V-Flyer

It was a damp and dark Monday morning when I left home for LHR. Normally about an hour’s drive on the M4, rush hour traffic ensured the journey took almost twice that long . Not an overly happy bunny when finally dropped off at T3. I wasn’t really looking forward to the flight as I was booked in Y due to corporate policy. Transatlantic flying for me over recent years has been purely for pleasure and I have been fortunate to have been able to travel towards the pointy end of the bus - this rare business trip was slated to be a somewhat different experience.

The check in area was pretty empty but I thought I’d see what, if anything, was on offer in the upgrade department. Now, I could swear that the sign over the desk said Upgrades in the lovely VS purple but that was probably just my mind playing tricks (too early to blame the gin, even for me) and it almost certainly just said Ticket Sales or some such. Either way, the lovely lady in red offered me a PE seat for £229 and as I had already paid £40 for and extra legroom seat, that came down to £189. The day was now looking much brighter .

Through security in no time and spent an hour or so mooching around T3 – there isn’t a lot there so went round a few times before heading to the gate. Miss England was waiting, all bright and shiny.

No queues at the gate and after a few minutes, PE and UC called for boarding. Quickly on board and fizz offered and accepted . The crew throughout were friendly and attentive but I missed the extra level of interaction you get in UC. Before take-off, I had a chap sitting next to me – he didn’t say anything to me just sat there, drank his fizz and played Candy Crush on his phone. After a while, he got up and never came back . I thought it a bit odd so I mentioned it to the CC who eventually tracked him down in Y – it turned out it was so empty back there than he had elected to swap his PE seat for a whole row in Y According to the announcement, load was light with only 177 pax with 10 CC.

Drinks were served followed by lunch which was nicely presented and very tasty – I invariably opt for the vegetarian option on a flight as even though I am definitely not of that persuasion, murdered pasta is usually a better option than murdered beef or chicken, and with airline food, you can never tell until it is too late. Wilbur and Orville were obviously a bit animated as they managed to find their way into my bag before the tray was removed . I only remembered them when I got home where I discovered them, along with a small pile of salt and pepper, in the bottom of my bag.

Eight hours, three movies (Vera was fab) and a short sleep later, we landed at IAD. Overall it was a very comfortable flight – the PE offering is a really good one, good service, good food and a very comfy seat (loved the little footrests for the front row seats ). Well done VS!

Sadly, the pleasure of the flight dissipated immediately on entering immigration – it was rammed . The line snaked beyond the cordoned off area. It took 1 ½ hours to get through immigration, pick up my back, quick visit to the rest room and then another 30 minutes to get through the customs check .

Return TR to follow shortly.

Thanks for reading.
MrsB

Sounds like a nice pleasant experience, thanks for the TR. That immigration line though... There's a couple hours of your life you won't get back

Thanks for the TR. Glad you bagged a reasonably priced upgrade.

RachelCox wrote:Thanks for the TR. Glad you bagged a reasonably priced upgrade.

And a couple of animated condiments!

IAD Immigration is horrendous. I have waited over an hour to get through and on one occasion, when I and others had requested to be expedited through because of tight connections they were less than accommodating

Ouch on the Immigration!

Last time I went through on VS21 the hall was empty anjd bascially went straight through to a booth and then straight through customs.

Glad you had a good flight and snaffled an amazing PE upgrade The VS PE product always impresses me with the only change I would make would be offering improved meals, maybe from UC (a little like BAWTP)
Hope the work thing didn't get in the way too much
Thanks for posting