This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
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Cabin Crew
Due to a budgetary crunch in my workplace, I limited the paid element of the booking to a flexible economy ticket, with a complex outward trip (LHR-IAD, stop in DC for the 4th July, IAD-ATL-LAS with Continental) but much more direct routing LAS-IAD on the way home. Thanks to a very helpful lady in the VS Premier team, I dipped into my parents FC accounts (with their permission of course) and upgraded the outward and return VS legs to PE. I thought this would be much harder than it actually turned out to be, but it was very easy as long as I could be flexible (+/- one day) on travel dates. Outwards on 2nd July, planned homewards leg on 29th July, having spent the best part of the month in the Mojave Desert (but thats another story). Additionally, at the last minute I needed to travel outward bound on 1st July, which scuppered my joining Honey Lamb at the LHR Clubhouse for breakfast. Like a real trouper, HL still signed my work colleague into the CH as I had promised him I would if we were travelling together thanks HL!
And so, to the homewards journey. At the beginning of the week of 23rd July, it was starting to dawn on me that my team were doing so well at the job in hand that they really didnt need me in the way (I call it management) any longer, and spoke to VS (US Office) about bringing my flight home forwards. My sons 14th birthday was on 28th July and it would be great to get back if I could. Ive missed so many birthdays and Christmas holidays by being away over the years that I was determined to get back in time, and whats more to travel UC so I could get enough sleep to take part in the family trip to London on Saturday. After speaking to the US Premier team a couple of times, I had a good picture of PE and UC availability from both LAS and LAX for the last days of that week. Unfortunately I had to sit on my hands until Tuesday evening when I could be sure I could come home without affecting my teams output for the remaining few days of their work. I called the FC Au line again and spoke to a very helpful lady who confirmed UC availability but sadly there were no miles redemption seats free. However (and this is the first time I have heard of this happening) she said she would e-mail Head Office (Crawley?) as there were 7 UC seats available overall and as FC Au she should be able to get me one! Sure enough, when I called on Wednesday morning the seat had been opened up and I was booked on VS44 LAS-LGW for the following day! Result!
Luckily, my lads decided that they would not let the boss head home early without marking the occasion by taking him out and getting him thoroughly drunk before his early departure for Las Vegas the next day.oh, no that actually DID happen. I was in a poor state for the 3-hour drive to LAS but made it in record time (thank god for cruise control and Red Bull) and after a bit of retail therapy (found the only remaining medium LA Galaxy Beckham shirt left in LV) checked in and headed for security. Now, I lived in LV for two years and travelled through McCarran on many occasions and I have never seen it like this. Think back to the scenes at LHR at the end of last August and you wont be far wrong. What on earth was going on, I dont know, but the security was far greater than anything I have seen at LAS over the past 2 years. I wont go into the details here but suffice to say I was surprised at the thoroughness of the checks. Someone got wind of a threat perhaps? However, as is usual where the TSA are concerned, the situation was badly managed, the plans poorly executed and the queues backed up for the simple reason that in spite of the increased checks, no-one thought it necessary to open up the two X-ray/security lines sitting closed and unused. This may have been down to staffing levels but there were plenty of TSA officials standing around trying to look important and empowered. Still, without too much pain, I got through, stopped quickly in the duty free shop and headed for the peace and quiet of the shard first class lounge. This was the first time I had use the lounge at LAS as I usually travel to the US west coast via LAX, and I wasnt overly impressed. The staff were extremely helpful and polite, but there was no hot food on offer which rather ruined my plans to eat in the CH and sleep my way across the pond!
About 15 minutes prior to the planned boarding time a delay was announced due to the unforeseen unavailability of one of the gates, requiring the on-time inbound VS43 to sit on the taxiway for 45 minutes waiting for an Air Mexico jet to board, push back and taxi. I wandered out to the gate to watch and was amazed that despite near-continuous pleas from the staff, no-one on the Air Mexico flight seemed in too much of a hurry to board! Finally the aircraft got out of the way and VS43 arrived at the gate almost an hour late. The cleaners and cabin crew did a marvellous job getting the aircraft ready to receive the next load of pax and less than 20 minutes elapsed before we were called from the CH to board. Despite the priority boarding line, the gate staff were focussed entirely on getting as many pax through the gate as they could, and it took some time before I and a couple of other UC pax were boarded.
As I stepped aboard the aircraft, the weight of a stressful and tiring day lifted from my shoulders as I was greeted by a bright and welcoming smile from the cabin crew. Ah, Mr SBG, so nice to see you again seat 6K turn left and all the way to the front. This set the tone for the next eleven hours! I have travelled extensively (for me) over the past 18 months for example my Au membership starts in Jan and I had accrued enough points to renew before the end of April and this was without doubt the best crew I have had the pleasure of flying with and the best overall experience I had had with VS since joining FC 5 years ago. The only thing missing from the perfect UC experience was the IFBT but as this was an LGW 747 it was not an option anyway. (Sadly the view from the gate didnt allow me to see which aircraft we were using). UC was full, PE mostly so (full upstairs) and Economy had quite a few seats free.
The banter level for the rest of the flight was set during the UC/PE cabin announcement, where Captain Dumbledore tells me that the flight time will be 10 hours and 30 minutes today and Id like to introduce myself my name is Hermione Granger and in the UC cabin today I am ably assisted by Ginny Weasley and Moaning Myrtle! Cue much giggling and eventually the PA had to stop as it seemed the poor girl was having trouble breathing! (I later found out that Ginny or Myrtle had had to complete the PA due to the hysterics going on in the galley). It was really nice that the crew felt relaxed enough to have a bit of fun whilst getting the job done, something that I think we would all agree has been a touch lacking in recent times.
The absolute star of the crew for me was the UC/PE CSS (Sarah permission granted to use her name in the TR). After the FA had completed her rounds, Sarah (or should I call her Hermione) spent time with each of the UC pax (and probably the PE as well although I cant vouch for that) and came across as efficient, friendly, willing to take time to chat to the pax and someone who set an excellent example for her crew. I mentioned V-Flyer, and although she hadnt accessed the site since the membership changes, she was familiar with the forum in general. The other two crew in the UC cabin were also top-notch and the service was as good as it gets for the entire trip. The IFE system was Nova, which worked fine for me but there were a few seats dotted around the aircraft in which the system did not work for a while it seemed an entire re-boot would be required, but apparently many of the problems were that the pax werent pressing the on button for long enough! Seat 6K was absolutely fine, nice and quiet i.e. away from the galley, and the little improvements such as the seat control surrounds had been incorporated. Dinner was very good; goats cheese and salad, steak with cheddar mash and vegetables, followed by cheese, crackers and port (I dont do deserts.) Sadly, after one refill the port well ran dry and I was forced to return to the Baileys and ice!
One of my work colleagues (someone I knew of, rather than knew) was in the PE section, and after we had eaten, Sarah arranged for him to join me in the UC bar for a couple of drinks prior to the lights being dimmed. What was funny was that the crew had to introduce us as we had not previously met! Sarah joined us for a while until being called away by one of the crew to attend to an issue elsewhere on the aircraft, after which we were joined by the FSM. I forgot to ask his permission so I wont use his name here, but if youre reading this thanks for an excellent flight! Whilst I was at the bar, my bed had been made up for me, and after a couple of rounds I turned in. Very shortly after, I was out like a light and happily snoozing my way eastwards across the pond. About an hour prior to descent, I was gently woken with the promise of coffee, orange juice and a smashing bacon butty. Now, anyone who has spent time in the US (particularly the West coast) knows that they just dont get decent bacon, and the thick slices in this particular butty were like manna from heaven after a month in the Mojave! (shame about the fruit and fibre which I just didnt like, but never mind). After a quick freshen up and tidy up of my seat area, we started to descend and the rest was seamless from there. A nice touch was that Sarah came to check if all had gone well after she had been called away and asked if she could see a copy of the trip report (no problem, of course). A nicely controlled approach, gentle touchdown and the usual taxi all the way around the airport brought us to the gate and ready to disembark.
As I left the aircraft, handing over my customer survey (first one Ive ever had) I made a point of telling the crew just how good this flight had been for me. This is probably my 20th round trip in the last 2 years and was by far and away the most pleasant experience Ive had with VS. Ill be writing to the head office to pass on my thanks, as the trip really was that good.
Well done all round.
Tony
