This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I'm not too sure of the protocol on here, so have left out cabin crew names.
Arrived at the Premier Inn late the night before and had a perfectly pleasant nights sleep.
I got the hotel hoppa bus to T3, and it seems that the Premier Inn is the last hotel in the pick up chain, so it was straight to T1 and then on to T3 to be dropped off. This journey only took 15 mins so was pleased with that.
I'd already checked in online the day before, so dropped of my bags at an empty UC check in, through the empty security channel and into a very busy terminal. After a quick stop off at WHsmiths, I made it to the lounge probably within 15 minutes from getting off the bus which I was impressed with.
Decided on not having any treatments this time as my hair didn't need cutting and I'm coming through this lounge twice more before August 16th so plenty of opportunity yet!
not massively hungry so only had the smoked haddock tartlet and a martini coffee cocktail or two to wash it down!
The lounge didn't seem to busy. I took a seat by the window behind the main bar. Service was pleasant if a little sporadic. the waitress looking after this area often had to be called over a number of times by people sitting in this area. However she was lovely and helpful once she was with you.
Called to boarding at 1pm through Gate 20 which is a small trek from the CH. The gate was empty when I got there, however there was only one aribrige in operation going to the middle door, with a queue snaking all the way back to the lounge, so it took a while to board.
Once on board, I commenced my own routine; Order bucks fizz, grab a sleep suit, shoes off, socks from snooze pack on & change into sleep suit pronto, then settle into seat as bucks fizz arrives. Perfect! Had a great flight steward who claimed he remembered me from my last flight to Japan which is was a nice touch - though it was 10 weeks ago I last did this trip.
There was a ATC delay getting away from the gate, which overall meant we didn't start advancing down the runway until 45 minutes after we should have.
Once airborne, more drinks were offered and ordered. However the IFE wasn't working for me and a number of others, so the whole system had to be turned off and re booted which they announced would take 20 minutes. So I decided to watch something on the laptop.
The man next/behind me (due to the layout of the cabin I can't decide if he is behind or next to me - you know what I mean!) started to complain about the IFE and how sloppy the service was. I didn't agree with him, but really didn't want an argument so nodded as neutrally as I could and went back to my laptop. The main thrust of his point was that the IFE should be working (well it should, but it is a computer and they do crash) and he wasn't being served drinks quick enough. I wanted to yell at him "THERE IS A CALL BUTTON - USE IT" but left that to the voices in my head. Personally I'm not a fan of constant fawning and constantly being asked if I want anything. My view is I can speak, so if I need something I'll ask. But then maybe it's easier for me to take that line when it's not my money paying for the flight. Maybe he'd shelled out x thousand pounds and felt he wanted his monies worth.
Dinner ordered - Poached salmon salad to start and a lavender and mint infused lamb for dinner. I tend to avoid the Japanese food on this flight, as I'm heading to the country where it is going to be so much fresher and tastier than at 35,000 feet!
Dinner arrived, and there is just enough space on the table for dinner and the laptop so programme watching wasn't interrupted. About half way through dinner the IFE came back on.
Decided on the cheesecake for pudd - it was ok. Not the greatest. After dinner was cleared I started to watch some Mel Gibson film. It was very average (I can't remember what it was called), so about half way through gave up and turned my seat into a bed and headed off to sleep.
Woke up after about 2 and a half hours - wide awake. Annoying. So carried on with the film. It was quite rubbish.
At the end of the film I took a wander down to the bar and past a very pleasant hour and a half chatting to a few crew members. They assured me that they didn't have much to do and were quite happy to chat. They asked who I work for (it's a well know American show - with productions all round the world) and a couple of the crew had seen our Vegas show so they were asking lots of questions about that which was good fun to answer.
They told me that the IFE had broken completely in PE and Coach - I did feel for all those souls at the back of the plane with no distraction for a twelve hour flight....
Headed back to my seat and watched some more stuff. A documentary about Bansky (highly recommend) and a Gordon Ramsey thing. (Usual Ramsey fare)
Soon it was time to pack up for landing, which was quite bumpy but safely down.
We disembarked from the front door and being in 3K I was the 2nd person off and we were quickly in passport control which to a huge relief was deserted so straight through to collect the bags. The priority tag worked and my bag was off very quickly and not long after I was united with my driver and soon crawling through the traffic into central Tokyo.
Overall, it was another excellent trip with VA, in particular the cabin crew who were looking after the area of UC I was in.
