Upper Class Dos and Don'ts

Hello,
We are travelling Upper Class Manchester to Orlando in the summer and, although we have flown UC before, we are never quite sure of the do's and don'ts and would appreciate some advice on best practice! |:)

1) About how much would you normally tip the CDC driver? :w

2) when we are in the Escape Lounge at Man, is it best to wait until the lady on the desk calls us or to venture to the gate when it comes up as "boarding" on the screen?

3) If there appears to be a queue at the gate with no clear priority boarding, would it be rude to try to approach staff at the front of the queue?
v(

4) On board, can you request a sleep suit on the way out and is it silly to wear one in the day (I was thinking it would save my clothes getting messed up)?

5) If you are hungry, is it acceptable to ask for a snack as part of the Freedom menu?

6) For breakfast on the return, just how acceptable is it to ask for it a bit later as part of the Freedom menu?

And anything else, that is only known by travelling frequently in Upper Class?

Thank you in advance for any advice - we are very excited and don't want to end up being treated like the sketch on "Come Fly with Me" :0

Hello,
We are travelling Upper Class Manchester to Orlando in the summer and, although we have flown UC before, we are never quite sure of the do's and don'ts and would appreciate some advice on best practice! |:)

1) About how much would you normally tip the CDC driver? :w

I would have thought a fiver.

2) when we are in the Escape Lounge at Man, is it best to wait until the lady on the desk calls us or to venture to the gate when it comes up as "boarding" on the screen?

Don't know but I think I would rely on the screen.

3) If there appears to be a queue at the gate with no clear priority boarding, would it be rude to try to approach staff at the front of the queue?
v( Definitely not! Obviously don't barge shouting "I'm Upper Class" but a discrete wave of a purple boarding pass is I would say not just acceptable but mandatory!

4) On board, can you request a sleep suit on the way out and is it silly to wear one in the day (I was thinking it would save my clothes getting messed up)? Request with impunity; but you do have to pack your day clothes somewhere, so my thoughts are they may as well get messed up on me as in a bag. But I don't do much ironing and washing. :w

5) If you are hungry, is it acceptable to ask for a snack as part of the Freedom menu? Of course; this is part of the deal.

6) For breakfast on the return, just how acceptable is it to ask for it a bit later as part of the Freedom menu? Very acceptable.

And anything else, that is only known by travelling frequently in Upper Class?

Relax and enjoy it!

Thank you in advance for any advice - we are very excited and don't want to end up being treated like the sketch on "Come Fly with Me" :0

I am sorry I do not watch commercial television.

Hi Issy,

I can't comment on the first two questions, but

Q3. Yes if there is a queue and no priority line, the go up to the desk and ask. I did last year, as there wasn't priority boarding due to an aircraft change, but as soon as I said I was UC, the desk agent got up and walked my party and a few other UC pax to the front of the queue so we could board. yes got a few looks from ppl in the queue but I wasn't bothered.

Q4. Yes you can request a sleepsuit if you so desire, nothing wrong with that at all.

Q5. Yes the freedom menu allows you to eat when you want to eat. You will get some nibbles with your drink, crisps i think.

Q6. As Q5, it;s up to you when you want to eat, just a long as there's enough time before landing.

Anything else? well above all enjoy the the clubhouse and the UC experience and it goes without saying enjoy the champers or any other drink that you chose to partake in.

have a fab trip

Regards

Totallylost

Thank you so much Stephen and TotallyLost for your fab responses. ^)
I think I can travel with confidence now. Feels like I have been to the v-flyer finishing school!

Hello,

Relax and enjoy it!
Thank you in advance for any advice - we are very excited and don't want to end up being treated like the sketch on "Come Fly with Me" :0

I am sorry I do not watch commercial television.

Commercial television?! It was on BBC1

At least that proves you really don't watch TV
How refreshing

From experience with the escape lounge - they will only announce boarding when it is ready for UC to board, so would wait for that as the screen will display general boarding so you might find a bit of a wait if you go to the gate then as that rarely means boarding is underway!!

Either way, go to the front and they will process you though at Manchester they do look out for those purple boarding passes and people have been moved out of the way for me to board before now!!

Enjoy.

Horburyflyer

My thoughts here:

1) About how much would you normally tip the CDC driver?

TIP as if you were paying for the journey - I estimate what it would be and tip appropriately.

2) when we are in the Escape Lounge at Man, is it best to wait until the lady on the desk calls us or to venture to the gate when it comes up as "boarding" on the screen?

THAT is down to you, if you like to board early then do, if not wait for the final call in the lounge.

3) If there appears to be a queue at the gate with no clear priority boarding, would it be rude to try to approach staff at the front of the queue?

HEAD for the front of the queue - and ignore the eyes burning your back ): .

4) On board, can you request a sleep suit on the way out and is it silly to wear one in the day (I was thinking it would save my clothes getting messed up)?

Of course you can. And it's not silly at all, lots do.

5) If you are hungry, is it acceptable to ask for a snack as part of the Freedom menu?

AT any time during the flight, the choice is yours.

6) For breakfast on the return, just how acceptable is it to ask for it a bit later as part of the Freedom menu?

IF you're like me, you leave it as late as possible, although sometimes I sleep to long and miss out.

And anything else, that is only known by travelling frequently in Upper Class?

JUST relax and enjoy, and don't forget to post your TR.

And anything else, that is only known by travelling frequently in Upper Class?

That it becomes very difficult to turn right on a plane anymore :w :w and is seriously damaging to your wealth !! Have a great trip and most of all just enjoy the whole experience.
DL

If you would like a Sleep Suit on your outbound flight, ask for it as soon as possible as there are only a limited number loaded on a daylight flight.

Yes I would say as some have above granted your entitled to priority boarding on the plane etc but please be respectful of economy passengers?

I always fly economy because to be honest I consider upper class an obscene waste of money(I looked into it for our upcoming trip to Orlando- upgrading to upper class would have cost more then the entire cost of our 2 week holiday(and bare in mind we`re staying at a nice four star hotel with all excursion tickets included) thats obscene for something which is only going to last you what 8-9 hours max?
Hell even an upgrade to premium economy would have cost us 600 quid each for both flights.......not worth it for an 8 hour flight I don't care how noisy the kids in economy are it aint worth 1200 quid to get away from them.

But back to the point Ive had a couple of experiences traveling with different airlines where ive been physically shoved out the way by someone and when confronted been told its there right as there `upper class` I normally shove right back and then some, I also find it amusing the snide looks the upper classes give you sometimes as they walk past your line, I call it the `holier then thou` air traveler look lol

I have no problem with upper class passengers getting the perks they do, after all if they wanna pay stupid money they should expect to receive more for it but be respectful of passengers traveling on cheaper tickets-just because they may not have as much money or not be willing to spend as much money does not make you `better` then them.
As such if you arrive late to the check in desk after upper class passengers have been called and the economy check in has started that is not my problem. If you try and barge past me or tell me to get out of the way I will at best tell you to sod off at worse you will end up with my foot in your backside.

There is nothing worse then someone whos traveling on an upper class ticket who thinks that makes them some sort of god lol
Enjoy your perks but please remember your willingness to spend money does not make you a better human being then mr and mrs smith back in cattle class. Stick to those guidelines and youll be fine.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to post your super advice. I am really excited and I am looking forward to the two days flying as much as the rest of the holiday. y) I just hope I don't forget to take the sleep suit off at the end

But I am bit puzzled by the last post from Omskemming:

ive been physically shoved out the way by someone and when confronted been told its there right as there `upper class` I normally shove right back and then some, I also find it amusing the snide looks the upper classes give you sometimes as they walk past your line,

Enjoy your perks but please remember your willingness to spend money does not make you a better human being then mr and mrs smith back in cattle class.

I am 5'2" and my mum is 5'0" and 79 years old. We will be pushing nobody and just wanted to know what is part of the upper class ticket. We have in the past waited at the back of a throng of people, when we could have gone past but didn't know to, that is why I was asking. We certainly don't think that this perk makes us better human beings! ?|

Enjoy your perks but please remember your willingness to spend money does not make you a better human being then mr and mrs smith back in cattle class. Stick to those guidelines and youll be fine.

Please remember that if it wasnt for those people paying for Upper Class/Premium fares, the cost of Economy fares would be a lot lot more....

Fair enough penny but that doesn't give you the right to be rude or abusive to economy passengers as I have seen happen many times in my flying experience. There is no need to look down upon us for having cheaper seats then yourselves, that was the point of my post im fed up of upper class snobs literally shoving there way to the front of the line, by all means walk up to the check in desk make them aware of your class of travel and be led onto the plane, dont join the line with the economy passangers then expect to be allowed to push others out the way to get to the front. there is a difference between the 2.

Hear, hear. If you're travelling in Upper, please refrain from shoving Y passengers out of the way. In future, may I suggest that the moderate use of a horse whip is a much more effective means of embarking the plane more swiftly...?

The fact I don't threaten to verbally abuse or assault people makes me a better human than you. Not the fact I fly UC.
):

I must say - I was actually suprised to see that the majority of passengers on my recent UC flight were very respectful "normal" people - not stuck up or rude at all.

I've travelled in Y many times and never seen any UC or PE passengers push or shove their way to the front - they have walked to the desk in a normal manner and been provided entry before Y passengers but this is to be expected.


I'm sure many of us would agree that we are often jealous of those travelling in UC - but as i've learnt there is only one thing you can do, save up and pay for it!

If i've paid £2000 for my seat vs. £400 in Y - I would demand priority - I wouldn't push and shove to get it.

Dubaiification if you bothered to read my post I stated I would only do so in the case of having such physical violence used against me in the first place(I speak from experience- I think it was an emirates flight I was literally shove to one side by an upper class passanger while I was in conversation with the rep behind the check in desk-who to be fair to her point blank refused to serve the guy for his rudeness until shed dealt with me)

I never claimed all upper class passangers are snobs either but as someone who`s flown economy a lot over the last few years(done the round the world thing backpacking) I have had quite a bit of experience of the worst kind of uc passenger lets say, I think some people think there ticket includes the right to treat economy class passengers like furniture to be moved around

ps I wouldnt say im jealous of those travelling in uc enyce, sure they have a lot plusher facilities but to be honest even if I could afford it I wouldn't pay as much money as they ask for such fares, maybe if it was a week long stay in a hotel id be willing to shell out that kind of money but not for a 8-9 hour flight, I dont envy them simply because of the price they have to pay

ps I wouldnt say im jealous of those travelling in uc enyce, sure they have a lot plusher facilities but to be honest even if I could afford it I wouldn't pay as much money as they ask for such fares, maybe if it was a week long stay in a hotel id be willing to shell out that kind of money but not for a 8-9 hour flight, I dont envy them simply because of the price they have to pay

I expect there are many on here with the same viewpoint - if you don't want to spend out for an UC flight yourself, you could always save your miles up and take a reward flight in UC for free (well once you've paid the necessary taxes!!). A good way to get the experience without paying.

Hear, hear. If you're travelling in Upper, please refrain from shoving Y passengers out of the way. In future, may I suggest that the moderate use of a horse whip is a much more effective means of embarking the plane more swiftly...?

Thats where I have been going wrong.... must pack horse whip in carry on luggage from now on ):

Yes I would say as some have above granted your entitled to priority boarding on the plane etc but please be respectful of economy passengers?

I don't think anyone was saying be rude to others to get to the front?

I always fly economy because to be honest I consider upper class an obscene waste of money(I looked into it for our upcoming trip to Orlando- upgrading to upper class would have cost more then the entire cost of our 2 week holiday(and bare in mind we`re staying at a nice four star hotel with all excursion tickets included) thats obscene for something which is only going to last you what 8-9 hours max? 
Hell even an upgrade to premium economy would have cost us 600 quid each for both flights.......not worth it for an 8 hour flight I don't care how noisy the kids in economy are it aint worth 1200 quid to get away from them.

It all depends how much you spend on your holidays, I can see that UC is about the same as 1 nights stay at a great hotel, and that's for a return, so could be seen as good value for the time spent in UC compared to hotel costs, easily on west coast flights.

But back to the point Ive had a couple of experiences traveling with different airlines where ive been physically shoved out the way by someone and when confronted been told its there right as there `upper class` I normally shove right back and then some, I also find it amusing the snide looks the upper classes give you sometimes as they walk past your line, I call it the `holier then thou` air traveler look lol

How is shoving back making you a better person? You shouldn't sink to other people's lows. IMO generally people who fly business class on Virgin aren't as bad as other airlines passengers in First and Business, Virgin is much more relaxed. You should see some of the looks and comments I have been given when using clearly laid out priority lines and boarding, from people in Economoy, they have been incredibly rude for no reason.

I have no problem with upper class passengers getting the perks they do, after all if they wanna pay stupid money they should expect to receive more for it but be respectful of passengers traveling on cheaper tickets-just because they may not have as much money or not be willing to spend as much money does not make you `better` then them.

I don't think anyone here thinks they are "better" than people on lower price tickets, but they do know that the higher the class ticket they hold entitles them to the "better" service Virgin offer.

As such if you arrive late to the check in desk after upper class passengers have been called and the economy check in has started that is not my problem. If you try and barge past me or tell me to get out of the way I will at best tell you to sod off at worse you will end up with my foot in your backside.

Yes violence is the solution, sure way to get off loaded

There is nothing worse then someone whos traveling on an upper class ticket who thinks that makes them some sort of god lol
Enjoy your perks but please remember your willingness to spend money does not make you a better human being then mr and mrs smith back in cattle class. Stick to those guidelines and youll be fine.

I think the majority of people in UC have traveled in Economy, or even PE. But even those like me who haven't, I know that someone "down the back" is no less of a person for traveling Economy, because I have been brought up with good morals.

It's amazing what an innocent question can spark! :0

I need to keep in mind that, for my UC fare, some extra things are included and not to let the inverted snobbery of some other passengers pressure me into letting these things pass me by. That said, I am going to be praying for very clear priority boarding!!!

Anyway, if you see me on the flight you will know it's me - I will be the one in the sleep suit in the daytime, with a black eye! B)

well my original post was meant to be a lighthearted rib at upper class passengers who do think there extra money entitles them to abuse the economy passengers as i mentioned in my experience.......I wouldn't have posted if id known so many of you were so sensitive, chill if you dont do such things than I wasn't referring to you anyway so wipe the rabid foam from your mouth:)

As an UC passenger, I certainly do not push or shove my way to the front of a queue. I wouldn't dream of it. Not all UC passengers are push and shove lower class passengers out the way! If there's a queue, i simply make my way to the desk let them know I'm UC and they sort out the boarding. No pushing shoving involved

[honey lamb]

The last time I was a victim of pushing and shoving it was two little old ladies in the jetway who were determined to get on board come hell or high water and battered their way to the front of the queue to get to their economy seats )