This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Arrived (very) early in Terminal 3 to make the most of it.
Check-in was a breeze and a very nice lady welcomed me and explained me all the benefits of flying with Virgin as I had mentioned it was my first time with them.
Took the lift to the private security. Quite busy but it all went quite quick, even if I had to be searched. I tend to make the machine beep every time I'm passing through
Browsed very quickly through duty free shops and headed straight to the Clubhouse.
Once again, a very warm welcome from the lounge receptionist (a nice change from the usual BA dragons) and a tour of the lounge as she asked if I had been there already.
Once in the lounge, I went straight to the Spa to book a complimentary back massage and got a slot at 5pm.
I then decided to just seat down and relax with a glass of champagne.
Feeling a bit peckish, I stopped by the deli and had the most amazing plate of different cheeses and cured meats with quinoa couscous and red rice salad with feta and mint. A bit of potato/raspberry bread and salted butter to go with ...
A few glasses of champagne to ease it all down and I was happy !
At 5, I went back to the spa to get the massage. Another very nice and smiling lady welcomed me and the therapist (nice and smiling of course!) arrived 1 minute later.
I had a full 15 minute massage which was lovely but reminded me hurtfully how tense I am ...
After this, I decided to visit the Grey Goose Loft for a cocktail and had a very nice chat with the barman.
Time flew by quite quickly and then it was the time to board.
Scarlet Lady (G-VRED) was parked on gate 20 so it was a good 10 minutes walk down there.
Priority Boarding was enforced and I could board straight away via door L1.
Another warm welcome from, you will guess by now, a very nice and smiling lady, who happened to be the FCM.
I had picked seat 4K and was shown to my seat and offered a glass of champagne and asked if I wanted pyjamas, which I accepted. It seems now that they don't offer them automatically, even on night flights.
We pushed back almost on time and taxied for a bit but were airbone by 22.15.
Take-off was the smoothest I've ever had, even if the weather was far from nice over London that night.
When seatbelts sign was switched off, I went to the lavatory to get changed and back to my seat in time for the drinks order. I went for the French white wine (Picpoul), which was pretty palatable. A little bowl of crisps accompanied this very well. I particularly enjoyed the fact that I was addressed by my surname when I was asked if I wanted to drink something ... It's little things that make great differences.
Orders were then taken for dinner but most people declined and asked for their beds to be made. As it was my first time in UC, I decided that I didn't want to miss a thing and ordered Beetroot salmon for starters and Chicken Tikka Masala for mains. For dessert, I opted for the Apricot and Raspberry Almond Tart with Creme Fraiche.
My main concern was the IFE. It took 2 attempts and almost 2 hours from take off to be able to get something. Furthermore, Vera On Demand is definitely not on par with other airlines offerings (haven't tested Vera Touch yet). I still managed to watch Dark Shadows and enjoyed it.
I then asked for my bed to be made and managed to get a good 4 hours sleep, only to be awaken for breakfast.
I couldn't face the idea of a full English so went for some fruit and yogurt with a few Danish pastries, orange juice and coffee.
Then it was time to get changed to my normal clothes and relax until landing. Landing was smooth and disembarkation very quick.
On a side note, Delhi Terminal 3 is great. Immigration was really quick, no queue (separate queues for Business and First Class passengers) and luggage delivery, even though it was a little on the slow side, and customs were really efficient.
I will post another trip report when I'm flying back at the end of the month. Sorry if it's a bit long but I wanted to be as thorough as possible.
