This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
(as an aside, this last minute booking nonsense is going to have to stop and we must become more organised and try and book ahead. It's either costing lots of money or emptying my miles account very quickly
)Anyway, I digress. The first option with miles (for the VS part) was a nightmare and was going to be something like EDI-LGW-MCO-JFK-LHR-EDI and after holding the flights for a couple of hours it was decided (again) that I wasn't going and I telephoned Premier to cancel them. Just happened to mention why and a couple of mins later, the very nice lady came up with the routing MAN-MCO-MAN which was perfect if not for the fact it was only 6 days away.
A quick click on purple parking, which was a very reasonable £60 for 2 weeks with a pickup at the terminal and I was set to go
I had checked the flight on expertflyer and was surprised to see that it looked like only me in Upper, a very light load in P/E and even lighter in Economy, so I kept expecting to get a call to say that the flight had been merged with the earlier one and could I make it to check in earlier. This didn't happen, so it was a little strange setting off from the Borders around 7am wondering what this flight would be like.
A very quick (2 3/4 hours) drive down on quiet roads and a small panic when Purple Parking didn't answer twice meant I was at Terminal 2 around 9.45. Manchester airport was deserted ! and all I had to look forward to was 3+ hours in the Escape lounge.
Check-in was a breeze and I was surprised to be greeted by "morning David, our one and only Upper passenger for this flight"
- a few shouts from the check-in staff who all wanted to join me and I was through fasttrack security in under 2 mins.The "joys" of MAN duty free and I was heading to the Escape lounge trying to guess who else might be on the 073
V-Flyer told me to expect a 30 min delay, but the screen in the lounge jumped to boarding around the usual time, so having had enough of the delights of Escapes soup, I decided to wander down to the gate just as the first “don’t move yet, but this is what’s happening” announcement was being made. As usual this made absolutely no difference and once 3 or 4 families had started to queue, it was soon 50 deep.
I stood at the side, hovering
, with my passport and boarding card, purple side facing out, visible waiting for the actual boarding call to happen. The next bit was a little fun, as one of the staff at the gate, somehow seeing my purple card 
motioned me to come forward, before boarding had started and board myself. Quite nice to be treated like a VIP and raised a few grunts from some people standing in line. On to the plane and stowed my hand luggage in an overhead bin and was immediately offered a glass of champagne. Strangely my first of the day.
The staff were all very amused that it was just me and stated that it was just an anomaly, so our thoughts about the reason for no Upper on the some of the new fleet seem to be wrong.
Was asked which seat I would like and it was suggested I have one in seat mode, one in reclined mode and one in bed mode.
The FSM came round and introduced herself and we had a little blether about VS and its future. Anything I need, just ask away as they have VERY light loads throughout the whole plane. The safety video played and we had a smile when a crew member came in to show ME the exits. I suppose you still go through the routines.
The announcement after we had taken off was a little different with something like 170 on board and feel free to move about to give yourself some space – “Do not however attempt to upgrade yourself which also includes the purple seats in economy !”
The service was excellent, I was asked how I’d like to be addressed, which I thought was very nice and basically to ask if I needed anything. I did say not to bother with setting up the bar, but to make sure there was plenty of champagne which would have been rude to leave.
The food was very nice, especially the sandwiches, which were very fresh and the cake was a welcome addition.
Much of the flight was spend watching a couple of films, although the tape heads are really getting past their best, and sitting at the bar chatting.
It kinda felt a little long, I suppose you can only talk for so long, and both the crew and myself commented that it seemed to drag a little. They had very little to do and raided the bins for earphones and duvets and bedded down in the P/E section behind me.
I was thanked again by name leaving and was brought forward to be first off by the FSM. There are now miles of tensa barriers at immigration at MCO which seemed to work pretty well, although with a few flights arriving at the same time, it might be a little different.
No green cards and was “welcomed back” by the officer on the desk which was very nice.
There was only one belt being used, which was not a surprise, but what was, was my bag coming up first, on its own. Again, it made you feel a little special. Straight onto the train and straight across the road into the garage where Dollar Express is now located to pick up my Dodge Charger and on my way in about 2 mins. Dodge must have had a deal on these as there were loads sitting waiting. Mines is only 2 months old with 2000miles on the clock and the engine management light on. Will probably change it when i go back to the airport to pick up the rest of the gang at the weekend.
A couple of bits of gossip, some of which you might know – the new airbus will be upgraded to have U/C in them because barring this trip, it’s a huge seller from MAN. It looks like they will be manned and flown by London crew as the MAN crew/pilots will probably not be trained on them. Everybody hates the new economy section on the upstairs of the LHR 747’s. It’s very cramped and there is very little space for hand luggage as the side bins have been taken away leaving only the very small overhead bins and is causing loads of problems with the Upper passengers and the MAN crew are all very excited about the upcoming expansion of services.
Hope you haven't all fallen asleep by now with the ramblings
thanks
David
Thank you
