This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
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Perhaps this should be titled 'The flight from hell'
So where to begin?.... This was the start of a short trip for my Wife and I to NYC 26th to 30th Aug
We booked everything via VH so paid the extra amount to make use of the Clubhouse (so pleased we did so as you will see)
Our flight was originally due out at 14:00 and we arrived at the Clubhouse at just before 10:00. We were informed on arrival at the Clubhouse that there was a small delay of 2 hours on VS045 (check-in didn't mention anything?
Oh well - there were worse places to be - the Clubhouse experience was great, I had the breakfast of kedgeree and my Wife had eggs benedict > both very nice but the kedgeree just won over the two dishes - all washed down with a glass of Lanson to enjoy the start of our short break. I then went and booked a shave while my Wife had a massage, afterwards we just sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere, along with a couple of pre-lunch G&T's.... so far so good!!!
We thought we'd better check at the concierge desk to see if there was any further change to the flight times before we grabbed ourselves some lunch. The lady at the desk informed us that the aircraft had been taken to maintenance and they were awaiting parts - She said she would get a further update as soon as she could and let us know.
We went off and had lunch - which was very nice. Around 14:00 I checked back with the desk and was told that the flight had been delayed by a further 3 hours and they now had a departure time of 19:00. I left our names at the desk and asked that they put a call out for us if there was any further news.
So, a small nap and a cream tea later and our names are called over the tannoy. Further bad news I'm afraid, the aircraft (a 747) had been taken out of service and they were now replacing it with a 340-600. Unfortunately this aircraft would not be able to depart until 20:30. Knowing the seats we had booked on the 747 would now be re-allocated as it was a smaller (seat wise) aircraft as a replacement I asked which seats we had been re-allocated.
Now this is the important part - I did not ask for this, she spent a while tapping away at the keyboard and informed me that we had been upgraded to PE - seats 19D & 19F I made my way back to the corner of the lounge and told my Wife the bad news that there was a further delay but that looking on the bright side, at least we were relaxing in the comfort of the Clubhouse and not the normal departure lounge and that hey! we've been upgraded
Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Clubhouse is great - it's a little ocean of tranquility in a big and bustling airport... but after 10 hours you begin to get a little stir crazy.
So at around 20:00 the announcement is made for passengers to leave for the gate - holding our new PE cards we skip through the priority boarding section - and yes there was a very long line of frustrated economy passengers being fed through by just one person at the departure gate. Upon handing the boarding cards over the light goes red... hmmm she tried again, same result, then tried my Wife's card > red again, at this point a supervisor came through and took us quietly to one side, apologising he told us as best he could that the PE section was full as it was a smaller section on the 340 vs the 747 and that he would try (with the emphasis on try) and seat us together back in economy.
Now this is the only time I lost it a little, and no it wasn't the fact that we were being bumped back down, it was the fact that they were now saying they may not be able to seat us together. Eventually they did a bit of juggling around and we found ourselves way back in seats 64H & 64K.
Here are my thoughts on the situation, we didn't ask to be bumped up, in fact, if we'd been told in the Clubhouse that our new seats were still in economy and were seated together in seats X&Y we would have just shrugged our shoulders and put the delay down to bad luck and counted our blessings that at least we'd been in the comfort of the Clubhouse for that period..... So if anyone from Virgin should ever read this, here's a lesson you should apply as part of the training program - DON'T build peoples expectations up only to bring them back down at the last possible minute - that only makes them dissatisfied customers!
Oh and another thing, have enough 'sorry for the disruption' mileage claim cards for all your passengers at the gate - being told you've run out is not good enough!
At this point we were just glad to get on the aircraft, once seated the usual pre-departure announcements were made as well as a thoroughly unnecessary additional announcement about how 'On behalf of Virgin Atlantic we would like to apologise for the long delay and how the it was not just us, the passengers who had been inconvenienced by the delay, but also the crew as well' who were apparently the crew who should have gone out on VS009 > perhaps it's just me, but I think they should have kept that little gem to themselves
Anyway - onto the flight itself - You might be thinking things couldn't get worse.... You'd be wrong....
We pushed back from the gate at 20.40 and taxied out to join a queue past T5 where we turned right and then right again! hmmmm all the other aircraft turned left and left again and moments later we watched as the aircraft who'd been behind us then roared off down the runway while we sat there parked. By this time the crew were then walking back around the cabin, some 20 or so minutes later, having watched one aircraft after another depart one guy a couple of rows in front of us had the cheek to ask a cabin crew member how long he thought we would be sat here?. The reply (and I quote) came back 'I don't know Sir, how long's a piece of string' I think the passenger at this stage did very well in keeping his temper and told the crew member in no uncertain terms that perhaps he should get on the intercom to a more senior member of crew or heaven forbid the pilot himself and find out what the further delay was so as we could at least be kept informed.
Did we ever find out? - no, the only announcement that came over was that there were 'operational difficulties' at the airport.... hmmm not for all the other aircraft taking off to the right of us there wasn't
At long last we moved again and at 21:58 we finally took off with a projected flight time of 7hours and 3 minutes which meant we would arrive at JFK at just after midnight local time.
Did we get there by that time?.... yes we did (thankfully)
did the crew improve? Well one member of the crew down the back was an absolute gem and a credit to the Virgin of old, as good as some of the crew when we first flew with Virgin back in 1990 - she knows who she is because more than one of us 'annoying passengers' told her how good she was – the rest though and I say this without hesitation, were possibly the worst crew members I have ever come into contact with! – To finish, apart from another delay at JFK of a stuck jetway - another 25 minutes of my life that I won't get back
(by this time we were just laughing at the whole saga) we got through immigration at 01:30 and finally checked into our hotel at 2:15am > A VERY LONG DAY!As an aside, will this stop me traveling with Virgin again?, no..... delays happen as do enforced aircraft changes. Did it spoil our break?, no..... we still had a great time and NYC just gets better each time you go there
As an aside, the flight back on VS010 went perfectly and the crew were great – was nice to have crew around you who could actually smile and say 'appropriate' things when needed
Sorry for the tale of woe – for those of you who made it to the end well done
Jon B
