This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
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Cabin Crew
Ready? Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!
We had left our hotel in Victoria, BC at 7am with the full intention of catching the 8am ferry to Tsawwassen, just south of Vancouver and thence to Seattle where I would be re-united with most of my luggage as I'd only taken enough for the weekend. We were to stop at the outlet mall just outside of Seattle to do some shopping and if the timing was right, for me to check in for my flight to see if I could snag an upgrade once more. All went to plan. We arrived at the ferry just as they were beginning to load cars and then went for an all-you-can-eat breakfast.
I was later to be very glad I pigged out! At the outlet mall all was going swimmingly and at T-6 I set up at Starbbucks with fingers poised ready for the off only to discover that it was probably the only Starbucks in North America (and probably the world) that didn't have wi-fi!! 
Ah, well. Some you win, some you lose and given my experience with the outbound from SFO I waved goodbye to any upgrade and we continued back to Seattle.Once there I decided to do OLCI and you can imagine my amazement when at T-5 there were still 6 First class seats available. Result!!
All of a sudden seat 2F was mine. I clicked on the print icon to make sure it had gone through and indeed all was in order ............but was it? Oh seat 2F was mine all right but the boarding time was down as 7:25pm. Hang on, the flight was supposed to be at 6:55pm. What gives?
A quick check on the VX website confirmed that indeed the flight was delayed and scheduled to go out an hour late. Ah well! It's not as if I was connecting to another flight or anything. We decided to head for the airport at the original time we had planned which was just as well as the traffic was very heavy and a trip which normally takes 25-30 minutes took the most of an hour. So having bid farewell to my travelling companion I presented myself to the VX check-in area at 6pm.In Seattle there are three check-in desks, one for First and the other two for the rest. All three were busy and at First was a group of young Japanese who were taking up a lot of time and I suspected that they were being re-routed because of the delay. The other two desks were quickly seen to including a young man who had arrived after me and his whole body language said that he was going to queue-jump and he did!
The check-in agent then glanced across, saw that the guy at First was still dealing with the Japanese and left his podium to come down and help me with my bags, which had doubled in quantity since my arrival in the USA. He checked me in and told me of the delay which had been caused by weather earlier in the day and they were trying to play catch-up. He advised me to go to the gate and stay in that vicinity in case it was in a position to leave earlier than expected. Security was very quiet and I was through in no time even though I had one of those stand with your hands in the air type scans and the gate was a mere hop and a step from there.I settled down in a corner delighted that SEA-TAC has free wi-fi to await whatever the fates had in store for me. Virgin America were very pro-active with announcements, updating us at regular intervals and explaining about the weather difficulties which apparently were caused by heavy cross-winds at SFO. They informed us when the incoming flight had landed and at one stage said that they hoped to start boarding at 7:10pm. Nearer to that time they announced that it was a very full flight and they were looking for 10 pieces of baggage to be gate-checked at no extra cost and asked for a round of applause as each person came up to volunteer! Later they announced another game. The person who could produce the oldest penny would get a free drink on the flight. I think someone managed to produce a 1940 one. I wonder if moths flew out of his pocket when it was produced!!
Well, it was a bit of fun and helped to pass the time. 
At 7:10pm boarding was announced and First and Main Cabin Select were invited to come forward. I settled quickly into my seat and unlike the previous flight the cabin crew was most attentive and I was soon in possession of a G&T.
Boarding proceeded as normal but then all of a sudden there was a lull in the traffic through the cabin. The VX supervisor came on board to say they had just received a phone call from SFO informing them that the flight could not take off as expected because of continuing winds and we would have to de-plane! They then changed it to say that if we wished to stay on board we could but most of those in economy left. I and the guy in 2D stayed and I was given another G&T. About 20 minutes later they were allowed to reboard and at this stage the captain came out to explain the situation more fully. He told us about the severe crosswinds and how the separation of aircraft for take-off and landing had been increased because of this. He also said that international flights had priority and thus domestic flights were being pushed back. He was in constant contact with SFO and would keep us updated. The cabin was prepared for take-off, the safety video was shown and I was served another G&T but not one inch did the plane move.About 30 minutes later the captain came out once more and told us there was likely to be a delay of an hour and a half and we were to de-plane once more. This time it was mandatory. We did hope that we would still be allowed to stay in First (and be fed G&Ts) but no dice.
The captain was also anxious that anyone who had onward connections should have a chance to check their status. I chatted to him for a bit as I left and he hoped that I would get a chance to have "a bit of dinner" At this stage I was muttering about what would have been happening if we were in the EU (blithely ignoring the fact that at my most horrendous delay all I had been given was a voucher for €5) I was also concerned that the crew would go out of hours, forgetting that in the USA work time (and pay) is from wheels up to wheels down. By this time it was about 9pm and shortly after we had de-planed there was an announcement that they needed the gate for an incoming aircraft and so they were going to re-board us and tow the plane out to a remote area until we could take off in an hour and a half's time. This nearly prompted a riot! One guy approached the desk shouting that this was "Bullshit!" and demanding to speak to the supervisor and was joined by others baying for blood. 
The supervisor appeared and tried to calm the situation with these passive-aggressive gentlemen (who were rapidly becoming less passive and more aggressive) but all of a sudden boarding was called once more and we all trooped back on preparing to decamp indefinitely at some remote part of the airport. Another pre-flight G&T was served this time with a bag of crisps and a bar of Nature Valley (I think), we pushed back and trundled along but then all of a sudden the plane turned on to the runway, powered up and took off at 10:10pm. After that the flight was uneventful. We were served a salad (and more G&T)
and watched a film and eventually arrived in SFO shortly after midnight. There was a bit of a delay before our bags came through but just after 1am I checked into my hotel after a very looooooong day.Oh, and pity the poor pilot and the cabin crew. They were still having to work as they were taking the plane on a red-eye flight to New York!
![][|)](./images/smilies/icon_smile_sleepy.gif "Sleepy"){kind=icon}
