V-Flyer

This will be a slightly more abbreviated TR than the VS11.

We had our little tasting morning round New York, had some amazing cheesecake and then headed out to EWR early to enjoy the experience on the way back.

We took the NJ Transit and Airtrain to Terminal B from Penn Station. As someone who works in the railway industry in the UK, it still astounds me some of the slightly odd practices US Railroads operate with, such as the way they check tickets, or the idea of shouting signals between the driver and conductors - it all makes perfect sense - but comparative to our operations its a bit strange - either way I digress!

I thought that the terminal at Newark was quite pleasant, we were very early, so we had a pint in a little cafe down by the Hudson news and could see a myriad of DL and EI planes!

We didn't fully appreciate how boring waiting in a terminal could be when you are waiting for check in to open! We ended up playing count the passenger stereotypes and then lets weight our luggage - in scenes which were reminiscent of the Come Fly With Me episode where the family lived in the terminal for a week! "We changed our money into Turkish Lyria, then into Euros and back again...that was fun for about 2 minutes"

Anyway check in was promptly opened at 18:30, although it did make me laugh, as the DL staff had literally just gone and changed out of their DL uniforms into their VS ones and it did occur to me if they would then do the same in reverse for later flights?

My mate was in PE and I was in Upper, so we were both given priority security access and we were in the Newark Clubhouse within a few minutes of checking in.

I really fell in love with the EWR CH, it was small but perfectly formed, we had a lovely green sofa and enjoyed yet again a variety of cocktails and one or two Redheads, before spending a decent hour at bar!

More Duty Free shopping and a quick explore of the gate area - well what there is of it, and a cheeky selfie next to the BA Lounge! (Im not a airline snob...honest)

Boarding was prompt at 21:50 with priority boarding enforced, again they allowed my mate to board with me. I had a lovely chat with the FSM and explained the special nature of this evenings flight - it being my birthday - and the treatment we received afterwards - well - you know I said the VS 11 had been my favourite flight up till that point? Well the crew on the 2 really pulled out all of the stops.

I got a tour of the flight deck and after the crew had put everyone to sleep - I never seep on a night flight - we really were treated like royalty.

The crew were yet again amazing, the FSM was very proactive with the passengers and crew, and he ran a very tight ship and the way the crew were able to look after both the business pax who just wanted to sleep versus a small hand full of us who wanted to be a bit more lively was amazing, balancing the two customer groups really well!

There is not as much to talk about with it being a very short night flight with a flight time of 5 hours 45, 10 crew, 2 flight deck crew and 154 passengers.

PE and UC were both full with the exception of 1G which was broken.

I used the Wifi...£30 of it....oops...it was a uniq experience watching your own flight on FR24....when you're in the air!

The 789 cabin is absolutely stunning. The suite in upper feels slightly wider, but a little shorter, at 6ft 6 I noticed that I didn't have quite as much space to put my feet up on the ottoman as I did on the 346 or 744. IFE was wonderful, and the tint windows were so cool!

We were clearly back landslide at LHR within about 15 minutes of stepping off the plane, E-Passport gates were faultless for me - although slightly more troublesome for my mate - its usually the other way around - I am the one who gets stopped when we are travelling together as happened at TSA in EWR!

Revivals was nice - not too busy and I didn't realise you could have spa treatments in there so I had a quick facial and off to Kings Cross for a Virgin Train back home - and the eventual unpacking!

I will be writing a letter to Crawley Towers about both flights - and how amazing they were!

Photos to follow!

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Thanks for the TR and pictures - not sure about the pouting selfie

Great TR and photo s to boot , Great to hear you had 2 great flights now get your washing done

Washing done and put away, just in the process of looking at what the next booking will be...now I already have a trip planned to Cancun (TCX ) and New York (VS Upper ) but should I book something for my next Birthday?!

Many thanks for the TR & pics, pleased to read of 2 excellent flights.

Great TR, thanks.

How was the beef? I'm still going to eat before the flight on NYE.. Is that the PE "wall"? Seems very well stocked.

I particularly like the picture of the accumulated boarding passes and tags. We've still got a pile to be sorted out from our trip to South Africa.

The beef was really good actually, the mash that went with it was lovely! I did notice that there was only one choice of starter though, I assume that is normal for short East Coast return flights?

Hi Colord,

cheers - got the same return flight in about 7 weeks time - so V handy trip report !!


Regards,


seyre1972

Honestly, don't turn up at EWR any earlier then 18:20, we were waaaaay too early and it got a bit boring waiting for checkin to open!

Security wasn't too bad, but I would say that expect a LOT of people to literally bed down as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign goes off!