Not quite sure what the format for trip reports is, so I apologize in advance for any errors. Much of this isn't the trip, as the total VX experience.
I typically fly United out of IAD, but this time did a multi-segment trip: IAD-SFO, SFO-LAX, LAX-IAD.
- I booked travel via corporate travel, then went to the VX website to sign up for Elevate. When I signed up, I used my first initial, but my travel booked as my first name. Because of this "first name" discrepancy I could never synch my Elevate number w/my travel, until I called a representative who had to edit my first name in the Elevate database.
- I was never able to get seat assignment to work online. I had to call VX to get that. I was able to print out my first two boarding passes online, however.
- At the gate, I was able to move from a forward window to an exit middle, w/out charge. However the ticket printer at the gate wasn't working (the gate attendants kept asking me to check back to see if it was), so I never got a new boarding pass (ok with me, but they seemed a bit bothered by that). They let me on the flight with my original boarding pass, however.
- Seatguru has row 9 B-D as reclining, but I discovered that they did not. However, at 6'1" I prefer the extra legroom, even from the middle seat. Our takeoff was delayed about 75 min (weather issue) and I found the seats seemed to lean a bit forward while the plane was on the ground, which was a bit uncomfortable. Once we were airborne it was OK.
- On the first leg, flight 462 on 6/8, the Red system wasn't working after takeoff. I hadn't eaten, as I had heard about the meal ordering system, so I got pretty hungry. The flight crew rebooted the system 4 times (not sure why they thought the 3rd and 4th reboot would work, when the 1st and 2nd boot didn't). One could see the Linux kernel and processes load, and see one of the errant processes fail to load, but I didn't really expect the flight crew to know/catch this. This flight was almost completely full, fwiw.
- I was able to sweet talk one of the FAs out of a G&T on the first pass through, but she gave me a cup of tonic and a bottle of gin. Not sure how she expected me to drink this (there are bars in DC that do the opposite, give you a glass of gin and a bottle of tonic
). After I had finished my first drink I asked a second FA for more tonic, cup and ice (I had mistakenly given up my cup), and she hurriedly threw me a can of tonic. Only later did I get the cup and ice (with another gin).
- There were rumors in the cabin about how to get a meal out of one of the FAs (and even if they had enough meals). I went to the back and (politely) asked for one, to be told that because of my seat (9B) I needed to get mine for the 1st class FA. Eventually he moved down the aisle distributing meals, but he was never clear if these were free or not. My (ESL) seatmate decided against a meal, because of the payment confusion. I got the "antipasto salad " which was really some nice (not brown) romaine with folded slices of lunch meat on top, so OK but not great. I didn't pay for it or the 2 G&Ts, however.
- I brought my laptop w/movies and my ipod so Red not working wasn't a problem for me. However I did appreciate the coach power plugs, although they are a bit awkward to attach to.
- At the end of the flight the chief FA said on the intercom that, because Red wasn't working, everyone in coach would get a $25 credit and FC would get a $50 credit. A friend of mine was in FC and they did get food/drink.
- I was able to use FC toilet (twice!).
- Second leg was flight 1839 on 6/9. No problems there, but some of the SFO trains have VX listed in Intl Terminal A and other have it in Intl Terminal G (my flights arrived/departed from Intl Terminal A). Red was working and I was able to order a drink through that (had to finally test it out!).
- Didn't try to use FC toilet.
- Third leg was supposed to be flight 616 on 6/11. However I could never see that 3rd leg on the VX website, although there was a link to it when I signed in under my (now synched) Elevate number. So I had to call VX again, and discovered that I had mistakingly booked it on 6/10 (oopsie!). Although VX had raised their rebooking fee to $75, they honored the $40 rebooking fee that was in place when I originally booked the tickets.
- I again booked exit middle and had to pay for it ($50, as it was "premium" and "long haul"). However my $25 "credit" wasn't available, so I couldn't apply it to the $50 seat assignment. Bummer.
- I was still unable to see this leg on the VX website, so had to print the boarding pass at LAX. While doing that I asked the gate attendant (is that the right term, if they're before security?) for other seat options. She said that a closer, aisle was available. I asked if I would get my $50 charge back, and she said that no, it would show up as a credit on my account, as VX has a policy of not returning money (this might not be an exact quote). I was flabbergasted, but decided to stay in row 10 rather then let VX keep my money and not provide any service for it (I considered taking the forward seat and disputing the CC charge).
- The flight switched gates (LAX 67B) but apparently I missed the announcement. How about a sign, people? This was certainly a stealth boarding process.
- The flight was only about 1/4 full, and the FAs were encouraging people to move around. The person in 3C had moved back (there was a crying baby in row 4) so the FA offered it to me.
- Red was (allegedly) working on this, and I was able to order food and drink. But the free beverages are just a cup-full (I'm a "want the whole can" kind of guy). Also, my "credit" didn't seem to matter in food ordering either.
- I found the music on Red to be "stuttering", sometimes so bad that it was unlistenable. No credits, however.
Other Red thoughts:
- I was disappointed that you couldn't save/retrieve playlists, as I had to create another one when I changed seats. Wouldn't it be cool if you could create playlists online and have them available at your seat?
- I'd also like to be able to share playlists, and see what the most popular songs played are.
- The chat was cumbersome, as there's a lot of setup involved, and you need to know someone else's seat number. I didn't play with it enough to see if there is a "plane-wide" chat room, but if it was there it wasn't obvious.
- I was exited to see Doom in the games, but the controller isn't well suited for that game (I use keyboard/mouse for FPS games at home).
Other VX comments:
- Everyone working at VX was very polite (and happy) almost all the time.
- The FAs seemed very young, as if this was the first job for many of them. On my first flight, they were especially clueless as to what to do when Red went down. On my last leg there was a more mature FA (said she had Horizon experience).
- The phone people were great. Quick pick up (just say "agent"!), knew their stuff, made it happen fast, etc. Don't know what VX does to get customer service reps like that, but they should pay them enough to keep them around.
- All the seats seemed narrow to me (I'm 6'1 and 200 lbs). And the armrests! They have a slot in the middle for the Red controller access, and it makes them very uncomfortable if they need to be shared.
- The seat pockets seem pretty small to me as well. But maybe I travel w/too much stuff. Here's what I put in them: Bose headphones in case, bottle of water, magazine, sometimes trade paperback book.
- Red seems to be very buggy. And annoying. For example, I pause a song, but still have my headphones on. The FA makes an announcement (which is sent through Red also). When she's done, the song unpauses. Who programmed that?
- High proportion of travelers seemed to be tourists, as opposed to worker bees. However the overheads never got completely full, there was always room up there.
Bottom line:
Overall a neutral experience. An interesting airline that I wouldn't avoid, but neither would I specifically seek out. I do like having non-stop cross country options, however.
And I encourage everyone of you to fly it IAD-SFO so that United will bring their ticket prices down on that flight!
Hope this isn't too long, or too redundant with other posts.