This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
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I actually had not planned a trip until darling Sealink organised the Social on the 30th. That seemed like a good enough reason for a weekend trip to London. I logged onto the VS website and saw that there was a sale to NY. So I thought why not. As is my style, I booked Y going out and rewarded myself for the pain and suffering of flying Y by adding another piece to my Globe Trotter collection. This one's a limited edition from Mr. Porter.
So back to the TR. I got into London on the VS652 around 4, and went home to Dulwich to change and headed off for the social which was a blast (love you Billy). The next morning, I left Dulwich at about half past 9 by train South Eastern and tube to Heathrow. It ended up taking longer than it would by car. Got to the airport around 11:15, picked up my boarding pass and confirmed that my bags were checked through from Lagos and headed to fast track which wasn't so fast. I can confirm that the guy that scans the boarding passes isn't there anymore. Through security after almost 10 minutes and a fast walk through duty free and into the CH where I promptly ordered a redhead and the ham and pea terrine, seared salmon and chocolate fondant and ice cream.
I had a maintenance manicure and did a bit of work and for the first time actually bothered to explore the CH. Boarding was announced at 1:15 and onto the waiting GV-HOT at gate 18 where I was sat in 43C which is an extra legroom seat, and I think 30 quid is good value for those few extra inches.
We pushed off on time and were airborne by 2:15.
Drink service started shortly after the seat belt sign went off, and for the first time ever, I got AU status recognition in Y with champagne and crisps.
Lunch was: Starter - Waldorf Salad (meh)., Main - Steak and mushroom cobbler (looked like baby food), Dessert - GU zesty lemon (greasy). All in all, the food was not great but it was adequate. Some time later, the Skinny lolly things were handed out. They're not particularly nice. The rest of the flight was mostly uneventful, there were about 2 water rounds and then afternoon tea that I didn't touch. I asked for hot chocolate and was told that it wasn't available on day flights and would only get loaded on the return flight. I think it's a load of rubbish, but hey that's the price of flying Y, you can't get everything you want.
Entertainment wise I watched Jack Reacher and Identity Thief, both were excellent. This was the first time I used the gate to gate IFE and it was nice to still have the sky map on as we were coming in to land.
We landed around 4:20pm and were at the gate and off the plane shortly after. Immigration hall was heaving and we were told to stand against a wall until space was available. In spite of this, I was out and in the Dial 7 Town Car by 6, so it wasn't as bad as I feared. And at the One UN.
All in all, it was a good flight, but I think that over time, I'm becoming less tolerant about flying in economy.
Thanks for reading.
Edited to add on the immigration issue that we were directed to a queue and the immigration officer just walked off and never came back and after we waited for a bit I had to complain to the queue managers who moved us to another kiosk where we got the friendliest immigration officer ever. He actually made me forget that I had just spent almost an hour standing and another 15 minutes waiting for the one that never came back.
Loyal VS Flyer since 2003
Might meet in the Clubhouse on Wednesday
