VS043 LGW-LAS 4 FEB 15 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

We stayed the night at the Courtyard Marriott as we got a good deal on the park and fly, £105 for 12 nights, so we were up and into the terminal and through immigration in no time at all. By about 8.15 we were in the Virgin Clubhouse having breakfast.

My partner had never been in a Virgin Clubhouse before and he loved it, especially when someone came and offered to clean his shoes! He had the full English and I had eggs Benedict but with bacon not ham. I also had a peach Bellini, I miss these being served on the flights now, Buck's Fizz is a poor substitute on Upper Class. It was quite relaxing, and the staff were great. I was in time to book a manicure and a facial, which were done very well.

I had preselected row 8 and was soon settled into my seat. This is the first flight I have done where flying Virgin Upper class has felt less than special, the plane was slightly delayed as they needed to de-ice it, and the pilot was a while turning the seat belt sign off once we were up. Consequently I really needed the loo by the time the seat belt sign was off. However both toilets by the galley were occupied by Premium Economy passengers who had also already formed a queue at the doors. They have a toilet in PE at the back of PE as well as use of the two in UC by the galley, and premium economy passengers using all three loos has not previously been the case when I have flown either in Premium Economy or in Upper class.

Dinner was good, a lovely carrot and ginger thick soup with warm rolls, followed by beef fillet. The beef was a little overcooked but was still tasty. I opted for ice cream later in the flight rather than one of the puddings from the menu. There was no tea or coffee service after the meal, nor did anyone offer cheese and biscuits or drinks. Granted these are mentioned in the menu so you can request them, but it's always nice to be asked!

I tend to eat little and often so was relying on the usual selection of snacks on the bar during the flight. However this time a selection of Haribo/Moam type sweets were placed on a tray by the galley where the PE and UC passengers could access them, there were no crisps, nuts, savouries or chocolate bars by the time I saw the tray, and none on the bar in UC. I'm not a fan of Haribo, so politely requested some cheese and biscuits later in the flight. This seemed to annoy the crew who appeared to spend most of the flight socialising in the galley. They were certainly not in the cabin looking after passengers' requests. I rang the bell a couple of times as I'm a tea drinker but no one answered it at all so I wandered to the galley to ask for tea. I don't drink alcohol on the flight other than Bucks Fizz on take off, but I know that the UC bar ran out of beer and there was hardly anyone in UC drinking alcohol, the cans were being taken back to PE by the crew. We were about 6 hours into the flight when I heard one of the UC passengers being told there was no more beer, which was the first drink I saw him request. He wasn't happy!

The afternoon tea needs rethinking in my opinion. The sandwiches were very dry and the bread had curled up, not surprising as I saw them being plated 2 hours prior to being served, although the warm scone was nice and tasted fresher. Tea was in a paper cup as they had also run out of mugs and proper cups by then.

I like the comfort of UC, but again I had to help other passengers who were not familiar with the flat bed mechanism to sort their beds out, as the crew were just not around. I slept for a couple of hours but loud talking from the crew in the galley woke me up.

I also like the in flight entertainment, great choices of recent films, but there were no music channels oddly, just a selection of audiobooks on the music channel. I watched Pride and a crime thriller starring Susan Sarandon.

Thank you for your TR. So sorry that the UC experience wasn't up to scratch and that the CC disappointed. Hope your return flight comes up trumps.

It did thanks, completely different crew on Saturday 14th and a much better experience, I just have not had time to write about it yet :-) But I will.

Thanks for this TR. Sad that this was such a dismal experience for you. Maybe worth an email to Crawley Towers? They need to have feedback when pax are let down in this way.

Sorry to hear about your disappointing flight. I remember quite a few years ago when we were in PE and I wanted the loo, as the curtain was back went to wait at the nearest loos, I was quickly told they were for UC use only and to go to the EC ones at the back (felt like a naughty schoolgirl).

When you have paid whatever amount for your ticket, you expect the service you have paid for. Could you not have had a word with the FSM?

I hope you write to them to let them know that it was not up to par. I do have a question that someone might be able to answer and are the two toilets exclusively for UC ? I seem to recall they used to be but as it is not enforced any longer I just assumed it was a wee-for-all !

Thank you for the TR. What a shame re the CC - they really can make or break a flight. I would recommend filling in the online feedback, as when you pay so much for a UC flight they really do need to be better. From my experience any feedback was handled very well by the customer relations team, and their responses have always left me feel so much better.

Looking forward to the return TR

I agree that this needs some feedback. Admittedly it looks like being a cold day in hell before I get to fly UC with Virgin again but my overall experience to date has been far removed from what you described. The lack of chocolate bars alone would be a major (first world) issue for me, as I invariably find the CC only too happy to give me a couple extra to take home for my children!

Perhaps more anecdotal evidence of the difference between LGW and LHR flights...

Thanks all, I have done what you suggested, and contacted Virgin. If they respond I will let you know. One of the issues may have been that I think a large number of the people travelling in PE may have been Virgin staff on discounted tickets, as they all appeared to know each other when they were socialising in the galley.

Thanks all, I have done what you suggested, and contacted Virgin. If they respond I will let you know. One of the issues may have been that I think a large number of the people travelling in PE may have been Virgin staff on discounted tickets, as they all appeared to know each other when they were socialising in the galley.

Simply not good enough . This seems to be a flight managed by an ineffectual FSM with an equally lazy and slack crew. Staffers should in no way shape or form affect service to fee paying pasengers ( be they miles or cash travellers).Unfortunately this is a common problem on some VS flights ( and I've had personal experience on a few ).
I'm glad you've contacted Crawley Towers.
Ratechaser - all my experiences with this have been on LHR routes.....

DL

Do we know they were actually staff? And if they were does anyone know if they were actually travelling on discounted tickets?
It's the vegas route so always lots of groups travelling.
If they were staff then yes it's unacceptable but it seems they could of also of been just of group of friends?
Lee

Do we know they were actually staff? And if they were does anyone know if they were actually travelling on discounted tickets?
It's the vegas route so always lots of groups travelling.
If they were staff then yes it's unacceptable but it seems they could of also of been just of group of friends?
Lee

You are right that I don't know they were Virgin staff. They did however appear to know the crew quite well. I have chatted to Virgin staff flying as passengers on every Vegas flight I have travelled on. One Christmas I was told by a member of the UC Cabin Crew that there were only three (including mine) out of 14 UC seats were not occupied by Virgin Staff. And on the flight back on the 14th 3 men were brought forward into UC from either PE or EC after the doors had shut and I know for sure that one of them worked on Virgin and they all knew each other. I have no inside knowledge specifically about Virgin staff discounts.

This all seems to relive my last upper experiance however it was friends of passengers who decided to stay in upper that set me off and Mrs F wrote a 4 page letter to Crawley which eventually got a response to our satisfaction.

It's a shame to read this; the service you received was definitely not up to standard. It's a premium product that's being sold, and to have noisy crew waking you up, and everything running out early, means that something isn't right and needs to be addressed. If you do write a letter of complaint please let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the tr, such a shame you didn't have a great experience.
If they were staff it's bad form for the FSM to let that happen! paying passengers take priority, that should always be the case.
That said, I always get mistaken for crew or someone who works for Virgin, even crew have thought I was part of the "team" (realising I'm not when they see my FC number). So you could be mistaken.

What I do know is...
Only 2 days ago a crew friend told me he was in 12A&K to MIA after securing his UC tickets 2 days prior to his flight.
I did ask how he got those seats as they are normally requested straight away and wouldn't be available 2 days prior to departure, he avoided the subject.
I told him if I had lost my seats to crew I wouldn't be happy.

I hope the return was better
Darren

Running out of Alcohol on an outbound flight from the UK is terrible, I would have thought they would have had a procedure in place for such a scenario - diversion, in flight transfer etc!!!!
Have been on this flight a few times and indeed it often "runs out of drinks" and then there is an "extended run of turbulence" - although if you are sensible, polite and charming a spare Can of Beer or Glass or Wine is found.

I also think that one of Virgin's strongpoint is how the crew interact with passengers and I can see how people will assume you know the crew. It all boils down to having a good FSM who is flexible and ensures situations don't get out of control.

I am sorry the UC experience was not as your would of expected and should have received.

Of course we do not know all the deatils here, but in a similar situation I would be prompted to complain.

The FSM should have authority over, and respect from, the rest of the cabin crew so as to ensure a good service level is maintained and that all passengers are treated well. Not answering call bells, not regularly visiting the cabin, is not acceptable. Running out of beer is a disaster, inbound or out!

And I thought the crew should prepare the bed for sleeping should you wish, rather than DIY (or getting the help of another passenger!).

Let us know what they say.

I don't fly in UC that often, and I would not be a shrinking violet when it came to speaking to the FSM if PE, whether Virgin staff or not "trespassed" in UC just because their mates were there. It would be a brave FSM that would try to ignore that request. WhenI am in PE I do not expect, nor would I go even if invited, into UC. It's just not right.

[buns]

linb121

Sorry I am late to the party on this one.

Firstly, it is always disappointing to hear that a super Clubhouse experience (especially for your partner) was let down so much by poor on-board service

If the distraction of the crew had been operationally related (for example a medical or other emergency) then it would be fully understandable to provide a lack-lustre image of the UC product to passengers. It does seem however, that the distraction was more likely to be staff / friends / celebs which, as others have said, just shows how poor the FSM was

Reading your TR, has made me become a tad nervous about my upcoming flight to Vegas and I hope you get a full explanation and apology (devoid of boiler plate platitudes) very soon.

buns

Wow. I've had both good and bad experiences on LGW and LHR flights so it's not something that's isolated to LGW flights. Either way what was experienced on this flight is not acceptable and I'd be sending in feedback not that it is going to change the shoddy experience you had.

Actually, these days it seems that twitter and social jabbering is the best way to get a reponse that you like, maybe try that?

Agree totally with Buns, this has got us worried over our forthcoming UC flights in three weeks time from Gatwick to Vegas. Hope you have time to post a TR before we go to allay some of our fears.

Although we are on reward tickets they still cost enough with collecting miles over a long time and we would expect decent service even being a Leisure route. If it gets too rowdy or things run out or the service is not up to scratch, I will complain. ( hubby has to hold me back at times) as I am quick to respond if things do not go how I expect them.

Hope you get more than an apology and a few miles as per the norm.

Hi all. Thanks for all the comments, I did email customer services and received a very nice reply from someone called Scott.

Just to reassure others flying this route, the trip back on the 14th was perfectly fine. And it's about the sixth time I've made this trip, sometimes in PE but mostly in UC and this was the first time I have ever had a sub-optimal experience. I'd still choose Virgin over BA any day!