This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Excited by the up and coming delights in the new LHR CH, I emailed the Heathrow Cowshed and reserved a Rhinestone Cowboy treatment. Within a few hours I had received a confirmation email with a time slot of 9:30am. Perhaps one day we will be able to book treatments via the VA web site? Being able to select available treatments/times on the web would be cool.
We arrived at the LHR Upper Class check-in at 7:30am. Slight delay getting to the actual desk due to the person at the front of the red carpet entrance taking ages to check our itinerary. Perhaps they do this deliberately to prevent a queue on the red carpet? Once at the desk, I found the ground crew to be very courteous and helpful. Check-in was a time consuming process due to three of us traveling together with our own luggage plus a heavy duty storage case (for 4 laptops) and some popup banner stands for the trade show. When asked we had to decide who would have what extra baggage against their name. Unlike last year, this year we were within our baggage weight restrictions and didnt need to perform the embarrassing baggage contents swap! After dropping off our heavy/oversized baggage we were on our way.
After getting through security we stopped off at the booth opposite the CH entrance to get some dollars. At the CH entrance our details were registered by means of a touch screen system that was operating by friendly VA staff. We then took up an offer of a tour of the new lounge (phase1).
My first impressions of the CH lounge were mixed. I wasnt convinced on some of the wooden d_cor, but all in all Im sure it will be a big improvement with the upper deck. Seems to be lots of space and the chairs are near the bar are really comfortable. Real shame we missed seeing phase2 by a few days. After some breakfast - I tried the bacon and sausage muffin I wondered over to the Cowshed to check my booking. We found out there was a problem with the computer system and they had lost all reservations, including mine! Luckily I had arrived early enough to secure my original 9:30am appointment. So what can I say about the Rhinestone Cowboy? Absolutely awesome!! All in all a great pampering which included a shoulder massage, face cleansing and wet shave. After the treatment I finished my CH visit with a glass of champagne. The one negative was that by the time the flight was called the lounge was packed, so much so, people were standing with no where to sit which could be a problem keeping your seat if you were traveling alone. Im sure now that the upper deck of the CH is completed this will no longer be a problem.
At 10:30am we began our march to the gate. After 15mins of queuing we were onboard. I showed my ticket (3A) to a crew member who directed me to turn left past the bar on the lower deck. After pointing out that my seat was upstairs, which caused some slight embarrassment for her, I found my seat and made myself comfortable in the Suite and had a mandatory glass of champers. Take off was pretty much on time - just past 11am.
Ive been lucky enough to fly the Upper Class Suite several times now, was disappointed me with this flight was the condition of the suite itself. On the right hand side of my the entire trim was coming away, so much so that I could see the materials behind that were not intended to be seen by the passenger. Also the side which was coming away was covered in biro. Either someone was holding an outstretch pen during some major turbulence or a child had used the suite as a replacement for a colouring book. I and other passengers had problems with the tables. It seems that the safety card or menu is required to release the table if it gets stuck. All in all Im afraid my suite looked very shoddy. Note: My poor seat rating was due to the state of the seat, not its comfort.
After some considerable moaning with my colleagues about the pre-V-Port system is it me or does everybody expect on-demand video in this day and age having to wait for a movie to end before you can catch the beginning of it is hideously painful. I know V-Port is being rolled out, but then it was last year.
I was excited to find that the Best of British menu was being served. After much deliberation I went for the Chicken Curry and Rhubarb Crumble. Sampled some nice red wine, although I cant recall the details (hic!). After lunch we visited the bar for drink and a chat with some other passengers. I remember one person asking the crew whether they could send a drink to his friend who was traveling in steerage. Yes, he said steerage! I nearly chocked on my own drink when he said that. I couldnt help but comment that the last time I heard that word steerage was from someone in first class in the film Titanic. For the rest of the journey I occupied my time using my laptop and watched a video. As always I had promised myself to get at least 2hrs sleep but as usual I didnt, which I suffer for later.
So, after 13 hours of happiness (2 in the CH, 11 in the air) we landed at SFO. As usual we followed what seems to be thousands of people in to the main custom hall and begin our theme park ride queue through to winding barriers to customs which took the most part of an hour. I have come to the conclusion that for what ever reason my identity has been black marked. Each time I travel to the USA I get hassled and this visit was no different. After struggling with the biometrics system (blood samples arent required yet but Im sure they will be soon) I receive a bunch of questions, are you on business, where will you be staying etc. Then the custom guy draws a thick red line on my customs form and tells me to go to another queue. After 10 minutes Im speaking to another customs guy. After 20mins of questions like, Have you been to Pakistan?, my password is stamped. I understand why they need to do it, but why always memememe? I did stifle a laugh when my yes/no answers resulted in the customs guy typing a paragraph of letters on the keyboard! What the hell was he typing? The other think that made me laugh was that my colleague was also sent for a grilling to the same customs guy I had, AND asked the same questions!! Which I dont think it fair because he over heard my answers which I think is cheating.
Bare with me, Ive nearly finished
The next shocker (although its shouldnt be by now) was that our secure storage box containing the extra laptops had been opened by the TSA. As per usual they had ignored the TSA approved locks and broke both of them. One lock was missing and the other was hanging on for grim life, but now totally unusable. Although they did put a note in the box which basically says we can do what we like, so there!. Later we discovered that they had opened all marketing material but at least they had taped the boxes back up.
After collecting our luggage (as you always do if you travel into the USA), my luggage was searched by the TSA and I was asked why I only brought in 300 USD for the week. Silly me for thinking I would using my credit card whilst in the USA. [?]
Ill save you the delights on the Delta flight between SFO and SLC. Needless to say it was painful. But then anything would be after youve stepped off a wonderful VA flight. [8D]
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