This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
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The limo arrived 15 minutes early for a 6:30 pickup. My intention was to hit the lounge at opening time, grab breakfast and do a full mornings work prior to the flight at noon. However, the thrumming noise of the diesel Volvo was loud enough to wake the neighbours so I snuck out with my cases and soon we were heading out to the M4. As you know by now, I live in Chiswick and so overall journey time is hugely dependent on the Heathrow spur traffic. Normally I can count on anything up to an hour, but this morning the traffic was completely clear with hardly any stops at all.
Unfortunately we turned up so early that the drive-through wasnt quite open: there was another Volvo in front and the barrier was resolutely down. Not too long to wait, and the impatient queue was enough to convince the check-in staff that opening a few minutes before 7am was the right thing to do. A grab of my bag and soon I had the boarding pass for 12A in my hand. The flight was pretty full so this seat was the best I could do having booked with only eight days notice. At least it was facing a wall, even if it was a tad near the bar on the A340-600.
Then a quick drive up to the departures level and a walk down the ramp to security. This really is the best thing about drive through: the sense of occasion as you step from limo to security line. Happily there was virtually no queue (Ive no idea why this should have been so every other time Ive flown recently it has been snaking back out to the boarding pass check) and I was soon in the welcoming embrace of the Clubhouse.
Yes, it really is much bigger. Where the deli tables used to be there is now the entrance to the brasserie. This is a proper sit down restaurant although the menu is still the same. Looking around I could see few other passengers and a couple dining so I decided on some breakfast before I explored further. I ordered the eggs Benedict, some coffee and a juice, and while the drinks were good, the eggs (or egg, I should say) were hardly enough for a growing boy. Finishing breakfast in a mere microsecond I set off to explore.
The new lounge is still rather a cavern, but walking down through the brasserie to explore the new section I found some additional toilets and then the library off on the left. The library has a few internet stations and you can also plug in your own laptop using an Ethernet cable these are available from the concierge desk. However, the rather loud music just outside the library was enough to distract, and, grabbing a paper from the stack by the library table, I went off in search of a quieter location.
Having wandered up to the top level (no view youll need to go outside if you want to see the planes from up high) and then back down through the entertainment area with the pool table and retro computer games, I found a space by the window with a power socket and mercifully little in the way of background noise. I worked for 40 minutes (using the T-Mobile wifi connection) and necked down a couple of virgin Marys before stashing my laptop at the baggage check and legging it to the Bumble & Bumble salon for my usual haircut: number three at the back and sides and left spiky on top (more Gavin Henson 2006 than 2005, Im glad to say). Ive had the same haircut for about twenty years, so its good to find that the Clubhouse hairdressers manage it with ease.
Then back to work as the morning wore on. At about 11:00 the flight started showing at gate 34 (as usual for the VS021) and so I decided to stretch my legs and saunter down. Of course, my usual early exit from the lounge meant that boarding had not yet commenced, but gate 34 is one of those where the security check is as you get onto the plane, rather than prior to the gate area, so at least there were plenty of places to sit.
Within a few minutes a queue started building at the cordoned off entrance to the security area, although the 15 minute delay announced meant that the volume of disgruntled murmuring grew louder. Of course, there was a priority boarding sign but this was stuck to one side of the cordon and wasnt associated with any particular route. One of the security agents then took it upon herself to start ordering people to sit down in a schoolmarm-ish fashion, which didnt endear her to the waiting throng. And of course the queue seemed mainly to be Economy passengers, so when the security cordon was opened with a shouted announcement that it was for priority boarding only, they all surged forward and I had to battle through a milling crowd to get my passport and boarding card checked.
Just why is priority boarding so difficult to organise for Virgin? All you need to do is to make two, clearly signposted queues which can be managed properly. Then you open the priority one first with a proper announcement. And you keep the priority one open for Gold, PE and UC pax to board through up until departure. It would have been easy enough to make this work at gate 34, instead it was a frazzled and fed-up Cat who got through towards the boarding pass machine. And of course, for the fifth time in succession out of LHR (and every time in recent memory I have been to IAD), I got pulled for a random security check. I am really getting fed up with this -- its always the same guy as well. There was no reason to get pulled other than the way I look for travelling. Maybe I should wear a suit next time and see what happens. So after shoes off and a search of my rucksack I made my way on to the plane with all the economy passengers. Priority boarding: my bottom.
On board things were a little easier. A glass of champagne and my troubles seemed to drift away. That is, until a mother and toddler (that awkward age which seems to mean constant screaming) took up residence in 15A. Happily for my blood pressure the child and parent soon disappeared: they had been parked there by the cabin crew while their seats were sorted out. I stuck my misanthropic nose back into the Guardian and chugged more champagne. Unlike on some flights the cabin crew werent too shy about the refills either, and buoyed on a sea of bubbles I waited for take off.
Push back was about 15 minutes late, and the queue for take off seemed to hint at longer delays but we pushed to the front (the pilot having clearly been taking lessons from the Cat) and were soon in the air. Once the service started it was time for a real Bloody Mary, supplied with mini-poppadoms and Twiglets. It may or not be part of the Best of British menu, but I cant think of any finer snack than this to start off a flight, and with taste buds a-fizz I sat back to enjoy the ride.
I noticed the FSM coming down the aisle introducing herself, spending at least a few minutes with each passenger. This is one of my pet delights of the Virgin experience, and Im always disappointed when it doesnt happen, so I was impressed to find that the FSM was someone who knew the V-Flyer board and we had a pleasant chat for 15 minutes. The food order was taken by another member of staff (salad and the chicken curry) and I took a little time to peruse the wine list. There was an Oz chardonnay that looked hopeful, and an English white that certainly did not. Unfortunately the decent shiraz seemed to be off the menu.
The salad was merely OK, but the chicken tikka masala was excellent. At last, decent food in Upper Class! The wines were a different story: despite most Aussie chardonnays having the robustness of the Wallabies front row, the wine was tasteless to the point of irrelevancy. I could have been drinking water. Switching to the English wine was a clear mistake too, rather sweet and with an unpleasant aftertaste. I cant remember much about the third, other than it caused me to switch to a succession of dull reds. So, a thumbs up for the food and a serious thumbs down for the wine. Could the bean counters be spending on the former at the expense of the latter?
I was dozing when the IFBT came round, but spent the rest of the flight working failing to watch V.Port. Maybe Im getting jaded by the selection of entertainment (not much in the way of decent films and the TV selection doesnt seem to have changed much for the past 6 months) or perhaps I am just working too hard. Still, the service on-board was absolutely excellent: plenty of attention, a great FSM and the flight time just seemed to disappear.
Landing at Dulles a little earlier than scheduled (some fierce tailwinds) meant that that we hit immigration at the back of the queue from the BA flight along with a fair few Austrian Airlines passengers. I looked up to find my client (who had come in on the BA flight) about 100 places in front of me, and the next half an hour or so was spent shuffling forward clutching my documentation. Not good, but I have to say that most times through Dulles theres nothing like these problems.
No trouble with the immigration guy at all it always helps when you say you are working for Homeland Security and my bag was on the carousel as I exited. Then it was out into the arrivals hall to find the limo driver, and then into the bright, Washington sunshine for a trip into Arlington. The traffic was lighter than usual due to the earlier arrival: this was the week when the US moved to daylight savings ahead of the UK, and so US timings were all an hour earlier. After only a twenty minute ride we turned up at the Hyatt Arlington, one of those brutalist concrete blocks that so disfigures the Arlington side of the Potomac.
The flight itself ranks as one of my best Virgin flights of late. The improvement in the food helps, of course, but the main reason was the excellent service on board. It just goes to show how much difference a great FSM and team can make.
BC
