VS019 LHR-SFO 22 MAY 10 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Plane - Mustang Sally

Arrived at the DTCI at 8am, and was greated by name at the car. Great touch. Checkin was a breeze, only managed SEQ 3, so I need to try harder next time.

Grabbed my money from Travelex, and was served by the slowest & grumpiest person I've ever met.

The Lounge was quiet, and I managed to get a complimentary massage for 9.30am.

For the firs time ever, I did n't have any alcohol and just a bowl of fruit. I went for a wander to see for myelf the removal of the water bottles & busuits etc.

Boarding was called at 10:50, and a short walk to gate 19, where the priority boarding was 'Upper Class' only. No Gold or PE or families with children.

I was greeted at the door and told to turn right, and I said are you sure, and the girl on the door had to go and check, and came back to confirm that 19A is indeed in the nose section and she was n't familiar with the new layout.

The CC assigned to my section took my coat, and noticed I was Au, and welcomed me back and introduced herself. She then went round the cabin and introduced herself, comeing back to me and said she could n't remember if she had introduced herself so did it again !

The 11:30 pushback time, came and went , and at arounf 11:45 the driver came on and told us that the Baggage system at T3 had broken, and they were trying to move the bags manually. This is actually the first time I have ever travelled to the US with Carry-on, so I was n't concerned, but felt tat suggesting we get a move on as I'm all right Jack, would not have gone down well with the rest of the plane.

We eventually puched back an hour later, and were airborn in 20 minutes, I noticed we had some sort of priority as another plane on the other side of the runway appeared to be waiting for a number of us to depart.


Lunch was ordered, and i went for the Salad with Brie and bacon, Lamb pie, with mash and veggies, and the pie was delicious, although could have been larger.

I converted the bed, and was just about to settle down for a snooze when the almost melted ice cream came round. I did n't get much rest as the Virgin Flat bed is the hardest substance known to man, and i find it very uncomfortable. Next time, i will take a Thermorest with me.

I watched a few movies, and afternoon teas was served, which was some freshly made sandwiches and some lemon cake. Yum.

We cam einto land at around 3:15, and I was off pretty quickly into an empty immigration hall. I explained to the officer why i did n't present him with a green I94 card, as a few weeks back, when stuck in Toronoto due to the Ash Cloud, I had crossed into Buffalo, and was told I could keep the green card for my SFO trip. Wrong. Fortunately I had filled out another one, as i did n't think the immigration agent in Buffalo was talking sense.

As i did n't have bags, I went off to Avis to find yet again, my Preferred status was n't working and i had to wait, while they processed my card and Driving license. That is 6 rentals now, and Avis either are not interested or don't know how their systems work. Avis UK are going to get a visit from me next week, as I drive past their office every day !

A good flight, delayed by the luggage system. the service was good, but not fantastic. Food was great. IFE worked but showing it's age.

I noticed on the suit a sticker saying it had been manufactured in April 2004, so not too bad for 6 years, but it's still too hard to sleep on.

The return trip is on Wednesday from LAX. It will get posted Thursday, have a good week everyone.

Hehe. Your issue with Avis, I'm having with Hertz.

Despite being #1 Club Gold, I'm always called to the counter for collection of license details. The git behind the counter always says "Oh, new customer, ah?", and then says they are powerless to do anything about it.

So, it's not confined to Avis, who I've had, with one exception, about 6 years of trouble-free preferred membership with.

Thanks for the report.

Mike

I've been most impressed with Alamo on the trip we're currently on. I'd pre-booked months ago through the Virgin Atlantic website and within minutes a jointly branded Virgin/Alamo email confirmation arrived, with the actual Alamo confirmation number.

I then accepted the option to "by pass the counter" and pre-entered all details, including extra driver, which resulted in the actual rental agreement with a bar code confirmation flashing up for print off. All the charges were showing as zero, as every conceiveable option, tax charge, fuel etc was pre-paid.

At Alamo in San Diego we walked past the queue of folk at the counter, straight to "kiosk check-in", scanned the bar code, & out popped paperwork saying to choose any vehicle from certain bays. Having selected our car the attendant simply waved us out....no driving license check or anything. The whole thing took no more than 5 minutes - most impressed :-)

[buns]

UKcobra

Thanks for the TR - just goes to show what a difference a day makes (or should I be saying what a difference a crew makes!) as you went out of LHR as we were arriving.

shame about Avis not picking up your details - hope you manage to get it sorted when you get back

buns

Thanks for the TR. I asked where the water bottles were last time I was in the CH and they told me to ask for one at the bar - It's a little inconvenient but I can understand about the wastage.

Thank you for the great TR.

For the firs time ever, I did n't have any alcohol and just a bowl of fruit.

Evidently a man of some resolve...

Thanks for the TR; another good read.

Hehe, I also gave up fizzy drinks around Mid Feb (excluding beer and Champagne) , and that's prooving challenging, but not impossible to live with.