This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Warning – quite long!
Due to impending redundancy, this trip was planned to reduce costs wherever possible, but without huge compromises – I’d rather stay home than do that.
The flights for Daught and I used up the last of my VS miles, plus 2 Amex PE vouchers. Upper out, PE back – and about £400 in taxes and charges.
Drove to LHR and used Purple parking, so a tank of diesel and £67 for the meet and greet on the return leg. BA connecting flights were never less than £240 for the two of us, and I’ve given up on BMI.
Initially I had all ten nights booked at the Le Meridien near the airport at DXB. I had a Royal Club room reserved for 950 AED (plus taxes and service charges), fully cancellable. And then Hilton brought out their Any weekend anywhere promotion, and their 2011 Q1 promotion which were combinable. I managed to get the weekend rate for 7 days of the stay, so like a true points tart I switched the last week of our stay to the Jumeirah Beach Hilton. The rate was 1081 AED (plus taxes and service charges) which for the time of year was low. We had a couple of meals in the beachside restaurant, and a few other incidentals. All together, I got just over 140,000 HHonors points for the stay, in their own right almost enough for 3 free nights in a Cat 7 hotel. However, they will go nicely with my now depleted HH balance to get a 7 night VIP reward in a Cat 7 hotel some time next year.
Both hotels were fine, by the way, and a fraction of the price I have been paying at the O&O, for example. At the Meridien, we ate out in the Meridien Village twice, and in M’s on the “promenade”. Once in Jumeirah, we ate out on the Walk most nights, which was much cheaper due to no alcohol, and made best use of the exec lounge happy two-and-a-half hours.
Anyway, onto the return flight. After a couple of false starts telling me to check in at the airport, I managed to OLCI and confirmed our seats of 19 H&K. Happy enough with these for a 7 and a half hour flight, and my first PE flight since about 2004! If row 18 was available when we got to the airport I would ask to move, but I wasn’t planning on getting to the airport early due to having no lounge access.
When we transferred from the Le Meridien to Jumeirah, we used the “hotel taxi” which was a Lexus GS at a cost of 70 AED, not much different to a regular taxi. Hilton wanted 195 AED for the trip to the airport! So into a regular taxi we went. We had a quick breakfast in the lounge as it opened at 6.30 a.m., and were in the taxi at 7. Flight was due to depart just after 10, and the E11 Sheikh Zayed Road can be busy at that time of day. But with light traffic, we were dropped off at around 7.40, and the fare was 60 AED.
Into departures, where Virgin are in Zone A. And the departure time is showing as 11.10. So we’re early, the flight is late and we’ve no lounge access – time to ask about paid access I think.
There was someone being dealt with at the PE desk, but no queue. In any event we were called over to the PE/Upper bag drop desk straight away. Very pleasant check in agent, who apologised for the delay to the flight, which was due to a late departure from LHR. Unfortunately row 18 was already taken as this was a “very full flight” – surprised by this as only PE had looked close to being busy according to EF, but more on this later. Agent starts processing us and then says, Ms RedVee – as you are FC Gold (I’m not really – only silver) we have upgraded you to Upper class, but sorry – not for Miss RedVee. Daught and I exchange glances and she says, go for it, I’ll be fine. So we ask for Daught to remain in 19H – there is no window at 19K anyway plus the equipment box limits leg room, and she won’t be boxed in by a stranger. I’m allocated 2D – not a seat I would go for by choice but hey, gift horses and all that.
I enquire about lounge access as usually with a voluntary upgrade this isn’t included, and this is confirmed. Paid lounge access was 250 AED each – that’s about £85. Others on here will have used the new shared lounge and it ain’t worth £85. And this was the “not quite an austerity trip” after all. We found a reasonable spot just past the gate 113 where we would board, had some drinks from Costa and I did some low speed aero revision with the Daught who has exams when she goes back. I am now more conversant with the Kutta condition than I ever thought I would be!
At around 9.40 I noticed people being let into the gate, so knowing it was a full flight suggested to the Daught we make our way in to make sure we had somewhere to sit. The gate isn’t open plan at DXB; you go through the gate agents and then more screening. I had hoped the Daught might get the magic beep as we went through, but no luck. Then, before we had even sat down there was a call for Miss RedVee to contact the gate staff. Result! She came back with a boarding card for 15K, and said I needed to go back to the gate staff too – my 2D was changed for 15A. So separate sides of the divide on the 346, but in the same area.
Once into the gate I can see Rainbow Lady is already on the stand. Hmm, not familiar with that particular 346 and as I’ve no internet access I can’t check. I pass the rest of the time reading “Ozzy”, which is funny, outrageous and occasionally tragic.
Boarding starts with the usual call for those needing extra time to board called first, with a request for all other passengers to remain seated. Hah, as if. Probably around 80 people start milling around the gate exit. By the time they call upper it’s almost impossible to get through. There is a tensa barrier right at the door and we keep right for PE and UC. The solitary young woman on the door did a great job of batting back people who hadn’t yet been called. Into the air bridge and separate boarding through L1 for Upper and PE and L3 for everyone else.
Once on board, the penny begins to drop as to why the plane is full and there has been a bit of seat shifting. The bar is in an odd place! Aha – it’s a 343. Followed immediately by the thought of “bu**er, it’s a 343 – no v-port”. But we were lucky that this was G-VSUN, so no problem. There was obviously a need to bump up some economy passengers to PE due to the smaller economy cabin on the 343, and we had benefitted from the bump up to UC. Quite a result really given these were T to U upgrades originally, and my first ever op up with VS.
To our seats, and this is the first time I’ve been in this little mini cabin wedged between the bar and PE. First impression is that the suites seem smaller, with a smaller gap between the seat and the ottoman, and a smaller gap at the rear of the seat. A family of 4 board, and they are in 16 A, D and K and 15 D. A quick self organised swap around and I’m in 16K next to the Daught and the family are now all sat together.
16K is very private, the divide to PE wraps around the suite and you face the wall. With just 2 other people on your side of the mini cabin you really do lose the feel of being on a much larger plane, even more so than upstairs on a 747 or in Zone A on the MAN/LGW 747s. The downside is the proximity to the galley, and there is a bit of traffic in the K aisle to service PE. This subsides though after the meal service and it is a daytime flight anyway.
The crew seem a bit disoriented at first. They were obviously expecting a 346, and I suspect that meant there were more of them than there would be for a 343, but after a bit of readjusting they settled down. Service was pretty much by the book – hot towels, drinks round, food, FSM seen only to top up wine, more hot towels, and then service on demand.
Menu is posted here. The Daught had the 2 of the chicken calzone from the light bites menu and they were curried chicken. Bit dry and overdone. I had a chilli con carne from the light bites as a starter and then the chicken. The former was fine and the chicken itself was OK too, but the veg accompaniments less so – soggy potato wedges and almost raw peppers.
According to the data here, we were at the gate at 3.31 p.m. – just over an hour and 20 minutes late – not bad seeing as the original equipment had gone tech. Phoned Purple Parking on the way to baggage reclaim, priority baggage worked well, up in the lift to the 5th floor of the T3 short stay car park where our driver was just arriving with the car. Bags in and set off at 4.15 p.m. for the 200 mile drive home. Bit worried about setting off onto the M25/M4 in the rush hour but we were home by 7.30 p.m. – quicker than getting a shuttle up to MAN.
So how did I do on the “not quite the austerity trip” budget? For the 11 nights/10 days it was about £3,200, for 2 of us including all meals, drinks, transport, tips, etc staying in 5 star hotels and ultimately flying business each way. My most expensive meal was 570 AED at M’s (about £100) and the cheapest 103 AED at Tiffin Bites (about £17). I’ve learned I can survive without airport lounge access and having my sunglasses cleaned by the pool. And those 140,000 HHonors points in the bank too.
Now I’m off to hunt for a job!
Last edited by RedVee on 14 Jan 2011, 10:59, edited 1 time in total.
