This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I headed up the elevator to security and was through in 5 minutes. I would have been quicker if it wasnt for a slight hold up of the case belonging to the chap infront of me apparently looking suspicious as it had been emptied and was repeatedly being x-rayed with the staff being quite vocal, saying audibly that there was something showing in the frame of the case that didnt look right. I grabbed my things and headed to the Clubhouse, noting that the extra shoe screening wasnt operating yet again. I do think the new security channel is fantastic. It would just be perfect if it dumped you outside the Clubhouse and not into the bedlam of the main terminal shopping area. The design of the place is so bad (or, so good) as its like a maze. I almost put a sprint on to get to the Clubhouse, which, on entering, was its usual calm and actually rather quiet (bar a high number of children as it is half term).
I went straight to Bumble & Bumble as i couldnt recall whether Id booked a treatment or not. I usually do that as soon as i book my flight but last night i couldnt find the reservation so gathered that I had forgotten. It wasnt an issue as they managed to fit me in straight away which was welcome news. An hour later I emerged with a fabulous barnet. The woman cutting my hair had worked at the salon for years, since the V.Touch days, and sadly I couldnt recall her name. Even sadder, I had forgotten to bring any tipping money with me. I hope she is at the salon next time as she really did a fantastic job on my hair and had a lot of interesting tales to tell on the years she has worked for Virgin. We also had a long laugh at the hairdressing books they have at the B&B salon. Think Dean Morris cards. They are from the 60s and 70s and feature some truly horrifying hair cuts. I could think of a couple of comments to accompany a few of the images.
I left the salon and struck up residence at the bar, setting up my laptop to do a quick bit of email and surfing. My favourite barman, Matt, was working today which was a welcome surprise. Hes been behind the bar as long as I have been flying VS and is always a delight.
I had just ordered a Mojito when fellow V-Flyer Ian came over to say hello. Ian and his family were off to IAD for a few days so it was lovely to say hello, and our meeting has resurrected my desire to go back there for a quick trip.
I was sat at the bar enjoying the first Mojito of the day and a selection of granary toast (I would say with butter but it was served Flora, and there is something about Margarine that to me is not of this planet and certainly not fit for human consumption. Rant over, but please VS, get this right!). The Gentleman next to me ordered a pot of tea and commented to our barman that he needed a pot as he was going to the land of bad tea. I cracked up laughing, having recently turned into my mother by packing my own Twinings teabags into my luggage. (well, two weeks in the US is a long time without decent tea!). The gentleman concurred with me then looked at my leafy drink and commented a Mojito at 8.30am, you must be one of these V-Flyers .... It seems that we have created quite a reputation with that drink. The gentleman was Technogeek who joined recently on referral from his son. We had a quick chat and realised we were on the same flight and it would be the first flight in UC for he and his wife.
I have been suffering with a terrible cough and cold for the past week and told Matt that I wasnt feeling well. With that he said that I should have a hot toddy and set about making me a get well drink. I watched as he painstakingly pressed cloves into a slice of lemon and proceeded to pour all manner of strange looking things into a latte glass. The resulting mixture (something along the lines of honey, lemon juice, clove oil, whiskey and the slice of lemon with cloves on top) proved to be rather potent, giving me bright red cheeks and almost sending me to sleep. As this TR goes to press it does seemed to have helped though. Its people like Matt that keep me flying VS. The toddy wasnt on the menu, and he recognised an opportunity to make a customer feel welcome and happy, and a little bit special.
The flight was announced as departing around 30 minutes late, enough time to check email again quickly before the call at gate 18 was made. Priority boarding was in full effect with two separate channels (one for UC, PE and FC Au complete with purple signage, another for everyone else with Red signs). I headed down the purple channel only to find myself in a long queue so hopped under the tensa barrier to the red channel to find that the staff were not quite ready for me. The security guy doing the final checks turned over my passport to look for the red security sticker and exclaimed a good grief when he saw the array of security stickers on the back of my passport cover. My boarding pass was popped into the machine and I held my breath waiting for the beep ... and waited .... and as I half expected I heard the knowing beep, my boarding pass was duly spat out in disgust and I moved from PE to UC with a quick biro scrawl. Result.
Aircraft was G-VBIG. I quickly boarded into 14K, tucked Floyd under the seatbelt on the ottoman and got myself comfortable. Just before take off I heard an announcement stating to tidy away all items on top of the ottoman and a crew member removed Floyd from his seatbelt and asked me to put him next to me. Id not seen that level of battoning down the hatches before. Flight time was in excess of 10 hours today.
With that, we took off after a slow taxi and I had a short doze as we got airborne. Probably the hot toddy, though i am sure there is something about the pressure on take-off that sends people to sleep.
Crew came around after take off to distribute the pens and Cowshed items (no toothbrushes on offer today which was a shame as i like those for my weekend trips). Drinks orders were taken, with me opting for a tea. The IFE had to be rebooted about 30 minutes into flight which wasnt entirely a surprise, then there was an announcement that the system would be offline for an hour while they did some form of maintenance. Some people didnt seem to be too happy at hearing this news. I got on with some work onboard and it was soon time for lunch.
The menu was the same one Richard and I had when we flew to MIA two weeks ago so I decided to forgo the main course and have the Potato and Leek gloop for starter (which was luke warm on arrival) and the chicken satay (which, of course, were not a patch on SQs). Amazingly for me, I didnt touch a drop onboard, choosing to stick with water. The food wasnt brilliant, mainly because it was cold but it was a full flight so I guess that might have been a factor. A lady a few rows up from me was complaining that both cups of tea she had ordered had arrived luke warm. The crew on this flight were polite and efficient but nothing particularly sparkled for me.
The rest of the flight passed by in a mixture of iPod, work and chatting to Technogeek and the chap opposite me who was in the forces. I couldnt find much to watch on V.Port, Im not a huge film fan anyway and the few films Id enjoy that were on offer I had already seen on my last flight. I stuck to the tried and tested documentary section and watched Tribes, then filled the time with Louis Theroux and Red Dwarf.
I requested a sleepsuit and the CSS said he would be right over with one. He arrived and uttered the phrase Im sorry madam we dont have any mediums, would a small fit?. I must have been pigging out recently given my small stature so i tried to conceal my disappointment at his comment. I changed into my sleepsuit, it was one of the newer ones and the cut has been changed but i dont really know why. The legs are shorter on the bottoms but the crotch is far too low so if you pull the trousers up you have Michael Jackson style pants that show your socks and if you pull them down the trousers look like MC Hammer. The top doesnt seem much different, though the label inside has changed. The sleepsuit was having a real static moment and within minutes my finely coiffed barnet looked like it had been in contact with a vandegraff generator. I bedded down and actually managed to get a bit of kip before being woken by a spot of turbulence.
We arrived half an hour behind schedule and the captain advised us (quite amusingly) that wed arrived at the same time as two other 744s (Speedbird and Cathay) so suggested we headed to immigration pronto. I quickly departed the aircraft, rushing ahead to immigration as I had my VX flight to SEA to catch and I hoped that the delay wed had wouldnt cause me an issue. I have experienced some lengthy queues at SFO before (in excess of an hour to clear immigration) but I arrived to an empty hall and was through in a few minutes. Bags were out very quickly and i headed off and back upstairs to check in for my VX flight, which departed on time. Noteworthy of that flight is that two adorable twin girls were sat in two of the First seats. They looked like mini mdvipond juniors and said hello (in that annoying accent most young American kids have) and waved as passengers boarded the aircraft. Their cuteness ended a minute or two into the flight as the pair of them began screaming so loudly that even my Bose QC3's couldnt disguise their cries.
I finally arrived in Seattle at just after 6pm and caught a cab to my apartment in Bellevue (after narrowly escaping death thanks to a taxi driver that i suspect may not have a valid green card).
All in all, a long and tiring day made just that bit more bearable by great staff like Matt and great facilities such as the Clubhouse. Go VS! [:D]
