VS018 EWR-LHR 27 AUG 12 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Aircraft: A340-600 G-VFIZ 'Bubbles'
Seats: 3A & 4D
Take off Time & Runway: 22R at approx 8am
Arrival Time & Runway: 27L at approx 8.05pm
Flying Time: 6h 35m

The return trip after our 3 week adventure was a first for us as we'd be flying NY-London in the daylight as opposed to overnight.

We managed to upgrade this leg from a Premium Economy 'K' to a 'Z' for £26 each in the very good sale pre-Olympics.

I did question our sanity when woken by a 4am alarm call. However after a quick walk 2 blocks to Penn Station we were on our way to Newark on the 4.51am NJ Transit train. We arrived on-time and after a quick ride on the Air Train arrived at Terminal B. The exit for the Air Train is strange in that it deposits you behind the check in area, so you double-back on yourself to check in.

Were checked in at around 5.45am by a rather disinterested chap who did appear to wish he was still in bed. However the process was quick with no queue and we were able to eavesdrop on the passenger next to us complaining at having to pay an overweight bag charge

Although the terminal was quiet at the early hour, the Clubhouse presented a nice sanctuary. It was fairly quiet when we arrived, with one or two passengers in the land of nod on sofas/chairs. Managed to find ourselves a nice comfortable sofa and helped ourselves to the very enjoyable breakfast options (porridge, cereals, cooked items, fruit etc. The lounge filled up around an hour before departure, but was in no way cramped.

Boarding was called around 7.15am, so it was off to security. The queue was rather lengthy and moved at snails pace. The rather surly TSA staff didn't help. The clubhouse passengers actually only arrived at the aircraft door at about 7.45am and I was worried at one point that we'd miss the flight.

UC was full on this leg, but drinks were offered quite promptly before take off. Flight time was longer than normal due to a poor tailwind, not that I was bothered being in UC! Seat 3A was in fairly good condition, with a bit of visible wear & tear in the obvious places.

After take-off breakfast was offered. I kept it simple and went for a bacon sarnie and tea. The captain announced a great view of Boston on the left side as we were eating.

There was nothing much I fancied on the IFE so I just read after dinner. We both tried to have no sleep on this flight to combat jetlag, so after about 90 minutes flying we headed to the bar...

... 90 minutes or so later we were still there, having had a very wide-ranging chat with 2 fellow passengers and several crew-members.

Dinner was served around 2.5 hours from London. I can't recall what the amuse bouche was, I think it was pepper-related, but it was better than the outbound. Sadly I don't recall what the menu was, so couldn't tell you what I ate but I do remember it being very good. The cheesecake for dessert was very good. As on the outbound, no cheese trolley appeared.

There was no FSM in a grey/black shirt on this flight, as I believe a CSS was 'acting up'. She did a good job but again there was no FSM-interaction with either of us at any point. The dark-haired lady who served us (mostly) was a bit cold, but provided a good service. I've graded the CC as 'good' mainly because of the interaction we had with them at the bar for a large part of the flight, when some of the other CC were very chatty and welcoming.

We were due to land at around 7.35 but did at least 4 loops of a hold around the Gatwick area so ended up landing slightly late at 8.05. We were very quickly through a deserted immigration hall, bags came within 10 minutes and then off home in the car.

Jet-lag wise we found this flight better than the overnight timings, as we weren't zombies for the rest of the day after arriving in the morning. It also made for a much less rushed feel to the journey. However going straight back to work the next morning might've been a bit ambitious on my part as I did feel shattered by the end of the week.

In conclusion, another very solid flight with good food and good conversation at the bar. I'm just not sure whether we've seen one of the stellar VS crews people talk about in any of our 4 UC legs so far.

Thanks for another enjoyable TR.

I know what you mean about the stellar crews. Sometimes I wonder the same about Clubhouse service (and sometimes food and drink) -- some people manage to have a ball...

The dayflight jetlag is deceptive -- after trying it a couple of times I've gone back to the red-eyes, because I'd rather have one tough day than a whole week of difficult sleeping.

Do you mean runway 27R at LHR?

Corrected to 27L :-)

Thanks for the TR. We're trying a day flight next April, mostly because, as a strictly leisure flyer, I tend to feel that an hour asleep in UC is an hour wasted.

Over the UC legs we've done we've never had less than good service in the CH and in flight, and excellent service in both on a fair few.

thanks for the TR I thought my upgrade on a "K" to a "Z" was a good bargin but yours beats it hands down.You don't say if your lack of memory was due to the 90mins at the bar!I must admit we have found that in most of our US trips the Virgin ground crew have been unhelpful and surly to say the least,the only exception being Las Vegas