V-Flyer

Greetings

I am taking my wife to San Francisco to celebrate her 50th this month (her favourite restaurant ever is there) - and as a special treat we are going Upper Class for the first time...(I have been saving for ages because for several years of the boychild has been telling us just how good Upper Class is - though he does not pay for the ticket!)

He has given me a brain dump of the Club house @ LHR, of all the things to see etc. so the cowshead treatment has been booked, the car is being dropped off at 6:45 using Valet parking to attempt to get to the lounge when it opens and so on. However he has never been to SFO - so please can I ask a couple of questions....

I understand that there are showers in SFO, I assume they provide big fluffy towels to use - and where do you get them from?

The club house is groundside - how long does it take normally to get though security at SFO, once the flight has been called in the clubhouse.

Being bulkily built (yes that does mean overweight and wear XL clothes) am I better off using my own PJ's on the return flight - there seems to be a view on this site that the ninja suits are a bit on the small side.

Plus any other tips and gems for an about to be first time upper classer are welcome.

Cheers

John

Welcome to V-Flyer [y]

Yes there are showers at the Clubhouse. Towels should be in the showers already (they are toilets and showers combined) but you can ask at reception if you need more.

To get to the aircraft from the Clubhouse usually takes no more than 20 minutes, sometimes less. I have never had a hold up at SFO, its always been a case of toddle out of the lounge, straight through security and down to gate A8. I'm sure others will feed back their experiences. SFO is one place that seems to get it right.

Regarding the ninja suits, I'd say you were better off with your own PJ's to be honest. The ninja suits are polyester and not very breatheable so cotton PJs would be much more comfortable and you wont wake up feeling like you are in an oven, which often happens onboard. I find them very large but a post on here recently suggested that some of the suits recently handed out seem a bit smaller than previously. I guess you can always ask for a large sleepsuit and see, and pack your PJs in your hand luggage just incase.

Any other tips? Get to the lounges early to enjoy yourselves, have a few drinks and relax for your flights. Pre-book treatments at LHR if you have not done so already too. Otherwise, just enjoy the experiences and have a fab time in SFO!

Thanks,
Sarah

Greetings John and welcome aboard.

Not sure exactly what time the SFO CH opens but 12:30 last week it was infull swing.

There are 3 showers and the towels are inside, replenished after each use. Shampoo and soap are also provided.

Last week security took about 5 minutes and the gate (A8) is about 2 minutes away.

I bought my own PJ's in Wal-Mart as I find the sleep suit hot and ull of static.

Above all, enjoy!

Hi and welcome to V-flyer.

You will enjoy the SFO clubhouse. It is my favourite although it doesn't have the bells and whistles of the LHR one.

There are showers in the SFO Clubhouse and the towels will be ready and waiting for you in them.

It is landside but when you go down in the lift from the Clubhouse level the security gates are right beside there. There normally isn't a problem but in any case, if there is, then staff will whisk you through.

The ninja suits are generous. When we were referring them to being small, it's just that they are smaller than the originals. Many of the more generously endowed people found that medium was large enough for them in the older version.

The clubhouse has terrific views over the runways and tarmac and you can watch the inbound flight arriving. You will, if you are lucky, meet one of the jewels in the VS crown, Claire the SFO Clubhouse manager (she doesn't work Fridays or weekends)

Originally posted by Darren Wheeler

Not sure exactly what time the SFO CH opens but 12:30 last week it was infull swing.

It opens early because of VX passengers and also for EI which goes out at 2:30pm.

Just to reiterate what everyone else has said really, the security at SFO is great, and I think we managed to get from the Clubhouse to the gate in about 10 minutes. We left plenty of time to get there as we didn't really know what it would be like at security and were shocked at how quiet it was!

I really like SFO clubhouse, I love the showers, I just think it's a really comfy place to spend time before your flight. And the cocktails are good...

As for the sleep suit, I don't really know because I always take on my own jim jams. I have a problem with the sleep suits as they come right up to my neck and that makes me feel like I'm suffocating. I know, I'm strange.

Enjoy your trip!

Originally posted by honey lamb
Many of the more generously endowed people found that medium was large enough for them in the older version

[:0][:0]

Welcome Technogeek.
What I think HL meant was that the more statuesque members of the forum had no problems fitting into the old sleepsuits.
I commented here a few weeks back that the suits seemed to have been on the Atkins diet recently in that they seeem to be more 'slimfit'. Mr DL used to fit comfortably into a L (he's allways been an XL in the real world) but that on our trip back from SFO a few weeks ago his L sleepsuit was snug to say the least (well, tight actually and thus even more unpleasant to wear than usual.Too much poly and blue sparks for my liking).
Enjoy the SFO CH.Nice place with great staff.The mojitos are nearly as good as LHR too [:D].
DL