V-Flyer

Hello all - new member here! I thought I'd register and submit some trip reports of my recent trips with Virgin Atlantic. As an adult I've become less fond of flying, and found reading V-Flyer prior to my trip really helpful! I also noticed there aren't too many economy reports, so thought I'd add mine!

The wife and I were off on a bit of a tour of the West Coast of America- staring in Las Vegas, and heading off to Grand Canyon and Zion, before flying over to LA and heading up the West Coast to Big Sur, Yosemite and finally finishing in San Francisco.

Flying to Las Vegas was more a means to an end so we could drive out the the National Parks from there, and we weren't too worried about spending too much time there. I had read quite a bit about VS43 beforehand so knew what to expect!

Anyway - we got the train early up to Gatwick, arriving about 8am. I couldn't check in online for some mysterious reason, so we headed straight to check in and only had to wait a few minutes. Check in was fine although I did notice lots of large groups, the majority in fancy dress(!). Moving onto Cafe Rouge for breakfast the nevers were compounded by the presence of more groups (although expectations amusingly dashed when one of them had a pot of green tea delievered to the table - clearly starting easy!).

It wasn't too long before we were called to the gate and after a long walk (to that circular hub bit of the South terminal) we waited for 15 minutes or so and then boarded Barbarella (my wife was hoping for a slightly less tarty sounding plane like English Rose!).

Being mindful of my dislike of flying as well as stories about VS43 I had managed to book some seats in the bubble. We settled in ok and I really liked being up top. I mentioned to the stewardess that I wasn't keen on flying, and she assured me she would come and chat to me if we were expecting any bumps along the way and also offered me a cup of tea.

Moving to take off (a part I really don't like) I barely noticed it - very smooth, and the ascent was equally as good. Feeling pleased with myself I settled in to try out Vera Touch - in general it seems like a good system, but the screens are clearly from the cheaper end. My touch screen had the problem where you had to touch slightly below where the buttons were to do what you wanted to do - which over the 10 hours or so proved quite frustrating! The film selection was good, and I got through The Lego Movie and The Hobbit (on the basis it would take most of the flight).

Food wise we had pasta salad to start, I chose lasagne for main (too salty and rich) and we had a GU pot for pudding. Reasonable stuff, but nothing special. Later on we got given a mini FAB and a pizza slice.

About 6 hours in the fasten seatbelts signs went on as we were expecting 'turbulence'. This was followed by lots of commotion with the cabin crew running downstairs, followed by one of the pilots. When the turbulence didn't appear after 5 minutes or so I asked the stewardess who confirmed that things were getting a 'bit rowdy' downstairs, and they needed to get people sat down. This happened once more after this, and then they announced they were going to stop serving alcohol. This was followed by lots of soft drinks (juice and water) being taken around the cabin and offered to passengers. I was glad I wasn't sat downstairs, as it sounds like they had a number of groups acting up and this wouldn't have helped my anxiety at all. It did make me question why they continue to serve alcohol so long into the flight when the groups have clearly boarded having already had a few, and are only going to get more drunk. I can understand the occasional bans on the flight, and thought the crew did a good job - they barely stopped during the flight.

Soon after this we started our descent - the stewardess warned me it would be a bit bumpy as it tends to be going into Las Vegas due to the mountains. This was correct, and it felt to me like it was a very steep descent overall (it might not have been, but to me it felt like we dropped and landed very quickly).

We were then some of the first to get off the flight and into immigration (handy, as the queue behing us became huge). It then took us 2 hours to get out of the airport (an hour for bags to come, and an hour to get through customs!).

Overall, considering my dislike of flying and the flight I was on, it was a pretty good experience. A really smooth flight (apart from landing).

Daveface, welcome to V-Flyer and what an excellent TR as your first contribution.

daveface wrote:About 6 hours in the fasten seatbelts signs went on as we were expecting 'turbulence'. This was followed by lots of commotion with the cabin crew running downstairs, followed by one of the pilots. When the turbulence didn't appear after 5 minutes or so I asked the stewardess who confirmed that things were getting a 'bit rowdy' downstairs, and they needed to get people sat down. This happened once more after this, and then they announced they were going to stop serving alcohol. This was followed by lots of soft drinks (juice and water) being taken around the cabin and offered to passengers. I was glad I wasn't sat downstairs, as it sounds like they had a number of groups acting up and this wouldn't have helped my anxiety at all. It did make me question why they continue to serve alcohol so long into the flight when the groups have clearly boarded having already had a few, and are only going to get more drunk. I can understand the occasional bans on the flight, and thought the crew did a good job - they barely stopped during the flight.

I agree.

Daveface

A warm welcome to V Flyer and thank you for an excellent TR

There is much written on V flyer about the Las Vegas flights, so it is good to have a first eye view of the Economy Cabin experience. As I have said before, my sympathies with the crew on these flights who face a "damned if the do, damned if they don't" dilemma on the service given on board during the flight.

All credit to you for meeting your personal challenges when flying and to the crew who supported you.

Thanks once again

buns

Thanks for being so welcoming everyone!

I forgot to mention that it's been years since I've been on a 747 as far as I can remember (possibly last in 1998 when I was 12!). I really enjoyed sitting upstairs, and it's certainly a beautiful aircraft to fly on. My Wife was very excited too, having never been on one! When we went to America in 2011 we flew on a BA777.

Another detailed TR, thanks.
It's a shame a few fools ruin it for everyone, I'm flying this route in September!
I hope there's no drama...I hope it's not me!

I do love a good detailed TR - thanks very much for sharing it. Sounds like the crew did a sterling job!

great trip report.

Great to see a TR for eco in the bubble, I did the LAS flight for the first time in December last year and must say I was really impressed with how the flight was in eco too, considering some of the instances that I had read occurred.

Glad you had a good flight though

Thanks :-D

King of the Skies wrote:I do love a good detailed TR - thanks very much for sharing it. Sounds like the crew did a sterling job!

Me too. The more detailed the better!