LGW-MCO VS27 June 13 2013

Once checked into the Gatwick Sofitel, I decided to take advantage of the twilight checkin.
Approaching the counter I was met by a rather unhappy young lady who started the check in procedure. During this, she asked my address in Orlando. "I don't know, it is allocated on arrival by Virgin Holidays," says I. "Well thats not right, you must have an address, i have never heard of this" was the response I got. Alter 5 minutes of arguing and basically being called a liar, i went back and got the paperwork. On showing this the happy young lady said "you have the office address, that will do." Not once was this asked for nor any apology from the happy lady.
Next morning we went swiftly through security and took our rather comfy seats in the Clubhouse. After a shave, shoe shine and champagne breakfast, we boarded the A330. Enjoying our sparkling wine prior to take off in the half full PE section. Slightly delayed takeoff due to a technical issue but shortly after wheels up we were served a very nice beef casserole lunch with wine and liquor afterwards.
Vera system is amazing with a great selection of movies. Cabin crew were fantastic with plenty drinks runs and even an anouncement wishing my soon to be Wife and I a happy Wedding. Wedding box was spotted by all the crew and best wishes from them all.
Pssport control was not too bad at Orlando which makes a change. Was in the rental car and out the airport in an hour.
The only minor issue i would say was that for most of the fligt we were not allowed to use the forward toilet as the crew were busy in the galley.
Return leg left on time, chech in staff happy at Downtown Disney. Swiftly boarded and was in the air on time. Onboard, crew were happy and quickly dished out a tasty meal. No liquor after this time though! Night flight passed pretty quick with no issues at all. Landed on time and very quickly got our cases.
Sat in 21 A and C both legs. There are 2 windows to this row, however the window seat person needs to snap their neck to see out the first one!
All in all a great Virgin experience. Just wish the check in staff would smile a little.

Thanks for the TR.
Sounds like a good trip.
From recent reports it seems that there is a bit of a blip in the CS at LGW. I have to say IME LHR ground crew have always been courteous and sometimes have had some good banter, especially when we asked about an upgrade lol

Well it was bad enough being called a liar by the check in girl, but when her manager came down and argued too, that was taking the biscuit! The smile on my face when there was no villa address on the paperwork when they looked said it all. The "enjoy your flight" was said through gritted teeth. And when I asked about our access to the lounge I ended up saying "it's ok, I will figure it out myself!"
As they are a lot of peoples first face to face contact I think they should maybe try a little harder.
Clubhouse more than made up for it though lol.

You have to have an address in the US that is entered as part of APIS.

Airlines can be fined if they transport passengers without that information (which is passed onto the US authorities) and it could have caused YOU significant problems with the CBP on your arrival.

And I don't think you helped the situation either with your attitude.

My attitude!?
I was asked for my address in the USA, for which I explained I did not have one as it is given by a Virgin Holiday rep on arrival at MCO.
At no point was I asked if I had any address for the company. i was asked for the villa address and told I must have it.
My "attitude" as you call it was very polite considering I was being told called a liar. My voice and tone was nothing more than polite given their customer service. I even said thank you when I left the desk. More than the staff said.
I am fully aware an address is required, however when I am asked for something I do not have, what am I to do. At no point was I told the company address would be ok despite saying that the only address I had was for the company.
Even without this address issue, the lack of customer service at check in was not a great start to the experience.

[honey lamb]

And I don't think you helped the situation either with your attitude.

Tonty, be nice or you and I will have a major falling out. There is nothing in cebain's post to suggest that he was stroppy or rude. He explained that he didn't have an address and that it would be allocated on arrival. I'm sure that this isn't the first time this has happened when people through VH or any other third party operator and could have been dealt with better by the ground staff.

To be honest, I'm not sure why they ask this. I have entered private addresses when visiting friends and have asked my hosts were they ever contacted to check if I was expected/had visited and was told no. It seems to be one of those silly questions they ask to make everyone feel that they are protecting the country from harm! Having said that, on one occasion a friend invited a group of us to Lake Tahoe. I flew to SFO on VS and a friend and his wife flew on BA. We happened to go through the same channel in Immigration, they before me, and the officer picked up straight away on the address. Although I wasn't asked, I was able to describe them both accurately and give the wife's nationality (he was Chinese with a British passport and she had a South African one) and, if anything he was relieved that he didn't have to ask any further questions.

Enough of my ramblings......

cebain, I'm just wondering why you chose to do your trip report in this fashion rather than through the Trip Report forum where you could have rated each aspect of your trip? I know your main issue was with the ground staff but that is also rated as part of the journey.

BTW, congrats on your recent wedding

Thanks for backing me up. I was far from rude given the situation.
And I am so sorry for doing it in the departure lounge. I had a moment and messed up. Can it be moved?

[Nottingham Nick]

it can be moved but it won't have the route map or the ratings, so will look out of place a bit. It hasn't got a date or flight number in the title either, so it may be an idea to edit the first post to add them.

Nick

Title sorted Nick. Thank you. My next trip report will be done better!

Just wondered if you had to complete ESTAs for this trip. If so, what address did you put in?

Yeah an ESTA was done as I believe you need one to get into the country. This was done some time ago without a full address being entered. I knew the City and State and that must have been enough as I got 2 ESTA's no problem.

Yeah an ESTA was done as I believe you need one to get into the country. This was done some time ago without a full address being entered. I knew the City and State and that must have been enough as I got 2 ESTA's no problem.

You don't need to add an address to your ESTA.

Thank you for the TR.

Thanks formclarifying Miss G. I did it months ago and it was not exactly something I remembered the finer details of as I was planning a Wedding.

Tonty wind your neck in, it's your attitude that's at fault here

[honey lamb]

Tonty wind your neck in, it's your attitude that's at fault here

Erm, he has already been spoken to by a mod in this thread and I think that is sufficient

The ESTA form is a little confusing because there is a line which asks "address while In the United States" However there is a little ? mark, and if you click that it then says "Enter the number and street of the location where you will stay while in the United States. Do not include the city and state in this field. The address is optional to complete the application"
...in my opinion that can lead to confusion

Thanks Hev. Pretty sure I am confused about it all. I mean at check in, I could, in theory, give any address. I ended up passing the business address. Clearly they cant be that interested. Ot many folk stay at an office. Plus what if your a back packer or on a road trip?