V-Flyer

After a week's jaunt in Japan, which included geisha spotting in Kyoto, it was time to return back to blighty.

Getting to Narita is a bit of a nightmare - it is far outside of the city and the various options seem to give Heathrow Express' hefty price a good run for its money! In the end I took the Skyline from Nipori, which was extremely comfortable and efficient.

I got to the airport three hours early and walked to the Virgin checkin zone at the end of section 1 of the airport. All the Virgin staff were merrily dressed in Christmas hats and they came bounding up to me asking if I was flying to London; they were truly delightful and helped carry my bags to the checkin desk, which was certainly going beyond the call of duty.

I managed to get a bulkhead seat in economy, and with my boarding pass in hand, I was off to security and to get some breakfast. Immigration was a breeze and there was no line at all. I was a little disappointed at the lack of international food options at Narita; I could not find any breakfast places selling sandwiches and croissants, just sushi. What is more, I was unable to come across any international newsagents. Narita Airport is very clean, and nicely done up otherwise and the Virgin gate was in the satellite bit at gate 25.

Fortunately today was a A346...I see recently that the A343 has been making a frequent appearance. Miss Behavin' was waiting patiently for us, in the old livery. There was not a huge amount of people at the gate and there was a rather bizarre procedure as the ground staff encouraged us to move to sit on the other side of the gate (it was on a corner) shortly before boarding.

Once onboard I was greeted by two smiling crew members and pointed to my seat. Luckily for me the seat next to mine was free (and no screaming babies on the bulkhead). The FSM announced that there were 220 something passengers, 13 CC, and 3 pilots onboard today - so a relatively light load for today.

The safety video started and then went fuzzy so it was abandoned and the crew did a manual demo in English and Japanese. The UC CSS who read out the scpheel in English was quite entertaining: 'there is a whistle and light on your life jacket to attract the attention of any passing sailors'.

Take off was rattly (the overhead bins sounded like they were going to fall off...) and the seatbelt sign was turned off at the same time the cabin crew were released, which was a little strange. People got up immediately and the crew obviously didn't realise that the seatbelt sign was off too, so told them bruskly to sit back down.

The crew immediately sprung into action and the drinks were being served in no time, followed by lunch. The options were either a Japanese rice dish with sliced beef, a vegetarian number or a chicken with mash. I went for the latter and must say that it was absolutely delicious. I find that the trays on which the food is served are far too small frankly...and the salad accompanying it was nothing to really write home about, nor was the custardy pudding served afterwards (where was my Gu?!).

I must recognise the crew onboard today. In economy, all bar one of the CC were Japanese (including the CSS) and even the (very, very young) FSM onboard was Japanese making dual-language announcements. To say that the crew were outstanding would be an understatement: they truly epitomised what top-notch service should be about. They were gracious, polite, passionate, friendly, funny - I could not say better things about them (the Japanese have got a great service mentality). Every time a crew member approached you you really felt that they were taking a great interest in you and were adamant about delivering the best. One particular highlight was going to the back of the plane and asking for a Diet Pepsi. The crew member asked me 'would you like 10?'. I thought that he was joking, and he then proceeded to put four cans in a little doggy bag for me with a handful or pretzel packets (my fav).

I had a nice chat with the crew and was interested to learn that the Japanese crew are based in London. The immigration regulations sound ridiculous such that they can only have a visa for three years before they have to leave the company and take a break for a year before they can go back. Hair-brained, no?

The entertainment system, about an hour into the flight needed re-booting...fortunately I hadn't started watching anything yet. It took about 30 minutes to be rebooted. When I tried watching Breaking Bad afterwards, I was annoyed to find that the headphone socket was not working (obviously something was jammed into it). Given that the seat next to me was free, I swiftly swopped over.

The 12 and a half hour flight was mixed with sleep, reading, and listening to music and I was surprised at how quickly it went. Throughout the flight we were suitably fed: ice lollies, a (not so nice) cheese and coleslaw sandwich (or rice bun) and shortly before landing a fried noodle dish (or a risotto, which the CC said he didn't recommend). Throughout the flight there were many juice runs - the crew were tireless.

We landed a few minutes early and as the weather was crappy, some flights were delayed, so we had to wait a few minutes to get a gate. There was a long, long line for immigration which proceeded quickly (I find it always better to go to the manned desks as the e-gates take an age).

Baggage was out instantaneously. I happened to be standing near the crew who were waiting for their bags and when the FSM came down, I made a point of going up to him, in front of the crew, and saying what an outstanding team he led. They were very appreciative and gave me a round of applause and he said that he was really happy to hear such comments.

So all in all a phenomenal flight by Virgin, no doubt made by a crew who epitomised what outstanding service should be all about.

Thanks for posting
I had similar experience on our flight out to NRT last week. The crew were amazing and will be writing to Crawley towers upon return.
We always travel to NRT the night before our flight so that don't have to contend with getting their early in the morning.
Agreed that keisei skyliner is cheapest but only by a margin. Guess it depends where you are staying, we usually take the N'EX which is about 3,000jpy which is about £18 so not too bad when its a 90km journey!!

Thank you for a detailed TR. How lovely to read of such a positive experience and glowing praise of the crew. Really pleased you had such a good flight.

An absolute pleasure to read this TR It really does sound like the CC excelled themselves in every area of service which, IMO, makes you want do book again
A lovely little touch at the end with the FSM - well done VS

Great TR!

Thanks for the TR Billy I must admit would love to visit Japan so best save up for some available Gs. It was good to hear about the service too it's amazing how far some crew interact with the passengers and hence my recent post some crew don't . Merry Christmas buddy