This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I’ve also been doing my trip reports in sequence of my flights around northern California, Seattle and Alaska. There are two outstanding but they really were unremarkable for a change. The return flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage was uneventful and remarkable in that it was the only flight on Alaska Airlines that we were not upgraded. We had a pleasant two days in Anchorage where we had dinner with one of Chris’s (for those coming late to these reports, my travel buddy from Seattle) former college mates who is the news producer of the NBC affiliate in Alaska as well as their weather girl at weekends and also an author of books in the genre of “50 Shades of Grey”
Needless to say dinner was verrrry interesting! It was also interesting in the restaurant as we were off the tourist trail and there were many nudges as we entered and left thanks to her weather forecasting presentations. The second day we drove to Seward into bear country but as we progressed the rain swept in and the bears being eminently sensible, stayed in shelter. Our flight back to Seattle was equally unremarkable. We were back in First again and because the flight was longer than 3 hours we were given digi-players, which surprised me at how heavy they were, and watched “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” for the second time. To be honest, I can’t remember what we were served apart from unlimited supplies of G&T nor did I take a photo of it as on previous flights. I was becoming blasé about Alaska Airlines First!
Back in Seattle we celebrated Chris’s birthday with friends, had a visit from his mum and dad and also another from other friends, a mother and daughter whom I have known as long as Chris but have not seen as often. After we had set up the meeting the mum emailed to say she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and so the meeting was bitter-sweet. I was truly humbled by her attitude in the face of her own mortality. I’m sure I’d be scared sh*tless!! To counterbalance this the previous day we had gone to the Outlet Mall north of Seattle and met two women from my home town who were visiting their respective son and daughter in Vancouver. It was totally unexpected and a good job I wasn’t doing anything out of the way!
I took the train to Vancouver where I was joined by a friend from Calgary where we had a pleasant day or so wandering around Gastown, doing some shopping and eating delicious chocolate desserts!
OK, back to the trip report proper. I had originally booked a G out of SFO on VS20 for July 13th but as it was Chris’s birthday he persuaded me to stay a day or two longer. I didn’t really need my arm twisted for that especially there seemed to be plenty of G’s available including one on the 15th but it was a classic case of “You snooze, you lose” as the following day it was gone.
I went to book the next date which was the 18th but in conversation with the FC Gold agent he informed me that the availability was on VS42. I hadn’t expected that and so needed to reconsider. I know it sounds daft but for the VS42 it was a 343 v a 747, no Revivals v Revivals, a 5 hour layover at LHR v a 3 hour one and I hated the thought of being in the Clubhouse in SFO and watching a 747 leave without me on it. Somewhere from the recesses of my mind I thought about Vancouver and was instantly drawn towards it. OK it was going to be a 343, no Revivals and a 4 hour layover - all of the things I had railed against if I accepted the VS42 but the thought that it had no other alternative and I wouldn’t be watching an earlier flight made it more palatable. Crazy, I know but then, that’s me! Amtrak brought me to Vancouver on a very pleasant trip and after just over a day in Vancouver with my friend it was now time to end my North America odyssey.My friends flight to Calgary left about two hours before mine and so we headed for the airport early, making first of all for the International terminal to see what was what. At the VS check-in area there were all the signs that the desks would open soon as staff were beginning to switch on the monitors to indicate the various desks so I decided to wait. There was a longish line for economy but no-one in either the UC or PE lines so I fetched up at the head of the UC one. At the top of the economy line was an elderly couple of the sporty persuasion - you know the type, the ones who think that a two-mile tramp in the Cotswolds is their idea of a lazy Sunday afternoon.
They had probably spent their holidays yomping around the foothills of the Rockies in full regalia. The wife looked at me agitatedly as I took my rightful place in the UC line and edged her trolley further forward ready for the off! If it was going to be a sprint to the desk then Usain Bolt was only going to be trotting after her!! 
Soon the formalities of setting up the desks was complete and as soon as the first check-in agent had booted up her computer she waved me forward much to the fury of Mrs Tramp-in-the-Cotswolds! It would have been nice to have swaggered up to the desk in a triumphal manner like a Roman emperor returning from battle but I resisted the urge. However when I reached the desk I felt an acute pain in my back! What was it? A pulled muscle? A sudden wrench, perhaps? A twinge from piling my bags on to the scales? No! It was from the dagger-like glares which were the size of javelins from Mrs T-i-t-C whose fury was palpable from that distance!! To be honest, I did feel a tiny bit sorry for her. After all, they had arrived to be first in the queue and God alone knows how long they had been waiting there for check-in to open when this Jilly-come-lately fetches up and gets seen first! I’d love to say it was because I had spent mega-bucks on this ticket but given that it was a reward fare, I probably paid less than she did! I was sorely tempted to say “After you” but I didn’t. I’m not that daft! The check-in experience was extremely pleasant. I did chance my arm and ask if my bags could be routed through to Cork even though I was on a separate ticket and was told no. It really only seems to work if you are on an internal flight in the USA to a flight which connects to VS even if it is on a separate PNR. I also queried the loads because at the time of OLCI (and I can’t remember what SEQ) there were only 3 seats requested, one of which was mine. I was told it was light enough but there were some staff travelling as well who would be in UC. My heart sank slightly at that but I reminded myself that the last time I had flown with VS staff it had been a positive experience as they wanted to know my views on what they could do to improve service. While I did not expect that again, it reminded me that crew travelling are generally aware of their place.
Once check-in was completed it was back to join my friend for one final libation and given that her name among our friends is Margarita Marlene it was only fitting that we should end with a couple of those accompanied by some yam fries.
At security I entered the line for business class passengers which was empty but at the end of the tensa-barriered walkway I encountered another barrier - one which prevented me from entering the security area. The man policing the economy line looked at me and grumbled that he didn’t know why they were sending people along my particular line. I refrained from answering along the lines of “Well it says Business Class and I’m flying in the equivalent of business, so duh!” and just looked blankly at him. He quickly opened the barrier for me and with a swift glance around the machines, got his own back by sending me to the one with the longest line.
When I got there it seemed to be moving but then ground to a positive stand-still when a very elderly English couple got to the front of the line. It was probably their second time going through airport security - the first being on their outbound. They reached the monitor and then stopped as they were asked to remove their coats. Yup! They were wearing coats even though the outside temperature was in the mid to high 20Cs outside. So they slowly unbuttoned them......….and their jackets.....
…...and their cardies...
as the security bods gazed open-mouthed at the amount of clothing being removed. Fortunately for all concerned the security people told them they didn’t need to remove the cardies and asked them whether or not they were wearing belts. The man was and so it was duly removed and there then followed an interval of pure farce as his wife turned to the security guys and asked, “Does he need to take off his braces” The security guys looked at the husband who smiled benignly at them with his ill-fitting dentures bobbing up and down. They looked at him and then at each other and then at him again. “Braces?”, they asked thoroughly puzzled looking at his mouth.
“Yes, braces,” said the missus and pulled at the two straps from her hapless husband’s chest. A look of pure relief came over the security guys faces. “Aah, suspenders!”, they chorused. “No! Braces!” the lady replied, “Suspenders is wot ladies use to hold up their stockings in the days when they wore stockings. None of these new-fangled tights they wear nowadays. They was suspenders wot was used. They were attached to corsets, like” At this the poor security guys gave up and assured them that they did not need to take them off at which point the missus let go of the straps and they twanged back with such force that it nearly knocked the poor husband off his feet. Looking visibly shaken by the whole episode security let them go through and looked so bewildered after the event that I’m sure we could have managed to take a whole armoury of weapons through over the next five to ten minutes as they tried to compose themselves!! 
This of course, meant I skipped through with the minimum of fuss! After a quick trip to Duty Free I headed for the lounge used by VS in Vancouver. It is a Plaza Premium pay-to-enter lounge and I was fully expecting it to be crowded but it was pleasantly empty.
I was nicely welcomed and invited to help myself to drinks and snacks which were laid out in a large alcove just round the corner from the entrance. There was a good selection of drinks but the snacks seemed to be in short supply - or maybe, because I had just had some yam fries, I wasn’t really looking. I helped myself to a glass of white wine (although G&T was available) and sat down ready to connect once more to the outside world courtesy of cyberspace. There was only a handful of people present including a business man sitting near me who was working on his macBook but then later was seen reading a Zane Grey book. I used to scour the library as a kid for such books for my dad but didn’t think anyone read Westerns anymore. 
After a while a staff member came round carrying a board announcing the departure of flight VS96 and about three of us, including the Western-loving business man left the lounge. While no Clubhouse, it was a far more pleasant place to wait than I had expected.OK, before we board the flight I need to put a context around the flight itself. There is no doubt in my mind that the events of the night before I left home impinged severely on my holiday. I had been in touch with friends at home who had been looking after things for me and had convinced me that there was nothing I could do but wait till the house dried out and the insurance came through but still I had to face the aftermath. I had slept badly throughout my trip and had seen 4:30am more times than were either necessary or wanted to the extent that on the Saturday before I left I was unwell to the point of being violently sick.
I recovered but by the time I was travelling by train to Vancouver I was exhausted to the point of being weepy! If I had been on my own in Vancouver I probably would have spent the time sitting by the pool in the hotel which would have been a waste of a beautiful city. Such was my state by the time it was time to board the flight.On leaving the lounge it was quite a long walk to the gate area where we could see immediately that the loads were light. They were just finishing pre-boarding families as we arrived and we were no sooner in the area when UC and Gold members were invited to board - easily one of the most seamless transition from lounge to plane I have experienced.
I had hoped that I would score three in a row with G-VSUN to be my chariot but that really was too much to expect and indeed G-VFAR, aka Molly was waiting for me. Well any plane with a name as sweet as Molly is fine with me! Once on board I settled myself in 2K rapidly followed by Mr Western-lover who ensconced himself in 1K. I was no sooner at my seat than the cabin crew assigned to my area was beside me offering my pre-flight drink. I remembered him from a previous flight because of his boyish good looks, his delightful accent and that he had been good then and my heart lifted somewhat.
Champagne was requested and delivered and I had learned how to manoeuvre the coupe glasses around the light on the drinks’ shelf, so no problems there. As the cabin filled up - well you could hardly call it filling up given the light loads, but you know what I mean - it became clear which of the passengers were crew but only because they chatted to each other but also because another crew member on my flight spent a long time chatting to one of them. Even so, if I had not known there were crew on board I would never have guessed or even noticed them. So much for people complaining about staff travelling as has happened in some TRs. These were exemplary in adhering to guidelines set down by airlines for staff travel. The middle seats were empty and there were vacant seats on both sides of the A/K seatsWe pushed back some 15 minutes early and with a fast flying time, we were expected in LHR an hour earlier than expected. Oh dear! I was probably the only person on board who would rather have a late arrival so that I didn’t have to hang around LHR for hours on end for my EI flight! Such a killjoy!! Once the crew were released to their duties drinks orders were taken and soon I was in possession of a perfect G&T complete with lime. Confession time!
I had struggled with the champagne and I struggled even more with the G&T. Dinner orders were taken and I really wasn’t hungry. I opted for a starter of vegetable broth with a dumpling and cheese tortellini as being the lightest on the menu. I also had a glass of wine but really can’t remember if it was white or red but I suspect the former. The broth when it came, was lovely and light although I didn’t touch the dumpling and I really enjoyed it but when the tortellini came I could barely pick at it. When that dear, sweet cabin crew came round he expressed concern that I wasn’t eating and I confessed to being tired. Tired! That was the understatement of the year! I was completely wiped out! He, bless him, acknowledged that I looked tired and offered to make up the bed in the suite next to mine, which was empty, so that I could slip into it any time I liked! All of a sudden bed became the most attractive option but the problem was that the seat belt signs were on because of turbulence although by that time it had subsided and we were waiting for the sign to be turned off. I needed the washroom and the bed in that order but how could I achieve either? The cabin crew said he couldn’t say anything if he didn’t see me and promptly vacated the cabin so that I could slip into the loo and then into the bed he had made up for me in 3KDuly masked and ear-plugged I slept one of the best sleeps I have had on an aircraft waking somewhere between Iceland and Ireland.
![][|)](./images/smilies/icon_smile_sleepy.gif "Sleepy"){kind=icon}
I felt ready to face anything. My dear, darling cabin crew was at my side almost as soon as my head popped above the partition and within seconds fruit and tea was in front of me. I rapidly changed out of my sleep suit and was ready for our arrival into LHR which was accomplished without delay and we arrived about an hour ahead of schedule. Because I slept so much it is hard to rate this flight but the cabin crew was so attentive to my needs that it warrants a good rating. I really felt cared for and was looked after really well. OK so the flight didn’t have all the bells and whistles of other flights but what made it special was that the cabin crew adapted his service to my needs and therefore I will place it up with the exceptional ones I have experienced.On arrival in LHR we had the usual yomp to Border Control which was empty so we were through faster than those at the e-gates. In the baggage hall our bags were already already trundling around the carousel and I plucked mine from the carousel ready for the trek to T1
I arrived in T1 to an empty Aer Lingus area and decided to chance my arm as in the past I had been unable to check in for my Cork flight until about 3pm and it wasn’t even 2pm. However the dear lady on check-in deemed that I could and soon I was through security and off to the EI gates. I was quite content to stay there and use my iPad to its full advantage before our flight was called. It was a quick hop over to Cork and I had a G&T and a toasted sandwich. My arrival in Cork was trouble free. At customs I dithered about the channels I should go through since there was a customs officer manning the area. When I headed to the Green channel he stopped me and asked from where I had come. I admitted it was Vancouver but he told me that because I was on a separate ticket I had been pre-cleared in LHR. I always thought that was the case but this was the first time it had been confirmed for me. After that my friends were there to meet me and soon I was home to face this
