V-Flyer

A brilliant flight! Service was impeccable from a smiling and friendly crew-member. Food was great - I had the beef bourgignon for the first time and was surprised by its heartiness, and then later a decent burger from the graze menu ("just one?" was the playful retort when I asked for it). The FSM was visible and (I think) served the wines. And, last but by no means least, I was on a 346. I will really miss them when they are gone.

In case you think I've had a personality transplant, all of my usual gripes remain - clubhouse service was far too slow (1h15 for a meal for one in an airport lounge?) but at least the server realised and apologised; Vport crashed for everyone and in the end we were given vouchers to claim miles by way of an apology; the wireless in the clubhouse was again patchy (though when it worked it was better than normal and I wondered whether they are using a new system); and my red wine was served heavily chilled, which is not the crew's fault but it really does make a mockery of the idea that this is a refined experience.

But none of that really matters when the flight is early, the crew are great and enthusiastic, and (perhaps most importantly of all) you are ejected into an empty JFK immigration hall and priority bags work like a dream. Hooray! Oh, and I nearly forgot, this was a very cheap O sale fare booked at the last minute for an unexpected work trip - Gs were readily available and the upgrade only cost me £118 - what a bargain. Stay tuned for the return leg, which turned out rather differently this respect...

No mention of Green Tea ..... that is how I know that you sir are an imposter!!

That is a strangely long time to wait for food in the CH... were you hiding behind the tree in the restaurant?

Looking forward to part the second

Cheers for posting

Thanks for the TR

As you rightly say, the Crew can smooth the rough edges of a flight experience (irrespective of cabin BTW) - VS take heed and concentrate on getting consistency with your FSMs

buns

Totally agree. It's the overall experience that matters. I had non refurb on my last flight and we were late, but the lounge staff and flight crew were excellent so really felt like the VS we all love and know

Just as a follow-up to this, we were given vouchers for the non-functioning IFE which gave a choice between a VH voucher (can't remember how much) or 4,000 miles. I chose the latter and in fact 8,000 were credited to my account (not sure if this is because they use a different policy for UC?) -- and, best of all, whoever dealt with this also posted the base flight to my FC account so that I didn't have to call to get the miles and TPs credited on my upgraded ticket. I am really pleased about that

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to upgrade an O to a G? Was it an airport upgrade, where we all know, anything is possible (as long as you're not me...)?

I had to pay to change to an L and upgrade with miles.

at240 wrote:I had to pay to change to an L and upgrade with miles.

Wow, and you did all that for £118 from the starting point of an O... Excellent result!

ratechaser wrote:

at240 wrote:I had to pay to change to an L and upgrade with miles.

Wow, and you did all that for £118 from the starting point of an O... Excellent result!

I was very pleased -- in fact there was a thread about this late last year in which someone else had paid that amount and wondered whether it was too good to be true.