This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I'd done my usual VS19 thing of leaving home early in order to beat the London traffic, instead doing normal morning things such as shower and breakfast at the Clubhouse before boarding. This meant I was at LHR not long after 7am.
Check-in wasn't busy, four or five Upper check-in positions were staffed, and I was seen within a few moments. Check-in was very quick - probably a minute, no more - and I was directed to the lift up to the private security channel, with a 'the flight is currently on time'.
Somewhere in the few minutes it took me to get from the queue-free private security channel - probably one of the best moves VS have made recently - upstairs to the Clubhouse, the flight went from being on time to being 2 hours late - it was showing amber on the welcome host's podium at the entry, which indicates a problem on that flight. 'Book a treatment!', suggested the host. I already had got a hair trim booked! 'Ah, well, just try and relax'.
I thought 'looks like I'll be hanging around for a while, then.' Now, while the thought of about 6 hours lounging in the Clubhouse would be a gift from Heaven for some V-Flyers, I actually wanted to get to San Fran and get things done!
Went and showered first, and there was some sort of awful advert coming out of the speakers for a makeup product - chock full of American-presenter-woman-with-syrupy-accent lyrically extolling the virtues of this makeup product and how it would improve the lifestyle of the (undoubtedly) average women they were making over using whatever the hell this product was. Wondered what the hell was going on with that, and mentioned to the Cowshed receptionist on the way out that the choice of audio in the showers was rather odd, and what I could only describe as sounding like it was tuned to QVC.
First mojito ordered around 7.30am. Hope this is sufficiently early enough for the assembled V-Flyers!
I decided to take-up residence behind the bar next to the window, the seating their being a good compromise between lounging and having the laptop open, plus the seclusion and privacy from the rest of the CH were a big plus.
Time passes... G-VFAB and G-VBIG roll up close together, and park up on stands 318 and 320. So, we've got two 744s at LHR, so wonder what's going on with the delay? It was soon revealed when BIG was dragged off by a tug, leaving FAB to work VS5, and us to wait, eventually for G-VROC to arrive from SFO and be turned around to work the VS19 back.
This meant I got lunch in the Clubhouse as well, and I noticed a number of VS plain clothes staff (some sort of management, I would assume?) turned up (wearing ID cards on lanyards), some of whom were accompanying dignitaries from an Asian carrier (I think it might have been ANA - maybe they plan on sharing the Clubhouse?).
Wish I'd known who they were and how senior they were. I'd have loved to have given them a piece of my mind about how I felt about the delay because their fleet is under-resourced and insufficient to reliably work the flying programme.
During this period, the waitress who had been covering the area I was sat in went on a break, and the service noticeably became less attentive, as the person replacing her seemed to spend more time chatting with the VS manager than serving customers in the section.
Fortunately, apart from this one issue, the service in the Clubhouse was spot on, especially the previous waitress came back, saw I didn't have anything to eat or drink on the go, was very apologetic, and couldn't do enough to make sure I was fed and watered properly, so that the delay could be passed in some comfort!
Finally, the flight was called down at Gate 19, so off down travelators to find no queue (but some half-decent queue management in place in the corridor), and I was straight to the podium to hand in my boarding pass, and then straight onboard G-VROC using the 'Upper only' jetway to the L1 door.
Nice to see that VS have finally started to get a decent system of Priority Boarding at LHR. No queueing, no jetway scrum.
I found it a touch ironic that VS chose to concentrate their activity around the older gates 13-21, which United used to be the main user of when based at T3 - an airline who were able to get priority boarding right at LHR, but it's noticeable that the layout of the gates helped them achieve it.
BAA also seem to be renovating the older gates at T3 in the newer design as in the A380 pier (gates 1-9), thus improving their image.
Welcomed on board by the crew, who seemed to be glad to get on their way too - they must have been sitting around for hours - and the FSM very quickly came up and introduced herself once I'd got settled in 22K. She recognised me, and I'm pretty sure I had travelled with her before, but some years ago.
Turns out we had a light load today, there was only one other person beside me sat in the B zone on the lower deck, over 20 open seats in Upper.
Had a look at my surroundings, no rubbish left in the armrest pocket, seat pocket or in the ottoman, but the leather side of the suites looked a bit worn, though sans-pen. No weird red marks either.
We finally got pushed back just before 2pm, and airborne around 2.10pm off runway 09R, and making a hard right turn - not that normal for an SFO flight - to take us over Bristol, Wales, and Ireland. The wind condition was favouring a more southerly track than we're probably used to.
The customary T&T was provided very quickly, and the snacks were either mini ritz cracker things, or some other sort of spicy cracker. Part of me still longs for a good cocktail nut mix with the post-departure drink.
The crew were really nice, and another one of the crew (the J CSS) recognised me from a previous flight too!
I decided that I didn't want a full lunch, and said that I'd prefer to eat later (around dinner time) - though under some level of 'caring duress' I ended up with a cheese plate: really small pieces of cheese, three grapes, generous helping of crackers, but no cornish wafers - not the cheese plate I remember from my first flight in Virgin UC ('Wow, Cornish Wafers'), and a glass of the okay Aussie Shiraz.
Tried to play Trivia Challenge but it was broken (like it has been seemingly forever on G-VROC). So, I watched a bit, worked a bit, snoozed a bit, loitered at the bar with another V-Flyer member for a bit, and eventually I decided to have dinner. Couldn't really decide what I wanted, nothing really grabbed my attention, and in the end I went for the 'steak and mushroom pie'.
What a disappointment. It wasn't a pie in the real sense, it was a pie in the Wetherspoon sense - a slick of watery gravy, and paltry bits of meat, topped with a puff pastry case. The cabbage on the side just made it look grey and dull. You could eat it, but only because you were hungry.
It was 'fine', in that sort of sense when someone asks you what you think, and you don't want to upset them or drag them into conversation, you say 'fine'. It just didn't look that appetising or appealing. Not really comparable against the J food on NZ or GF, if you ask me.
Watched a bit of TV and snoozed again, and woke up after the afternoon tea service had been done. Managed to get a scone, jam and coffee before landing, as to be quite honest, I didn't fancy any of the sandwiches - maybe the coronation chicken is some sort of throwback to VS launch year?
Shortly before landing, the J CSS came up, said 'Good to see a familiar face, hope to see you again soon', and then thanked me for flying with VS.
In the descent, I worked on the crossword in the newspaper, and I became aware of a person looking over my shoulder - it was our FSM, asking 'Is that all you've done?'. Of course, I had to ask for help, leading to a confession of 'Oh, I'm rubbish at those things!'
Landed almost 2 hours late, making up a bit of the delay thanks to the more favourable winds than usual, and disembarked via L1 door with a nice farewell from the crew, especially the J CSS and FSM.
Deserted immigration hall, greeted with a 'You guys finally made it' from a pleasant enough Border Control officer, and priority bags worked - waited less than 5 mins for my bag. I think I was already on the way to the rental car centre in the Airtrain a little over 30 minutes after wheels down, and then down to Palo Alto for a BLT and a proper home-made milkshake at Palo Alto Creamery (aka Peninsula Fountain), these are proper milkshakes, made in the metal container, served with a small glass and a spoon!
Overall:
Check-in: Good. No problems there.
Seat: Good. Clean, mostly worked, though looking a bit worn and grubby in places. The armrest would also not lock in the 'up' position, and this seems to be turning into a common failure mode.
Food & Drink: Sorry VS. Still not impressed.
Entertainment: Okay, though nothing really grabbed my attention in the list of films, but the odd film from 1984 (Ghostbusters, and the first Police Academy) and 'Airplane!' were a nice touch.
Cabin Crew: Great. Really nice, genuine, personable, and great service.
It's a shame that the flight was marred by the late start and the flaky food. If those things had been right, I think it would have been a fantastic flight.
Mike
