This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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It is amazing how one good experience wipes out countless bad ones...Here goes...
I was quite frustrated at not being allowed to check in online... something which I made known in the forums... Keeping that in view, and knowing that my chances of getting a decent seat in PE would decline the later I left it, I got to T3 the full 3 hours in advance. I went straight over to the PE check in desk and related everything that happened and the agent was very sympathetic, having faced that situation herself(!). I also didn't have a copy of my e-ticket (thanks to two printers frazzling themselves) so when I gave her the PNR number, her sympathetic face turned into a huge smile... I asked what's up... she said, You are! ... Upgraded, that is.
She seemed genuinely shocked and she quite enthusiastically shared the news with her colleague who was unimpressed at her level of excitement - I have to say, even I was intrigued by this. She told me that the flight was oversold in PE by 10, so I reckon that was the cause. (Am I right?)
As I put the bags on the belt, she spoke to her supervisor - inaudible to me - but at the end of it, she gave me a boarding pass for 8G, and also told me that I have been given access to the CH courtesy of her Supervisor...
Not something I have heard happen with op-upgrades, so I was doubly thankful! Cheshire cat syndrome gripped me that night... Straight up the elevator, security cleared, zoomed through Duty Free just to pick up the obligatory chocolate gifts and headed straight on to the CH. Good thing I had my wits about me, its well hidden
(well it was my first time...)Up to CH, welcomed at the reception - my name was in the computer
amazingly rare VS co-ordination in the ICT there... Went in, and sat down on a comfy recliner - welcomed by a nice lady who turned out to have parents from Guyana - where my parents are from... so we had a pleasant chat. I ordered whatever mocktail the mixologist wanted to muster up and I got down to some last minute work. The lady in front of me seemed to have many troubles with whatever she ordered... she wanted no grapefruit in her fruit salad, more vanilla in the ice-cream, less cream on her hot chocolate etc etc. I sat there contented
Freeloading in the CH... ahh! the Lord was smiling at me As time went by (and there was plenty of it...I have never checked in this early for a flight) I felt a bit peckish, and had some grilled cheese toast and a hot chocolate, and by the time that was finished, it was time to board. It is a trek to the Delhi gate, but this time, I bypassed the usual queues and headed via priority lane to board. Welcomed nicely and shown to my seat. I had only a small laptop bag, but when I went to put it up in the lockers opposite my seat, the couple beneath looked at me with distaste. I assumed, correctly, that they were newbies to VS UC, with no lockers above the middle seats being a new thing to them... the helpful CC put them in their place. I mean, I was a newbie to UC, but a little common sense goes a long way.
A nice crew-member introduced themselves to us whilst three others were busy doing the same for A, D and K seats. They showed all the newcomers how to operate the seat etc, but I didn't need the explanation, so just spent the time having a chat with the CC member as I was the last on their list - he started from the back and worked his way to 8G. UC was bursting at its seams with pax... absolutely no spare seats, so the CC was frantically trying to do their duties on time. Welcome drinks were out in force, cleaned away as soon as we were finished with them, and on schedule we were away from the gate.
Had to wait a while before take-off thanks to the usual 10pm traffic jam of late night longhauls, smooth take off, and as soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off, we were being handed hot towels and having our drink orders taken which were then served with peanuts and olives. The usual announcements were going on, the 9hr flight time is the one I paid attention to (quick!). The sensation of take off whilst being nearly side-on to the direction of travel is a novel one...
Dinner orders were taken, I had the starter of a very nice carrot soup and rolls, then a main of Malai Kofta, rice and curried vegetables, with a very smartly presented side plate of poppadums, raita, salad and achar pickle. The poor CC were suffering with the demand of a full cabin, but were still very attentive. Dessert was a nicely done indian sweet called a cham-cham which was not overly sweet as they tend to be. A hot chocolate washed everything down, and I sat back to watch a movie before turning the bed down and having a sleep. I noticed that only one other person from row 8 back did their own beds... everyone else needed showing or wanted it done for them. I had the best sleep I have ever had on a plane (even in comparison to BA first. SQ suites would have been the best had it not been for 5 hrs of tumble-dryer turbulence).
I was up 3 hrs before landing - went and got freshened up and went back to watch some more TV. They still have the same episodes from the different series I watch on V-Port that I watched in Nov, Dec and Jan on VS300/301... when do they get updated? Aside from that, everything else was fine. 1.5 hrs before landing, the breakfast orders were taken, and I had a nice bowl of muesli and a glass of OJ before filling in the tedious Indian landing card and getting ready for landing.
A nice smooth landing 30 mins before scheduled time was the icing on the cake. No disembarkation through the fwd door, so was a little late in getting out, but as soon as I was, I began the dash to the immigration desks. It is just as long a walk from the gate in Delhi as it is in london... but I managed to get to the business lane without collapsing. Seen within 5 mins (an absolute miracle in Delhi where VS lands after the majority of the morning flights... you can spend up to 2 hours in that queue waiting behind returning labourers etc from Soudi Arabia/UAE/Qatar and others who cannot fill in the landing card and have to be told to go back and fill it in!). Over to the baggage belt where we had to wait 30 mins for the bags to come out... even the flight crew were waiting with us... something they were not happy about - but after their bags came mine, so I was out within 45 mins of leaving the plane door... unheard of in Delhi.
All in all, a brilliant flight with crew managing well under busy conditions. I was thrilled to get the UC treatment, and I will be using up miles a lot more now
