This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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Our original plan was a seventeen night trip flying into LAX and returning from SFO with stays in Palm Springs, San Diego and Las Vegas in-between. Due to work commitments though we needed to shorten the trip a few weeks prior and reluctantly agreed the most practical option was to forgo the San Francisco segment at the end.
Of course our challenge at that late stage was that there were no G’s available back from any west coast gateway, including Vancouver! Given that our last few nights were to be in Las Vegas I called VS to ask about the possibility of switching our G fare from SFO to a Z fare from LAS 4 days earlier. No problem, with 25K miles per person duly refunded, and a little over £500 pp parted with, for the first time ever we were set to return direct from LAS in UC on a Gatwick 744 – super exciting!
At the end of many of our previous west coast trips we’ve either spent half the day on the I15 returning to LAX for the 8 or 24 home or spent the last few nights in SF and returned on the 20. We’ve not had an inclination to stay in Los Angeles but perhaps we should? All hints and tips for a night in LA welcome! This time though we were really looking forward to relaxing poolside on our last day and then being whisked the ten minutes or so to McCarran and onward in UC to LGW from where our home is all but a stone’s throw away.
I’m not on this occasion writing a TR for our outbound VS7 but confirm we had a fantastic experience, from DTCI at the outset (thanks Luke12 for dropping us off!) to a wonderful few hours in the CH, to the perfect flight itself. All culminating in an early arrival at and a deserted immigration hall – fabulous!
Apparently one of the reasons why LAX T2 immigration is so much better for VS7 arrivals these days is that the Air France no longer causes an issue since it is now an A380 & can’t park at T2! As some will have read (and once again thanks for the replies on my CDC thread) we had an issue with our VS booked CDC on arrival but all came good in the end and, owing to the early arrival of our flight, we ended up arriving in Palm Springs not much later than we had otherwise planned.
I will eventually get on topic with this VS44 TR but thought it’d be worth sharing a little of what we did as I know there many west-coast-holics here on VF who hopefully will enjoy some of what I’m about to share!
So this trip was now to be a 15 night one – 7 in Palm Springs, 4 in San Diego & 4 in Las Vegas with Hertz rental car pick up at Palm Springs airport the day after we arrived. We stayed at the Desert Riviera, our fourth time now at this ‘retrolicious’ oasis in the desert! We adore the place, family run & just 12 rooms set round a lovely pool. http://desertrivierahotel.com/ No kids, unpretentious and great value – what more can one ask for! On arrival you’re offered an amazing and very genuine welcome, even a beer or glass of wine! The room key rings have a Ralph’s code meaning all guests get the discount when stocking up at the local Ralph’s! The atmosphere is one of laid back relaxation in gorgeous surroundings. The rooms have a real ‘retro’ feel and are massive, each with a large kitchenette and fridge facility. They are immaculately clean and on arrival a lovely welcome basket packed with treats is offered.
For anyone who may be going to Palm Springs interested in great restaurants I can highly recommend Trio, in the Uptown Design District – it’s consistently excellent and incredible value, especially if you order before 6pm and opt for the $19 ‘prix fixe’ three course menu http://www.triopalmsprings.com/ Another favourite of ours is Johannes right in the town centre http://www.johannesrestaurants.com/ No bargain options, but for a fine dining treat we love the place as does a certain other VFlyer we know who recommended this wonderful restaurant!
We collected our rental car the day after arrival, booked through Hertz so as to utlise Amex Plat benefits (Gold Plus & a 20% discount). There’s no Gold Canopy at PSP like at LAX, where your name is displayed on an LED visual display along with assigned car’s bay number & you get into your car and drive off. The service we were about to receive here at PSP though was pretty much as second best to Gold Canopy as you can get! As we approached the Hertz desk on the arrivals concourse before we could even say anything the lady behind the counter reached behind her, grabbed a document wallet with a key attached and as we approached she made eye contact and called out ‘Mr Watson by any chance’? I acknowledged her with a nod & smile (still a few strides away!) and once at the counter she welcomed us and passed over the pre-printed rental agreement & keys. She said we’d been upgraded to a nearly new Ford Explorer which we’d love (we’d booked a standard SUV). A quick check of my driving licence and that was pretty much it – no credit cards, no paperwork, nothing to sign. I remember the days of waiting in line for what felt an eternity waiting to collect rental cars and then being bombarded with an agent trying to flog this that & the other as an ‘extra’! I also love it that additional drivers are automatically included when collecting in CA as are domestic partners residing at same address. I’m only too aware of insurance small print so double checked this with the lady at the desk before heading outside to the car to which she replied (looking at Steve!) ‘If he’s your partner and lives at the same address on your driving license then you’re good to go’.
A few minutes later we were in the car making the 10 minute drive back to the Desert Riviera.
After a great week in Palm Springs during which fellow VFlyer Chuck offered some fantastic hospitality (he lives there!) we made the 2 hour drive to San Diego.
We stayed with Steve’s brother in SD, as always had a brilliant time. A few restaurants to recommend: Herringbone at La Jolla was among my favourite of all meals on this trip. Informal, bustling but with food and service to die for. http://www.herringboneeats.com/ A great place for Sunday brunch (well & truly off the tourist track) is the Great Maple at Hillcrest http://thegreatmaple.com/ - exceptional value compared to the tourist orientated brunch places elsewhere in SD.
So Vegas was our final port of call! We set off from SD nice & early and had a hassle free drive up the I15, arriving at the MO just after midday – perfect for utilising our FHR early check-in! Once again I’d booked us into the MO again because we had a ‘One More Exceptional Night’ offer from Amex Plat as we’d had last year. This offered the fourth night free on a stay of four nights or more. The great thing in our case was that, as we arrived on a Tuesday, the nights we paid for were much less than the fourth (Friday) night & it was that final night that was zero’d on our bill – thanks Amex! Further more the FHR rate quoted by Amex for the nights that we did pay for was bang on identical to the cheapest rate available on any web site meaning that all the benefits & free night were absolutely at no additional cost.
I feel we utilised fully all Amex FHR benefits this time round, for example we had early noon check in and late checkout – both of which we took advantage of. The free daily complimentary breakfast was in fact a $52 credit per day which more than covered the awesome poolside breakfasts! And the icing on the cake was a $100 spa credit which we used.
The MO Las Vegas is in my opinion the best hotel in Vegas, clearly not the cheapest but if you apply whatever offers you can lay your hands on like we did it actually ends up being a bargain, in this case averaged out across the four nights we paid less than £140 a night inclusive of resort fee & breakfast – not many other MO’s you can stay in for that little!
The rooms in the MO are loaded with ‘tech’, from curtain open/close via TV to embedded mirror TV in the bathroom! The free standing bath was to die for too. This hotel’s WiFi setup was spot on, it seamlessly performed no matter where you were, whether in room, down a corridor, in a lift, by the pool – super high speed – no having to re log on between areas - faultless. What I loved is that the staff there somehow always manage to acknowledge you by name! No idea how they do it but to come back in the evening and be greeted by name by a staff member you don’t recollect is something else! They all have ear pieces I have noticed, perhaps that has something to do with it! Same at breakfast, even if you’re being served by someone you’ve never clapped eyes before! This I think is the norm at MO LV, certainly going by what many people say on Tripadvisor.
We saw Blue Man Group on this stay, thanks Luke12 for the recommendation! We thoroughly enjoyed it, very different – will say no more so as not to spoil it for others planning on going! Restaurant wise we had an amazing Mexican at a place well off-strip that we’d never had discovered in a million years had it not been for meeting up with fellow VFlyer Scrooge & his wife Jenn – thanks Dave & Jenn for taking us! http://bonitomichoacan.com/ One night we had no plan and just pitched up at American Fish @ Aria which we loved and would definitely go back, I had the best lobster pot pie ever!
I’d sum up our Vegas stay as being the most relaxing & laid back part of the whole trip – probably because by day we were either ensconced on the superb MO pool deck or being pampered in what has to be best spa facility in Nevada! Having been to LV many times we know not to spend hours walking up & down the strip in 105 degree heat thinking that just because the Eiffel Tower is ‘in sight’ you’re going to reach it in minutes! When we need to go from one end to the other we tend to use the monorail but on this stay we didn’t even venture beyond the City Centre area which we’ve grown to like lots!
We returned our rental car the day after arrival in Vegas as no real need for a car here. I opted for Hertz drop off at the Cosmopolitan, right next door to the MO so couldn’t have been easier.
So finally….our return flight! Apologies for the pre-amble, hope I haven’t bored you too much! Checked in at T minus 24 the day before and bagged SEQ 1 & 2 – yay! This was to be our first time ever in UC on an LGW 744 so super excited! I’d selected seats 8K & 9K on the basis that we both like open space in front of us and didn’t want to be adjacent the bar. We were also tempted by 7A & K right in the nose as these are clearly nice for a couple – perhaps next time!
As mentioned earlier, returning on the direct flight from Vegas in UC was not only a first for us but a real time saver since it meant we got a full last day at the MO with no hour drive down the I15 to LAX. With the late checkout this meant we relaxed pool side right though until just before 2pm when, after a quick shower, we hopped in a taxi to McCarran. On getting out of the taxi there was a woman throwing up into one of the bins by kerbside Check-In – ewwww! This was also our first time at McCarran’s Terminal 3 – there’s no comparison with the old T2!
Check in was fast, I guess what with only fourteen seats in UC there can never really been a queue at UC check-in. At check in I collected lounge invites for fellow VFlyer Regg0 & his wife who were travelling PE on the same flight and had seen my lounge invitation courtesy of the VFlyer itinerary calendar. It was nice to meet up with Reg & his wife for a drink or to at ‘The Club at LAS’ lounge before the flight.
Through express lane security in a couple of minutes – first time through a body scanner for me! I’d forgotten I had a bottle of Visene eye drops in my pocket that was spotted, then the guy let me keep it! As we walked down to the Gate E2 area, where the Club LAS lounge was located we saw the VS43 arrive – our bird today would be Ruby Tuesday – G-VXLG.
The Club LAS lounge is nice – but no more than that. No natural light is an issue for me. Full bar service including Champagne. Food wise pre wrapped sandwiches and soup and few bags of crisps.
Boarding for our 16:40 departure was called in the lounge at 15:50. I’d assumed remaining passengers would be on board at that point but on exiting the lounge other passengers were still seated in the gate area. UC & PE went straight through a dedicated lane and on through door L1. On arriving at our seats the first thing I noticed was the generally all round ‘newer’ feel of not just the seat surroundings but the overall cabin in general. Clearly the refits of the LGW & 744’s have paid dividends! Must admit I prefer the larger bar of the LHR 744’s though!
I really can’t fault anything at all about this flight. The crew were super chatty from the moment we boarded and we enjoyed three bubbly top ups pre push-back! On stand the outside temperature was well over 100 degrees but the inside cabin temperature was super cool! I’ll further add that it stayed super cool through the night too which made sleeping so much easier!
Pretty early on during the flight the captain said we were set to land over half an hour early at Gatwick, as it happened we hurtled along with a ground speed of 711 mph for much of the flight meaning that we actually landed over an hour early!
It was also announced at the start of the flight that passengers may use their own mobile phones in flight but important to disengage WiFi whilst still on stand. I remember the McCarran Wifi still offering a strong signal when we boarded pre push back. Not sure if anyone uses this facility, must cost a fortune!
Being a relatively early west coast departure it was nice that there was plenty of daylight to go. I find on the later departures such as the 24 from LAX that the moment the plane takes off there’s a rush to get through the service and turn off the lights! Not so on the 44 where we had a very leisurely period post take off, in fact we didn’t eat until a good couple of hours afterwards. As always we like to dine together!The dinner was delicious; don’t remember what the starter was but we both enjoyed the tasty chicken main course.
After dinner we skipped dessert and waited for the cheese trolley and the nomalicious Stoke’s chutney that accompanies it! After cheese we spent some time at the little bar (I do prefer the larger bar on the LHR 744’s!) and chatted with the FSM for an hour over a so over a few ports, and loads of water to remain hydrated! The crew really were great at all points, always stopping to talk.
On to the IFE…well what do to say other than there is no comparison between the slickness of the new VERA Touch on board the LGW 744’s compared to the older VERA on the LHR fleet. Funny to think that until recently everyone was complaining about the shoddiness of the LGW fleet! Looking back on our flight out from LHR on the VS7, whilst our flight was excellent from a service and enjoyment aspect, it takes flying on a LGW 744 to realise how much of a poor relation the LHR 744’s now are! I remember thinking how grey and dingy the toilets were on the flight out, yet on this LGW 744 everything looked and felt new, from the sinks and loos to the suites themselves.
I think I must have got around 4 hours sleep, I woke to pop to the loo around 06:00 UK time -& checked the sky map which was now stating a further reduced flight time of 8 hrs 45 mins – pretty darn good for LAX-LHR & an ETA of 09:28 (STA 10:40)
I opted for the full English breakfast which was lovely, only issue with breakfast was the tea as it was only luke warm.
We had a direct approach into Gatwick with a gorgeous view of Shoreham and touched down at 09.29
Summing up: A fantastic slight. Very much enjoyed the LGW 744 UC experience, here's hoping the LHR 744 fleet get the same treatment soon!
Thanks for reading
James
Last edited by Vegascrazy on 22 Sep 2013, 16:35, edited 1 time in total.
