VS045 LHR-JFK 10 APR 14 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

We'll after a bit of a disaster of a morning with my flight from AMS going tec and then a replacement BA flight being delayed I finally made it in to the clubhouse at LHR for my first time quite a bit later than planned, after BA had disappointed me with service or lack of it on the AMS-LHR flight the staff in the clubhouse unknowingly managed to turn this arround and cheer me up again.
I left the clubhouse just before the flight was called at gate 3 and joined the end of the line getting on G-VHOT through door 2 only as soon as I arrived at 19A a member of the crew with a smile (big contrast to BA) asked if she could take my coat and get me some champagne .
Boarding was soon completed with 304 pax and 17 crew on board and we pushed back on time.
Shortly after takeoff drinks were served and then lunch orders were taken.

The menu is as follows

Starter.

Crab Timbale

Organic minestrone soup

Warm breads.

Mains

Seared fillet of british beef

Grilled chicken breast

Paneer kofta and korma sauce

Warm oak smoked trout salad

DESSERT

Croissant bread and butter pudding

Chocolate and hazelnut slice.

CHEESE AND PORT

fromme d'ambert
Double Gloucester
West Country Brie


All through the flight the crew lead by a Japanese FSM were faultless making regular trips around the cabin to top up drinks and were always smiling.

It was good to go to the bar for a drink mid flight where I spoke briefly with the FSM, CSS and one of the senior crew members until we hit a patch of rough air.

The only thing I can fault on this flight is that there is not a lot of new content on V-Port or Vera (whatever they are calling it it will always be V-Port) so I found myself snoozing or watching things I have already seen.

Afternoon tea was served around 2 hours out of JFK (apparently with a new menu)

A SELECTION OF FRESHLY PREPARED SANDWICHES
prawn cocktail
Barbecue chicken
Devilled egg

WARM SCONES

YOUR CHOICE OF NAUGHTY BUT NICE TREATS.
vanilla cupcake
Rhubarb and custard macaroon
Black currant macaroon.

Landing was southbound at JFK so a quick view of the manhattan skyline from the right of the aircraft just before we touched down, due to strong winds the final approach was a bit rocky and I am thankful after watching a jet blue e175 follow us in that we were on a 747 as it looked a bit uncomfortable in the mini plane swaying from left to right.

On arrival in to T4 we were beaten by a DL flight and an Egypt air flight so there was the biggest queue in history but it moved quickly and I was on an E line subway train at Jamaica by 18:20.


In summary this was a good flight with an excellent crew who compared with the BA crews of the morning and my last longhaul flight with BA to LAX on the A380 this crew were truly 'a welcome splash of red in a weary world of grey'
A crew lead by a good FSM and with a smile who actually talk to PAX makes all the difference.
An e-mail will shortly be sent to the base in Crawley to thank the crew and VS for a great flight experience.

And for those of you who have read my previous trip report from KL1020 or BA429 the effect BA breakfast had on me passed quickly but did cause me to feel a bit for a while. One should always listen to advice from V-Flyer (and HoneyLamb)

Thanks for the TR, pleased to hear that your first UC experience was such a good one.

oldboy

Sounds like another fantastic flight with great service from interested CC, thanks for posting and enjoy your trip.

Cheers

[buns]

Thanks for the interesting TR

Your report of the FSM leading so well corroborates my assertion that this is the key to the future success of VS and I am glad you too have seen what a difference this makes

Hope your times in NYC is good and you have a return flight with VS that matches the outbound

buns

Landing was southbound at JFK so a quick view of the manhattan skyline from the right of the aircraft just before we touched down, due to strong winds the final approach was a bit rocky and I am thankful after watching a jet blue e175 follow us in that we were on a 747 as it looked a bit uncomfortable in the mini plane swaying from left to right.

You're right about that! I came into JFK yesterday afternoon on a VX A320 and we had the hardest landing I have ever experienced. We landed on 13L, which is one of the approaches that involves a (very) last-minute turn, and it looked to me as though we weren't quite lined up. I assumed we'd go around but instead the starboard side of the plane was thrown down onto the runway; the whole plane then bounced up for a couple of seconds before slamming down again. I honestly thought we were going to clip the runway with the wing, but luckily not. It wasn't great -- the pilot immediately did a PA and blamed the strong wind.

I fly a lot and am not remotely nervous about it, but this was one to remember.

Thanks for the TR btw!

Thanks so much for the interesting TR. VS CC seem so often to make flights such a good experience. We're on the same VS45 early in May so particularly interested to hear your experience of trawling through JFK. Thanks a lot.

Trip Reports are threefold for me.

Informative - particularly if I am planning on the flight in the future.
Reminiscent - of having been on that very flight.
Great reading - regardless of the other two options.

Thank you for your informative TR. So glad you had a good experience .
Enjoy the Big Apple.

Sounds like a solid first upper class flight chris ,prob the same FSM i had a couple of weeks ago by the sound of it ,fancy not listening to Honey Lambs advice eh!! Tut tut

Macaron. Virgin seem not to know what a macaroon is. A macaroon is a delightful coconut based cake. Virgin promise a traditional coconut delight and deliver a yuecky coloured sugar meringue thing (a Macaron)

Macaron. Virgin seem not to know what a macaroon is. A macaroon is a delightful coconut based cake. Virgin promise a traditional coconut delight and deliver a yuecky coloured sugar meringue thing (a Macaron)

Well they certainly were not coconut.

Thanks for the TR. I was quite taken with the Fourme d'Ambert and the Brie last week. Wasn't even served half frozen, which is an all too frequent problem.

Thanks for the TR, enjoy NYC. Looking forward the the return TR