VS001 LHR-EWR 15 SEP 13 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

i'd been looking forward to this one as it's the first time back in a 747 for a couple of years & that's where the UC cabin still feels special to me, and where better than in the original old girl herself, Tubular Belle .

Starting with a faultless Little Red hop from MAN, which contrary to recent trips was a very light load of 50 souls. It was interesting to hear that a few of the PAX on board were using LR to transfer from a MAN VA flight back to LHR - not something i'd considered people doing but it seems to have opened up another option for travellers. Also interesting to hear that they were struggling to transfer those PAX luggage from one MAN terminal to another. The Tristar driver who took me to MAN was telling me he had been hearing from his passengers that Virgin had been having luggage issues with LR transfers also so it seems like there are still bugs in the system somewhere.

The Clubhouse was fairly quiet for a Sunday afternoon but service was still very slow. i had sat behind & to the right of the bar & the server who finally came to me admitted this was a dead area for service as it falls between two servers areas Regardless after ordering my usual breakfast martini i booked in a head massage & wandered over to the deli to find hotdogs on offer - an offer i was happy to take up

after a mix up as to which massage i should have been getting i ended up with a very pleasant (& free) combination of head, neck & shoulder workout just in time to straighten myself out before wandering down to the gate.

As mentioned, the pointy end of a 747 is still to me where the UC cabin feels truly UC & it seems like these cabins are being maintained better than the 340s. Push back on time & after the usual taxi queue we were off. Service was very efficient & lunch was excellent. I opted for a potted salmon & crayfish starter followed by the chicken skewers and falafels from the Graze menu (mainly due to that 10" CH hot dog ), all of which were delicious. I don't really understand why this longer east coast flight doesnt offer the afternoon tea service, but people were offered selections from the Graze a couple of hours before landing.

Immigration & customs were a breeze in EWR & i was in my hire car headed for Philly within 30 minutes of landing. A faultless trip, tomorrow i head home on VS002 & i'm loooking forward to trying out the new EWR clubhouse for the first time

Thanks for the TR hat

Agreed about the A zone UC of a 747.. Best seats in the house in my view.

In terms of the afternoon tea, I can understand their decision based on the timing the flight departs and when it lands. There has always been a good selection of fruit and chocolate bars in the bowl at the bar though, not to mention the graze menu.... Perhaps they should introduce a cake stand on the bar too

Cheers for posting

Thanks for the TR. Yes, the A Zone is certainly special .
A cake stand .... What a good suggestion !

Great TR, thanks!

they should have some of those Boston CH red cup cakes on board

^^ you mean the ones pilfered from the Sky Lounge?

They should have the BOS chocolate cake on board..

^^ you mean the ones pilfered from the Sky Lounge?

They should have the BOS chocolate cake on board..

Is that cheesecake or choc cake joey ?

its choc cheesecake, the best of both worlds, & i prefer to keep it exclusive for us regulr Boston visitors