V-Flyer

Did OLCI the night before at our hotel without any problems. After a warm and muggy day in Manhattan we collected our bags from the hotel and diced with death in the cab to JFK. At one point we were on a road with a 45mph speed limit and the cabbie was doing over 70mph. We handed over the danger-money (fare) and entered T4.

It was about 6pm and the UC check-in agent offered to try and move us onto the earlier VS45, but we declined the offer as we wanted to spend some time in the Clubhouse and eat properly before the flight.

T4 landside is a bit of a building site at the moment, but we found our way past the hoardings to the security checkpoint. The only oddity about the security process was the ID+boarding pass checker was asking everyone what their name was then checking this against the ID. Odd, as anyone travelling on fake ID is likely to be capable of remembering their “name”. When she asked me my name, I did want to reply along the lines of “you tell me as you have my passport” but thought better of it as I did not want to hear the snap of a rubber glove.

Picked up some duty free and wandered up to the Clubhouse. I think Virgin need to change the password for the Clubhouse wifi (or make it a little harder to guess) as there were quite a few people sitting on the stairs up to the Clubhouse all using laptops. I don’t know if JFK has free wifi, but the stairs seem an odd place to sit and use laptops when there were plenty of seats available by the gates.

Had a quick look round the Clubhouse then found the showers. The shower was very welcome to freshen up, but hot water would have been a nice addition – the water was stone cold, in both showers. Despite this, it was good to freshen up and change into clean clothes. Having showered we ordered Virgin Redheads to help us warm up again. Had a good meal in the Clubhouse and as we were eating the main course, G-VFOX arrived at the gate.

Wandered down to the gate ahead of the boarding call and were straight onboard. Turned left, bags into the overhead bins, sleepsuits picked up and changed into before the main UC boarding rush. As with the outbound flight, the suites were in pretty good condition and everything seemed to work. It was a short 6h11m flight time, with an almost full load of 303pax and 13 cabin crew.

After takeoff, some people in the snooze zone thought it was OK to stand up and start converting their seats to beds while the FSM was making her after takeoff PA announcement, i.e. a good few mins before the seatbelt sign was turned off. We were sat just behind the snooze zone, so asked to have a plate of cheese and a drink at the bar (in consideration for people in the snooze zone). Just as we were about to go to the bar, the seatbelt sign came back on due to turbulence. Again, a good number of people in UC seemed to think that the seatbelt sign did not apply to them. When the sign went off, we hot-footed it to the bar, had the cheese and a drink then returned to seats for sleep. Whilst at the bar, the crew had some half empty drinks to get rid of – one of the toilets next to the bar was vacant, so they just opened the lav door and tipped the drinks down the sink in there, then joked to us that we had not seen them do that!

One thing I really did notice on this flight was how noisy the Airbus is compared to the 747. Normally like to sit in the A-zone on a 747 which is nice and quiet, but the Airbus was as noisy as hell in comparison (and I am partially deaf). Despite the noise, got a few hours welcome sleep and woke up as we were passing over Dublin.

Passed on the offer of breakfast as was heading to Revivals when we landed. We were lucky and got a direct approach into Heathrow without entering a holding stack. Got some good views of London on the approach and we arrived on-stand about half an hour early. Before we had stopped moving at the stand, some pax were already standing up to start and get their stuff out of the overhead bins. I have never seen this much non-compliance with the seatbelt sign before (you always get the odd person, but this was a good quarter of the cabin).

Unlike the outbound flight, you saw a lot of the FSM on this flight. In her PA announcement she said she would be around the aircraft in all cabins during the flight. As a result, the service was as you would expect – they even remembered to offer the bowl of sweets before landing (unlike on the outbound).

Priority baggage worked fine and within 15mins lf arriving at the gate we were in Revivals. Does Revivals have air-conditioning? If it does, it was not working today, as the place was very hot. The lack of air-con defeated the purpose of an after landing shower to freshen up, as you were sweating like a pig after the shower. People in the main area of Revivals were using the menus as fans.

So all in all, this was a very good flight. The only negatives were not related to the flight, i.e. the cold shower in the JFK Clubhouse and the tropical climate in Revivals.

As always, time to start planning the next trip…

Thanks for the TR - agree on Revivals - it was steaming in there at the end of July so not been fixed by now?! Upsetting!

Interesting point about the noise level, I find (and generally many do) that the 747 is much the noisier beast!

Great TR thank you. Shame about the showers at JFK ...

Very funny trip report -- thanks!

Shame the lounges let it down -- doesn't normally work that way round!

Was genuinely surprised by your comment about noise levels. I find the jumbos much, much noisier than the Airbus, which is the main reason why I prefer the latter. Perhaps it's horses for courses.

Cheers for the TR but ...

Kraken wrote:One thing I really did notice on this flight was how noisy the Airbus is compared to the 747. Normally like to sit in the A-zone on a 747 which is nice and quiet, but the Airbus was as noisy as hell in comparison (and I am partially deaf). Despite the noise, got a few hours welcome sleep and woke up as we were passing over Dublin.

... you're joking right? The 747 is way way noisier than any of the Airbuses that VS operate. It's always my carriage of choice over the 747 ear basher.

Nice TR Kraken, thanks for the good read. Shame about the booze being tipped away - could have saved it for the next LAS flight .

McMaddog wrote:... you're joking right? The 747 is way way noisier than any of the Airbuses that VS operate. It's always my carriage of choice over the 747 ear basher.

I was specifically comparing the A-zone of a 747 (which I always find very quiet for a plane) to the Airbus. I agree fully that if you get further back on a 747 (particularly into Y) then it is as noisy as anything.

Edit: Just a thought - given that my hearing is duff, it may be the frequency of the noise of the air passing the outside of the 747 is one I don't hear well when compared to the Airbus.

I'm hard of hearing too, and I find that the 747 is noiser than the Airbus. However a 777 is in a different league entirely, those big twin engines are so noisy!

Kraken

Thanks for a marvellous TR

I too am anxious about taking a Yellow Cab to JFK and your example only goes to support my view

I agree with what you said about the Terminal security - for a nation that is so obsessed with service, it beats me how such a shambles can get away with it

Glad to learn you had a good FSM, which resulted in a good flight

Thanks once again

buns

Thank you for the TR.

Excellent TR, good flight too with everything on form ... how strange

The Yellow cab is all part of the NYC experience in my book, yes it can get a little scary sometimes as to the speed they go but all part of the fun. Always my preferred method from airport to Manhattan.

Revivals does have aircon that is a bit hit and miss. I think it is designed more for the business pax that just need to get off the flight, shower and breakfast and then straight to the office. Given the temp the UK usually is, a bit of warmth will probably be welcome to some..

Thanks for posting

We always do the Air Train/LIRR route to/from JFK, and the NJ Transit from Newark. They're often about 70% cheaper than a cab for 2 people, and it's far more convenient than the London Underground in terms of not having to carry luggage up/down stairs.