This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
An early start as the flight leaves at 11:30, so we were on the 08:00 Narita Express – it takes 61 minutes to Terminal 1 (NRT is a long way out of Tokyo). On arrival at the airport, you need to show your passport to get into the Terminal. We knew the flight was very quiet – there were only 5 booked in Upper and 12 in premium, with 120 or so in Economy. Check-in was friendly and efficient – I was served at premium desk to speed things up, and noticed that the upgrade prices were ¥5000 for economy bulk head, ¥30,000 for economy to premium and ¥160,000/200,000 for premium/economy to Upper. There must have been some good upselling as there were 6 in Upper on the actual flight and about 20 or so in premium.
Having cleared security and immigration, we headed off to the Clubhouse. People have mentioned that this can get busy but today it was nice and quiet. We were given the Narita Clubhouse welcome drink of cranberry juice and soda water – very refreshing. The staff were friendly and helpful throughout. I had the eggs Benedict as I was feeling a little peckish and I was not disappointed. Boarding was about 15 minutes late due to the late arrival of the inboard aircraft – this was explained personally to each person in the lounge. Whilst waiting two staff came over with a cake stand in my direction. We thought that they were going to the wrong place, but in fact this was for me as an early birthday surprise (my actual birthday is in late May). The cake stand had some French toast, fresh fruit and “Happy Birthday” written in chocolate – it was an amazing surprise and a nice end to our trip in Tokyo. Well done Narita ground staff!! Boarding was announced individually to each passenger – final nice touch!
Once on board, snooze packs, water and headsets were handed out personally. The FSM came around and introduced himself to each passenger, explained that although the flight was very quiet, lunch would be served at a slow and relaxed pace and not rush! I asked about the speciality cocktail as again it is not in the menu – a “gin kiss” (gin, cranberry, lime and soda) but the FSM explained that it was also very nice if made with vodka instead of gin! Pushed back on time, to join a queue of wide-bodies heading off to Korea, Europe and the US. The initial climb was very bumpy indeed – the crew were confined to seats for about 45 minutes after take-off and the turbulence was pretty bad indeed (the FSM announced several times that this was normal and nothing to worry about). Interestingly on the ground, the Captain had announced that the flight would be nice and smooth from start to finish – later he apologised that there had been unexpected weather not on the maps.
Once the crew were allowed up, drinks orders were taken and served with crisps (there is no nuts/olives options anymore). The FSM was right, service was much more relaxed and leisurely on this flight. Time for a drinks refill before the table was laid for lunch. The menu has been posted on here before, but my options were:
Starter
Tomato and basil soup (served hot but a bit bland)
Main
Fillet of beef with teriyaki sauce, Japanese seasonal vegetables and rice served with miso soup (very tasty indeed and the miso soup was served hot this time!!)
Dessert
Warm bread and butter pudding with chocolate sauce (very tasty)
The crew bought around all the white and red wines and were helpful in choosing the right one. Service was provided at an appropriate pace and the food was well presented. During my main course, one of the Japanese crew came over with some Japanese pickles to accompany it (not sure where these came from as not on the menu) and also offered me some Sake – apparently they carry a bottle on the Japanese flights. Not listed anywhere and not offered on the outbound. I accepted, as I thought it would be a nice end to our trip in Japan. Very thoughtful and attentive of the crew to add these nice touches to my meal (apparently the chicken was very good as well).
After watching a couple of films, with the correct Aberfeldy this time, we headed to the bar for a drink. Service was provided throughout and although the crew didn’t stand there all the time, they made sure that we were well looked after. The bar was still set up completely, including the bottle of Sake on the shelf, along with snacks if needed (some very tasty fire cracker rice puffs!). After a game of Monopoly on the iPad, we headed back to watch another film and had the Yaki Udon noodles off the graze menu (would be rude not to!). Tasty and appropriate snack size portion.
We managed to stay awake throughout the flight, and the crew were attentive to all the Upper passengers throughout. Afternoon tea service was served on plates, rather than the individual cake stands. I didn’t mind not having the trolley service for cheese / afternoon tea for only 6 passengers, but it was a shame not to have the individual cake stand. Interestingly, we found out that in economy they are served a second hot meal – unusual that in Upper you get one hot meal and sandwiches, whereas in economy you get two hot meals (we had a wander down during the flight and a chat with a couple of the CC in economy, who were lovely and offered us snacks and drinks down the back as well – it was clear that they were enforcing the stopping alcohol based on consumption rather than effects, checking with the CSS before serving more drinks).
Arrived to an empty LHR, quiet immigration (unlike the reports on the news recently) and bags were off very quickly and we were in our waiting Tristar car within 30 minutes of landing!!
Overall impression
- The FSM and crew this time got the whole experience right – service was provided in a fun and friendly manner with little extra touches to make the whole experience above what would have been expected
- The Narita Ground Crew were exceptionally excellent and made a wonderful end to the whole Japan experience!
- This made up for the outbound disappointment – just a shame that VS didn’t provide the appropriate Upper experience on both flights
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