This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Well then, my brief holiday over with it was time to get back to work. The limo (or a Volvo hatchback in this case) picked me up at a friends house in Colchester at 6.15 am promptly and whisked me down to Gatwick for an 8am arrival. The driver was very chatty and as we shared a mutual love of Rugby we discussed the days International games that I was going to miss. For those in the know we were both wrong about the result of the England v Scotland game which as a Welshman I can live with O Flower of Scotland, When will we see your like againwhoops sorry..
So we hit the drive through check-in and I was processed quickly enough. I hadnt used OLCI the night before so my 9K had now been changed to 7A. A classic schoolboy error and Ill strive to do better in future.
I was dropped at the terminal and walked through to departures. There is a lot of construction taking place so there were two gentlemen at the foot of an escalator directing people upstairs to departures. There was no fast track in evidence (I may have missed it) so I queued up with all and sundry and about 20 minutes later was through the security check. This could have gone faster if people had their bits and pieces ready to go BEFORE they got to the head of the queue but hey like I said Im not really a whiner.
The terminal was packed, I ventured off to Smiths to pick up some magazines but the size of the queue put me right off. So off to the Clubhouse I went. The two young ladies at reception were very friendly and I asked one if it was possible to change my seating assignment, which she did. So there I was back in row 9, but 9A which was fine..or so I thought.
Finding a table was easy enough at that time in the morning and within a few minutes I had some tea and mineral water. I helped myself to a copy of the Guardian and they, like myself, the driver and most of the Pundits were also wrong about the result of the Scotland V England game that afternoon. .That fought and died for Your wee bit hill and glen. Whoops sorry again.
Okay here is the first major whine.. Not only was the internet connection impossible to use but the T-Mobile connection was also down. I didnt have anything crucial to do but it was a little annoying. So I concentrated on breakfast. I found myself a seat at the bar and had a full English which was very nice chased down with a glass of champers.
The flight hadnt been called but I decided to leave the clubhouse a little early to get the magazines I wanted and head to the gate. I hit the gate just before they had started the initial main boarding. I had no idea if priority boarding in effect but as there was nobody at the desk I walked straight up and was the second person into the UC cabin.
Whine number twothe suite wasnt as clean as it could have been. Crumbs on the seat, a small smear on the monitor which was either ketchup or jam and some chocolate bar papers by the menu/water bottle. I am being a bit picky here to be honest, it wasnt bad but it could have been cleaner.
The cabin filled up and, and here we go, there was a family onboard with young children. They had seats 11 and 12 on both sides of the aisle. The young girl was perfectly behaved but the boy was loud, and I do mean loud. At every shout the Father would say shhhh dont shout and the little so and so would do it again. Obviously he was excited and I was trying to be understanding but the decibel level was way out of order.
They paid their money and they have a perfect right to sit their kids wherever they want but bloody hell if Id have ignored my dad like that when I was a kid I wouldnt have been able to sit down for a week.
Anyway take off over with I used the hot towel to clean the monitor and seat some drinks came around and the FAs started to take lunch orders. At which time (and I mean literally the same time) the cabin floor in front of the bar becomes an impromptu cr_che with Dad and Junior (again the ladies in the family were far better behaved) playing Thomas the bloody tank engine. So now not only do the FAs have to walk around them but if anybody had wanted to use the bar that was impossible.
Well the lunch service got everyone back in their seats. I skipped the starters (chicken salad and something else I forget) and went straight for the Lamb Suet pudding. It looked great but you can guess the rest so I wont bore you.
Once again the cheese plate had a very nice aged cheddar which was enjoyed with a large port.
Okay kiddies its playtime again. I will say something positive though. I hope if I ever have kids that I can be the kind of dad that doesnt think twice about sitting on the floor in a cabin full of strangers performing train impersonations chanting Schhhhhhhhttttttuuuuuuucccccccccccccccuuuuuuuuuuufffffffffffffff over and over again with no thought for my own modesty. I do have to admit a grudging respect for the man for that.
Of course using the bar was again out of the question (not that I would have sat there by myself) so my vodka tonics were delivered to the seat whilst I watched some comedy. Am I the only one who cackles out loud?, I was certainly the only one on this flight.
I took a walk to the back of the plane and loitered at the back for a few minutes to stretch my legs, the flight wasnt that full in Y so plenty of people had commandeered the middle rows and were stretched out, good for them they may have had a little more rest than I did.
I headed back up front to top up the glass which coincided with afternoon tea which was nice and soon after I was back on the rock. Immigration was its usual nightmare with a BMI and AA flight on the ground in front of us so it took me about an hour to clear customs and immigration before heading home to find my house a wreck and four very affectionate cats who took no responsibility for the state of the place.
In summary,
Great limo service, great clubhouse (with great service). Shame about the internet connection but thats no biggie.
Great service on board, again the food was average and it took me two days to get the Thomas the Tank engine theme out of my head but you cant blame Virgin for that.
I think its time to plan a longer journey in UC.
Oh and well done Scotland.
