This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Seat 5K
We landed at HKG, and were met at the gate and given a London Bus stiker, but no directions as to where to go. So we headed to the Immigration lines, via the Air Train.
We almost got into the Immigration queues, with other UC guests following us, when I saw tucked away in a corner the Transfer security line.
A quick security scan and we were back on our way via the Air Train to the International terminal. It was probably a 30 minute round trip.
The Clubhouse staff welcomed us, and said, we use Purple Boarding passes here in Hong Kong, so we need to replace the red ones we were given at Sydney.
I enquired about shower availability, and was surprised to find that there was one available straight away. One of the waiting staff remembered me from last week, I guess they remembered my flower arranging episode.
After a quick shower, and a nice glass of bubbly, I settled down to some updates on the laptop. Strangely this time, facebook would not work in the lounge, last week it did. I also found in Hong Kong, that Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk would not work.
It was very quiet in the lounge, and also very hot.
Boarding was called around 40 minutes before departure and we headed down to the gate, which was prety busy, however, priority boarding was in effect and my boarding passes were taken, and as they use 2 air bidges, we were able to board straight away. This matches my other experiences in Hong Kong of efficient movement of people.
We were surprised to find a completely full UC, with a confirmed count of 326 including crew, we were advised of a 12h 23min flight time.
We were also told that the pilot who would be doing most of the work and landing would be leaving the company (more on that later)
We had retained our sleep suits, but decided not to put them on before take off, as my wife wanted to experience the UC bar for the first time, as we had not managed it before on the other 3 flights.
Push back was on time, and it was a long journey to the runway, it always amazes me how many 747-400s there are at HKG.
Once in the air, there appeared to be a dash by many people to the bar, so we decided to wait a while, and not get in the way of the crew setting up. Shortly after, ther seat belt sign went on due to turbulence, and the waiting passengers had to sit down. After around 15 minutes it was turned off again, and this time, my wife and I headed to the bar, so she could see what makes UC different to BA and others.
While at the bar I noticed the FSM (Black Shirt) going round and talking to people while handing out the amenities, and she ended up her tour with us at the bar. I have been on her flights before, she is very experienced, and runs a good ship in my experience.
We had a long talk about the changes at Virgin, and we talked about my search for a job, and I learned that the pilot's last flight was due to the layoffs at Virgin, as they are letting 140 pilots go, and are in another 90 day consultation period in respect of the cabin crew.
I was asked if I wanted my bed to be made up, as I was not having dinner as I was n't hungry.
After 2 hours into the fllight I settled down to sleep, and again, had some trouble sleeping, or so I thought, I do recall the flight being very bumpy, with the seatbelt light going on/off/on a lot. When I work with around 4 hours to go, I found my glass of cranberry juice had gone and that we appeared to have made up an hour or so.
Breakfast was toast and a bacon roll, as I was holding back for a visit to Revivals.
We came straight in, and landed at 4:45, which is a good 40 mins ahead of the planned time.
After a long walk to immigration, the Iris machines were blocked off, with 1 passenger stuck in trying to wait for the doors to open.
So we used the EU line, with only 2 members of staff manning the EU desks, and 5 members of staff manning the empty non-EU lines.
Baggage was listed at belt 7, and the Virgin flight was the only 1 listed on the board, and the bags started coming at 5:15am, with the UC bags coming off very quickly, we were away within 5 minutes, and were the first into Revivals.
My wife opted for a shower and then a treatment, I went for a shower, and then a Farmhouse cooked breakfast which was very good.
As there were only a couple of other guests I decided to see if I could hava a massage, as my thinking is, if you don't use the resources available, the beancounters might take them away, so it would be rude to leave the staff standing around.
A very good massage and it was now almost 7am, and all we had to do was wait for our neighbour to arrive, as he has just started an Airport transfer service.
We were quickly whizzed home.
In summary, the Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Blue flights were very good.
Hong Kong is a great place to visit, with some good shopping and things to do, and some great food.
Australia, particularly the Whit Sundays was great and worth seeing.
Sydney was fun, although some of the interactions with staff at the Marriott and Alfredo's showed me that some people should not be in the service business ;-)
Advice given here on the MTR in Hong Kong, where to eat in Sydney and the train service from the aiport was spot on, thanks.
We'd love to go back, UC makes it very doable for a 12 day trip, effectively giving us 2 clear days in Hong Kong, 2 in Whit Sundays and 2 in Sydney.
If I were doing it again, no stopoff in Hong Kong, and more time in one location, and at least 2 weeks.
Also, the weather we had was fantastic, 29 degrees in Sydney for the day before we left, so heading there in August was fine in terms of temperature and no rainfall. We were very lucky.
