Glad to hear you had a good flight.

The CC by the door is "tethered" there for security purposes. He/she can't move for love or money. I think its regulations in case there is an emergency on the ground.

Cheers

Martin

Ah, I take it all back then! Thanks for the clarification.

MrsB

Thank you for the great TR.

Hi Mrs Bear99. I also experience "restless leg syndrome" which is REALLY annoying and my doctor prescribes diazepam which really works (on the ground), however I find that hot conditions exacerbate the problem. Not a great deal of help now but might help in the future. We fly to MCO on Monday so I'll let you know how I get on. Which pink pills do you recommend? I take it that they're sleeping pills? Many thanks. Jan

Hi Jan
That makes sense, overnight flights are always too hot for me hence my leg issues....

The pink pills are just US anti histamine pills (no particular brand) that are NOT the non-drowsy ones. A couple washed down with a few G&T's usually does the trick (probably not recommended to take with booze, but hey.....!)

Hi Mrs Bear. Sounds great to me if you get some sleep!! Thanks for your trip report. J.

Hey great TR. Yes the crew member who was stood by the door is there for safety and has to stay there for the duration of boarding.

virginboy747 wrote:Hey great TR. Yes the crew member who was stood by the door is there for safety and has to stay there for the duration of boarding.

Thanks for adding that VB747 - I was just about to write the same thing. They have to stand there for the duration of boarding so are not being lazy at all. It's actually nice when you get some chatty customers to talk to as it makes the time go quicker.