This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
After a quick check-in with a pleasant agent I was off to Virgins Clubhouse for my first look at this newly expanded oasis. Knowing that I was going to the CH that morning our founder Pete Shaw had requested that my first duty once inside be to present, on behalf of all my fellow V-Flyers, the V-Flyer 2006 Best Clubhouse Award. And so I did, and in the process there followed several introductions, exchanging of business cards (I gave the VS folks our V-Flyer card, of course), picture taking and smiles all round. Thanks, Pete, for affording me the honour of presenting the Award. The gratitude and appreciation of the Clubhouse team was tremendous.
The expanded CH is simply delightful with diverse seating areas and groupings. I plopped myself down on a comfortable divan and was quickly approached by a pleasant staff member who took my order for a full English, coffee and orange juice. The food and drinks appeared within 5-10 minutes and all tasted great. I must say that Im becoming a fan of the full English; as we say in the States, it really sticks to your ribs.
After brekkie I headed to the Cowshed spa where the same attendant whod offered me the Rhinestone Cowboy treatment (massage and shave) in January was to be my guide yet again. She provided an excellent massage, hot towels and then a close and complete shave. Tipping isnt necessary for these services as everything in the CH is complimentary, but leaving a tip was in my view not only necessary but a joy, as my attendant did her work beautifully.
Soon it was time for the trek of the ages (er, I mean the walk to gate 40) where Ruby Tuesday, a non-VPort equipped 747-400 awaited. Shortly premium boarding commenced and once on board I was escorted to my seat (yes, escorted very classy and ultra professional behavior, reminding me once again of the golden age of air travel youve heard me speak of before). Id picked seat 8K to be in the milieu, as it were; after all, this is a daytime flight and I wanted to enjoy the full UC experience.
Departure was delayed due to a mechanical issue and we were finally airborne at 1226 local time, but once in the air the service began and really never stopped. An outstanding flight crew attended us and could be seen working the cabin, greeting passengers by name (another excellent point of difference for VS and other premium carriers), offering whatever service might make the journey more pleasant. I began with a Bloody Mary and some crisps, followed with a salmon and rocket salad (my fellow V-Flyer Nottingham Nick had explained to me the night before that good old rocket is a sort of lettuce, you see; so, I was elated in knowing that I wouldnt need to enquire of the FA excuse me, maam, but what exactly is rocket?). After rocketing it was time for rolling er, I mean dinner, and for me, that meant the chicken curry, which was excellent and piping hot. There were several desserts on offer and I chose SRBs fave, the rhubarb crumble complete wit ice cream. A bit of Italian sauvignon-style white wine washed all of this down most effectively.
Just then one of the FAs happened by and, noting the glassy look of my eyes, suggested that perhaps Id like a nap. Quite right, she was and, following the quick conversion of seat to bed, yours truly was in dreamland for 2-1/2 hours, after which I just lay in bed for another hour, doing absolutely nothing. This frankly is one of the great opportunities still afforded by long-distance premium air travel unobstructed rest. No cell phones, no Blackberries, no outside world.
About two hours outside of Los Angeles afternoon tea commenced with most UC pax taking advantage of the offered finger sandwiches, cakes and cheese samplers, all of which was excellent and served with proper hot tea and gracious smiles.
All too soon or so it seemed our 11 hour, 4 minutes in the air was over and the graceful 747-400 banked slowly right to line up with the northbound runway complex at LAX. We had descended first over the California desert near Bishop, passing over Yosemite National Park and the Imperial Valley (Americas agricultural lettuce bowl) before turning toward the ocean, following it south from Santa Barbara to Malibu where we again made landfall to begin our final approach. LAX was not busy and we taxied quickly to Terminal 2 where we bid our goodbyes and appreciation to our loyal crew. I will miss them and look forward to flying again with all of them. To a person they rendered particularly excellent service.
So, another two trips on VS are now complete. While all airlines and certainly VS have room for improvement, when journeys are made simpler for the passenger and those serving us offer smiles free of charge, the journey is once again an adventure of anticipation and great reward.
