Good afternoon from SFO Clubhouse

Which is small and perfectly formed, as has been said before. First to arrive at 2pm! Staff are super friendly and I have my first Red Head in hand.

Sad to be leaving SFO, as we've both come to love it in the week we've spent here, but home (and work) beckons...

Happy days

I've been loving your Facebook pics and updates, it's a place I need to visit. It looks like you've had a great time!!
Have a great time in the CH and have a fabulous flight...Are we missing some TR's?

Hi Bretty - glad you've have plenty of chill out time in the SF lounge after your trip the San Francisco

On our way home, back in April, we had seats on the K side of the aircraft and just after takeoff we flew along the coast and had the most amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Have your camera ready in case you get the same view.

Hope it's a good flight for you.

We've just been paged to tell us that we're being moved from 12A&K to 18A&K as there are 'electrical problems' with both seats... apparently both the IFE and the seat itself. I could've lived without the IFE, but we'll see. If there are crew or other pax in those seats I'm not going to be too happy but nothing I can do, and at least we're not being bumped down a cabin!

Darren I'm about to upload the outbound TR, the DUB sectors have already been uploaded.

The Clubhouse manager has just brought us our new boarding cards, and my hubby expressed dissatisfaction, and that he wouldn't be happy if there is someone in 12A&K when he boards, which the manager said there would be. I mentioned that I'm aware that sometimes crew are put in seats but he explained that they've bumped 2 pax on miles upgrades (I think from checkin) to 12A&K so we, as revenue pax, can have fully operational seats.

My OH got the manager worried and he was going to put us back in our original seats because he didn't want to upset Bryan. Bless him. We've had to reassure him and explain Bryan's predisposition to grumpiness. Bryan has gone off to the loo and the manager has come back to check everything is okay.

Will you be checking to see if the IFE and seats are working during the flight?

It is 6 am here so you will be on your way back to Blighty, but hope the flight back was restful, even in the new seats.

Were the passenegers in 12 A/K bumped up from PR/Econ, or were they already in UC and deemed suitable for broken seats because they had G fares?

Looking forward to hearing all about SF. As i siad, I had not doubt youwould love the place, everyone does!

Hope the flight is going well John , look forward to hearing all about it

I mentioned that I'm aware that sometimes crew are put in seats but he explained that they've bumped 2 pax on miles upgrades (I think from checkin) to 12A&K so we, as revenue pax, can have fully operational seats.

ISTBC but passengers on G fares would not be displaced into broken seats . Call me cynical but I've heard ( and experienced) the line about non operational seats and then see the new occupants ( who in my experience have been staffers or their relatives) being able to use the IFE , convert to bed etc.

DL

ISTBC but passengers on G fares would not be displaced into broken seats . Call me cynical but I've heard ( and experienced) the line about non operational seats and then see the new occupants ( who in my experience have been staffers or their relatives) being able to use the IFE , convert to bed etc.

DL

I have visions of this happeneing to us when we fly UC as it has been reported (several times) previously and we have booked 12 A/K.

What can one do if this occurs? I imagine I would be rather irrate and am never one to hold back voicing my displeasure when necessary That may get me in to trouble though, at 35,000 feet!

But if I was spun this line I can see myself asking immediately if the new occupants were staffers or their families, as Bretty did. I suspect one could tell the answer immediately by the response on the face of the staff member

It will be interesting to see what Bretty has to report back. Was this why the SFO manager so worried?

On another point, if the seats were electrically defunct, why give them to passenegers who have paid to upgrade, regardless of whether this was with points or cash? That doesn't seem right either and if I upgraded and found I was in such seats, I'd demand a refund (unless advised of the problem at the start and given a serious discount).

The clubhouse manager was trying to placate us just a bit, bringing us a shiny polished chrome VS branded shoe horn, which he said was brought in by SRB himself, then a few minutes later 2 shiny pens with red tail fins like a plane. He was a bit keen.

Well we boarded, and as we went through the gate the ground crew passed some comment about us having good seats. Anyway, we waited to see who would be in 12A&K, and 2 pax came in, a couple, one stopped and looked at me for a moment and then called his missus and pointed to the front seats. We got a couple of stares from them both, don't know why, but he gestured back and forth between the seats and looked in our direction.

Anyway, the seats appeared fully operational, the IFE did too, and they converted to beds and bedded down with most of the cabin, so no problems as far as I could tell, although we'd been given the line about them trying to fix the seats.

I don't know what the truth of the matter is but having read the manifest, 12A pax was listed as UNIQ, but the FC status wasn't listed for any of the K side. So were we bumped to accommodate their request to have the seats? I'm saying no more because I don't honestly know. The flight was great, CC were fab, our seats were just fine, but my other half isn't happy about what happened.

My wife and I have got 12A&K reserved for our flight back from SFO in October.

If the same happened to us, what would annoy me most would probably be the being obviously lied to by VS staff. It would have been much more honest if they'd said they wanted to make the change due to a specific seat request by a passenger they deem more important (not sure whether they'd ever want to say something like that though). If they then followed that up with a compensation offer of, say, 20,000 miles then the whole situation may have been more acceptable than leaving passengers upset.

I have no idea what UNIQ is but if it indicates some sort of VIP status, and such status warrants them having preference for the front row, then they should block those seats from being reserved by other passenegers as BA does. On our flight later this year with BA we can book 2 A/K. 1 A/K is blocked for Gold staus until about 72 hours before departure, then it's every passenger for themselves. Fair enough IMO.

What would really boil my piss is the fact they appear to have lied to you. And then once they realise you may have cottoned on, they try and placate you with SRB's shoe horn and pens (that anyone can have if you ask- I got one at the LHR CH). I would be complaining for this reason alone. They can move you as they wish for whatever the operational reason, they state that in the T&Cs, but to lie to a passeneger is not acceptable in my book. But in my line of work, probity and honesty is paramount. Perhaps that is not the case in the airline industry?

Of course they could say the seats were broken then fixed.

Blimey Bretty, you must be a very calm person. I think I would have raised merry hell had that happened to me. I know that seats are never guaranteed (blah, blah, blah) but it is an important part of the trip and to get that close and have been spun what to me looks like a line, would really hack me off to the point that I would be close to an IDB situation. This "staffers" thing rears its head too much for my liking.

Even if it wasn't off duty crew or whatever else, I know for a fact crew get the seats they want regardless of pre requesting by paying pax.
I have an Virgin crew aquiantance, I'm not sure how it works for them travel wise (he did explain) but he only finds out on the day what cabin he's in. I think it's dependant on what staff are wanting to fly on the same flight and seniority is also taken into account.
The last time he flew he was in the celebrity seats (12A&K). Someone must've been moved to accommodate him and his partner as he only knew he was in upper when he arrived at the airport.
12A&K are always the first seats to be selected whenever I'm on a 747 so I doubt no one on that flight had requested those seats.
luckily for me I prefer 18&19A
UNIQ I know nothing about...

I have no idea what UNIQ is ...

UNIQ is an unpublished but known about tier of FC that is essentially invitation only and not based purely on how many TPs you have earned or ££ you have spent.

There are a couple of UNIQs here. There have been several threads about UNIQ in the past so have a search for them.

Even within UNIQ there are different bands and I know that one particular letter indicates 'friend of SRB'

And no I'm not one of those nor a UNIQ but I am unique!

@Silver Fox - I stayed calm because I'd just had a fab holiday and didn't want anything to kill my buzz, I was having a good time. I was disappointed though. We were told about an hour ish before boarding, and there was little we could do. I know how coveted those 2 seats can be. My OH however, was furious and made it known, which is why I think the clubhouse manager went into overdrive to placate us (him).

I don't know what the truth is, but I do feel, after what I saw of the equipment usage and the manifest identifying a UNIQ, that we've been lied to, and in customer service, for me, that's the biggest mistake you can make - I'd rather know the truth and deal with, however bitter it is, than be spun some c**p so the company can save face. My OH wants me to complain, I don't know what good it will do exactly, but I'm going to. I have some positive feedback I want to give too so will do them individually.

Anyway, the seats appeared fully operational, the IFE did too, and they converted to beds and bedded down with most of the cabin, so no problems as far as I could tell, although we'd been given the line about them trying to fix the seats.

You were lied to ,plain and simple. I think your hubby has every right to feel aggrieved and I would be asking for some answers. Where they got the shoehorn and red tailed pens from I don't know as the last time I saw either item being given out by VS was years ( and I mean years) ago ?

DL

I would complain too but I'd term it in words of disappointment rather than anger.

' we were looking forward to the seats that We'd reserved a long time ago ... disappointed at the information given re them being broken when they weren't ...'


Btw I have some of those pens too - liberated from the EWR CH

Thanks folks I've sent something expressing disappointment over the seat reassignment after specifically selecting them feeling that we were lied to and that we were bumped for someone with VIP status and that we don't particularly feel valued as a result. I've sandwiched it between 2 separate communications singing the praises of CC in both flights so will see what happens.

Well played. I hope they do something meaningful in addition.

[buns]

Bretty

I sincerely hope you get a decent reply

As others have said, the key issue is that you were misled

We all know there is no guarantee of seats but to be told that seats were unserviceable when clearly they were not is at the crux of the matter

Personally, I feel sorry for the staff member who was put in that position as someone along the line though "they won't know" and thanks to your persistence said person was found out

I do not think any one of us would have minded if we were told the truth but to be told an untruth is unforgivable

bund

Well folks today I've had a formal response from VS about the seat issues, after they spent time contacting the SFO Manager and Clubhouse Manager.

They've been quite candid in reply that the clubhouse manager admitted he was looking out for the UNIQ pax, and they and he have apologised for what happened, recognising that we felt we weren't valued, and said it wouldn't happen again.

So far so good.
Then they went on to explain sometimes seats can be defective, and they'll offer to move pax in those circumstances and that the clubhouse manager didn't say we had to move seats. They've also given each of us 10,000 miles, which have already credited.

So, on the one hand there is an admission that we were lied to in order to look after UNIQ pax, who may not have asked for it - which may explain why they glared at us a couple of times - but then have said we had a choice whether we moved or not.

I've written back to thank them for investigating, for admitting to the situation but pointed out again that the Clubhouse Manager didn't say we had to move but lied in order that he could secure the seats for the UNIQ pax and companion, and that if he's admitted he was looking out for them, he wouldn't knowingly move them to potentially defective seats.

Anyway, I've drawn a line under the matter, happy to let it go now, and happy to be 10,000 miles better off. I didn't get fobbed off as expected, only a little

I'm pleased you finally got a formal response. It is a shame that lying was involved but I think I too would let things lie now and look forward to my next flight. Perhaps you now have an asterisk by your name to ensure you get excellent treatment in the future ? Well, I hope so !

Perhaps you now have an asterisk by your name to ensure you get excellent treatment in the future ? Well, I hope so !

Oooer, do you think?!