This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Here's a quick instagram shot from one of the viewing points we stopped at along the way: https://scontent-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot ... e=55D9127C
And here are those elephant seals. Fortunately for all of you, the technology to transit a smell through a photograph has yet to be invented: https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 563f99ed62
Our destination for that day, as previously mentioned, was San Luis Obispo. Whilst the fact that it's roughly half way between LA and San Francisco makes it an attractive option for an overnight stay, I was extremely excited because we'd booked a couple of nights at the famous (infamous??) Madonna Inn. I'm sure some of you may have been before, but for those who haven't, the Madonna Inn is a themed hotel with over 100 rooms, all of which have individual themes and decor. If you love kitsch, and a hotel that looks like it was lovingly designed as a collaboration between David Lynch and Dolly Parton, this is the place for you. If your idea of fun and luxury is minimalist chic, then you'd probably have an aneurysm after walking through the front doors.
As we were staying two nights I decided to book two very different rooms for us. We stayed in the Austrian Suite on the first night (the room was so big and even had two balconies!) and a room called the Love Nest on the second night. The hotel has a fantastic steak house and bar, plus a lovely cafe that was great for breakfast and lunch. The also make their own rather spectacular cakes on site--too sweet for me, but they look rather amazing.
The entrance to the Madonna Inn: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 9efb9c5bf4
The Austrian Suite: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 4aa14db16a
The bed in the Austrian Suite: https://scontent-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot ... e=55C2DBAA
The Love Nest (the spiral staircase leads to a small platform in a turret that services as a private viewing turret so you can see the beautiful landscape around): https://scontent-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot ... e=55D05046
Another view of the Love Nest: https://scontent-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot ... e=55C9F767
The restaurant: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/ ... fc922b61ad
The staff were excellent and we were treated very well during our stay. They have postcards of all the rooms which you can buy, but when you leave they give you a free postcards of whichever room(s) you stayed in! We loved it and will be back again when time permits.
After two wonderful days, we continued our drive down to LA. The weather was a little better and it was a fairly uneventful drive. We stayed in Malibu with friends for a few blissful days.
On Monday our flight was scheduled for 10pm, so being about an hour's drive away from the airport we set off at about 6pm just in case of traffic. We needn't have worried as we arrived in fairly good time, dropped off the rental car and got the shuttle to the terminal. It was at the check-in desk that we encountered a girl so unhelpful and humourless that I still marvel at the fact she is gainfully employed. There was no queue, but the UC check-in desk was busy as a family travelling seemed to be having an issue; it was taking them a long time to check in and they were taking up both sides of the UC check-in desk. Eventually, we were motioned towards the PE check-in desk. The girl working there didn't say a word, just put out her hand for our documents. She never once smiled, and any question we asked seemed to cause her some sort of physical pain that she was unable to mask. One of our bags weighed 26kg (the limit in Upper is 32kg, versus 23kg in Y). She didn't mark it as heavy which I thought odd and we worried about it afterwards, but it was swept away so quickly for screening that I didn't get time to say anything. I can only assume putting a sticker on a bag was a job too tedious for her to contemplate. She did offer us the choice of the Virgin America Lounge or the Air Canada lounge (although made it quite clear that she didn't care what we decided). We opted for AC as it was in the same terminal, and we weren't planning on drinking, so the lack of alcohol wasn't an issue. After writing out the invitation to the AC lounge, she handed it to us and then turned away. Wow!! I think in our entire interaction she maybe uttered ten words.
We were then off to security. They can be a bit terse at security in LAX, but as I went through queues and screening I had three separate security guards compliment me on my hair colour! Really nice
Security took ages because they were training a member of staff, so despite no queue it took about 25-30 minutes to get through. However, once we'd gather our belongings, we were off to find the Air Canada lounge. I had tried to manage my husband's expectations having read poor reviews of it and perhaps did almost too good a job, as once we were through security he suggested skipping the lounge in favour of a sandwich in the terminal. As the terminal was in SUCH a state due to the building work going on, I felt that we ought to at least check out the lounge to weigh up our options. On our way to it, we walked past the new VS Clubhouse--opening the following day! We felt a bit sad to have missed it by one measly day, but, no matter... we'll be back to enjoy it in July We got a fairly warm welcome at the AC lounge. OK, a Clubhouse it ain't! It's a bit spartan and very serious. But it was quiet, there was plenty of comfortable seating, the bathrooms were spotless and there was more food on offer than we expected. Their self service buffet was sufficient, and I had pretty tasty wheatberry salad and some cheese, while my OH had a sandwich with cold cut meats. We chatted, checked e-mails and before we knew it, they were making the first call for boarding.
We set off straight away as we like to get settled in our seats before it gets busy. When we arrived at the gate it was fairly quiet as most PAX had boarded, bar UC passengers who were still in the lounges. At the gate there were the usual two queues, one for priority boarding and one for regular. As it was fairly quiet both were being used by Y passengers. One queue wasn't moving at all as someone was having some sort of issue. The other queue was also at a standstill because the member of staffing manning it had his back to us and was ensconced in a conversation with another passenger. We thought he hadn't realised we were there, but after waiting for a couple of minutes, without turning to face us he extended his arm behind him towards us with his hand out for our documents. My husband passed him his boarding pass and passport and he STILL didn't acknowledge that we were standing there. After another few moments he finished his conversation and finally turned to look at us. Instead of saying hello, he looked at my husband's passport, made a strange, almost disparaging remark about the city he was born in, and waved him on without another word. When it was my turn, he also didn't greet me, but did ask how we'd found the Air Canada lounge. I remarked that it was nicer than I expected, and he responded with "Oh, I've heard it's quite shit." Hmmmn. I wasn't really impressed with his whole attitude.
We boarded and decided to switch seats, so that this time I was in 5K and my OH was in 4K. The FSM manager was around and came and introduced himself to a few people, but missed me
However, he was redeemed when soon after take off he stopped by to apologise profusely for not having introduced himself before, and chatted to me for a couple of minutes. He seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say and for the rest of the flight almost seemed to single me out for good treatment (not above and beyond anyone else, but he just seemed to want to make sure I was happy). Might have been something to do with the questionnaire on my seat? Regardless, his service was good, although my partner and I both noticed that whilst he was very prominent in the service role in the cabin, most of the other cabin crew were quite absent for most of the flight.The food on the outbound was great! On the inbound it was pretty ordinary. Neither of us can remember what starters we had. My husband thinks he had chicken for his main, and that it was OK. I had the red Thai curry... also just "OK." We skipped dessert and decided to bed down for the night immediately, as the meal service seemed to take a really long time (it was at least two and a half hours after take off by the time everything was cleared from our tables).
We like to be self sufficient and made up our beds very quickly. My OH slept soundly for most of the flight. He used the earplugs which he said really helped. Sadly, I can't get them in my ears, so have to do without. I was very tired, but a child throwing a tantrum kept waking me (please note, I have no issues with crying children if they're distressed and parents are trying to soothe them, but children that are shouting because they're not getting their own way and who are not being dealt with effectively ARE on my list of things I do not enjoy on long flights). Between the shouting and some light but constant turbulence I didn't sleep much at all.
We opted for breakfast prior to landing. I'd selected porridge and fruit, both of which were fine. We landed and disembarked very quickly. We made a swift beeline for immigration and beat all the queues; we were through the automated machines in just a minute or two. Our bags took another 15 minutes or so. We then left for a hotel (we booked an overnight at the Doubletree down the road as we knew my OH wouldn't be ready for a 4 hour drive after a long flight). Upon arriving in our room, we noticed that the heavy bag that hadn't been marked as such had been quite badly damaged; it must have been thrown and landed on one wheel, as the wheel had been pushed in, denting the bottom corner of the bag and creating a large hole. Fortunately nothing inside was damaged, but the bag will need to be replaced. I wonder if a heavy tag would have avoided this? Perhaps not, but it's irritating nonetheless because we were dealt with so poorly by the staff at check-in.
Interestingly, a day later I called FC to get our miles and TPs credited to our accounts, as we'd been booked on M>G tickets. The gentleman I spoke to I'm certain I've dealt with before, and he was amazing both times. He asked about how our UC experience was, and I told him the outbound flight was fantastic! He laughed and said he was happy to hear that, but said that by not mentioning the inbound he wondered if that one wasn't so great. I briefly surmised the points made here about the really poor ground staff (although was keen to mention the very good FSM), and he apologised for the poor experience on the ground. He said that he and other members of the FC helpdesk are starting to notice a pattern; that generally the outbound flights get rave reviews, but the inbounds are letting the side down. Apparently poor ground staff and inattentive crew on overnight flights are an issue. I said that despite a few issues the flight had still been very good and I didn't want to make an official complaint, but he seemed to take what I said very seriously.
Anyway! Sorry this was so long
My next TR instalment will be when we return from Shanghai in a couple of weeks. Thanks for reading!
Food on board also very ordinary too. Shame about your luggage being damaged.
