This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Arriving at the airport we were pleased to see signs forbidding tipping - so no hordes of people trying to 'help' with luggage. Signs on the entrance warned of no re entry so Mrs D had her final nicotine fix and then we walked into the terminal building and up to an initial XRay scanner. The security people noticed the dive torch in my hand luggage and told me that I had to remove the batteries. I explained that they were integral (http://www.wiseled.com/index.aspx?articleid=990) and so they just waved us through. Over to UC check in and a slight delay whilst the people in front of us were processed. Seeing this a gentleman escorted us to a PE checkin where our luggage was weighed and tagged and where a Lounge Access invitation was provided. We were told that boarding would commence at 11:40 - I laughed at this as the flight wasn't due to leave until 12:55. As I loaded the luggage onto the belt Mrs D filled in the departure forms for us - how nice - no departure tax. Next to our name (Decker x 2) was a check box labelled 'Guest'. This was checked.
Making our way through passport control we entered the departure area. The gates are to the right and the shared lounge is to the left. We entered the lounge and found ourselves in an ante room about the size of a tennis pitch. At one end of this were stairs down to the lounge proper. As we entered we were approached by a uniformed attendant who asked to see our pass. We proferred the required document and enquired was it OK to bring in guests (some of my dive buddies were outwith the lounge). 'No' she said. A little surprised by this we pointed to the checked check box - 'oh yes' she said 'that means you're not allowed guests'. 'But we're Gold Card holders and are entitled...' 'Can I see your Gold Cards?'. These were then dug out only to have it pointed out to us that these were NOT One World Gold cards and therefore didn't count. I remonstrated and she left in search of a manager. Five minutes later she was back and indeed we could have guests.
I went outside to locate my buddies who drew straws as to which 2 of 3 would come in. Husband gallantly waived his rights so wife and son could enter. Outside the lounge are a range of duty free shops (6 cans of Phoenix beer for 2.50) and a caf_. As we re-entered the lounge I looked around a little more. The lounge is 'fair sized' with about 50 seats, reading materials (yesterday's papers) toilets and shower and a range of finger food and a decent cheese plate. The air con is a LOT more effective than that in the main terminal and was most welcome. The coffee machine is one of those terribly modern capsule based ones which defeated us - so we sought help which was offered willingly by one of the four of five lounge attendants.
At about T-60 Mrs D left the lounge to look for nephew/niece presents and quickly came back in with the news that the external tannoys were saying that it was the last call for boarding and that 'members in the lounge should go straight to check in'. Would have been good if we'd actually been able to hear this in the lounge. Sort of puts me in mind of the Holiday Autos email I received for my car rental at JFK later this week - and I quote
You will need to print this voucher and present it to our local car rental partner as proof of purchase. If you do not receive this email please download your voucher by clicking on the link below.
Anyway we scuttled to the check in desk to see no queues and clearly marked priority boarding. We were some of the last people on board and quickly settled into 7K and 8K. I'd prebooked these gambling on the bassinet opposite NOT being in use and fortunately it wasn't. Mrs D ordered drinks and sleep suits and we settled into our preflight routine. The Airbus 300 we were expecting had transmogrified into a 600 somewhere along the line. At 12:20 the seatbelt signs went on and at 12:25 the captain announced the flight time of 11 hours, 55 minutes. At 12:28 the crew passed through the galley spraying insecticide (and having a small insecticide duel at the front judging by the scuffling sound and giggles) and at 12:30 we pushed back - a whole 25 minutes early! Take off was at 12:43.
At this stage I noticed that we had no menus and no snooze packs so when the FA came and asked what drinks we'd like I pointed this out. She explained that as loads were light they had opted not to put the snooze packs out as they didn't know who'd be sitting where. Unlike on the way out the cabin was NOT chocker so this made sense. When my initial drink order came (Stella and spicy peanuts) we discovered that my drink tray was broken - it was missing the retaining lug at the bottom left, so the FA tried to get my main table out. This proved easier said than done. However after a lot of man handling it was deployed and drinks and snack settled on it.
Opposite us on the other side of the aisle were a couple we'd seen at the Hilton with their 2 year old daughter - a contender in the MDVipond Jr stakes for cuteness. She was sat in the terribly snazzy looking new child seat. Looks like a sporty bucket seat for a hot hatch. She behaved impeccably for the entire flight (well apart from some noise/discomfort on landing).
The FSM made sure that she spent time with all pax chatting with them about their holiday and all things VS. She was another credit to the airline- 18 years with VS and now only working part time. It cannot be said often enough just how a good FSM makes the flight and this was proven again this time as she buzzed around the cabin serving drinks and distributing bread.
The new menu is a little less lacking in variety than older menus - I have copies in my luggage somewhere so will try and post if nobody else gets there first. For starters I had the prawns. All two of them - they were a little dry but the salsa was very pleasant. As a main I had the chicken in asparagus sauce. My notes indicate that it was 'canteen food' - all right but nothing special.
As this was a day flight the blinds remained unshut. After watching Kung Fu Panda I made my way to the bar where I spent several hours chatting to a mixed set of passengers (two from PE and two from UC) who were great fun - very amusing and charming. The crew remained attentive and it seemed like no time at all before we were being warned of our descent into Heathrow. Once landed it was apparent that we were miles from immigration - around gate 40 I think. We hot footed to immigration where IRIS was out of order but with no queues for EC passport holders we were straight down to the belt where our luggage appeared very rapidly. Out of the terminal into a long taxi queue - apparently there were software glitches meaning that taxis weren't being called from the feeder pool sufficiently expeditiously so a 30 minute wait ensued. Several times a rep for Hotel Hoppa trawled the queue for people staying in local hotels - wished I'd remembered the advice about local buses here as several people departed with him.
So a brilliant end to a fantastic holiday. Once again the VS product did what it said on the tin. As usual I'd have to express myself slightly disappointed with the food but once again service was excellent.
