Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - Upper Class questions on snooze zone

I have booked my mother to fly LHR to LAX in Feb 06 on an award tix.

What the research I have done , it appears that for her (traveling alone) that seats 4-6K and 9-14A seem to get the seat votes. Do you concur?
Do these seats basically just face the wall of the aircraft?

My real question centers around the return flight.

I have read that the front rows, I think up to Row 7 is the snooze zone.

What does this mean? It says no meal served, but honestly with a 5.00pm departure, does everyone turn down a meal and just hunker down for 10 straight hours. Is there like a cut off time at which point they dim the lights?
What if you wake up during the flight, can you turn on your screen etc or is that a no no?

Any views on how this works and what is kosher would be great- just so that I can book her the best seats.

And I read that you can land and take off with your seat reclined. Does this mean fully reclined in the sleep position?

Thanks for any and all help

No need to worry about any of this - the Snooze Zone is only applicable to East Coast flights. There is no such thing on the LAX/SFO routes.

Seats "facing the wall of the aircraft"? - no, not at all. Seats A & K face in, at about a 30 degree angle from the window, towards the center of the cabin. Each Upper Class suite has two windows to it (although one will normally be a little out of reach, as it's behind the back of the seat)


As for the seat recline, you can have the seat fully reclined, but not converted to a bed. (the bed converts by the seat folding over, so you effectively sleep on the seat back) You are not allowed to be in bed for take-off/landing ;)