V-Flyer

Back in September we decided that instead of buying each other Christmas presents we would put the money towards a trip to New York in January. With the Virgin Atlantic sale on, we got a good price for two PE returns to JFK. We decided to go outward on VS045, despite the known problems of long queues at Immigration at JFK it’s our favourite flight – no early start (as with VS003), it’s a 747 and you get to Manhattan at a reasonable time of day. At the same time we booked a hotel at Heathrow with a view to having breakfast at hotel and then head for check in around 0930/1000 for a midday flight. We booked a room at the Heathrow Arora in Bath Road; by paying in advance we got a cracking price for a “Premier Room” which included luxury room and full breakfast. The Arora is not served by the Hotel Hoppa Bus but you get a “free” local bus to Heathrow Central Bus station. Everything seemed fine until late November when I received an email from VS saying that our booking had been transferred to VS009 at 1600. VS045 had been cancelled for 21/1. Looked at “my booking” and the aircraft had changed to an Airbus A340-600. Luckily we still had window seats (21 H&K). Having already paid for the hotel room, we decided to still stay there but we had an extra 4 hours at Heathrow to look forward to! We decided to book the new No.1 Lounge at T3. Heard mixed reports, but decided to give it a go and hope that it would be better than the Serviceair Lounge that we’ve used in the past.

Had a great stay at Hotel – my only complaint was the excessive charge to use the Internet to do OLCI. OLCI done successfully and seats confirmed OK we just needed to collect boarding passes at check in. Left the hotel about 1115 and caught the free bus to Heathrow Central bus station, then approximately 5 min walk to T3. No queues at PE desk and checked in very quickly. Not the usual greeting at check in that we’ve come to expect, no chat, no mention of boarding time or aircraft, just asked security questions and handed us boarding passes. Surprised to find security working quickly and by 1145 we were in the shopping mall known as T3 departure lounge. No. 1 lounge was booked for 1300 so we had an hour to wander round the shops & duty free and buy a few things for the trip. Just before 1300 headed to lounge not sure what to expect. The No.1 lounge is virtually next door to the Serviceair lounge, that is where the similarity ends. We were welcomed at the door and once we handed over the booking details, greeted by name. Staff explained all about the lounge what was available and what we could also pay extra for. Food and drinks are all included with it mainly being help yourself with a bar for alcoholic drinks. It could best be described as a scaled down version of the Clubhouse with seats and tables with views of the runway, tables with plugs for laptops & mobile phones, easy chairs to relax, a small cinema, library, a games area. There is also a “Travel Spa” for treatments. Mrs N had a 15 minute back massage for about £15 which she said was very good - similar to what was in the Clubhouse. As it was our holiday we decided to have a glass of champagne (or two) which was £6 a glass. Wi-Fi is free and worked well. Closer examination of the boarding passes and departure time for VS009 was shown as 1650 and our seats were shown as 34 H&K. Checked v-flyer website to confirm as I thought it was 1600 departure and also aircraft shown as a 747 – Lady Penelope.

Left the lounge at 1545 and headed to the Gate. It was about 1600 when we got to the Gate and they were just starting boarding. Welcomed aboard and directed towards our seats. 34 H&K – good seats except there is a window missing so the view out is not as good as other PE window seats. Glass of sparkling wine appeared very quickly and accepted. Plane was not full and boarding completed in good time. Slight delay as refuelling was in progress. Captain advised that it could take some time to get airborne due to it being the busy time at Heathrow. We were told to expect a flight time of 7hr40 mins due to strong headwinds. Once ready for departure confirmed 259 passengers and 15 cabin crew. Pushed back at 1656 and took off at 1716 in westerly direction from the North runway. Not long and hot towels were handed out, shortly followed by the amenity kits, menus and headphones for use with V-Port. The drinks service with pretzels was followed by the meal. Meal was the usual standard we have come to expect in PE. We both had the Braised beef which was very good, washed down with a glass of French Merlot. After meal service of tea or coffee, as soon as my cup was empty I was offered a refill. Then the choice of brandy or baileys. Once the cabin was cleared the lights were dimmed so it possible to get some sleep. Spent the next few hours watching V-Port and a bit of sleep. Throughout a near constant service of juice and water and other drinks available on request. At some stage ice cream also available. Much later in the flight snacks – scones with jam and cream all with a cup of tea or coffee, as earlier a refill of tea was offered. V-Port’s I map showed that we were flying through very strong headwinds over Newfoundland and the estimated arrival time was getting later. Once the cabin had been secured for landing sweets were handed out.
We were both amazed with the Cabin crew – it was probably the best ever service we have had in PE and not to dissimilar to what we experienced in UC last year. Nothing was too much trouble and they made us feel more like guests than just passengers.

We landed at JFK at 2007 (7hrs 51mins flight time) and arrived at the Gate at 2018. We were off the aircraft fairly quickly and then headed to Immigration. It took about 30 mins to get through Immigration and Customs. We were out by 2055 – less than 50 mins after landing which is pretty good for JFK. We had booked bus tickets online with New York Air Service. We went to Ground transportation desk and they then call up a minibus operated by “air link shuttle”. Bus departed at 2115 and after picking up at other terminals we were dropped at Grand Central at 2235. Not as quick or as cheap as the Airtrain – Subway route but with luggage it’s fairly convenient, easy to book online and only $15 one way.

In summary, despite the flight change it all worked out much better than expected. We’ll defiantly visit No.1 Lounge at Heathrow again and VS009 is a good alternative flight to VS045. The Cabin crew were superb and as has been said before – a good Cabin crew mean a good & relaxing trip.

Top class TR! Great to hear everything working out so well for you flight with te changes I personally love to read positive flight experiences as it makes me look forward to my next flight even more

Great job

Thank you for the great TR.

robinnelson wrote:Nothing was too much trouble and they made us feel more like guests than just passengers.

Fantastic TR, great review of the No.1 Lounge and very pleased to hear that a great crew made the overall experience excellent.

Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the thoroughly detailed TR

Talking of "thumbs up", good to learn of your No.1 Lounge experience, a sthis looks increasingly like where I will be going in the future

Trips like yours go to show how PE still had a lot going for it

buns

Loved the TR and good to have a detailed description of the No 1 Lounge, sounds as if it is worth a visit.

Thanks for the TR Robin - it is good to hear about a great crew who work well and leave a lasting impression. If I get that level of service, I now make a point of finding out the FSM's name and dropping a note to Crawley Towers. Credit where credit's due.

Thanks for all the comments.

The No.1 lounge is worth another visit, just need to remember it was a quiet Saturday afternoon - not sure what it would be like at busy times.

Even though did not get FSM's name, I'm going to email Crawley Towers to express our thanks.

Return TR to follow in due course.

Robin.