This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
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The original booking for both of us was economy out PE back but not long after the booking was made I managed to turn my o into an m and then on to a G and assumed I would be able to do the same with Robs at some point but despite searching 2/3 times a day along with phone calls to the flying club that dam G just wouldn't appear.
It got to the point where the M fare was a ridiculous price anyway so I accepted defeat ( ungraciously ) and booked an exit row seat for rob with VS putting a note on the booking to try and get him one up in the bubble.
All I had to do now was break the news to rob that our flying arrangements differed somewhat but this was made a lot easier due to being able to upgrade the inbound to UC with the massive amount of help and generosity of a certain V-Flyer so I was able to give rob the old "I've got some good news and some bad news" line .
To be fair he was more than happy with economy anyway as he is only little and saw the exit row as a bonus and didn't see any bad news whatsoever and was obviously made up to be flying UC onthe return .
I'd booked the sofitel on last minute .com for a good price as a secret hotel so we travelled down on the thurs afternoon looking forward to the next few days ahead.
Checked in and dropped off the bags and straight up to T5 for a look around as I've never been there , we then jumped on the HEX round to T3 as I wanted to check the journey out incase I changed my mind about using the previously booked slot at the DTCI .
Showed rob the VS checkin area there but his love of aviation isn't quite the same as mine so we were quickly round to the cab rank near the arrivals exit and on our way round to the pheasant pub where a nice bit of food was had washed down with a couple of pints .
Made the most of the evening with a pit stop at the renaissance which appears to be having a most needed refurb in the lobby area at least before jumping in to a cab and going back round to the sofitel where the champagne and sphere bars were enjoyed , I've got to say it really is a nice hotel and would def stay there again no question .
So woke up with a bit of a headache as did rob but was too excited to be that bothered about it and got the previously booked car round to the DTCI at a cost of £35 which I'm glad I did now as it's a lot easier than the HEX .
Got out of the car to a warm greeting and asked if robs case could go on as hand luggage instead of in the hold ,to be fair it was a bit on the big side and the lady wasn't sure and sought advice from colleagues who said it should be ok but just pop it on the scales to make sure it's not over the weight limit ,ok no probs so we followed the lady a few steps and she stopped , rob still had hold of his case at this point so said lady asked him to put it on the scales .
Well he looked at me for help as to the location of the scales but I was none the wiser so the lady kindly pointed out where to put the bag in order for it to be weighed .
Anyway all sorted and quickly through security and up to the CH where I noticed a big grin appear on robs face .dropped bags off and gave rob a quick tour before booking treatments , I went for a comp haircut and a paid for shave and rob just the haircut ,we then settled in the brasserie for breakfast and popped a couple of headache tablets each !
The flight was delayed until 14.30 but we weren't bothered in the slightest as a food and drink fest ensued only interrupted by the visit to the spa .
During this time I had enquired about an upgrade for rob and had left his boarding card with the nice lady on the concierge desk but to be honest didn't really hold out much hope of a result so I was very surprised when going back a couple of hrs later to be told he was now in PE ! What a result and rob was very happy as we made our way down to gate 21 .
I went through the gate first in the UC/PE lane and rob followed only for the light on the desk to turn red ,the chap then asked rob if he was travelling with me and I straight away thought he had got an additional upgrade to UC ,alas it was not to be and they had just changed his seat again to the first row in PE but thinking about it afterwards it was still a nice thing to do so top marks to VS on that .
I boarded straight away while rob had to wait in the queue for the other door and was greeted warmly at the door and my seat so thought it worth mentioning that I had a companion travelling in PE and was immediately given a glass of champers to take down to him but he was still waiting to board so I waited with it by the bar and thrust it in his direction when he stepped on to mustang Sally .
I flew on her in July with a certain joeyc with myself in 19k and joey in 19a and this time I was in 19a which for me is by far the best seat on the plane ,very spacious and secluded .
A quick flight tine of 6hrs57 mins was promised by the captain who was apologetic for the late departure of the aircraft .
The level of service and care that followed in the next few hrs was simply fantastic and I can't praise the crew enough .i know I've said this before once or twice in previous TR's but this flight has surpassed all others .we had a male Japanese FSM who you could tell really enjoyed his job along with a crew that followed his lead.
Several of the crew members came up to me early in the flight and said rob could come upto the bar for a couple of drinks after dinner but unfortunately this was hampered by 4/5 people who went straight up to the bar after dinner and were still there 3hrs later despite me standing behind them with rob and ordering a drink ,you think after being up there so long they would have the common courtesy to let someone else sit down for a drink but unfortunately it seemed they had left their manners in heathrow so I asked one of the crew if it was ok if rob came and sat in my seat which it was .
Afternoon tea was served whilst rob was still in my seat and they served enough for us both which was also very kind of them as they didn't have to do it .
Rob scoffed down a few cakes and went back behind the curtain and soon after we were making our descent in to JFK .
I said goodbye to the great crew and waited for rob who seemed to take an age to get off and all the time I'm thinking about how big the queue is getting so I couldn't quite believe it when we walked down to find a near enough empty hall on the international arrivals side whilst the domestic was really busy .
Another strange thing occurred next by way of a friendly boarder guard who smiled ,could this really be the VS 45 !!!
So about 1 1/4 hrs after landing we were in manhattan at the westin grand central only to be told our room wasn't ready so off to the bar we went for a few beers like we needed anymore !
Great stuff, Blacky 
