This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Online check-in completed and managed SEQ7, I know I should hang my head in shame
also noticed I will be on an A340-600.. yay no windowed coffin Drive thru check-in was as efficient as ever although the agent assigned to me was more interested in getting me processed and through to security than any chat whatsoever.... Not even a hello!! Clearly, I had that "I need a drink” look on my face. Security channel was empty for once, I was through that in short order and did make it from limo to the lounge and had mojito number one in hand within 10mins, looks like their marketing isn’t stretching the truth on that one.
Good service in the Clubhouse for the most part although the staff member in the restaurant was run off her feet so salad starter, burger (of course) mojito number two then onto the bar. Well as the intrepid viewer of many of my posts will no doubt notice I have a weakness for my whiskey so imagine my shock when I was told the only whiskey they had was either Johnnie Walker or Dewars white label. Easy to believe unless I was sitting in front of the whiskey selection of course, a fair few more than 2 in front of my eyes
funny though none of the others seemed to be open, are they just for show I wonder. Johnnie Walker on ice with some crisps and a quick browse of BBC news was accepted and tbh I really could not be bothered to argue.Moved onto the jazz corridor and into a swinging chair to chill and overlook the AA aircraft on stand... Ahh bliss, would be better with a drink and without the noise of a man sucking down his pasta dish, can't win them all though. Ok no service here
, looks like I'm going to have to try the loft 
well whatever I drank in the loft I emerged 15 mins later feeling very refreshed, got to love the last flights of the day. Overall CH experience was as good as ever, got to love that space to relax, have something to eat before the flight ahead, and just take in the surroundings and the back and forth of those around you.
What is with the construction over by the concierge desk though? I only noticed today that all was said on the boards are the words “Coming Soon” …. What is coming soon?? The rapture? Are they preparing for the end of days behind that screen
Boarding called and onto gate 22 I trudged, although why they couldn't pick a closer gate I will never know.
Boarded straight away through door B and was pointed to my seat and welcomed back
by the UC CSS, no sooner was I at my seat a drink offer was extended and opting for water (have to pace myself) my coat swiftly disappeared into a cupboard. The two female CC then disappeared for a nice chat at the bar... It wasn't until the cabin was around 40% full that they reappeared and begun to get the rest of the cabin settled. It is here that my fun begins, we have a group of first timers (3 couples) a set of lovely ladies on a long shopping weekend to cheer themselves up for a poor start to 2013 and the usual smattering of business folk and lonely leisure travellers, like myself (pleasure trip to see friends this time) So far I am finding the timing of the VS 25 a little off, feeling both tired and awake, here is hoping I have not made a mistake on this one.
With 116 pax on board we were off, straight out towards Wales and over the Irish Sea. Cabin introductions made and turns out that due to the light load the PE and EC cabins were encouraged to spread out but stay to their class of travel, lol. No warnings about staying away from exit and extra legroom rows so will assume they were all full. UC only had about 4 seats free I think.
During the FSMs introduction she welcomed back FFs and thanked us for our continued loyalty, all very professional and well received. It is one of those little things that is easy to deliver and will keep people’s loyalty - manners cost nothing and all that
Seatbelt sign turned off and the cabin service begins, hot towels followed by an at seat welcome from the FSM and the menus for this evenings flight. So far so good.
Menu as follows for the VS1, 9, 17 and 25:
Starters
Smoked duck with green beans, malted granola and pomegranate molasses vinaigrette
Carrot soup with Zanzibar spices and yoghurt
Mains
Asian braised shin of beef with bok-Choy and rice
Roast breast of chicken with cheddar cheese champ potatoes courgette and balsamic jus
Docelatte cheese and butternut squash tortellini with pea shoots and pumpkin seeds
Dessert
Gianduja chocolate shortbread with vanilla cream
Warm bread and butter pudding with apple syrup
Drinks orders were taken and yes a JD on ice ordered and welcomed. I opted for the smoked duck to start with followed by the chicken for the main.
I do have to give a big ‘thumbs up’ to the CC covering our row, he handled the different groups of people perfectly, he was helping people have drinks together on the ottomans and later on when some of the shopping crowd were getting a bit loud he wandered along and suggested they come join the crew at the bar. The FSM also had to approach the group of travelling couples to ask them to keep their conversations and laughter down a touch. Definitely professional throughout and ensured the rest of the cabin went undisturbed.
The food wasn’t too bad. The duck starter was small and the duck itself was very fatty
I also have to say the green beans were an odd addition and did taste a bit out of place with the rest of the dish. The chicken was good though, the potato mash cooked well and the chicken itself was very palatable. For dessert I opted for the chocolate tart and in a word it was awesome, very tempted for seconds but then remembered where I was going and thought of my waistline. Whilst it was very good I still miss the salted caramel chocolate pudding 
Plates all cleared away I tried to settle in to watch the IFE although it kept stopping, starting and randomly rewinding! No I was not sitting on the remote a quick request to have it reset and the problem appeared fixed.It is surprising that there is only one meal service on this flight, talk about cutting back on product offering. Although, thinking of the timing aspect of it, what could they serve as a second service? Afternoon tea didn’t seem appropriate and a fair amount of the cabin had their dinner and went to bed, only us night owls would have needed a second service and to be fair there is always the graze menu.
Moved onto the bar and spent a good few hours chatting with an oil broker about his past and futures.. (Joke there for investment bank people) the cabin crew bobbed back and forth and I finished the JD supply again - sorry buns
and moved onto a bottle of Dewars.I did comment to the CC about the freedom menus unfortunate demise, but it was suggested that this was due to a lack in uptake. It is also interesting to note that AA now offer a freedom menu of sorts that they are currently struggling with service wise. Who knew it was such a hassle. Regardless graze burgers x2 ordered and away we go. The subject of v-flyer came up and a couple of my comments did give me away to the extent I was asked who I worked for, do I work for VS corporate etc..
Good to hear the crews keep in the loop with what is going on, although their mood towards the site was a tad skeptical. Oh well, v-flyer not as highly thought of as expected
indeed some of the crew have compared postings here to the daily mail and questioned the credulity of certain posts... who fancies some corrective action? Seatbelt sign back on and after an interesting conversation with a rather misinformed individual that couldn't accept his business model was a tad dated and he refused to adapt, I was glad of the return to seat instruction
I settled and got into VERA ... Not a very intuitive interface given the old school V:Port buttons of play, fast forward and rewind are now superfluous and they serve as more directional buttons for the OSD that makes you guess where you are rewinding or fast forwarding to .... Progress for ya
Green tea requested (for at240’s benefit), enjoyed and the movie selection kept me entertained. I was able to catch up on a few films I had missed at the cinema, so the remainder of the flight passed largely without incident (probably as I was no longer roaming the plane)
Thanks to a tail wind, nearly unheard of on the westbound legs, we arrived on the approach into JFK at least an hour ahead of schedule. Gathered all my stuff together and onto customs and border control. I found that, just like the first flights of the day, there was no queue and I was through in about 8mins. Flight appears to arrive at a good time to avoid heavy queues, which is always welcome.
Went through to baggage collection to join the scrum around the baggage belt, bag reclaimed and out to the taxi queue. The exchange between the pax in front of me and the taxi dispatcher had me in stiches.. a segment:
Pax: why are there no cabs?
Dispatcher: because we got busy earlier and used them all up
Pax: so why are there no cabs here now?
Dispatcher: there was a rush on them earlier and we used them all up
I won’t go any further but I think you can probably guess what came next, and how long this lasted
By the way this is why I like getting the yellow cab into Manhattan as opposed to the dial7 or carmel cars.. pure comedy and def part of the NYC experience for me.
My views on the VS025 are relatively straight forward. Timing wise getting to LHR from the city is a nightmare in rush hour traffic, although I am guessing that was my fault for not leaving earlier. Flight take off time allows for a bite to eat in the airport followed by dinner on board, not to mention a chance to relax before landing into JFK at a time that is good for heading straight to your end destination and crawling into bed (or the mistake I made, hit the bars straight away and pretty much fall unconscious by midnight EST – been awake 24hrs straight by that point and had a fair amount of booze in me zzzzzz)
Woke up the next morning feeling a little worse for wear, but I fear that was due to the alcoholic in me as opposed to jet lag. In that regards it is ideal for an evening flight for the business folk with meetings the next day… for the leisure traveler planning on having some fun, I would always prefer to arrive into NYC in the day to get the full scope of the city on the approach, take whatever remains of the afternoon to explore around where I was staying and then head to bed early for the fun and games to come. Of course though all unto their own
In summary the crew was good, aircraft was clean and service offered was definitely above VS average. Would I take the VS25 again?
On a leisure trip, no. Business trip, definitely. Thank you for making it to the end of post 999 dear reader, keep an eye out for part 2 coming soon to a forum board near you
