My parents stayed at the Hilton Gatwick overnight on the 1st and took advantage of the 'fantastic' buffet they have there ( about 25 each I think ) which they found to be of an excellent quality and limitless.
The next morning they walked the short distance to the South Terminal and straight up the Upper Class checkin. There was some confusion and the checkin agent had to go away to refer with a colleague - the reason: I had used OLCI the previous night in order to be ( more ) sure of their seats, 8&9A. I thought that using OLCI helped with ensuring you got the seats you wanted ( and confirmed you would turn up ) but it seemed to cause confusion.
Onto the Clubhouse where my dad had the full English breakfast with toast and tea ( 'very good' ) and my mum had cereal. Offered a shoe shine by the very friendly guy but turned it down. No treatment for either but instead just lazed until the flight. Their one complaint : Why is there no seating area for eating? Having seen other pictures I know what they mean, people awkwardly eating food from the funky laid back chairs. Why is there no upright eating area like JFK?
Priority boarding working fine and they were soon in their seats and offered drinks. Crew great for both legs of the journey, with the FSM coming around and introducing herself to all passengers.
After takeoff a hot towel was offered and passengers asked for their food orders. After a large breakfast neither of my parents wanted food straight away so asked to eat later on in the flight. They both had lamb suet pudding for main which they thought was good.
They were both surprised at how much people were drinking on board... glad for their seat location as far enough away from the bar. Particular incident occurred where a drunk passenger, larking around with her fiance opposite, threw a glass of water at him and hit the passenger in 7A instead..... who was understandably not impressed. They calmed down a bit after that.
Great view of Barbados from the left hand side of the aircraft on approach ( thanks to whoever referenced that in an earlier report )
For the return leg, I had arranged for them to be in 7&8K instead. A short time in the Barbados lounge ( Club Caribbean ) where there was again gratuitous alcohol consumption.... one person with a half pint glass with a couple of ice cubes and then filled to the top with whisky, walks back to their seat and waits until the waitress is gone and then goes up and gets another one with no ice in!! Thankfully he wasn't on their flight!!
They commented that with the short flight time and time until food service after take off it left little time for rest ( wonder if anyones considered Good Night Flight for these services? Guess not as they are B&S routes perhaps? ) They had the chargrilled chicken salad and toad-in-the-hole which they again considered good.
My dad's seat was converted into a bed and he slept for a time. My mum tried the same but found the seat too flat and had her's converted back into a seat, as did an elderly couple in front of them. both complained that the cabin was just far too hot. Couple of hours sleep and it was time to wake up for breakfast. Good bacon rolls.
Priority disembarking was in place ( my dad was a little embarassed by this! ) and their luggage came through early on. As it was a 'Z' fare going out and a 'D' coming back I had arranged the Tristar car to take them home to Cambridge. Their driver was extremely pleasant and friendly.
Overall - they loved flying Upper Class. It was their first time flying anywhere long haul in a premium cabin and they were both full of the usual 'we'd do that again', 'only way to fly' etc etc
Sorry if this is lacking detail, but hope it's interesting enough! If I remember other details I'll update.
Thanks,
David.
