V-Flyer

In short, this flight shocked me, but not in the way you might imagine...

This was the return leg of a quick work trip that was booked at the last minute. Often when I fly I am able to upgrade using miles, but on this sector the flight was busy in UC and no Gs were available. PE cash upgrades were exorbitantly expensive and so I gloomily resigned myself to flying in Y. To add to my woes I was booked on the 46, which I dislike because it is a) operated by a jumbo, and b) a tough one for jet lag.

To sweeten the pill I asked about exit row seats at check in and was pleased to be able to get into row 75 on the upper deck. The agent told me this would cost $80, but there seemed to be some doubt about this and he then did not charge me, which was a bit confusing. I am not sure what happened... He also offered an upgrade to PE for I think $320 but I wasn't tempted. I then trekked to security, where the normal lane was just as quick as the fast track. 

The Clubhouse was quite busy and I worked for a little while before eating a nice meal. Service was patchy as usual but the really on-the-ball server whom I encountered back in November was on duty and he really is a great asset. I had had a large lunch in Manhattan so I wasn't all that hungry but something told me I would not want to eat onboard, and boy I was right! The flight was a bit late departing but walking straight on was hassle-free as usual and I nipped upstairs into my seat...

...and was astonished and horrified by how uncomfortable it was! Exit row seats have fixed arm rests which makes them exceptionally narrow, but even so... Also, I noticed how hard the seat was: by the end of the long JFK taxi it was (literally) a pain in the backside. Ow...

What else can I say? Service was pretty minimal - dinner orders were taken. I tried the chicken curry, which was just about edible. I didn't touch the salad or the tiramisu, and the bread roll somehow managed to be hot and cold, bone dry and sopping wet all at the same time. Awful, really.  After that I read my book and watched a film on my iPad, before eventually dozing off for 90 minutes or so. There were a couple of drinks runs in the night.

Breakfast was in a little box with orange juice, a muffin top (sickly sweet) and a cereal bar - all edible but very sugary and not really what you want. I gave up quite quickly. The tea was truly shocking. 

But here is the biggest shock of all... You know what? This flight was OK. The two flight attendants looking after the upper deck were pleasant. I had no one next to me (pot luck) so was able to spread my stuff out a bit, and the completely unlimited exit-row legroom is a real advantage. Overhead storage was limited but my bag was stowed in the UC lockers, and given back to me during our final taxi. The upper deck itself is quiet and quite serene, and the mini Y cabin is probably the best way to fly in that class on VS, I suspect. In a funny way I enjoyed being left to my own devices. I saw the FSM but naturally she wasn't concerning herself with the likes of me...

The real surprise was that I felt no worse than normal after the flight, and because I was  in Y I felt no need to eat properly on board or drink any booze to maximise the experience and get value for money, and on a quick flight like this one (<6 hrs) you are only going to get a very limited amount of sleep even if you have the flat bed, so it's hardly a great sacrifice.

So there we are: I am living proof that once you turn left, you can still survive the alternative, contrary to rumours. And so the big question is whether this will change my behaviour in the future. Funnily enough, I think it will. I think I will be much less fussed about upgrading on relatively short flights. That's the biggest shock of all!

What a great TR. At a time when most of us are looking for ways to reduce our outgoings it made very interesting reading. I totally agree with you that if the ticket or an upgrade is a personal expense, you do not have unreasonable expectations and a flat bed is not essential, then the economy extra leg room seats sounds good value compared with the seats at the pointy end.

That said, I still like turning left!

Thanks for this TR, def makes interesting reading

at240 wrote: The tea was truly shocking.

Green or Builder's?

I'm with Jacki on this one, I def like turning left although good to hear that VS have got the ECO service running well.

If there are seats in the premium cabins then the check-in staff should be giving you the opportunity to use your hard earned miles... if not, as an AU, always give it a pop in the CH, if you don't ask you don't usually get

Cheers for posting

Thank you both for your replies.

It was builders, Joey. Oh the humanity!

There were reward seats available in PE, actually, for around £100 + miles. But by that stage, with an exit seat upstairs, I figured that I'd rather stick there than possibly end up in a middle four on the lower deck. And with Christmas approaching, I was conscious that every £100 saved can have so many other possible uses.

Interesting assessment from a regular. Do you think your opinion would change if you were cast out of the CH world and back into the full economy experience?

pjh wrote:Interesting assessment from a regular. Do you think your opinion would change if you were cast out of the CH world and back into the full economy experience?

That is an excellent point - yes, I think that that would change things a lot. Also, if I never upgraded, I wouldn't have a hope of maintaining AU status!

I suppose I should also remember that NYC is a quick hop. 6 hours is one thing; 10 or 12 quite another. Having said that, I've done the West Coast in PE several times and found it perfectly doable, and managed to work on arrival.

pjh wrote:if you were cast out of the CH world

A great read, thanks for posting As someone who flies Y all the time (no business travel and a few leisure trips a year) it was very interesting to have a seasoned UC pax view on the service.

On Saturday I will be doing one of those horrible 11.5 hour trips (to LAX) you talked about From my point of view it is better than not going at all

Have a great trip Petmadness! I apologise if my comments seem sniffy about economy - not at all my intention (most of my flying is in Y, just not most of my trip reports ). For a holiday I think your last point in brackets is the key one - the point is to get there, and you can always take a day or two to recover.