VS015 LGW-MCO 1 MAY 12 (Upper Class)
Posted: 11 May 2012, 05:19This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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First, I'll set the scene. Mrs nibbs and I have become air mile junkies over the last few years, having benefited from many business class trips with bmi through my last employer. Combined with squeezing every last pound through our credit cards, we built up a healthy balance of miles with bmi Diamond Club which we have happily spent on UC trips on VS despite getting more miles per mile (if you know what I mean) with other star alliance partners.
I'm from the group of travellers who enjoy the planning, booking and organising holidays as far in advance as possible. Indeed, when using miles, we've learnt that you can never book too early. So with a 40th birthday on the horizon for myself, we decided to plan two weeks in Florida celebrating with the mouse! We decided this just before Mrs nibbs fell pregnant with nibbs jr., our first child. Unperturbed, we decided that at nine months old, he would be old enough to take to the states and enjoy a holiday in the sun.
So plan A was to fly LHR/MIA on bmi miles in UC, drive up to Orlando, stay at Saratoga Springs before spending a night in Miami on the return journey. I didn't really fancy the drive (although we had done it before) but reward availability into MCO was non-existent so we had little choice.
So before junior was born, we had booked with Disney and with bmi with instructions from both to just give them a call after the birth to add on junior once we knew the name. Our attention then turned to the arrival of our son who has his Mum's good looks and his Dad's sense of humour (when he's older he'll understand how his life could be very different if that had been the other way around....!).
With the ink dry on the birth certificate, I first called Disney to add junior to the booking. The American lady who took my call was great, both efficient and excited for us (when we arrived, junior had his own room key pre-printed ready to go....thankfully, he hasn't got charging privileges yet!). However, the call to bmi and the Diamond Club's Indian Call Centre was quite a contrast. I refuse to believe that the request to add a new born was that rare that they made such a hash of it. In the end, he was added on, but on his own booking (Mrs nibbs and I were on one bmi ref with a corresponding VS ref, whilst junior had a separate bmi ref but no VS ref, only a bmi e-ticket number.
Anyway, junior was booked and coming with us - all done. So we thought! More on junior and his ticket in a moment....
In the hope that some of Disney's magic might rub off on VS's revenue department, I continued to keep an eye on the MCO flights in case some availability came free. Some days I would check every hour, some days I forgot to check at all. It was at the end of a busy week when I realised I'd not looked for nearly ten days. It was a Saturday morning and we were off with the brother-in-law and his girlfriend for a weekend in London (our first night away from junior since he was born). It was while I was waiting at the mother-in-laws (who was having junior for us) that I checked on my iPad and saw that the LGW to MCO leg was now available. If I could pass on a word of advice here, trying to secure flights, move them over from an existing booking, include an infant on a separate booking, in the back of a cab on the way to the station with someone in India who doesn't appreciate the urgency to nab them, seconds after watching your wife leave your baby son with the in-laws for the first overnight away from him is a recipe for disaster. How we didn't end up divorced or on a one way flight to one of bmi's more random destinations, I will never know!
A week later, we hit the jackpot! The return leg came free. This time I was at home, although it took me being really quite assertive with the agent who would not accept that reward bookings were changeable (once I demanded to speak with his supervisor, all of a sudden he decided that I could make the change). Once my card had been hammered with the tax increase since my original booking, we were home and dry - LGW/MCO both ways in UC on miles.
A couple of weeks before the big day, I put a call into VS to check what baby food would be available on the flight. The premier team were excellent and very helpful until they looked up my booking. "Sorry, your son's not on the flight". "No problem", I replied, "he has his own booking number". VS didn't recognise the bmi reference, or e-ticket number. Doh! So I called bmi......who couldn't see anything wrong with any of the details.....so I called the premier team back......who still couldn't see any details! After another couple of calls, we established that junior never had his outbound flight changed (he was still going to Miami!). You'd think that would be the end of it, but no. When VS advised me that the booking still wasn't valid, I got step by step instructions from VS to pass to bmi on what to change in which fields of the booking. I'm still amazed that neither side would talk direct to the other.
Anyway, Mrs nibbs was now trying to plan what food and milk nibbs junior would need for our trip (we were booked into the Hilton at Gatwick the night before the flight). Jars and pouches were going to be the order of the day on the flight but we wanted to give him some hot, home cooked food at the hotel and in the lounge.
I called the Exec lounge at the Hilton who said that they would happily microwave it for us. I also called the Clubhouse who apologised but said that they were unable to heat anything that wasn't theirs for health and safety reasons. Fair enough - at least we knew in advance. Ten minutes later, my mobile rang. It was the clubhouse. The lady I had spoken to had just looked up our booking after our call to check there was some baby food ordered. That's when she spotted that there was no baby on our booking, let alone any baby food! You can imagine my response which included apologies when we finished for shooting the messenger!
The Clubhouse lady put me on hold and spoke to the Gatwick ticket desk who looked at the booking and said that we would need a paper ticket for junior and that bmi could print us one on the day. Ummm...when did bmi set up at LGW I asked? Good point, came the reply! Don't worry, I was told, they would unpick it for us and all would be fine!
By this stage I was resigned to one big stand off at the UC check in desk on the morning of the flight. However, I was pleasantly surprised when junior appeared on our VS booking the next day when I was checking our API data. All was well. Of course, I couldn't check-in online (I was half expecting this to be fair), but we left the house for the airport hotel happier than I thought I would be.
Our stay at the Hilton was very good. I still love the fact that you can just stroll across the walkway and be at check-in in less than five minutes. The random nature of the M25 is enough to get me to use the Hilton every time we've flown from LGW. The only issue we had was when the kitchen refused to heat junior's dinner! Even though there was a note on our booking that we had called and been told they could, it had been a big mistake. However, we were allowed to use the microwave in the crew lounge (which is a very handy tip for anyone who may find themselves in a similar position).
The next morning, having balanced waaay too many bags on the trolley, we were off to the terminal. The walk along the link bridge to the terminal always puts a smile on my face as despite what chaos awaits you through the doors at the end, you are finally on holiday and on your way to the sun!
Zone A was busy, but well organised. Premium and Upper Class check in was empty, and we were welcomed at the head of the rope line before getting to the desk. Passports handed over and we got the first "hmmmm". Followed by a phone call, followed by a "can you come with me to the ticket desk"! The guy at the ticket desk hammered in our booking reference (which by now must hold the record for being the most ever accessed) and told me that juniors e-ticket had already been used and did I have another one?
I'm a pretty patient guy, but I think the ticket desk bloke could see the blood beginning to boiler and offered to call bmi for me. Good idea! Ten minutes later, a new e-ticket was issued, linked to my seat and a boarding card issued. Back to the check-in desk where our bags were still sat on the belt and Mrs nibbs and I got our boarding cards with the nice shiny "gatwick premium" stickers on them!
We were finally on our way! It was the first time we had been through Gatwick since the new security system had been installed in the south terminal. I was very impressed with what a difference it seems to have made. We were guided towards the family channel, but took the right hand option into an empty priority lane. Our cards were manually scanned before we were let through the gate. Having done our homework beforehand, we put all of juniors food (combination of pouches, couple of yoghurts and bottles of sterile water with his formula powder separate) in one tray and everything else followed separately. Junior watched his "trunky" very carefully, not wanting anyone to interfere with his toys!
I was surprised when his pushchair went through the arch rather than going through the x-ray machine. It got a good pat-down the other side of the arch but I thought they all had to go through the machine. Junior got carried through the arch by Mrs nibbs, which then went off. Junior thoroughly enjoyed the pat down by a lovely security lady who made a real fuss of him in the process!
His bag got pulled for the manual check and we had to open and taste 50% of everything - no exception. It was at this stage that I wondered whether we would have been better going down the family channel as I had read stories where no such a detailed check had been made on others. One big advantage was that there were very few other passengers around and we felt under no pressure to hurry along.
We were soon re-packed and on our way to the clubhouse where we got a great welcome (well, junior did - he was the centre of attention both then and throughout the holiday. I guess it's a sign of things to come!). The clubhouse was fairly quiet. I think the first MCO flight had already cleared and there was just a few tables occupied. The beauty area (or whatever it's called!) was empty.
Having used the clubhouse several times before, we knew where everything was. But once you have a baby with you, you realise that you look at things completely differently. Before we would have found a nice table overlooking the planes, near the bar. Now, we wanted somewhere quiet, with plenty of space and away from as many people as possible in case we disturbed them! We ended up at the very far end, outside the play area. I think we must have had the bottom half of the clubhouse to ourselves which was great! All three of us had breakfast (full English for me, muffin for Mrs nibbs and an Ella's kitchen pouch for junior which had just been opened at security) before I had a bit of a wander round. When I got back, junior was practising his crawling up the length of the clubhouse being egged on by the the three beauty therapists who I think we're pleased to have something to do! On a serious note, the welcome we got from every member of staff in the clubhouse was excellent - I know we were lucky as the clubhouse was quiet, but I know many people who would run away as fast as they could at the first sight of a baby.
Junior then spent thirty minutes in the play room with mum and dad. Fair play to virgin, they've got this spot on. Carpet made to look and feel like grass along with a host of other toys is great. Juniors favourite was the sit-on Thomas the tank engine which he would have taken to MCO if he had the chance!
Time was getting on and although they had not called us, we decided to take a steady walk down to the gate. When we arrived at gate 17, the priority lane was clearly signed and we moved straight to the front. Boarding cards scanned, and all three got a red light and a buzz! The first thing was our seats had been changed. No big deal, we were still next to each other (and still in UC) so that was fine. Juniors beeped because they claimed that no API had been loaded for him. We went through the sequence of events and the agent got quite concerned that this was a big issue. The supervisor got called who made a phone call to establish that junior had originally been loaded against Mrs nibbs (where his API record was) but since the re-issue of his e-ticket, he now sat with me (with no API). Panic over, and with assurances that junior wouldn't be thrown out of the states on arrival, we headed to the plane.
Hot Lips would be our home for the next nine hours. The queue to board was back into the holding area but moved quickly. Another thing that surprised me was that juniors pushchair wasn't tagged at check-in. We were told at the time that as we were in UC we could pretty much do what we wanted and take the pushchair on board so we had it on landing (which tuned out to be a real blessing....). I was waiting to put this to the test and as we reached the door we were asked to leave it behind. When I explained that it hadn't been tagged and that we had been told we could take it on board, the FSM was called over who said it was no problem.....I could feel the eyes of those families behind us burning into the back of my head as they had their pushchairs removed from them!
We were sat in 9 and 10A and quickly juggled a baby with storing everything away in the right places whilst keeping out what we thought we'd need for the first half hour or so. We were offered a drink which was accepted which was a bit silly as junior was trying to explore every single thing that moved or wasn't strapped down! He reminded me of the first time that I flew "up-front"!
The doors were quickly shut and we were told that we had an eight and a half hour flight with 435 passengers, 15 crew and 2 on the flight deck. We pushed back early at 1257 and took off at 1312. Not more than sixty seconds into the climb, there was yells from the passengers behind us, trying to get the cabin crews attention. For a few seconds there was a real sense of fear as to what could cause such alarm. Once I realised that it was because all of the glasses were falling out of the cupboard beneath the bar, my breathing returned to normal! If it had been the bottles falling out and breaking instead of the glasses, I dread to think what might have happened!
The seat belt signs were off after ten minutes as the plane rose above the dark clouds into the blue skies above. Unfortunately, it was at this stage that junior (who was sat with his mum) began to kick off. We tried feeding him, soothing him, and everything else under the sun, but for the first twenty minutes, he screamed the plane down. Now I have every sympathy for the passengers around us who had paid full whack for their seat (UC was full) as no one wants to listen to a screaming kid at the best of times. However, the looks that were being given to us around the cabin only made matters worse which then upset Mrs nibbs as well. The crew were great and made sure that we had everything that we needed, trying to bring a bit of much needed humour to proceedings at the same time. However, it felt like the next eight hours were going to be very bad if the start was anything to go by.
To be fair, once junior had calmed down, so did everyone else, with one exception. The guy sat next to Mrs nibbs had the right hump for the rest of the flight. It was clear he was trying to get as much sleep as he could, but every time junior cried or made a noise, he would toss himself around, grab his pillow and hold it over his head like a spoilt teenager! If you happen to be reading this, I'm sorry that we disturbed your flight, but it was really funny watching you throw your toys out of the pram (to the amusement of many in the UC cabin to be fair!).
We took it in turns with the meal service. I was quite impressed with the new menu and the layout of the tables. The wooden butter tray was a nice touch but I preferred the old salt and pepper pots. The soup was nice and hot and the beef was excellent. The mash was a bit runny but nothing that I couldn't live with. Can't remember which dessert I had but the service was prompt and my glass always full (of water...driving at the other end).
Another thing that having a baby with us made me notice was how good the seat layout is. Mrs nibbs had junior asleep on her lap so I sat on my otterman eating my dinner whilst talking to her virtually face to face over the divide. It was nice to be able to do so rather than be separated if I'd been sat in my seat the normal way around.
To break the flight up, a few times junior and I had a wander around the plane. It's amazing how many things you can find to look at and entertain a baby with at 38,000 feet! A favourite spot was at the top of the stairs on the right hand side. Not only was it quiet upstairs but there's an ideal little seat area to sit on to get a change of scenery. Different crew members talk to you as well to pass the time. We also went right to the back a few times - it was a great reminder why I work so hard to earn as many miles as I can to get up front. Fair play to every family with young kids who was back there for nearly nine hours.
I found the FSM for a chat and to ask her to ask the captain to sign juniors flight log book that he was given when we flew to Spain last year. Even though it was a BA logbook, it came back signed with no rude words in it!
The flight slowly passed and we managed to get junior asleep a few times. I was surprised how much room I had on the bed, even with junior spread out with me. Thankfully, the seat belt sign stayed off for much of the flight - I'm not sure we'll be so lucky on the way back.
We landed at MCO thirty minutes early and with the exception of the YTS guy on the air bridge (it took six attempts to get it lined up) we were off with the pushchair in hand. Unfortunately, we landed behind the air France flight, so an hour later we finally cleared a nice customs official. We did notice that US residents we being sent to visitor desks ahead of us lot - perhaps it was payback for the chaos in T5 the day before!
With so many bags, we had to put them back into the system again as we made it over to the main terminal building. They took another twenty minutes to appear at the other end - most of which I spent complaining about the five dollars to use a trolley! We were rewarded at the Dollar garage though when the express membership worked brilliantly and we found our documents hanging up in the window of the worlds biggest 4x4 (okay, slight exaggeration but you get the idea).
All in all, it was an okay first long haul flight with junior. The crew were great, but I'll never add a baby to a reward booking ever again (especially with bmi!). I hope BA don't shut down then ability to book with VS....but that's for a different forum!
If you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with me! I'll do another report on the way back but try and keep it shorter!
Cheers,
nibbs
- but it wasn't like you were sitting there ignoring him (your son, that is, rather than the passenger). 
I'm sure I'd have given up and done something else entirely. 
) The parents were exceptional and did their very best to try to pacify him and entertain him and we all recognised their efforts to do so. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that the aircraft was delayed by an hour once we were on board first of all by a small technical issue and then by the ensuing paperwork. Perhaps if we had taken off on time the situation wouldn't have arisen but them's the breaks 
So not everyone is huffing and puffing about a crying child - well with the exception of a 14year old Aer John whose head was being bashed with the said toddler's beaker over the top of the suite. It has taken Aer John 9 years to learn patience 
