""Good Night Flight"?"

The crew seem to think it will work well and will be easier on us!!

Hmm... It will work well for those who just want to sleep the whole way, for the bean counters who have worked out how much it will save not to launder linen, and to reduce the alcohol consumed by not making it so readily available and for cabin crew who can do one quick flit through the cabin before retiring to the galley / crew rest. The point is, what about everyone else? I wouldn't go to a restaurant that brought my main course to congeal at my table while I ate my starter (unless that is what I specifically requested!). Why is that OK for Virgin's Upper Class passengers?

As long as it is a choice, it is fine, but if passengers are forced to accept a hasty, reduced service, they are not going to be happy travellers.

E

If I could have breakfast at the seat this would not be too bad... but a lot of people at the bar 90 mins before landing would be madness.

Let's wait and see what the official announcement says...

Yeah, i gather they'll know more tomorrow when the buletin comes around. Although I can't see why serving breakfast at the bar will achieve anything other than cost cutting. They serve brekkie about 1 hour to hour and a half before landing. Surely after the 9/10 hours kip we will have all been forced to have we'll all be awake in our seats by then and ready for food.

Also, was looking forward to a hot chinese dim sum/noodle breakfast on the upcoming flight to HKG which I got a taste off in PE last year.

Oh well, lets see how it turns out..

Dean

I have just looked on our staff website (ifly) and have some updates on the "goodnight service" I will update you asap!

thanks vcss - look forward to hearing more detail.....

Thanks VSCSS! We really appreciate the insider info.

Milliemoo

I have just printed off the Upper Class Goodnight Service Flow. Each crew member will recieve this and it is going live on 4th August '05:

"GOODNIGHT CONCEPT"

"Since the launch of the UCS our customers have shown a preference to get to sleep quickly on certain flights. The 'Goodnight Service' will be introduced on all flights departing after 21:00 local, so customers can maximize their sleep time on board. This will only apply to flights departing where their is a Virgin Clubhouse: LGW,LHR,JFK,EWR,IAD,SFO,JNB,HKG.
This service will be offered to all customers and replaces any other service.
This date is to coincide with the opening of the new LHR clubhouse.
The 'Goodnight Service' is designed so customers can choose from 3 options, the emphasis being on time to sleep."

1.Turndown - For customers who wish to sleep straight away, a sleep including drink and snack.
2.Express Cold Supper Tray - For customers who wish to eat fast, then sleep, a tray of cold dishes delivered all at once before having bed turned down.
3.Hot Supper Tray - For customers who will still want a full hot meal and then sleep, a tray of hot dishes inc starter delivered all at once before having bed turned down.

-Customers will still recieve a welcome onboard drink during boarding, however after take off the drink service will be combined and served with whatever option the customer chooses.
-ALL 3 services MUST be completed in 1 hour after take off (with the exception of abnormal conditions/turbulence)
-The J CSS should aim to turn off all cabin lights at this time.
-Customers will be served in order e.g. all Turndown 1st, then Express Cold Supper Tray, then Hot Supper Tray to ensure they get to sleep asap!
-Table linen will NOT be used, as the tray is already covered with linen sleeve. Napkin should still be given to customer.
-Bread will not be offered as it will already be on the tray.
-Wine or other beverage should be served at the same time as you take the tray to the customer, a seperate wine service will NOT be offered.
-J CSS to go round and still offer a water service and second bread on request only.
-Dessert/cheese will be offered to Express and Hot trays only.
-Breakfast cards will still be used, however we want to encourage the customer to sleep for as long as possible and have breakfast at the bar.
-Breakfast will still be available in bed , however the hot entree choice has been stopped, unless the customer has ordered a special meal.(Bacon rolls are still available)
-Encourage customers to choose breakfast at the bar, they can then take it back to their seat.
-Wake a few customers at a time to stop a rush to the washrooms and bar!
-Jackets to be returned to customer before landing.

So there you have it straight from the horses mouth!
What do u think?
VSCSS.

While I hear this is supposedly in response to a small number of most frequent fliers ... it stills smacks of cut backs. It's the lack of an option really - yes sometimes you want to eat and sleep or just sleep, but sometimes we arrive at the airport late, after a long day, and need to eat and relax before sleep. I don't think Virgin have thought this through properly and risk alienating some passengers.

cheers for the info vscss, really good insight to the new service.

Still smacks of cut backs though. Like the bit about "want to encourage customers to sleep for as long as possible" - yeah I bet they do. I happily get right down to bed on the VS4 after eating the best CH food anywhere, but on a long flight to HKG, still can't see this as nessesary. I'll just miss the choice.

Also, what if when the crew is walking past me in the first hour, I catch their eye and ask for a post take off G&T. Will I be able to get one, or will they tell me to go to the bar and get it myself?

As much as I love the UCS I just find it difficult to sleep on planes, be it PE, Raffles on SQ or J in VS. This is partly due to the excitment of going somewhere far and exotic and the fact that its clearly one of the places where I just can't sleep. What are us types meant to do, can I change my seat allocation to one at the bar all night ?

Do you have any idea when they'll wake us all up, remember last time I flew to Hong Kong it was nice and light outside for quite some time before they turned the lights on. Also will the IFBT still be on board.

Sure some pax will love it but good luck crew with the rest who don't.

Dean

[fozzyo]

This service will be offered to all customers and replaces any other service.

When they say 'offered' do they mean

"Would you like to use the Goodnight Service on your flight with us this evening Sir?"

or

"I'm sorry Sir we have abandoned the full Upper Class service you have been looking forward to and very excited about all year in favour of this new cost cutting service."

If it's the second, i guess I'll just have to order my post take-off Number 10 and Tonic with Pretzels before take-off and then make full use of the Call button.

On our flight to HKG I am going to be too excited to sleep. I'm flying J to countries i've never been to, the last thing i'll be thinking about is sleep! What if I ask for my Hot Tray to be delivered later?

To be perfectly honest I would be surprised if this compulsory service is maintained throughout the Cabin by the time we fly. Granted on our way home I may choose to take advantage of it back from HKG, particularly if we were doing non-stop - but we have a stop over fortunately.

What we may do is change our seat reservations to be slightly nearer the bar on that first leg of the flight.

Foz xxx

Thanks for the inside info vscss [y]:).

The Hot Supper Tray seems just as good as the usual service, the only difference I can see is "MUST be completed 1 hour after take off."
I feel more at ease now I have read this, it's not as bad as I first thaught it would be, it will take a couple of flights to get used to I think. As Wolves27 said, I think it will be harder to sleep outbound purely because of excitement, but inbound should be fine.

[Decker]

VSCSS - is there ANY copyright information on the page you copied this from? If there is we will have to remove it as the posting of copyrighted material is against forum rules, and to be honest given the content I would be VERY surprised if there were not.

Originally posted by Decker
VSCSS - is there ANY copyright information on the page you copied this from? If there is we will have to remove it as the posting of copyrighted material is against forum rules, and to be honest given the content I would be VERY surprised if there were not.

No don't worry there is no copyright regarding this - I am not that daft!!
This is just the service flows the cabin crew work from.
It is the same info you will see in the press release.
VSCSS

Originally posted by Wolves27

Also, what if when the crew is walking past me in the first hour, I catch their eye and ask for a post take off G&T. Will I be able to get one, or will they tell me to go to the bar and get it myself?

Do you have any idea when they'll wake us all up, remember last time I flew to Hong Kong it was nice and light outside for quite some time before they turned the lights on. Also will the IFBT still be on board.

I guess we will still do the last service 90 mins pre landing time as per usual. This is due to the fact we cannot start the service until all the crew are back from crew rest!

Yes there will be an IFBT onboard, they are looking to put 2 on the A340-600 soon!

I think priority will be given to complete the service in an hour, but i'm sure if you ask for a g&t it would not be an issue!

Cost cutting. End of story. There is nothing in this 'service' that could not be handled through an optional snooze zone. I'll be looking for a different carrier on post 9pm flights. Once this is public I will be making my position known to the Premier team and SRB's office.

BC

Originally posted by BlackCat
I will be making my position known to the Premier team and SRB's office.

BC

To be honest SRB probably does not know what is going on, he does not have much to do with the day 2 day running to be truthfull!![n]

I think our initial fears have been confirmed - but thanks for the post VSCSS anyway!

It would seem from this that:


light bites will be disappearing (=cost cut)
drinks service after take off removed (=cost cut)
No more hot brerakfast option (=cost cut)
breakfast encouraged at bar (=reduction in service)
passengers encouraged to use bar for all drinks (=reduction in service)


Thinking about this practically, there will be a mix of passengers throughout the cabin - i.e. mix of Express cold plates & turndowns wanting sleep asap, and hot plates not wanting to turn in so soon.

Having a dedicated snooze zone section would keep all the sleepy pax in one section (presumably up front or up top away from the bar), and be a much better solution for those passengers - as their section would remain "quiet" - whilst other passengers get the service levels they want (and have already paid for).

Having breakfast at the bar, and taking it back to your seat turns the Upper Class section into a self-service breakfast cafeteria! having up to 50 passengers marching to the bar will increase movement around the cabin, potentially cause spillage and accident - and if folks eat at the bar the 3 (A340) or 5 (B744) stools provided will not be sufficient.

Even if passengers are woken up on a "staggered basis", the movement of the first batch getting breakfast, using lavatories, and the smell of food will inevitably wake others, and cause queueing.

on a 12 hour flight why is this necassary?

I want the food service to actually take up time, a long meal session helps take a nice chunk of time up - heck I enjoy eating and dont like this idea of rush rush & lights off!

In summary I would say:

This needs to be an optional service in one zone of the UCS cabin
hot breakast should be retained
breakfast should be served to seat with menu cards as present
drinks service should remain in "full service" part of cabin

Originally posted by vscss
The 'Goodnight Service' is designed so customers can choose from 3 options, the emphasis being on time to sleep."

1.Turndown - For customers who wish to sleep straight away, a sleep including drink and snack.
2.Express Cold Supper Tray - For customers who wish to eat fast, then sleep, a tray of cold dishes delivered all at once before having bed turned down.
3.Hot Supper Tray - For customers who will still want a full hot meal and then sleep, a tray of hot dishes inc starter delivered all at once before having bed turned down.

I still don't think this is much of a "choice" when compared to a full service cabin with optional snooze zone. In fact, I get the feeling that it'd suit VS & the CC better if you did the first meal service then came round with the chloroform so we'd all go directly to sleep and stop being pesky customers (and that's only slightly tongue in cheek).

Personally, I don't sleep for very long on any flight unless it's UCS and I'm tanked to the gills with gin/vodka/champers - even then it's usually a series of short sleeps with welcome interruptions for more food/drink. Heck, sometimes I even (yes, shock, horror, gasp!) work onboard a flight [:0] If I do sleep, I want to be woken with a full cooked breakfast at my seat thankyouverymuch.

Doesn't get my vote I'm afraid, and will certainly be a factor if I find myself with a post-2100hrs departure.

Cheers

Michael

Originally posted by mcuth

Originally posted by vscss
In fact, I get the feeling that it'd suit VS & the CC better if you did the first meal service then came round with the chloroform so we'd all go directly to sleep and stop being pesky customers (and that's only slightly tongue in cheek).

I don't sleep for very long on any flight unless it's UCS and I'm tanked to the gills with gin/vodka/champers

VERY FUNNY Michael,
I shall suggest this to the inflight service dept!!!
Come to the bar and get tanked up us crew love to see that and to chat to you all! We as crew can sleep very easily in our bunks without any alchohol!
Would love to have u on one of my flights u sound fun!![8D]

[fozzyo]

Once this is public I will be making my position known to the Premier team and SRB's office.

As will we.

On the New York -> Heathrow shorter night flights this is something that I can see being welcome. When Dean flys back now he always eats in the CH and not on the plane. Here the rush to get the cabin dimmed is understandable, on our flight to HK - really don't see it. As Richard28 says I want it to take time in the flight.

I think that this will be adopted, but feedback will probably not be favourable - especially on the longer flights. Pleased they have 6 months to reconsider this before we fly!

Foz xx

PS: Thanks VSCSS for the heads up and info.

[mcmbenjamin]

If I booked J,D or heck Z I on any of these flights I would ask for the ticket to be refunded or endorsed to another carrier.

And I recommend VS.

Benjamin

I know, to make it even easier for Virgin on post 9pm routes, lets just not fly with them :D.

Dean

Its not that bad.

Wait until you experience the new services.

Whats the point in having the worlds biggest bed, if its gonna take upto three hours to use it!!

Dont be shy give it a try!

People on night suite flights want to sleep more!

As a snooze zone flight option its fine.

I think most people are just annoyed at the lack of choice. You will never have one generic passenger in J, that what makes us all so fabulous. To presume that everyone will want to sleep for the full flight is ridiculous.

DEan

[fozzyo]

Originally posted by declansmith
Its not that bad.

Wait until you experience the new services.

Whats the point in having the worlds biggest bed, if its gonna take upto three hours to use it!!

Dont be shy give it a try!

People on night suite flights want to sleep more!

It is that bad! When I'm paying this much I don't expect a reduction in the expected level of service.

I know there are many people who want to sleep more, which is fair enough - let them. I don't sleep very well on plane, whether that be in an Economy seat or the worlds biggest bed in Business class. On my 12hour flight having three hours enjoyment of J level service, food and the suite before sleep would be very nice.

Also isn't this going to upset and annoy the pax who want to sleep? You are going to have pax who want to sleep and those who want to have a chat and a drink or watch a movie and go for a walk all round the cabin. If this was optional in Zone A then everyone in Zone A could have a nice quiet night sleep, kind of like the Snooze Zone really.

Foz xx