This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Dave
We left D.C mid afternoon and after having had a slight faff waiting for the Avis hire car bus to arrive we were delivered to the terminal about 3 and a half hours before departure. I do like IAD, it seems a very well organised and modern airport; the 1960s main terminal hall and roof is still an amazing structure.
We got to check-in and were amazed that there were absolutely zero passengers there across any of the VS desks! On principle we still checked in at the UC desk anyway, with everything being processed easily. As we were given our tickets the check-in lady reminded my colleague to be nice to me else he might not get in the club house as my guest!
After only a short queue at security, we got the train to the A gates and did a little bit of souvenir shopping before heading off to the Club House. This is my first experience of the IAD Club House so wasn’t quite sure what to expect - there haven’t been many trip reports or photos of the place on v-flyer.
We were greeted at the entrance and the gold card and tickets were politely checked. The place wasn’t too busy and so we managed to get a nice couple of comfy seats by the window. In contrast to the LHR Club House service on the way out, the service couldn’t have been more attentive, the stewardess having a sixth sense for being there whenever we even thinking we might want something!
We started with the Virgin Redheads, which although nice, were not as good at the LHR CH ones and seemed to be a slightly different mix. The view outside presented some opportunities for some interesting photography snaps and I was quite pleased at how they came out (see below). After a second Redhead I grabbed a shower in what I think is the only shower in the IAD Club House – which seems a little short-sighted but guess they can’t really justify more given the number of passengers going through.
After the shower I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, being intrigued as to how this would come out given that the U.S in general doesn’t do curries. I needn’t have worried, the curry was excellent, complete with proper Naan bread and poppadoms. Obviously someone has trained the Club House chefs well!!
All too soon it was time to leave. Overall impressions of the IAD CH were very good given the relatively small number of passengers it processes. The service was attentive, food was great, and all in all a very nice environment.
The Virgin gate was directly opposite the CH so it took all of 20 seconds to walk across the concourse to get to the gate. The aircraft was about ¾ full and I was in the same seat as on the flight out. Good news was that this was the 343 with V-Port so no stupid box getting in the way under the seat in front. We pushed back and took off on time, with the service settling down into the usual pre-dinner drinks and then onto dinner itself. As I had eaten in the Club House I chose to just take the tray and have the starter and dessert – which were both perfectly edible if a bit bland. I noticed that the film RED was showing so settled down to watch this having previously seen it at the cinema (it is a great film, if only for seeing Helen Mirram firing heavy duty weaponry!
).After the film I watched a couple of the comedies and then tried to get some sleep. Don’t think I managed to properly doze off unfortunately, partly due to the occasional dig from the arm by the slightly large woman sat next to me
When breakfast was served I said to the stewardess I’d eat in Revivals, she didn’t bat an eyelid and tbh I don’t think she registered anything beyond the ‘No thank you’. The flight was nicely ahead of schedule by the time we touched down, but we ended up at a strange part of terminal 3 and this involved a very long walk to get to passport control, where there was a huge queue!
It was a good 20 minutes by the time I had cleared customs, and my bag had unsurprisingly beaten me there. Terminal 3 is still a complete disgrace when it comes to welcoming people to the UK. Thumbs down BAA 
After clearing customs I said goodbye to my colleague and headed over to Revivals J A huge queue for the lifts meant an executive decision to pull the suitcase up the stairs! Checked-in at Revivals about quarter to 8 and managed to get a treatment booking for a shave at 9am. Had a shower, which was good apart from the lack of toiletries
and settled down for a traditional breakfast and cup of tea! Unfortunately fried eggs aren’t possible in Revivals due to the kitchen rules, but they were happy to poach them . Breakfast was great, and spent the hour watching the news and reading the papers.Just before my appointment was due, the treatment girl found me and escorted me to the room. At the start she asked how I normally shaved and explained the whole process. This was the first time I had been given a shave by someone else and must say I enjoyed the whole process (although it’s slightly unusual to be almost flat out rather than upright!). The treatment itself was great; I lost count of the different number of hot and cold towels, creams, balms, facial massages etc - all in all very relaxing and a good way of waking you up!
As it was a Sunday morning I was in no rush to get back to London soon so I checked my emails on the clubhouse PC (accidentally depositing a new supply of post-its in my pocket
) and then sat down for another cup of tea to finish off reading the paper. However by 10 o’clock it was time probably time to call it a day and in any case it was lovely and sunny outside so I picked up the luggage and headed off to find the front of the Heathrow Express to Paddington.All in all a very nice trip, although the in-flight service was extremely average. The combination of Club House, V-Port, and Revivals making being in Y perfectly bearable.
