This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I arrived in plenty of time at Sydney airport, and arrived about 5 minutes before check in opened.
Top marks here, as there seemed ample check in staff, and everything was clearly laid out.
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after checking in, I was handed a clubhouse invite, and made my way to the Air New Zealand Lounge
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Unfortunately, the lounge was not open when I artrived, as the facility does not open until 1pm.
So I did a 15 minute tour of the terminal, before going back to find the lounge had opened.
The lounge is not a clubhouse, and is a little grey, however it is very spacious, has great runway views, and for the most part, it was only VS pax in the lounge until close to our departure time when some Air New Zealand passengers started to arrive.
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There is a self service bar and food area in the lounge, I helped myself to some snacks.
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Certainly not clubhouse food, but it was fresh, and did the job.
Whilst waiting in the lounge, our plane got towed to the stand, and saw that we had Indian Princess (G-VGOA) today.
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On boarding I had seat 3K again, and loads were lighter on this flight than the outbound, with Upper around 1/3rd full.
G-VGOA has the old layout of the front toilet on the port side of the cabin. I have to say I prefer the toilet on the starboard side which I had on G-VSSH on the way out. It makes it much easier to get to, and did not cause any queuing or noise issues for my seat. When its on the port side however, it is positioned in front of two seats, and you have to shimmy round the beauty therapist to get to it.
Being the 7th of March, we had new movies loaded onto V:Port, so I watched the oscar winning Crash, to see what the fuss was about - recommended viewing, and had a laugh watching the Wedding Crashers - good toilet humour!
V:Port also now comes with Who Wants to Be A Millionaire - fantastic!
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Trivia challenge is also still there, and I was able to beat 'Emma' back in row 30 something - she did not put up a good fight!
Leaving Sydney gave fantastic views of the city - I was able to grab this photo - quite pleased with it I am!
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The seatback guide has also been updated for March, with a new 'how it works' section on V:Port
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and a nice summary of all of what is avaialble on V:Port at a glance
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A big improvement I think - VS just need to improve the listings on their web site now [:D]
Dinner consisted of prawn salad for starter
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this was okay, but only two prawns, even though they were large, was a little stingy I think. This was follows by Chicken with potatoes and veg, with some gravy.
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This was all too dry for me, not the best meal in the world.
On arrival in Hong Kong, the same set up as the outbound took effect, with Catch me if you can stickers, but this time I knew where to find the clubhouse.
Had some Slamon and Crab fishcakes as a light snack in the clubhouse, which was excellent
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The staff there were as excellent as the last visit - if I ever go to Hong Kong I will make more use of the lounge - it's a real gem.
Soon we were called for the London flight, which was a full load.
Back to the usual routine of two movies, food and sleep for me on this leg.
I did not want to be woken for massage on this leg, as sleep was the main goal, however, fortunately I got called just before dinner arrived [y]
On returning to seat, I was given my vegetable spring rolls and main course - the infamous bangers and mash - yes they are still appearing on menus!
Spring rolls were fine, however, I really did not think much of the bangers and mash - poor quality suasages I think, and not like how my mum used to make it.
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Original plan was to sleep all through to LHR, however I awoke 2 hours from London, and decided to change, and sit at the bar for breakfast.
The staff really do turn the bar area into a canteen for breakfast, with a table errected near the emergency door full of cereals croissants etc. Had some apple juice and bacon roll for breakfast (nb they do not serve grapefruit juice on VS [V][n])
Landing was about on time, and after the usual immigration, and luggage pick up (Priority luggage worked fine) I was off to explore revivals for the first time.
As I was on a Z ticket, I did not have Limo, so only had an hour to utilise lounge, so I opted to miss the shower, and plunge striaght into breakfast.
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I was very impressed with revivals, after drinks were served....
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I got my 'Croque Mister' - a grilled sandwich with honey roast ham, cheddar cheese and english mustard - superb (already taken a bite in the photo!!)
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I wish they served this on board - bacon rolls eat your heart out!
All in all excellent flights on VS. Food was again a bit of a let down. I'm trying to think if I am getting fussy, or whether the food is not as good as it used to be - I do think it is the latter.
Still, all said, the VS product to Sydney is superb, and the sleepability of the Suites makes the journey pass in no time at all.
If you have any questions then please feel free to ask away.
outbound TR on the VS200 flight can be found here.
Cheers!
