VS602 JNB-LHR 15 Mar 06 (Upper)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

The home leg back yesterday!
The car arrived to collect me 30 mins early (17h45 instead of 18h15)which turned out to be better.
Took about 1 hr from Sandton to JNB International- to the 'Drive through check in'.You have to exit the vehicle in the car park and check in at the desk - 3 people in front of me so no real wait to speak of.
My pre allocated seat of 6K was issued. Straight through to the most horrendous queues for customs. It was at least 50 mins to clear customs!![:0]
I ordered the Fillet (Med Rare) and it was excellent - washed it down with a couple of Windhoek Lagers too!
Boarding was at Gate 25 at 20h25 - when you get there - you realise it is the bus stop for the remote stands!!
Aircraft was 'Lucky Lady' V-WIN Airborne Feb 06!
The main change for the UC Cabin is the loo has moved across the asile from the A seat side to the K seat side. So it is ahead of seat 2K.
The UC cabin was full for this flight - seat 5A - the table had a red sticker across it with 'DAMAGED DO NOT USE'.This seat was occupied too.
Horror of horrors ensued with a lady and a +/- 3 month baby sitting in 8G [:0][:0][:0]- i thought this would be the flight from hell when noises were being made before take off.
To be honest the baby was as quiet as mouse until we had landed - so my fears were unfounded!![:D][:D]
Captain ******* ******* announced that the flight would be around 10 and 3/4 hours long.
We pushed back at 21h29 and as we were taxiing to the runway at 21h40, the only aircraft left at the International terminal was an Air France A340.
When i flew in on Wed 8th March there was a United Airlines 747 parked up near the engineering hangars - and there it was again as we taxied out! I don't recall UA flying to RSA?
Take off was at 21h47 with a loooonngg take off roll!!!
V Port was on at 22h05 and OB Kits isssued at same time.
Again i opted for a cheese plate and a Shiraz. I see the new menu was available:

DINNER:
Starters:
Seasonal Leaf Salad with Cajun Chicken, peppers & yoghurt mint dressing
Pea and Mint Soup

Mains
Roast Chicken Breast with Aubergine & Haloumi Cheese
Grilled Fillet of Beef with Gratin Pots, beans, carrots and Amarula Sce
Penne Pasta with Butternut cheese sce, cherry toms & toasted pumpkin seeds

Cheese
Simonsberg Blue
Farmhouse Cheddar
Simonsberg Brie

Desserts
Choc Cherry cake & berry compote
Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream with vanilla wafers

Smaller Bites
Olive Focaccia filled with Hickory Ham, onions & Dill mustard Mayo
Kingklip Tempura & Sweet chilli dipping sce
vege Samosa with onion & Balsamic chutney

Again a fairly bumpy flight.
For my second flight no rounds or intro's done by the FSM - maybe it doesn't happen any more?

Gear down at 06h33am and we landed at 06h37 - coming in over the M25!
The plane down before us was a BA 744 (G-CIVN), and as we taxied to the stand another BA 744 landed (G-CIVZ or G-CUVZ?)and an SAA 744 (The Great North) landed.
We were at gate 42 which ensures that you get some exercise after your flight!!!!

Luggage was off at 07h00 and i was in Revivals by 07h10.
They have great showers, however no shave was available until 9.00am so i wasn't going to wait that long!!

All in all a good flight.
Zambandit

Thanks for the TR! I just enjoy reading about others' great UC experiences so that I know what to expect when I get that Op Up!

And may I say welcome to V-Flyer [:)]...a TR so early on...superb effort [y] Gold star from teacher [:p]

[Decker]

Excellent read thanks Zambandit! Mrs D and I should be doing this run in May so always nice to be prewarned! Shame about the FSM - it is becoming apparent that this is a 'nice to have' not a 'compulsory' and that they're frequently too busy to do it [:(].

How was the Clubhouse?

Originally posted by zambandit
Horror of horrors ensued with a lady and a +/- 3 month baby sitting in 8G

Great TR, zambandit. Quick question: Was said baby ensconced in the groovy little UC bassinet or just on its ma's lap?

Excellent TR! [y] thanks Zambandit!

Hi mdvipond:
Quote:
Great TR, zambandit. Quick question: Was said baby ensconced in the groovy little UC bassinet or just on its ma's lap?

Yes - it was a very snazzy UC Bassinet. As my kids are a bit old for one, i only gave 'it' (The bassinet) a quick glance. To be honest i was fearful of the 'world's worst flight' and i was trying to avoid issuing too many 'daggers' at the poor mum!!!!

Hi Decker

The JNB Clubhouse was excellent - they have a proper open grill and the chefs are all 'on show'. The menu is fairly small but there is enough choice for all!
It is also quite busy as i think Swiss Air use the lounge and that flight is quite close to the VAA flight.
I am on the VS 601 on the 27th May returning on the 31st May - when is your trip?

Cheers

Zambandit

[Decker]

We're still finalising - the theory was fly out on the 13th, show closes on 19th, few days on Safari then home on say 22nd. Just heard that a client might want me to do some training while I'm down there in which case it may be home on the 30th with the second portion in CPT.

IMO, I don't think damaged seats should be used especially if you've paid thousands of pounds for the flight. It just doesn't seem fair.

Cheers,
VS045

Thanks for the TR Zambandit.

For the record the BA 747 would have been G-CIVZ (coming back from JFK!). Nearly all the BA 747's start with G-BNL or G-CIV (geek mode off!)

JNB nearly always long take off runs, as it is hot this time of year, and the airport is also at a high altitude - all of which means a faster speed is required for planes to get airbourne. (geek mode off now - I promise!)

Originally posted by GatorBaiter
Thanks for the TR! I just enjoy reading about others' great UC experiences so that I know what to expect when I get that Op Up!

And may I say welcome to V-Flyer [:)]...a TR so early on...superb effort [y] Gold star from teacher [:p]

Omg - you've just broken my dream Jacq - last night, I was doing an English exam in my dream - it was a trip report. 2nd night running I've dreamed Virgin....

They're coming to take me away....[}:)]

Originally posted by zambandit

Yes - it was a very snazzy UC Bassinet.

Thanks for the info. We used the bassinet on the way back from JFK in Jan, just wondered if the newer A346's still carried them for our LAX flight in Nov. Mind you, mdvipond jr. will be 13 months by then, she might not even fit in the damn thing!