This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We'd stayed the night in the Sheraton Skyline which had free parking for 15 nights and had no problems with it although we didn't eat there.
Arrived at Terminal 3 soon after 7. Quite a walk to check-in from the Heathrow Hopper drop-off point. I'd tried unsuccessfully to do OLCI but been told to check-in at the airport so that's what I did. Only one person in front of us. First thing we were told was that the flight would be delayed an hour due to the plane arriving late from New York. Not at all worried by this! After a few taps on his computer the agent said he'd have to resynchronise our booking as we'd upgraded from economy with miles. At least I think that's what he said, anyway I nodded knowledgeably whilst not understanding what he was talking about. He disappeared to ticketing for about 10 minutes and then reappeared with our boarding cards. All sorted except he explained that we would have to pay the increased passenger tax as we'd booked before it had gone up. I duly handed over my paypal receipt, and off he went to ticketing again. Another wait and he turned up with our money off vouchers for next time. As we finally left check-in I saw there were now about a dozen people waiting to check in.
Through security check in about 10 minutes. We were about to join the queue for the shoe check but were waved away from it. Some people still seemed to be intent on joining the queue. Perhaps they wanted to have their shoes checked, so they could then get on with the rest of their lives safe in the knowledge that their feet wouldn't suddenly explode.
Mrs T is like a moth to a candle when it comes to retail opportunities, of which as you know, there are many at Heathrow. I got myself a book and finally nudged her in the direction of the fabled Clubhouse. Was it my imagination, or did I hear a massed angelic choir as we ascended the staircase? No, I think it was actually just the muzac.
Well, we felt at home straight away. Instantly hooked on the Clubhouse experience. We both had a full English and then waddled over to have our pre-booked hair appointments. After a read of the papers and a good look around it was already gone 10 o'clock and time for a champagne. As Mrs T came out of the loos, she found Renee Zellwegger waiting to go in. You just can't go anywhere without seeing someone you know, can you?
Although the flight hadn't been called we eventually decided to walk along to the gate (20). As we arrived they called for Upper passengers to board, which we did, dodging and squeezing past the milling throng of passengers in the holding lounge.
And so upstairs to our seats, 4 and 5K. Again we felt as though we had been born to this kind of travelling. The FA asked if we had travelled UC before, and then showed us how everything worked. We soon had another champagne to keep us happy. The plane was Lady Penelope, VFAB.
Eventually we were ready to take off (a bit over an hour late). It was announced that there were 347 passengers and 19 crew on board, so pretty full I guess. The flight time would be 10 hours. The v:port was turned on about 5 minutes after take off and worked perfectly (for us anwyway) for the whole flight.
At one point the pilot pointed out the VS flight to LAS was just below us and on the same course, and I managed to get this picture of it:
After a pre-lunch G&T, I had prawn salad followed by salmon with champ and broccoli. The salmon was inevitably overcooked but otherwise OK, and then Bakewell tart and custard. I thought the standard was fine and neither I nor Mrs T had any complaints. I didn't have room for cheese.
Following a large brandy with an espresso I found I was strangely sleepy, so my seat was transformed and I was soon tucked up under a warm duvet for 40 winks. Mrs T is a film fan and managed to fit in four films in the course of the flight. She didn't get the manicure she asked for, but wasn't bothered.
I missed the ice cream run, but got the feeling that I could have had one later if I'd asked. I must say I thought the Cabin Crew were fantastic. They were friendly, but not over familiar, and nothing seemed to be a problem for them. Even though we were tucked away on the upper deck, there always seemed to be someone around when you needed them.
About an hour and a half or so before landing I had some slightly stale sandwiches and a nice cup of tea. Watched a couple of Simpsons episodes before v:port was turned off, and we were soon on the ground. Got out of the plane a 3 o'clock local time, and through immigration within about 10 minutes. As we got to the luggage carousel our cases arrived (although there was no evidence of priority tagging) so we were straight out of the airport, into a taxi, checked into our hotel (Vitale) and in our room by 4 o'clock. We couldn't have been happier!
So all in all a great introduction to UC. It really does spoil you for anything else. Looking forward to our return on VS24 from LAX in a couple of weeks.
Finally a big thank you to you all on v-flyer. The invaluable information and tips I've picked up have been worth far more than the very modest subscription!
Mike
