V-Flyer

After another fabulous 18 days in the desert - Palm Springs - time had come to prepare for the 16 hour journey home. Always a dread (please invent a transporter beam someone) since it's a heavy heart that realizes the return to normality, together with a two hour drive to LA, the really poor experience that T2 at LAX has become, before the 11 hr flight, then London traffic.

It was 92F in Palm Springs as we packed - for once not needing the additional suitcase we normally do. We had shopped sparingly, but I did acquire two lovely pairs of Tod's boots reduced from $650 to $250 at the Desert Hills mall . Other acquisitions took less space this time and included two fabulous pairs of sunglasses fit for our appointment with Dame Edna's farewell tour in December!

Our car arrived on time and we were ready, bidding a sad farewell to the city, where undoubtedly we'll be acquiring a permanent place sometime soon. The light was fading over the mountain and in darkness the traffic was kind as we reached LAX within a couple of hours. There wasn't much conversation in the car as we were both drained by a weekend of excess .

Now unfortunately the VS LAX experience has become really poor. As always the check in and security area is cramped, crowded and inadequate. This time to boot the check-in staff were miserable and initially uninterested. At least if you're checking in at the UC desks you get help with your luggage to the screeners. There are now queues to even enter the queue for passport checking, and no premium line if you're in business or first. But at least that moved and meant the scanners weren't a logjam. And then through to what has never been a joy, T2, but was always made pleasant by the NZ Koru Club. Well, as others have commented with NZ now scheduling an extra flight in the evening customers on the VS24 no longer have access and use the Air France lounge instead. We spent about 40 seconds there. Walked in, found a pair of uncomfortable seats in the cramped, ugly, busy space - checked out the offerings for refreshment, and walked out. I've marked the ground staff down for the reason above but if I had an option for the overall on the ground experience it would have been 'poor'.

As those who travel though LAX know there isn't much of quality in the terminal but we found a delicatessen for a half decent sandwich and glass of wine. Leaving it late to try and board from there, rather than back in the AF lounge. Here things improve. We were on Emmeline Heaney, seven years old and a bit, to a not full UC cabin but about 250 passengers overall, and welcomed with a smile and refresher of champagne. The entertainment choice looked good, it seems to appeal to me currently with better films and other choices, and the menu appealing. The crew efficient, friendly and discrete - which I like. Entertainment and crew marked high and the only reason I marked the food as good is because I didn't sample it all, just a starter (risotto, which was tasty) and a plate of cheese.

With boarding complete we pushed back a little early for the short taxi and away on time. Noting St Jude landing in the UK on the back of a strong jet stream, our flight path was quite southerly to take advantage of the same, and a 9 1/2 hr flight time from LAX is short compared to what it can be. So, having watched 'I'm So Excited' while eating, it was bed down and a reasonably peaceful 7 hours of sleep. The suites were in good order and the bed side of my suite was very comfortable - although the cabin was typically warm with two air vents at full blast it was reasonable (and also why I never book the centre seats in UC). Our captain forecast some turbulence but I was either asleep or the cockpit crew managed to avoid it. Not much else to report, no celeb sightings on this trip for us - but then I can't imagine Joan Collins wanting to sit in the AF lounge (there must be a secret VIP area at T2 methinks), no bar sitting to excess, and no weird crazy passengers to amuse.

With a forecast arrival of 3.14 pm ahead of schedule, although forewarned of delays on arrival no doubt as a consequence of St Jude. The crew left breakfast late for those sleeping, and with space in UC there wasn't the usual queuing to change and get ready for landing, so all was calm and relaxed. And so it was off to a reasonably quiet Heathrow T3, IRIS has finally gone which is a great shame , and bags out near the first before heading to the limo desk and home. A little confusion with the CDC booking but traffic wasn't to bad and we were back to check any storm damage in the dark (little, but lots of leaves to keep me busy in the garden when I can).

Overall on the ground at LAX is now really so poor that we're considering changing return options in the future, onboard as it should be - i.e. excellent.

Thank your for the TR. Gosh that was a very quick flight home compared to normal. I too like the quiet tranquility of Palm Springs.

Glad you had a fabulous time in PS, we also like it there its so clean and nice to relax in.

Also agree with you about terminal 2 it is a dire place, but we thought the AF lounge was slightly better than the terminal which was very crowded.

We also had a good return flight 2 weeks ago now, helped along by the jet stream and bags first off and no queues at immigration was a first for us.

WE are looking for flights for next year and hopefully will be able to get some on the earlier flight home enabling us to use the NZL lounge or it may be gone by then?

Thanks for the TR Slinky.
I am just looking at some flights for the West Coast and was considering flying back from LAX instead of our usual choice, SFO, but after reading this think I will stick with SFO.

Thank you for the TR. Always good to be forewarned about an airport.
Glad you only had leaves to deal with !

Sounds like you had a good time slinks (I have sent you a PM about PS- don't know if you got it).
LAX is bearable with the NZ lounge but without it's a bit grim-I don't know what the Priority Pass option would be?
I'm now looking at other departure options given we're on the VS24 on our next trip.
All the UC check- in staff at LAX are miserable IME .
DL

Great TR - completely agree about the transporter beam!

DL thanks - I did reply to your IM ... although now I can't see my long reply to your questions. Will retype and attempt to recall all I said first time! Oh and I have this for you (pinched from my hotel):

Flew on the same day from LAS to LGW and the Vegas lounge isn't that great either and always crazily full as it's used for every airline and people that wanna pay for it.

But atleast it always has a nice shower so I tend to just have a long long one there and the bar staff in the lounge is usually very friendly.