VS039 LHR-ORD 30 MAY 12 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

We arrived in very good time due to a decent M4 drive and were greeted by our ever efficient Meteor driver at T3.
Checked in online snaffling seq 1 & 2 for the first time ever !
So it was straight to bag drop where there was a liitle queue so we were ushered to the PE check in where we were seen by a polite and courteous agent who asked the usual questions . Off we went to security that was nearly empty so we made from car to departures in less than 15 mins .
A little bit of shopping followed by champagne at the Bridge Bar (no ClubHouse for us ) then the trek to gate 20 to be awaited by Miss Kitty.

The awaiting Miss Kitty
Miss Kitty.JPG (30.46 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

Now checking her last few flights she had been to Manila for maintenance then onto HKG - LHR.
Vroc, vfiz, gwow,gvfab, gvfit were all waiting at their gates and I was pointing them out and giving their names to the very unimpressed Mrs P !
Small queue to get to the in to departure lounge as machine kept beeping but sadly didn't beep at us
Greeted on on board with smiles (which hopefully sets the scene for the whole flight) although not by name. Now I am not Au and not flying UC but when this happened on the flight to HKG in Ylast year I thought it was epic service !!
Sat in 43A&C which seem to be reasonable seats, although mine was creaking a bit and on take off I realised it would not stay secured in the upright position.

Mrs P in 43a
43a & 43c.JPG (23.97 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

Also had a little bit of the trim falling off on the side panel the but other than this she seemed in good shape.
Flight time announced as a very brisk 7 hrs 47 mins !! 280 pax on board, incl 41 UC & 38PE
CC asked if all pax had personal belongings as a mans peroxide wig had been found (!)
A 20 min taxi where we saw VHOT & VWIN on their stands then we took off on runway 9L heading in the usual route across Wales, Ireland, over the ocean over Newfoundland and down into ORD.
Drinks service 30 mins into flight (after a little power nap). Menu posted below:

Economy Menu
Menu.JPG (27.43 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

I chose the chicken & bacon main which was actually ok but, as previous people have mentioned, the portion size was questionable.

Dinner is served
Dinner.JPG (34.98 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

Dessert came around later - it was a Gu choc/passion fruit sickly mousse which was great!
IFE in working order except imap which was temperamental and as for the position of the controls - a nightmare for the crew as loads of us accidentally pressed the call button !

CC pleasant & efficient, did not set the world on fire but did exactly what it said on the tin - which will do for me!
Slept for about 3 hours, woken by the seat belt announcement followed by a bout of mild turbulence that lasted 15 mins
High Tea was served approx 1.5 hrs prior to arrival and consisted of a cheese & Red onion sandwich and scone with clotted cream and jam. Did I enjoy it? Yes I did, so much so that i finished off Mrs P's as well

High Tea anyone?
High Tea.JPG (36.12 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

A pretty hard landing at ORD ensured that a little light cover from the cieling fell down and clipped Mrs P on the head - no damage done, tho!
As we were taxiing from the runway we saw an Eva Air Cargo plane surrounded by fire crews...it seems that it clipped an AA Eagle jet with its wing 20 minutes before we landed - thankfully no one was hurt and there were no delays. Tried to get some photos....in photo one you can just see the emergency vehicles and in photo 2 you can see the AA Eagle that it hit in the background - sort of!

Eva Cargo photo 1
Eva Cargo incident.JPG (26.17 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

Eva Cargo 2
Eva Cargo incident 2.JPG (24.97 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

Details of the incident below:

http://www.rjet.ca/blog/2012/05/30/eva- ... nt-at-ord/


A quick exit from Miss Kitty, into a busy immigration hall but this was spotted by a CBP agent who them moved us into a quieter area and we were through and with bags within 40 minutes - awesome

I would like to express my thanks to those that gave me advice about getting into Chicago city centre from ORD . There's no doubt that, after a short walk following the signs, getting the train for $2.25 is the best way to do this unless you have shed loads of luggage!

Time to celebrate my 40th in the Windy City!

thanks for the TR and also tip on getting from ORD to city centre,were flying there on 17th August for our 40th wedding anniversary

A pretty hard landing at ORD ensured that a little light cover from the cieling fell down and clipped Mrs P on the head - no damage done, tho!

Am glad no damage was done to the plane

Hope you are both having a good time in Chicago.

thanks for the TR and also tip on getting from ORD to city centre,were flying there on 17th August for our 40th wedding anniversary

You will have a fantastic time as Chicago is a beautiful city - we hired a car for a couple of days and went around the city as that was well worth doing if you have time Congrats on your 40th Wedding anniversary

The walk from ORD to the train station is 10 - 15 minutes and do keep your eyes on the signs - as long as you don't mind the walk, it is well worth it as it will save you $40 at least...a couple of cocktails at the bar

A pretty hard landing at ORD ensured that a little light cover from the cieling fell down and clipped Mrs P on the head - no damage done, tho!

Am glad no damage was done to the plane

Hope you are both having a good time in Chicago.

Thanks Tonty but I have to admit to being a little slow with posting the outbound as we returned this morning
As for Chicago - amazing place!
Mrs P sends her regards aswell

I agree. I was there July last year and had a great time!


*waves to Mrs P*

Thanks for the TR and looking forward to the return and your experiences of Chicago.

Paul

Thanks for another great TR Petmadness. That chicken meal looks pretty bad.

Glad you enjoyed the Blue Line ride. :-)