PresRDC
Jun 25, 01, 4:56 pm
Well, I just got back from a quick jaunt to London (to find an apartment for next year). I flew on Virgin and here is the report.
August 1, 2000: VS 040 (ORD-LHR) A340 -- "China Girl"
I left work at 2:00pm for a 5:00 departure. Despite some traffic, I made it to the airport by 2:50. I was traveling Premium Economy and proceeded to that desk for check-in. There was no line and I was checked-in about 5 minutes after entering the airport. I proceeded to purchase a Time Magazine and a U.S. News, went through security and spotted airplanes. I saw the usual compliment of international aircraft, including a Sabena A330, an Aer Lingus A330, a Swissair MD-11, a British 747-200 and an Air France 767. Of course, there were plenty of AA and UA 767s, 777s, and 747-400s. My aircraft was parked at stand Mike 9, which unfortunately made it difficult to see my aircraft. I could tell that it had not been repainted. They wnet through all the pre-boarding and then said that Premium Economy and Upper Class could board whenever, so I waited a few more minutes and went on. Mt seat was 19A, which was the second row in the Premium Economy cabin. The seat itself had plenty of leg room, but was a little narrow (though still better than regular economy). I was quickly offered a glass of champagne, which I accepted. Although economy was largely full, we were at best half full and no one sat in the aisle seat next to me (Upper Class had only five passengers). We pushed from the gate exactly at 5:00 and were airborne at 5:25. Soon after takeoff, I was offered another champagne and some pretzels. Dinner came about 20 mins later. The meal started with Corn chips, salsa and sour cream. I then had a chicken breast in a pink peppercorn sauce accompianied by potatos and broccoli (I could have also chosen Fisherman's Pie or a vegetarian pasta). There was Brie cheese, crackers and cake for dessert. Quite a filling meal. I then asked to see the flight deck and was immediately taken-up for a view. Since it was an A340, there were two pilots, but no relief pilot, which I thought was odd seeing as the flgihts were over seven hours. As I was leaving, I asked the captain about riding the jumpseat for landing and was told that would be fine. The rest of the flight was uneventful (the movies were not to my liking, though). We flew a very northernly route on this segment, passing over Hudson Bay and Greenland, and then down through Scotland into London. About 25 minutes prior to landing, I was escorted back to the flight deck and took the jumpseat behind the first officer. I was treated to a fantastic view of London spread out before me and watched in awe as the first officer manuvered the side stick down the ILS to 27R. After an on-time landing, we had only a short taxi to gate 32 at Terminal 3. As is typical, the line at customs was long. Not wanting to sound like a ego centric America, but since so many of those who come through Heathrow are American and Canadian, they should have a separate line (as they tend to get through the process quicker).
August 6, 2000: VS 039 (LHR-ORD) A340 -- "Dragon Lady"
I got to the airport about 2.5 hours before the flight left as my mother and sister had to check-in for their flight (American flight 101 to JFK), which left a half hour before mine. At about 7:50 am, the Vigin check-in counters are almost empty and no one was at the Premium Economy counters, so I checked in at Upper Class. The woman who checked me in then infomred me that because the flight was full in economy, they wanted to upgrade me to Upper Class, if it was okay with me. Although there were no window seats avaialbe in Upper, it was still a great opportunity, so I was assigned to seat 5H. For those of you curious about free upgrades, the only reason I got it was because I checked-in early. My mom's gate was announced a few minutes before mine, so after she left, I wandered around to find a magazine, and I bought a copy of Airliner World, a British Airliners magazine (I am sure many of you know about it). My gate was called and it was the same gate as my previous flight flew into (32). I boarded midway through the process and was escorted to seat 5H. I was again offered champagne, which I accepted. This airplane had also not been repainted and it did not have the new Upper Class seats, but the seat were still fantastic. There was tons of legroom and a nice swiveling PTV. I was given a copy of the menu. Virign offers what they call freedom serivce, which means you can eat what you want when you want to. I ordered a meal before takeoff. I started with crabcakes, then I had a chicken breast stuffed with wild mushrooms, accompianed by bacon and leek mash and red cabbage. I then had vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and a fudge brownie. All this was chased with more champagne. After the meal, I visited the flightdeck and was invited to stay for landing, despite there being three pilots (captain, first officer and a trainee). I then sat down and watched One Day in September, an Oscar-winning documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympics in which several members of the Israeli team were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists. After this, I watched Rules of Engagement, with Samuel L. Jackson. The flight attendants came around with personal DVD players, which offered more movie choices, but I was content with the choices on the main system. I ordered a second meal, consisting of the Vigin house salad, pan fried beef medalians, cheese and another vanilla ice cream. As this was being removed, it was about time to start descending, so after filling-out the landing card, I packed my stuff up (including the ammenity kit) and waited to be called by the lead flight attendant up to the flight deck. I got in the flight deck when were at 24,000 feet and over Lake Michigan. Before me was a grand view of Chicago. As on the previous flight, the first officer was flying and he made a perfect landing on 22R. We then taxied around the airport and over the bridge to Terminal 5 and, again, stand M9. The flight got to the gate about twenty minutes early and I was through customs and out the door in 20 minutes.
I have always loved Virgin and after these two flights, I love them even more. As I will be making three more roundtrips this year, they will benefit greatly as a result of this level of service.
** As evidenced by some of my other trip reports, this prediction did not hold true.
August 1, 2000: VS 040 (ORD-LHR) A340 -- "China Girl"
I left work at 2:00pm for a 5:00 departure. Despite some traffic, I made it to the airport by 2:50. I was traveling Premium Economy and proceeded to that desk for check-in. There was no line and I was checked-in about 5 minutes after entering the airport. I proceeded to purchase a Time Magazine and a U.S. News, went through security and spotted airplanes. I saw the usual compliment of international aircraft, including a Sabena A330, an Aer Lingus A330, a Swissair MD-11, a British 747-200 and an Air France 767. Of course, there were plenty of AA and UA 767s, 777s, and 747-400s. My aircraft was parked at stand Mike 9, which unfortunately made it difficult to see my aircraft. I could tell that it had not been repainted. They wnet through all the pre-boarding and then said that Premium Economy and Upper Class could board whenever, so I waited a few more minutes and went on. Mt seat was 19A, which was the second row in the Premium Economy cabin. The seat itself had plenty of leg room, but was a little narrow (though still better than regular economy). I was quickly offered a glass of champagne, which I accepted. Although economy was largely full, we were at best half full and no one sat in the aisle seat next to me (Upper Class had only five passengers). We pushed from the gate exactly at 5:00 and were airborne at 5:25. Soon after takeoff, I was offered another champagne and some pretzels. Dinner came about 20 mins later. The meal started with Corn chips, salsa and sour cream. I then had a chicken breast in a pink peppercorn sauce accompianied by potatos and broccoli (I could have also chosen Fisherman's Pie or a vegetarian pasta). There was Brie cheese, crackers and cake for dessert. Quite a filling meal. I then asked to see the flight deck and was immediately taken-up for a view. Since it was an A340, there were two pilots, but no relief pilot, which I thought was odd seeing as the flgihts were over seven hours. As I was leaving, I asked the captain about riding the jumpseat for landing and was told that would be fine. The rest of the flight was uneventful (the movies were not to my liking, though). We flew a very northernly route on this segment, passing over Hudson Bay and Greenland, and then down through Scotland into London. About 25 minutes prior to landing, I was escorted back to the flight deck and took the jumpseat behind the first officer. I was treated to a fantastic view of London spread out before me and watched in awe as the first officer manuvered the side stick down the ILS to 27R. After an on-time landing, we had only a short taxi to gate 32 at Terminal 3. As is typical, the line at customs was long. Not wanting to sound like a ego centric America, but since so many of those who come through Heathrow are American and Canadian, they should have a separate line (as they tend to get through the process quicker).
August 6, 2000: VS 039 (LHR-ORD) A340 -- "Dragon Lady"
I got to the airport about 2.5 hours before the flight left as my mother and sister had to check-in for their flight (American flight 101 to JFK), which left a half hour before mine. At about 7:50 am, the Vigin check-in counters are almost empty and no one was at the Premium Economy counters, so I checked in at Upper Class. The woman who checked me in then infomred me that because the flight was full in economy, they wanted to upgrade me to Upper Class, if it was okay with me. Although there were no window seats avaialbe in Upper, it was still a great opportunity, so I was assigned to seat 5H. For those of you curious about free upgrades, the only reason I got it was because I checked-in early. My mom's gate was announced a few minutes before mine, so after she left, I wandered around to find a magazine, and I bought a copy of Airliner World, a British Airliners magazine (I am sure many of you know about it). My gate was called and it was the same gate as my previous flight flew into (32). I boarded midway through the process and was escorted to seat 5H. I was again offered champagne, which I accepted. This airplane had also not been repainted and it did not have the new Upper Class seats, but the seat were still fantastic. There was tons of legroom and a nice swiveling PTV. I was given a copy of the menu. Virign offers what they call freedom serivce, which means you can eat what you want when you want to. I ordered a meal before takeoff. I started with crabcakes, then I had a chicken breast stuffed with wild mushrooms, accompianed by bacon and leek mash and red cabbage. I then had vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and a fudge brownie. All this was chased with more champagne. After the meal, I visited the flightdeck and was invited to stay for landing, despite there being three pilots (captain, first officer and a trainee). I then sat down and watched One Day in September, an Oscar-winning documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympics in which several members of the Israeli team were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists. After this, I watched Rules of Engagement, with Samuel L. Jackson. The flight attendants came around with personal DVD players, which offered more movie choices, but I was content with the choices on the main system. I ordered a second meal, consisting of the Vigin house salad, pan fried beef medalians, cheese and another vanilla ice cream. As this was being removed, it was about time to start descending, so after filling-out the landing card, I packed my stuff up (including the ammenity kit) and waited to be called by the lead flight attendant up to the flight deck. I got in the flight deck when were at 24,000 feet and over Lake Michigan. Before me was a grand view of Chicago. As on the previous flight, the first officer was flying and he made a perfect landing on 22R. We then taxied around the airport and over the bridge to Terminal 5 and, again, stand M9. The flight got to the gate about twenty minutes early and I was through customs and out the door in 20 minutes.
I have always loved Virgin and after these two flights, I love them even more. As I will be making three more roundtrips this year, they will benefit greatly as a result of this level of service.
** As evidenced by some of my other trip reports, this prediction did not hold true.