V-Flyer

Was looking forward to this trip with a mix of excitement and trepidation...turned out to be a great flight though, all in all.

Stayed overnight at the Crowne Plaza Crawley. This is the second time we have done this now and this hotel, although not connected to the airport like the Hilton and Sofitel (both of which I have stayed at numerous times), beats those hands down for comfort and facilities.

Slept well and got to Gatwick South at round 07.15 where we were promptly met by Meteor Meet & Greet (excellent as usual). We had done twilight check in the previous day so it was straight through fast track security (saved loads of time on a busy Monday morning) and into the No 1 Lounge.

The lounge, initially, was a huge disappointment. On a Monday morning, it was chock full of suits and there was absolutely nowhere to sit....until about 9am when they all cleared off to their European business meetings and the lounge became altogether more relaxing.

Flight was called on time and we proceeded to Gate 17 where G-VROS was waiting for us. Priority boarded and settled down into 79AC....well the wife did anyway...I went up to the flightdeck and had a chat with the crew for about half an hour (I work for ATC) before returning to my seat for an early departure (by 10 mins) to KLAS.

The flight itself was fab. Yes, the a/c had seen better days and yes the IFE was rubbish (although it managed to work for the entire flight..... I watched 2 films on my Macbook) but the 10hours flew by. The 2 girls working the upper deck were absolutely brilliant and looked after us VERY well indeed. The new PE menu was very tasty (go for the fishcakes...mmmmmm). We wwnet for a walk downstairs about 4hours into the flight and I did hear one of the crew telling a passenger that it was "soft drinks only from now on" as they were running out....upstairs though we had alcohol for the whole 10hours (probably due to the fact that nobdody in the bubble was taking the piss with it).

Landed in KLAS a full 35mins early and we were on the gate and out the airport in 15mins flat which must be some kind of record!

Anyway, hats off to VS. Fab flight. Both flightdeck and cabin crew were superb. Big thumbs up from me.

Oh, and I am now typing this as I sit on my balcony at the Cosmopolitan, overlooking the Bellagio fountains....this place is AWESOME.

Glad the flight didn't live up to your pre-trip trepidation. Vegas flights do have a bit of a bad rep, but they are clearly not all full of rowdy stag / hen trips.

lozza wrote:....Oh, and I am now typing this as I sit on my balcony at the Cosmopolitan, overlooking the Bellagio fountains....this place is AWESOME.

Now, that is class!!

Nick

I hope they weren't girls working the upper deck - there are multiple interpretations of that !

Thanks for the TR. Enjoy more cosmos!

lozza wrote:
Oh, and I am now typing this as I sit on my balcony at the Cosmopolitan, overlooking the Bellagio fountains....this place is AWESOME.

And I'm sitting here typing this with a fabulous view of the Bellagio fountains too .
Glad to hear that the flight was good.
DL

slinky09 wrote:I hope they weren't girls working the upper deck - there are multiple interpretations of that !

Thanks for the TR. Enjoy more cosmos!

Looks like you had a good flight ! Did you pull any ATC strings to get an early departure?

Thanks for the TR, same old problem of VS running out of drinks less than 1/2 way to LAS downstairs (at the back, I'm sure the front was OK!!). At least you were well catered for in the bubble.

If you haven't already try the Cosmo's in the Cosmo they are lethal!!

Thanks for the TR, glad to hear the flight was good!

Very jealous of your view, can't wait to be there tomorrow!!

Luke

I have now realised the connotations of "girls working the upper deck"....i blame jet lag! They were very good though!

The Cosmo is absolutely brilliant...I may never come back to Vegas again because this is about as good as it gets. Weather forecast to hit 90F on Friday so I'll be checking out the pool scene. Just seen the 044 leave for LGW from the balcony...pretty spectacular.

LGW was pretty quiet when we left so no ATC priority assistance was required there...we did get some continuous climb out of London though

Thank you for the great TR. Hope you have a great time in Vegas.

lozza wrote:I have now realised the connotations of "girls working the upper deck"....i blame jet lag! They were very good though!

Well, you were on the way to Vegas

Thank you for the TR.
I love Las Vegas. We stayed in the Vadra last October when they were just completing the Cosmopolitan. Don't forget the discount ticket booth opposite you if you intend going to any shows. Have fun and be lucky.

glad you had a great flight, hope the one home is ok for you too! in ecconomy we always run out of booze, its because the passengers try to drink us dry! sure they think they are in a pub! we do load more for a vegas infact double what we do for a normal flight, but it still goes! shame some people spoil it for others! in premium and upper though this doesnt happen, thing always seem to be calmer up there!

Great TR glad you had such a good flight

great TR , if you win a few million you can sponsor a VFlyer piss up to LAS

johnvscrew wrote:glad you had a great flight, hope the one home is ok for you too! in ecconomy we always run out of booze, its because the passengers try to drink us dry! sure they think they are in a pub! we do load more for a vegas infact double what we do for a normal flight, but it still goes! shame some people spoil it for others! in premium and upper though this doesnt happen, thing always seem to be calmer up there!

Just out of interest, if the company knows that this happens, why don't they make sure there is enough on board?

Excellent TR Lozza, have fun in Sin City.

Miss G wrote:Just out of interest, if the company knows that this happens, why don't they make sure there is enough on board?

Too much booze = too many drunk passengers = not a pretty sight.

Miss G wrote:Just out of interest, if the company knows that this happens, why don't they make sure there is enough on board?

There is only a certain amount of storage space and the CC need to keep a supply for the return trip as they do not 'stock up' when they have landed.

There is only a certain amount of storage space and the CC need to keep a supply for the return trip as they do not 'stock up' when they have landed.

Then surely, therein lies the problem.

Although there obviously isn't unlimited space I am not sure that space is solely the issue; as the quote beneath says VS manage to load twice as much as they put on a normal(!!!!!!!) flight.

johnvscrew wrote:in ecconomy we always run out of booze, its because the passengers try to drink us dry! sure they think they are in a pub! we do load more for a vegas infact double what we do for a normal flight, but it still goes! shame some people spoil it for others! in premium and upper though this doesnt happen, thing always seem to be calmer up there!

However much booze was onboard it would get drunk, no doubt with consequences, the quantity determining the nature of those!

Right, all this talk of booze is making me thirsty, I think it is time for a glass of wine.

Miss G wrote:

There is only a certain amount of storage space and the CC need to keep a supply for the return trip as they do not 'stock up' when they have landed.

Then surely, therein lies the problem.

Unfortunately it's not just a question of the crew popping down to the local offie for a few crates of beer or indeed the caterers loading more booze along with the food. The transportation of alcohol on flights is subject to certain rules and regulations and indeed laws around excise and a lot more. Once on board a plane it is bonded and I think, has to be locked away while the aircraft is on the ground.

When I travelled back on the VS18 from EWR on the day the menu changed the crew did not even know what wines were on board as they had been locked away on the flight from the UK.

yes this is true, there are laws around the booze and i dont think as a uk aircraft we are allowed to upload booze in other countries!

i will say this the same plane with half of much booze travels to the carribean and orlando with any problems this is only a problem on vegas routes, and there is definately enough booze on board for everyone to drink in moderation! its just some people dont! can cause quite a few arguements when we close the bars, but this is better then really drunk pax on the flight which could cause more serious incidents!

yes this is true, there are laws around the booze and i dont think as a uk aircraft we are allowed to upload booze in other countries!

So, do all the other airlines do this as well then?

Miss G wrote:

yes this is true, there are laws around the booze and i dont think as a uk aircraft we are allowed to upload booze in other countries!

So, do all the other airlines do this as well then?

Yes. Alcohol on an aircraft is under bond otherwise the airlines would have to pay excise duty and comply with the differing laws of the countries in which they land

Also to note, the LGW-LAS flight seems to encounter a lot more flight turbulance than average...

yes it does this is mainly when we consider there to be too many large groups forming around door areas not fair on other passengers!