This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
In a world where a man travels 5000 miles to the City by the Bay . Just my little tribute to Don LaFontaine who died last week. Everyone knew his voice but very few his name or face. What has this to do with a TR I hear you ask. Absolutely nothing, but thought it would make a different opening.
Back to the plot. For those who have been paying attention over the last 11 months, you will be aware that this flight was booked using my miles taking me to a grand total of 1012 miles. Will have to start doing more revenue flights me thinks. The whole trip started on Sunday evening when my boss picked me up and dropped me off at the Marriott Heathrow. The room cost the grand total of 40 thanks to Priceline and was well worth it. The king-size bed had a total of 8 pillows, which seems a little excessive. Trying to reduce my dirty great size 11 carbon footprint I choose the Hoppa bus and much to my surprise it was very quiet to T3.
On the subject of T3, what a difference a year makes to it. The changes are complete and I have to say it make a world of difference to the whole experience. No crowds to fight my way through to area 1. Even inside is a massive improvement with space, light and I have to say, no rather officious bouncer to deal with. Straight to the check-in and dealt with immediately and within about 3 minutes I was in the lift and into peace, quiet and an empty corridor. This is where the changes really make the difference. I was only pax in the security area and the whole thing took less than 1 minute to complete. It was an absolute pleasure to be screened with the staff smiling. I just wonder if they are specially selected and under go some Virgin training. No shoe circus either as I was directed around the side, ignoring some mutters about me skipping it. I was going to try and register for IRIS but it was closed with another half hour to go. Instead I headed straight to the CH for the delights it has to hold. A quick text to Stoneman (Andy Young) as he was my guest for the day.
The CH was rather quiet and I was in the Brassiere, seated and my order taken very efficiently. Eggs Benedict, bucks fizz and some most excellent tea. Following breakie, I noticed that one of the hanging wicker chairs was free and in a flash I installed myself in it for the most of my remaining time. Very comfortable it was too although the occasional feeling I was at Alton Towers on a new ride. Great view of the apron with a rather grubby looking Thai 747-400 in front of me. Given the state of the country at the moment, Ill forgive them.
At 9.45 I wandered over to the Cowshed, Mojito in hand [:D] for my scheduled facial. Once the usual formalities (do I have any allergies, am I pregnant?!) were done I was lead, like the proverbial lamb to The Comfy Chair. Rather than be poked with soft cushions, my face was pampered, exfoliated and received more care than in the last 30 or so years. The therapist treated me to a very relaxing head massage that left me with Goosebumps and having to think a lot about sports.[:I]
Returning to my hanging wicker seat (very Emmanuelle!) I finished my Mojito that I had to abandon during the treatment. Soon the call was made to head to Gate 40 why do I always get the furthest walk? and to head to the front of the front of the queue for Priority Boarding. Given previous experiences, I lingered in the CH for a while longer. When I did finally arrive at the gate, no queues, not chaos and no hassles.
On the stand waiting for us was Cosmic Girl looking fantastic in a swath of sunlight. My chosen seat was 17A and apart from a few little marks, looked very presentable. The champagne soon arrived and after a fairly short delay we were taxiing and took off at about 11.30 there was a slight delay getting power to the seats as for some reason the flight crew had turned it off. Until we were at cruising altitude the CC could not talk to the fight deck to get it turned on.
Now, reader of the TRs by our very own Mdvipond and others will know that a perfect G&T comprises of: Tanqueray No. 10. lots of ice and a slice of lime. Eagerly awaiting this treat I placed my order. Sadly lady fate stood in my way (she should get her own drink!) while the No. 10 was there providing buoyancy to the ice, only a thin sliver of lemon, yes, lemon was added. It would appear lime is contraband. Still, very refreshing it was too. I made a choice of skipping the initial rush for V-Port to continue this TR and ordered lunch. As detailed in the menu thread, I can confirm that the choices for the next 3 months are:
STARTER
Seasonal leaf salad with fennel, beetroot, flaked salmon and herb dressing
Soup of the day Today was Cheese and Broccoli
MAIN COURSE
Chicken breast (Neil!!! [:p]) stuffed with spinach and feta with braised lentils and buttered leeks.
Steak and mushroom pie with champ potatoes and saut_ed savoy cabbage.
Yorkshire pudding with broccoli and stilton, sun-dried tomatoes, breadcrumbs and parmesan.
CHEESE
A selection of cheeses with assorted crackers and grapes
Coastal Cheddar
Somerset Camembert
Blue Wensleydale
DESSERT
Dessert of the day Chocolate and toffee pudding
Rhubarb mousse.
LIGHT BITES
Bread dough ball with sun-dried tomatoes
Tandoori chicken satay with coriander and mint raita
Mini sausages with cheese mash and sweet onion gravy.
AFTERNOON TEA
Selection of sanswiches
Smoked salmon & cottage cheese, egg mayonnaise & sweet chilli sauce, chicken pineapple & rocket
Classic sultana scone with tiptree jam and clotted cream
Chocolate marble muffin and basil & lemon drizzle cake
WINE
Champangne & Sparkling wine
Champagne Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve nv
Berry Extra Dry Cremant de Limoux, Jean-Louis Denois
White
Savignion/Viognier 2007 Domaine de Bertier, France
Pinot Grigio 2007 Fossaluzza, Italy
Monte Verde Chardonnay 2007, Chile
Red
Rio Sol Cabernet/Shiraz 2006 Brazil
La Legua Roble 2006, Spain
Cabernet/Petit Verdot 2007 Domaine Coussergues, France
Of the above, I chose:
Instead of a starter, Mini sausages and cheese mash (marked as veggie but didnt taste like it)
Chicken breast will see how the lentils and leeks sit later.
Chocolate and toffee pudding. Highly recommended. Very sweet, but also very light.
All washed down with the Cabernet/Petit Verdot. Now I am no wine expert but it was very drinkable and I may have to look it up on my return.
Compared to previous Upper Class offering, this was very good food IMHO. OK, some of the options may not sound fantastic but on the tongue is where it counts. Perhaps someone has been taking note of other TRs here?
One thing I have noticed is that there has been a major overhaul of the headphones in Upper. I have my Bose but the new ones provided have a much larger ear cup and look to be of far better quality. Rather than waste an unused pair, I stuck with the Bose so will be interested if anyone has experience of using them.
With lunch out of the way, I delved into V-Port and the only thing that I fancied watch was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Better than I thought it would be but not a patch on Raiders of the Lost Ark. After that, I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at the bar. A little perturbed to find that of all the crew who could be serving, at this time it was the Captain!!! I have to point out that at no time did they have even a sip of water, so no worries there. Sadly for me (happily for the couple rather worse for wear) as we crossed the Rockies the Fasten Seatbelt sign came on and back to the seat we all went.
Afternoon tea was served and was most civilised, tasty too. A word of warning about the egg mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce sandwich, it has a bit of a kick to it.
Throughout the flight, the FSM was constantly appearing in the cabin and not just to have a quick look and disappear. Be it passing out the bread rolls to clearing away the afternoon tea, he was clearly leading from the front and the rest of the CC were on their A-game. Despite the bit of turbulence that closed the bar, the flight was silky smooth, so much so that at one point I forget I was on a plane.
Descent into SFO was quickly done with no fuss and we were soon on our stand and into the tender care of the DHS. Fate struck yet another cruel kick to the nether regions. We landed about 2 minutes after the Air France 747 and the immigration hall was rammed!! Obviously not wishing to let a stereotype fall by the wayside, the term Le Queue! had to be used on occasions. Plane to baggage took 20 minutes. On arrival at the carousel it had given up due to weight of being full. Luckily I chose the right side and found both bags next to each other and quickly headed off to check-in to my United flight to Boise. By now the story of the United share price dropping to 1c was spreading, much to my consternation. Happily check-in was proceeding normally. Departure gate is 77a and if you think T3 at Heathrow is a grotty hole, ya aint seen nothin yet!!
Overall, an excellent experience with VS and one that makes you want to return. A full-fat 10/10.
[y]
Thanks
Darren
Darren
