This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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For me, a flight in Upper Class and the trinkets that come with it, was an experience I had never had, apart from a few hours as a guest of staff in the clubhouse two years ago.
I had collected Flying Club points for nearly four years and decided to cast of my socialist guilt and indulge in the excesses of luxury travel.
Intending to travel to Los Angeles, I waited over the previous months to see if any G class seats became available, eventually deciding on an overnight stop at JFK and an ongoing early morning flight to LA.
Having already chosen my seat on the 747 after taking advice on the forum, I decided on 19K going out and 19A coming back. Others had mentioned the benefits of row 12, but I agreed that playing footsie with the person opposite was not the highest of my priorities.
On the morning of the flight, I checked the status only to discover that the plane had been changed to an A340-600. I then discovered I was in 9K, which wasn't a bad seat by any means. It would have been nice to face the partition rather than somebody else, but I guess plane changes lead to such situations and I was happy with the assigned seat.
Got to the airport at 10:30. I was the only person at the Upper check in and after watching Peter Mayhew (aka Chewbacca) being wheeled through the airport, a few short moments later I was going through the Upper security channel. Once complete, I entered the chaos of T3 on a Saturday.
A slight detour to buy some memory sticks and I was walking into the Clubhouse. It wasn't very busy at all and there were plenty of seats in any of the locations. It seemed a bit more
noisy than I recall from two years ago but compared to the chaos outside, it was a haven of tranquility.
Said a quick hello to a friend who works at the spa who was rushed off her feet busy.
The strange thing about this visit to the Clubhouse was that it was over so soon. A quick snack and three Virgin Redheads later, I was walking to the gate and boarding the Airbus.
Sitting at my seat with a glass of fizz, one of the cabin crew came over and asked if I wouldn't mind swapping seats with someone else in order to ensure that a family with two young children stay seated close to each other. I didn't mind at all and found myself sitting in 9A with the partition opposite me.
Even given that fact that the Upper cabin was boarding first, it didn't seem possible to have boarded the rest of the aircraft so quickly, but soon the captain announced that we had boarded everyone and we would soon be closing doors and pushing back.
The usual queue for 27R was made less boring by familiarising myself with a new GoPro camera I had purchased a few days earlier. We were soon airborne and the incredibly smooth, courteous and professional service from the crew started with drinks and lunch orders. After my Vodka, I chose a Crab Timbale and a beef thing which was very edible. No wine, as I inherited from my grandfather a strange affliction of a very bad reaction to wine of any kind, so I stuck to sparkling water.
I'm sure that the clubhouse drinks and the vodka had me laughing at Anchorman 2 a lot louder than I would normally. This is also confirmed by the fact that I have absolutely no idea what I watched after that!
Afternoon tea was served an hour and a half before landing and having sat down for the majority of the flight, I decided only on a couple of sandwiches and coffee.
Approach and landing into JFK were uneventful and we were soon parked and off on our way to immigration. Having looked up immigration wait times posted on the CBP website, I was expecting a good couple of hours in the queue, but was processed and off to collect my bag within twenty minutes. No small talk from the CBP official, who looked and sounded like he was teetering on the edge of an attitude. Thankfully that moment was reserved for someone in the queue behind me.
At JFK, the hotel shuttles only go to the terminals to drop passengers off at the departures area. I suppose if you are pre-armed with that knowledge, you could make your way upstairs and wait for one, but they tend to only drop off when they have passengers at the hotel needing to go to a specific terminal, unlike LAX where the shuttles just constantly do the same circuit to each of the terminals and pickup whoever happens to be there.
Anyway, getting to the hotel involves getting on the Air Train, going four stops to Federal Circle, walking to an area where all the hotel shuttles stop to pick up and waiting for the relevant one. After 17 Sheratons, 4 Holiday Inns and about 5 Ramadas and Hiltons, the Hampton Inn bus shows up with the friendliest New York driver I have ever met. After suggesting a few things to do on my 14 hour layover when I return, we were soon at the hotel, which was very clean, comfortable and the staff were very friendly. After a quick meal at the Hilton next door and setting my alarm for 4am for my onward flight to LA, I was soon out like a light.
As far as the Virgin experience was concerned, I cannot fault their service at all. The more professional and smooth the operation, the less you notice it and you wonder how they achieve so much in so little time. This was certainly true of the cabin crew who were outstanding. Everyone on the Virgin side was friendly, including the Clubhouse staff and security.
However, and this was the most important revelation on this trip. Would I spend my own money to get an Upper Class experience in the future? Sadly not.
I know people who are extremely rich and fly economy. Similarly, I know people who will borrow, beg and sell their own shoes to fly in an elevated class and I certainly don't begrudge anyone who chooses to spend their money in this way. I'm also not so barmy to suggest that, because I can't afford it, nobody else should be allowed to. On a personal level, I simply could not justify the expense. Any such future trips will have to be by collecting Flying Club points or after a very large win on the lottery.
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Haikus are easy. But sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator
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Haikus are easy. But sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator
