VS251 PVG-LHR 24 JAN 12 (Upper Class)
Posted: 28 Jan 2012, 22:26This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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Zone F checkin was quiet for PE and UC with Economy queues moderate. For this flight I usually choose PE as it's a daytime flight and I struggle at the best of times to sleep on night flights. This flight was no exception and I entered the PE queue however the UC desk was happy to serve me and was done in a matter of moments with PE bag tags attached. I did ask how the flight was loaded and was told "Economy is very busy, PE is busy, UC is quiet; and you've just missed a massive Chinese tour group who are in Economy". I was quietly happy that I hadn't moved seat from an aisle to a window at online checkin as the cabin had appeared nearly empty - I'd made that mistake before.
I headed to passport control to find a small tensa barrier queue. At this point I became aware of a couple of British blokes a few persons behind me. One was that incessant moaner type I cringe at who actively looks for things to comment on. So I heard a list of complaints about Shanghai, China and its people and finally about how bad this queue was. I felt like telling him to try HK, this was a piece of cake. Nearing the front he suddlenly readlised he'd lost his Departure Card (I was hoping he'd have to leave the queue but unfortunately he managed to get hold of one). The next thing I heard from him was "what's our flight number?" and his friend answered "BA168" YES I thought, lucky miss!
No queues at security and like HK they weren't fussed about laptops nor liquids. As usual I set the metal detector off but this time the lady with the wand did at least find the cause (my Cat boots) and it was into the ever peaceful departure lounge. I didn't take any pictures here since I posted a number last time and headed up to the Priority Pass lounge for some brief refreshment. I loaded up with a few bottles of water and headed down to the Gate where I'd seen queues forming and I spotted it was Surfer Girl again waiting. Since PE was busy I wanted to ensure I'd be OK grabbing space in the overhead and queued up - about 20 in the priority queue ahead of me; I guess the other queue was about 150 strong by then.
After queueing, priority boarding began while the other gate remained firmly closed. Handing my boarding pass over, for the first time ever in my life, I received the hallowed beep! I even spied the little screen and it said "Move to 06K" ! At the top of the jet bridge I was handed a new year red pocket containing a new year chocolate coin - nice touch.
Halfway down the jet bridge 3 more staff were checking boarding cards and passports again. Then near the door, the police checked my passport before finally the crew checked my boarding card at the door before directing me left
6K was in good condition with only one bit of leather looking a little worn and a couple of the famous red pen marks by the drinks tray:
I had a champagne to begin with and was offered and accepted a second before departure. The captain came on to say we'd be pushing back early and he was obviously pleased with this. The taxi out always takes ages at Pudong due to the distance as you creep past the end of T1 and it was obviously too much for someone as there was a sharp sit down announcement as we were turning onto the runway. Just as well as no sooner were we inline then I was being pushed into the wall of the next seat.
Seat belt signs were on quite a while and then one of the pilots emerged and nipped to the loo and finally the sign went off - cunning that! Drink orders were taken and promptly served and we hit some pretty bad turbulence - the worst I've experienced where it was impossible to drink and I had to hold the glass using my arm as a shock absorber. It's pretty rare on the Shanghai route that the air moves at all so this was a real surprise.
Usually I choose food from the origin however this time I preferred the sound of the western dishes and they didn't disappoint.
The tomato soup was lovely and with fantastic croutons. The bread served with it was nice too and I got 3 rolls and extra butter.
As on the outbound I had beef fillet for mains but this time it came with potatoes and veg. The fillet was slightly too well done for my liking but perfectly fine and the potatoes were perfectly cooked.
Not fancying the desserts I went for the cheese and the choices tasted good though I'm not sure the hard cheese suits the dry air environment (can't complain though as the menu made it clear that one would be hard).
Is it normal for Port to be served in a whisky tumbler?
Halfway through the flight I felt a bit ill and thought I had a hangover (turns out it was the onset of a cold) and headed to the bar to try and feel a bit better. No one was there and despite being offered a drink by every cc member passing I couldn't tie any of them down for a chat. An English bloke came to the bar but he too wasn't in a talking mode so maybe it was me! While there I did hear two babies in PE screaming away so I doubly counted my blessings for the op up! Sado me noticed a number of other passengers using call bells during the flight so I counted response times, shortest 13 seconds, longest 20 seconds.
Nearing the UK a light meal was served. I chose noodles and regretted it as I hadn't realised they were cold - I was in the mood for something hot. I was hungry though and ate them and they were very good, my delightful CC member obviously detected it wasn't enough and offered sandwiches without me having to request. The remainder of the flight was unremarkable aside from no sweets handed out.
Deplaning it was a looong walk to immigration. The queues were quite large (3 desks only) and the bloke in front of me looked extremely peeved that IRIS was closed. No matter, we still beat the luggage and I was gone within 45 minutes of landing.
Overall, this was the best day flight I've experienced in UC with very attentive crew and very good food. Oh and VPort worked speedily and reliably coping with 4 films, flicks to iMap, fast forward and rewind. Economy and PE were full with 14 in UC - the loads unsurprising considering this was holiday week in China.
Perhaps this was a stereotypical V-Flyer journey, we originally booked Y out, PE back and yet one way or another managed UC both ways!
