Flew in from Puerto Rico with AA and collected our baggage on one of those rental trollies. It rapidly became apparent that the bearings were shot on the front wheel so my $3 made me the focal point of amused smirks as I made noisy progress through the airport to the E section of the terminal from the B. Mrs D followed on several paces behind - leaving sufficient space for plausible denial.
I overshot the UC checkin and doubled back - Mrs D caught up and we presented ourselves at the counter where a very knowledgeable gentleman reprocessed our bookings. I'd checked in on line the night before although it turned out to be unnecessary as whilst Y and W were full J had 20 free seats. There were multiple upgrade requests but not enough food loaded so a lot had to be turned down. Today marked the cessation of interlining with AA at MIA - apparently too many bags were going missing and they've decided enough is enough.
Our Club America pass was annotated and we walked to the lounge with low expectations courtesy of previous TRs. The good news is that GNF is no more on the VS006 and no wonder given the paucity of the food on offer in the lounge. The lounge is split into three sections, A B and C and B is set aside exclusively for the use of VS flyers. A maze like design makes its true size difficult to gauge but it was easy to get some privacy. The choice of drinks was what one would expect in a standard lounge and a small sign announced that we could ask for sandwiches to be made. We opted for a grilled cheese sandwich and it was soon delivered. Small and garnished with an olive pierced through with one of those Wilkinson Sword style cocktail sticks that went out of fashion in the '70s. Not particularly satisfying size wise although it was OK taste wise (unless you prefer your cheese to be real non processed cheese). Service was not attentive but was adequate and the toilet facilities whilst limited were at least clean - well almost... I suspect SOME people are getting too used to toilets that flush themselves as twice this afternoon I've had to flush a toilet after somebody. I wouldn't mind but I only went in there to change out of shorts into jeans and T-Shirt.
The lounge boasted free wireless internet access although there were several Wireless services to choose from. Linksys is the free one (not publicwifi)! An extended IM conversation with my brother revealed the breaking news that Morrisey had finally come out of the closet. I haven't been so shocked since George Michael did the same. *cough cough*.
The lounge was remarkably empty reflecting the low load in J. Opposite us in the lounge sat a charming couple with a young child who was a bundle of energy - teething apparently but incredibly good natured. An hour before takeoff an announcement was made that boarding was commencing. As we were ground side we made our way out of the lounge which was adjacent to security and joined the longish queue for security. We were joined by the adjacent couple who explained that they'd been told that we would be escorted through a fast track by an agent. No VS personnel were visible but then a familiar red suited person appeared and one of the couple approached her. She confirmed that we shouldn't have been removed from the lounge until an agent was ready to escort us through. She went off in search of one. We left the queue and stood to one side with the couple to await the agent. Five minutes later the queue had diminished and still no sign of the agent. The couple said their farewells - mother and son only flying to the UK - and we rejoined the main queue. We made it through security with no sign of the agent... but on the bright side again no TSA shoe carnival! It's interesting how many people continue to automatically remove shoes though.
Repacked laptop and reunited with Mrs D. We trekked down to E11 and looked for a priority boarding sign. No such luck. No sign was in evidence BUT general boarding was obviously being managed somehow as there was not a scrum, so we joined a short queue and made our way through to our seats 14 and 15K.
All in all not impressed with MIA lounge or boarding procedures.
Once on board G-VOGE (V:Port) we went through the usual rituals and changed into the sleep suit. The crew were very animated in their discussion of this evening's loads for some reason. The FSM made a point of introducing herself to Mrs D and self (we'd made sure our Au numbers were on the booking this time) and I was asked to fill in an X-Plane Questionnaire as the seat next to me was vacant. This I was pleased to do although in the section on 'Why did you choose Virgin for this flight' I simply wrote 'Ha ha' next to the 'Punctuality' check box accompanied by a winking smiley. Naturally we then experienced that unusual beast - an On Time Pushback :- possibly even a couple of minutes early!
As others have mentioned the menu I'll do a GJ and omit the listing. Mrs D and I ordered the same, the seasonal salad followed by the steak. I opted to delay my start so I could type this. Mrs D went right ahead. Some 10 minutes later an attempt was made to make my table for dinner. I explained the delay then the original FA (who obviously hadn't understood my mumbled request to delay dinner) came back and explained that my steak was in the oven already with all the others and was offered the choice of eating early. I didn't bite and so an alternative offer of eating in an hour or so was made. The finally agreed compromise was that I'd let them know when I wanted to eat [:)]. Irrelevant aside caused by i-Tunes play list - 'Saw Vietnam as a partisan' (Skids - Working for the Yankee Dollar) REALLY scans well).
Much to my pleasure the IFBT approached and invited me for my manicure. She explained that it was a limited manicure as the only metal implements allowed were a glorified orange stick (NOT her words) so no cuticle nipping and all nail reductions had to be done with an emery board. The accompanying hand massage was incredible and to top of a near perfect treatment my observant therapist suggested using a damp towel to remove any residual greasiness so I could continue typing!
Upon returning to my seat Mrs D had eaten (salad good, steak so-so, mousse lovely). The BIG news is that metal cutlery is back! (Well it is big news to me - perhaps by now someone else will have posted this). A lovely scenario as I returned to my seat was the sight of the female partner referred to earlier sitting in a vacant seat eating her meal whilst the male CSS sat on the ottoman entertaining the infant with a picture book... 'and can we find another truck? Oooh there it is!'. We might not have Sky Nannies but this must come close surely?
Some more music later and with Mrs D snoozing I decided it was time to eat. The FA kindly made up the seat opposite and I tucked into the salad (lots of pear, little pecan but tasty nonetheless) and the steak (not as good as the Mortons from the night before - served well done) tasty but the carrot was verging on mushy. Still all in all a vast improvement on earlier menus.
By now bed called so I decided to try the new sleeping position so eloquently championed of late. I'm pleased to report that it does indeed feel better! So much so that 2.5 hours later I was awoken by the sound of the Captain announcing landing. Changed back into civvies and prepared the cabin for landing [:)]. Pleasingly we were on stand rather than remote - less pleasingly it was one of the furthest away stands. A brisk walk got us to immigration were there were no queues then down to Baggage Reclaim where Mrs D snagged a trolley for our bags which came out pretty much immediately. In a pleasing synchronicity this trolley also had problems with the front wheel and made weird noises whilst its actions proudly proclaimed a mind of its own. No matter, the Addison Lee driver was in his appointed place and the problem became his!
Now comfortably ensconced at home catching up on email with no flights planned until May. All in all an excellent flight - though regretfully I didn't get to meet fellow V-Flyer Dom.
