V-Flyer

Here begins part the second and we start this merry tale at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, driver shows up on time and with a cheery smile. Thought I was going to have a good conversation and a mini tour on the way to the airport.. I was wrong, driver’s i-pod earphones go in and the car is in silence... Occasionally I could hear the driver humming away to what I genuinely believe was Britney Spears, but then came the hurried look into the rear view mirror to see if I had noticed. Shame but I guess all part of the ‘upper’ service.

Check in was relatively painless with the desk agent reminding me several times that I was in the snooze zone and that I could not eat on board - I quipped, I can if I go to the bar - clearly not my first trip to the zoo. Passport control and security were relatively painless except for a Danish family behind me that clearly had no idea they could not take their bags through the metal detectors... oh yeh and an american businessman, who apparently travels all the time, yet decided it was a wise idea to pack all liquids imaginable into his hand luggage... Bottle after bottle, even the TSA agent appeared surprised, and all got confiscated, ha ha.. - except of course his foot fungal medication which he announced to the security checkpoint was necessary for his travel... many thanks to him for sharing.

Nice little walk to the A gates, train ride was quite cool, gave me an idea for improving London Underground, but from what I hear they have been dealing with the olympics really quite well. Cuddos TFL.

Arrived at the lounge to be greeted and seated (and ID’d as it happens - clearly I look under 21 ). The upstairs section was closed off, so I am guessing not a full flight. Time for mojitos, tiny snag with that one... imagine what it is like to drink a glass of toothpaste (and no i do not mean mouthwash).. time for a retry, well second time lucky. Could easily drink a few more of these... Whether it was my rather direct instructions on how to make a mojito or whether the server was run off her feet is unclear, but I did have to keep going to the bar to order. One down, time for the next... oops I seem to have received the toothpaste again, sent back and received another one, this one passed testing and then thought it prudent to switch over to whiskey.

Boarding called, we gathered our things and made our way out the door for the long journey to gate A32 (out of the door and 10 paces in front of us ) Slight delay at the gate due to an alarm going off on the jetway - not quite sure what it was, but the problem was quickly resolved and I was in seat 3K in no time with a glass of champagne on the way. I find the Mary Antoinette glasses do fit on the little shelf if you move the light, not quite sure why people have had problems in the past. Defective shelves out there?

Was approached by the cabin attendant covering our section and asked if I was ok with everything and explained about the snooze zone, sleep suits yada yada yada - (I packed my own PJs - not a fan of sleeping in a tracksuit ). As I have got to try this braised beef that appears to have caused a few people on this site to either praise or criticise.. beef ordered then sleep - with a few glasses of whiskey in between, appears I can order food at my seat in the snooze zone

I would say that the inconsistency with which the VS FSMs appear to project is starting to get to me a bit. Without meaning to sound entitled in the slightest I do believe that the amount of money upper class fares cost these days warrants at least an approach by the FSM to say hi. However as has been pointed out before it appears there is no uniformity in this and it pretty much rests with the individual flight crews.

Anyway, tucked into a delicious salmon starter and then came the moment of truth.. the braised beef and veg. Being honest v-flyers it was nice, pepper sauce was definitely fantastic but nothing to overly write home about.. I am therefore going to say it was a good quality upper class meal, def not the best or, as some have claimed, the worst thing I have eaten. Another glass of whiskey on the rocks, then tea before bed. I was massively disappointed that there was no green tea aboard and so settled for camomile.. need the tea after all the booze - come on ground crew.. support your team in the sky!! Bring me green tea.. ha ha.

With that note it was off to the land of nod, nicely dressed in my own pjs and ignoring the problems with the IFE - oh yeh, clearly I am a bad luck charm when it comes to IFE, did not work all flight - a lot of off and on, resets, power cuts , but no joy, at least whilst I was awake. I understand they managed to get it going again midway through the flight - i feel sorry for those reliant on it, but no great affect on me as I was dreaming of this and that (will not reveal my dreams here in case one of the many freudian psychiatrists of the world decides to weigh in...)

zzzzzzzzz...........

Awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee, but unfortunately they had stopped serving Luckily upon arrival, revivals was waiting. The pilot came over the PA thanking the cabin crew for their service.. is this not something the FSM should do? In fact I think I only saw him once during the entire flight.. shame.

Through passport control in good time and out to baggage reclaim, bag after bag came off and then ours all came out together. Normally I wouldn’t mention this, however one of the cases looked as if it had been thrown around a rugby pitch.. yep the TSA had CUT it open!!!! opening it seeing that smug card saying they had every right to search the bags and were not liable for damages.. well there goes another bag, I have actually lost count of the amount of bags and locks that I have gone through with the kind assistance of the TSA.

Well I was disappointed about the case but what can ya do.. onto revivals, showered, breakfast eaten and soon enough on the way home. All in all a fair VS experience.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the TR -- sounds OK. But no green tea? I would have asked to get off and take the next flight!

Thanks for the TR

I could not agree more with your comment about FSMs, having just flown out to New York where the FSM was absolutely fantastic (TR to follow I promise )

I do hope there is enough beef for my return as I simply must now try it after your report

Thanks once again

buns

Super TR, thanks for posting

at240 wrote:Thanks for the TR -- sounds OK. But no green tea? I would have asked to get off and take the next flight!

I know, it's a violation of human rights.

Thanks for the comments guys, and buns I look forward to reading that TR.

Thanks for the TR. The nightmare of a badly mixed mojito scares me off ordering it. Glad the "mixologist" got it right eventually.

Ps. I've seen one FSM spending more time in the economy section helping out on a very full flight, maybe at times like theat (s)he can't really spend much time talking to each passenger. However, I agree with you. Consistency is needed.