V-Flyer

This was my first experience of the Newark Clubhouse, and funnily enough also the first time I'd ever tried a day flight back from the US. The day before I had been trying to explain the 'Which Aircraft?' V-flyer tool to my colleague and she valiantly attempted to feign interest by asking which plane I thought we would be on. I took a random guess and said Miss Behavin' -- and lo and behold soon afterwards she trundled out to EWR as the VS17...

We checked into the Marriott at EWR quite late the night before the flight. The taxi driver had no idea where to go, despite me handing him the destination on an iPhone map. This meant that he screeched to a halt in the middle of the ring-road around the airport (which is basically a motorway) in order to call across to another cabbie to ask for directions. He then tried to drive into the drop-off area the wrong way... it adds to the excitement of the journey.

The hotel is OK -- the rooms are old-fashioned, but the place was quiet (and that's the most important thing). At 5 am we checked out and headed onto the shuttle bus. This was quite a surreal experience because a group of loud Americans girls who had completely deafened us whilst we were checking in to the hotel were already aboard the bus -- somehow they had managed to sleep, wake, apply their make up, and recharge their vocal batteries. It was very irritating -- at 5.30 am, you really don't want to hear 15-year old girls screeching about their upcoming flight.

Eventually we got to terminal B, where we diligently queued in the UC line. A VS agent took us aside to process us (excellent), and asked if we would like to downgrade to PE for 40k miles. This wasn't a surprise, because I knew the flight was packed, but we decided not to accept VS's generous offer. More about that later!

So off we went to the Clubhouse, which was quiet initially. The breakfast buffet was excellent -- a lovely fruit plate, and nice hot food. Service was good. After this we retired to the 'library' area, and the space became more busy. It is a nice lounge, but the lack of natural light (or a nice view) is a significant drawback. The wifi was OK, but not great. As the flight time approached, more and more people piled in, until it was quite busy.

Maybe it is just me, but there always seems to be someone in any clubhouse or lounge who casts snooty glances around, as if implying that no one else deserves to be there. It was pleasing when, on boarding, she traipsed through the UC cabin without stopping. :-)

Security was terrible. The priority lane was out of action, and there was quite a wait in to go through the machines. This was made rather worse by the fire alarms, which sounded for about 10 minutes. No one paid any attention to them, naturally -- even though they were unbearably deafening.

Eventually we got onto the flight. The premium boarding experience is compromised a little by the fact that the entire plane walks through the UC cabin. (The plane was very very full, which added to the length of this.) The champagne was both flat and warm -- I'm not that bothered at 8 am, but that's not really a good excuse. We got away reasonably promptly and breakfast was served -- a bacon roll, which was OK. I kept trying not to fall asleep, because this is fatal on a day flight where you lose time, but didn't entirely succeed. For distraction purposes, I dragged myself to the bar with my colleague. She had a G&T, and I had a Bucks Fizz -- all served by our charming crew-member, who was a credit to VS and faultless.

The time seemed to race by and soon the crew were offering drinks and then "lunch". The choice was between a chicken dish and some braised beef. I chose the chicken but was later asked to change because they had run out of chicken. I didn't really mind... until I was given the beef, which was as dry as a desert, and had hardly any sauce to go with it. I can't remember what wine I had, but it was OK. Skipped pudding as I was not feeling very hungry, but the cheese trolley did the rounds and I am a sucker for that chutney.

Soon after lunch we began our descent and ended up arriving about 15 minutes early onto stand. Unfortunately we disembarked just after the Dehli flight had arrived, which meant that there was a huge mass of people moving towards the border control point -- but the queue for EU passengers only had about 5 people in it, so we were through in minutes and down to the baggage hall where the UC bags were already trundling around on the belt. From plane to airport exit in 15 minutes is pretty good in my experience.

All in all, it was a solid flight, but I must confess that even during it I started to wish I'd accepted the offer of miles and downgraded to PE -- and that can't really be a good thing, can it?!? Nothing was terrible onboard and in fact the FA looking after me was excellent, but somehow the flight felt a bit lacklustre, and I was quite surprised because I thought it would be great fun. Having a distinctly below-average second-choice meal didn't help -- the food ex-USA always seems to be worse than ex-LHR (in my opinion). Still, on the bright side, the relative lack of jet-lag was good, and for this reason I will be taking the VS18 again shortly.

at240 wrote:Maybe it is just me, but there always seems to be someone in any clubhouse or lounge who casts snooty glances around, as if implying that no one else deserves to be there. It was pleasing when, on boarding, she traipsed through the UC cabin without stopping. :-)

What's the betting they still had an old UC tag on their luggage....I know I do

Do you think that if you'd downgraded they have still given you CH access (if you weren't Au that is)?

Thanks for the TR - shame about the food though!

Paul

Having used the VS18/17 combination several times in the past I can also sy that they were excellent for jumping into new time zones As for your flight, it is a shame that you were served average food at best It is, however, VS's saving grace that your FA was ace

Thanks for posting

pjh wrote:Do you think that if you'd downgraded they have still given you CH access (if you weren't Au that is)?

Yes they would -- the agent specifically mentioned the clubhouse.

pjh wrote:What's the betting they still had an old UC tag on their luggage....I know I do

So did I until a mean PE check-in agent confiscated it!

Great TR, - I don't think I have heard a good word about the beef dish on the current menu

at240 wrote:

pjh wrote:Do you think that if you'd downgraded they have still given you CH access (if you weren't Au that is)?

Yes they would -- the agent specifically mentioned the clubhouse.

I might be tempted by that if ever faced with the offer. Would have to be a window seat in PE though

at240 wrote:

pjh wrote:What's the betting they still had an old UC tag on their luggage....I know I do

So did I until a mean PE check-in agent confiscated it!

It's usually one or more tags on one or more items of hand luggage . In this way they serve two purposes: (1) you can show your fellow passengers that you don't normally have to put up with travelling towards the back of the bus with their sort (2) you can wave them at the cabin crew when attempting to gain access to the UC toilets....

at240 wrote:. A VS agent took us aside to process us (excellent), and asked if we would like to downgrade to PE for 40k miles. This wasn't a surprise, because I knew the flight was packed, but we decided not to accept VS's generous offer. More about that later!

For a downgrade, isn't the rule that you're entitled to a refund of 75% of the fare? The FC miles part would be a 'sweetener' added by the airline on top of this.

clarkeysntfc wrote:

at240 wrote:. A VS agent took us aside to process us (excellent), and asked if we would like to downgrade to PE for 40k miles. This wasn't a surprise, because I knew the flight was packed, but we decided not to accept VS's generous offer. More about that later!

For a downgrade, isn't the rule that you're entitled to a refund of 75% of the fare? The FC miles part would be a 'sweetener' added by the airline on top of this.

Only for IBB is it 75% of the fare difference (not the whole fare). The 'incentives' for a VDB situation are down to the airline.

I might have been tempted for 40k miles but also a UC seat on that nights VS2!