This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
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Cabin Crew
Our bags had been interlined to LHR at HNL, but we were not in possession of VS boarding passes.
We were sent to the ticketing gate to collect our boarding passes. This was somewhat annoying as, firstly, all the check in desks were really busy so we had quite a wait. It was necessary though, as there is a Virgin check on the interlined baggage. Secondly, we had to go through Security again. Bearing in mind that we'd only been on a plane since the last Security screening, we did think this was a bit superfluous, but there you go better to be safe than sorry and, for the first time, the new body screening scanners were actually working.
Finally we were off to the Air NZ lounge and what a perfectly pleasant place to spend a couple of hours. I had the spicy butternut squash soup, which was delicious and enjoyed a small cheese plate. Hubby made himself a ham sandwich. There were also chocolate brownies available, very nice indeed.
It was here that we spotted our first celeb, who also journeyed on the same plane as us.
Boarding was called and we made our way to the gate. Soon settled into our seats and the first thing I notice is how much space I've got on this 747 compared to the outbound 346. The suite is clean, but I do notice the scuff marks in the cabin.
On this flight, not only did the flight attendant introduce herself but so did the FSM. She spoke to everyone in the A zone, at least, and made sure we knew who she was if we needed anything. Although, I'd noticed the male FSM on the outbound flight, he did not introduce himself and could only be seen transiting through Upper Class at various points through the flight.
And given that we had Mr Celeb on board, he was treated as well as the rest of us, there appeared to be no extra special treatment for him.
For those that don't know, and I was one of those people, there is a very short taxi at LAX prior to take-off.
We were advised that there were 266 people on board with a flight time of 9.5 hours and soon we were taxing, got to the end of the runway, and stopped.
There soon followed an announcement from the flight deck that a warning light relating to the landing gear had appeared and the crew needed to attend to this. Unfortunately, the first few attempts failed and we were sent back to our stand.
The crew needed to speak to London and requested an Engineer to board. I have to say both the flight crew and FSM were very proactive in making announcements, even if no further info was forth-coming or known at the time. The general feeling was that the fault could be rectified and we would be leaving LAX as soon as possible.
During this drama, several Americans began to grow disgruntled. I'd heard one female American pax demand the flight crew put her on the BA flight. And later witnessed three more Americans getting rather heated over the situation. The FSM was forced to announce that any passenger who wished to leave the aircraft could, and to make themselves known to the flight crew.
I have to say, though, Mr Celeb, sat quietly on board throughout all this drama. He didn't make a fuss or demand special treatment. I got the impression he'd seen all this before and was completely unfazed. Compared to his compatriots in the UC B zone, he was quite the model passenger.
Eventually, we had the good news that all was fixed and we would be finally taking off. In the end we were about 3.5 hours late and, effectively flying in the VS24 timeslot (I had previously been booked on the VS24, but it had been cancelled a few months earlier). This time we had 264 pax on board – so, clearly, a couple had thrown their toys out of the cot and deplaned.
I declined the offer of food, although I did have a very good mug of hot chocolate, and had my bed made up as soon as possible. I managed to get about 4 hours sleep, too.
![][|)](./images/smilies/icon_smile_sleepy.gif "Sleepy"){kind=icon}
At about noon UK time, I changed my bed back to the seat and had a cup of tea. For breakfast, I had the fruit salad and yoghurt, which was served about 2 hours out from London.
We eventually landed at 3:30pm. Having not seen our bags since Honolulu, there was a minor panic when one came out first, with the second eventually following about 10 minutes later.
I have read the reports on here recently about inconsistencies with staff on board but, perhaps fortunately, did not witness anything but great service on both VS flights. Yes, there were obvious differences with the FSMs, but this did not affect the service provided to UC on board.
All in all a great pair of VS flights to and from the West Coast. Thanks VS.
Mahalo for reading
