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#237095 by roadrunner
28 Jul 2005, 23:00
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Connected to LHR via BMI from Edinburgh but BMI were unable to give us boarding passes nor were they able to check all our bags through as they counted golf clubs as one bag and we both had a small gear bag in addition to regular cases.

So...after arrival Heathrow, and finding connections unable to check the bag through nor to do boarding passes (not sure why not?) we actually had to re-enter through arrivals and immigration (lucky one of us had an unused fast pass stuck in passport case) due to additional security. With huge holiday crowds, security checks and UC line which was very slow, it took us two hours from arrival to clubhouse. The new grand staircase was worth a walk up and workers were buffing up chrome and steel in the new kitchens. Apparently completion work has been slow due to security background clearances for workers taking so much time.

Breakfast, showers, haircut (him) facial (me) the papers and a drink and we were called to the gate--distinctly being told that there would be a 'dedicated' line for UC which we would be able to discern by the red carpet or something but it was actually just the usual push your way through if you dare at gate 32. With a full plane that meant some evil looks and comments but with perseverance and many apologies we cleared the last passport check and gratefully found our seats (main cabin again).

Welcomed warmly and sat down with Bucks Fizz and looking forward to longer version of outbound journey...but was not to happen. Our FA was clearly just having a bad day and wanted nothing more than for everyone to just go to sleep. The rest of the FC seemed cheerful and attentive so it was just our hard luck. The air was frigid as the lower deck was cooled off to help keep the upper deck from roasting--which would have been fine if sleep suits or blankets were available, but even after several passenger requests only a few red blankets were offered to those who complained the most loudly (not I!). Duvets were also stowed and inaccessible but the another kind FA did give me a sleep suit about two hours into the flight (after I went in search of them) and the temp did even out. Not interested in any of the film or tv choices as had seen most of them on other journies so read (okay I admit it) the new Harry Potter which I had purchased as a gift for my son--and found it hard to put away for dinner.

Dinner was again the same menu (are there new caterers or not?) but was fine with the crab and lobster salad (seemed a bit smaller portion than in past though--now it really is a starter rather than a small dinner) and cheese, as other choices were unappealing (bangers and mash, a risotto and a chicken dish) to me. The cheese selection was excellent, particularly the blue. Would have had more of that had it been on offer.

The chardonnay was also quite good although the gent sitting to my right apparently got a bad bottle at the start and was quite put out about it. Kept well topped up with water and wine, a quick trip to the (unattended) bar where guests were helping themselves until an FA arrived and chastized them (only staff can serve alcohol on a plane) and then slept quite well for several hours until tea --sandwiches (which were worth a miss as the bread was dry and old---a long time since they were fresh cut). The FA in our section seemed disappointed to find anyone wanted food or tea--I had a cup of tea thrust at me --no sugar nor milk--and had to push hard for a refill. Having had a small dinner on board 9 hours earlier and anticipating a long drive before a next meal in a day that has 8 additional time change hours in it--it didn't seem too outrageous to ask for another cup of tea for the road.

Arrival at LAX, first through immigration--and last to have our bags come off carousel despite UC tags. Although it was a good 45 minutes before they popped down the chute it was very entertaining to watch a New Zealand high school rugby team arrive with 48 matching bags to be sorted to their owners, and to see 30 or more enormous surfboard cases come down the oversized belt. I had no idea that surfboards are as personal to their owners as golf clubs (or as my riding helmet which rode as carry -on with me to save bag room, (leaving me open for several unoriginal gibes about being ready for a crash).

The cabin crew were all collecting for their transport to their hotel and it was good to be able to say thankyou and goodby--they seemed cheerful and even our grumpy FA looked brighter as they went off duty.

All in all a fairly ho hum trip--none of the fun or sparkle as on outbound, but Fc handled a long flight and a full plane well (did I mention that there seemed to be much higher ratio of staff to passenger than I have previously seen on a full 744?). The food was a distinct disappointment--it was fine for airplane food but decidely nothing special, and I found it interesting that it was the same meals and schedule served on an 11 hour day flight as on a six hour night flight.

Had to call Flying Club to get miles and points credited as had used upgrade miles but was easily caught up. Arrived home via America West SFO-Las Vegas-Boston last night -- uneventful except for excellent clear view of Grand Canyon, but an hour and a half late due to Vegas push off being restricted by availability of runways. Somewhere over Nevada I found myself heartily yearning for a flat bed, a duvet and a fine glass of chardonnay.

Hovering enticingly close to gold this month....

[8]
RR
#306300 by preiffer
28 Jul 2005, 23:09
A few points to pick up on then:

No through-check in on BMI (one of the new 'enhancements', I guess!)
Priority Boarding not working
Passengers 'told off' by crew because nobody was manning the bar area?
Stale sandwiches?
Priority tags not working for baggage (not unusual though!)


Thanks for the TR RR [y] (shame it was such a long day for you after all that though [n].)
#306333 by honey lamb
29 Jul 2005, 00:30
Connected to LHR via BMI from Edinburgh but BMI were unable to give us boarding passes nor were they able to check all our bags through as they counted golf clubs as one bag and we both had a small gear bag in addition to regular cases.

I didn't have this problem last year with Aer Lingus when checking in golf clubs. I can't say if this has changed this year or not. I checked bags all the way through to SFO earlier in the year but as my son was not travelling with me there were no golf clubs. Whenever we checked them in this year we opted for separate check-in - in the first instance because we were flying to JFK and we had ooodles of time (5 hours) and the second time because we were flying to MCO and we had to fly in the night before.

it took us two hours from arrival to clubhouse.

That is horrendous. The last time it took me 40 minutes and that included schlepping it from T1 to T3. The only other time it took me nearly as long was a Bank Holiday weekend when BA had a plane go tech and Aer Lingus were on strike so extra passengers had to be accommodated.

was fine with the crab and lobster salad (seemed a bit smaller portion than in past though

It is only a starter but the last couple of times I have flown with this menu (which seems to be everlasting) I asked for main course portions which I got and which were ample

it was a good 45 minutes before they popped down the chute

That happened to me the last time we went to JFK. In the past I had checked my luggage through and it was never in the first lot to arrive in spite of UC tags. I learned on here that it is the bar code on the luggage tag that makes the difference (although the ckeck-in person at SFO removed my UC tag when she was checking me through to ORK as it need not go in the UC bin) and so I waited with baited breath for it to be the among the first out. It was the last!!!

Sorry you got Ms Grumpy on the flight. The cabin crew can really make or break a flight and it's awful when you're landed with that one - especially when you see everyone else positively cooing with the attention they are receiving
#306334 by honey lamb
29 Jul 2005, 00:34
Sorry, I forgot to mention, but on both my Aer Lingus flight to LHR and my EasyJet flight to LGW I paid extra for the golf clubs. On Aer Lingus it was at check-in (£17 from LHR, Û20 from ORK) but on EasyJet I could pre-pay on-line (Û15)
#306359 by ChuckC
29 Jul 2005, 14:48
Roadrunner,

A very long day for you indeed. Thanks for posting the inbound TR.

Having experienced a flawless flight on VS7 in the past I was disappointed to learn yours was not to the level you saw on your outbound journey. BTW despite the FSM's attitude was the remainder of your crew hospitable?

Regards,
Chuck-
#306379 by roadrunner
29 Jul 2005, 18:10
Sorry if my post came off as whinging. I have actually never had any trouble through-checking my bags nor receiving VS boarding passes with BMI prior to this so figure it was a one off due to weekend travel scrum at EDI. EDI was packed with post-Open travel and their golf bags (note--FlyBe charge 15 pounds for a golf bag and have a max 20 kilo on bags, charge 5 pounds each additional kilo). On the other hand our colleague, his wife and their infant flew from Dublin to Glasgow via RyanAir to join us and were allowed car seat, infant carrier and jog stroller gratis although they had not purchased a seat for the baby.

Certainly security concerns played a huge role in delays and confusion at LHR--I think we passed through six different checks in a single morning--but that too is understandable. The summer holiday crowds were immense and put a real strain on normal operations and on Heathrow staff composure. We only traveled on a Saturday due to work commitments in LA on Sunday which in fact were postponed as we were enroute so we felt no pressure to be timely nor to arrive sharp which was all to the good. The UC line was chock full of families with loads of bags and loads of questions so resulted in backlogs, while the Y line snaked back through the entire lobby.

My only real concerns were with the ongoing challenges with priority boarding and I don't know if that is a problem only with flights to the US (I seem to remember a dedicated line on my VS Capetown flight a few years ago). I am fairly certain that the staff in charge of that line were not VS staff as one woman was ground crew at a different airline window when we came through connections earlier and may then have had little interest in seeing to priority boarding. One old gent was trapped in the seating area hunting for the elusive UC line and was barked at to get to the back of the Y line, clearly confused by CH advice on where to go.

As for the flight itself--the FC were excellent--with the exception of our rather distant and rushed FA. I did miss the cossetting, and the fun that usually mark a long haul VS flight but it was by no means a poor experience. We were having a pretty good time in the bar before seatbelt signs went on (perhaps there was a connection there?) and I blame US ground crew for the very slow arrival of bags on the luggage carousel, which seems to be par for the course with all airlines here. My guess is that ours were simply loaded on first at Heathrow due to the BMI connection and ended up back of the bin UC stickers or not.

What I am looking forward to is the opening of the new CH--which, if the kitchens are any indication, may be set to provide some excellent meals. It may be a good idea to eat there rather than on board if the flight meals continue to be, well, boring. Honey Lamb thanks, wish I'd thought to ask for a meal sized portion of the crab and lobster salad as it is a favorite but it is also the meal I have had the past six flights so would love to be tempted by something new.

Once we found our bags and sorted the golf clubs from amongst the surfboards, and given our sudden absence of work commitments, we decided to bag LA altogether and drive up the coast, rental convertible et al. So... the day's end found us eating an excellent fish dinner with a good Sonoma chardonnay on the pier at Ventura Beach, no worries and looking forward to a long leisurely drive towards Berkeley. Thinking now about a VS RTW in 2006...[;)]


RR
#306388 by Richard28
29 Jul 2005, 18:57
thanks for the TR roadrunner, and your follow up.

Agreed on the Lobster & crayfish salad - that dish nearly makes up for the bangers & mash on the menu [:D]

Rich.
#306396 by Scrooge
29 Jul 2005, 20:03
just my 2 cents,getting your bags back from any airline at LAX sucks,it's not a VS thing,BA,UA and AA all have the same problems
#306466 by ChuckC
30 Jul 2005, 16:37
Originally posted by jetwet1
just my 2 cents,getting your bags back from any airline at LAX sucks,it's not a VS thing,BA,UA and AA all have the same problems


Dave's absolutely right on that one. LAX is notorious for bag handling and has been for the 25 years I've been flying out of there.

Sorry if my post came off as whinging

Roadrunner, you didn't sound like a complainer to me. Frankly the problems you voiced and that Preiffer summarized are ongoing issues that need to be addressed. Not 'rocket science' either: something as simple as UC/PE priority boarding should be a snap. A frazzled FSM can happen, though it's a disappointment to experience, whether you're in UC or Y.

Keep speaking up, Roadrunner. We hear you and we believe VS is listening as well.

Regards,
Chuck-
Virgin Atlantic

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