Flight report with Virgin Atlantic.
For my flight over the pond I was considering several airlines. My budget was richer than Economy, but not enough for a seat I could comfortably sleep in. (I am 6'4'') There were two big airlines who were offering Premium Economy cabins to my destination – British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. BA's offering was cheaper for flights originating anywhere but London, and Virgin was the best for London start. My route was not simple, nor did it originate in London. I have considered all options, especially after reading numerous helpful tips from fellow travellers, but nevertheless BA lost because they did not offer an Open Jaw ticket for reasonable price. One segment would have to be a full Y class oneway fare, and noone wants to pay that.
I have decided on a ticket with Virgin Atlantic, using feeder flights from Aer Lingus. EI have opened new routes in April, and coincidentally I would be using two of them on my flight. My final routing was VIE-LGW/LHR-SFO-LHR/LGW-ZRH with one night stopovers in London in both directions. Aer Lingus flight was nothing to write home about, so lets move to the Virgin one.
This would be my first intercontinetal flight in my life, so I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. I have checked my seat assigment daily (35A?) and was on lookout for better seats in the PE cabin, although there weren't so many of the better ones. I knew that the best ones are released only 24 hours before the flight, and also that exit rows are assigned only on the airport. Having a good seat already, I had nothing to lose, so I let the 24-hour window slip, and checked the web only 14 hours before the flight. “There was an error during your check-in process. Please contact technical help or check-in agent on airport” Huh? The web site didn't let me into my reservation, I could not see my seat, nor change it. In the morning I left at 7:15 for Heathrow. Got to check-in at 9am, and started my stream of questions to the check-in agent. She tried to be helpful -- “sir, upgrade to Upper Class is 1200 pounds, no, you cannot buy an invitation to the Clubhouse, and the exit rows are already taken. You can have an aisle seat in the second row (29C?)” I politely declined, wanting to keep my window seat over the wing. To my complete surprise she stated that my seat was already occupied, and my only choices are the aisle seats. Disappointed I investigated how was this possible? She claimed that the seat assigment is not guaranteed and you have to do online check-in to guarantee your seats. Well, I asked, does that mean that I can check-in into anybodys elses seat? Then why did the website kicked me out 12 hours earlier? She shrugged, and I let it go, still smiling, as I didn't want to be just another grumpy a-hole. After obligatory security questioning I managed to find my way through Terminal 3, buy an emergency charger for my Nintendo (my charger failed and I wasted my battery on the tube) and some reading material.
At 10:15 the boarding opened, and at approx. 10:30 I got to the gate 34. After just another passport check I handed my boarding pass to the stewardess, but when she scanned it, something beeped wrong and red light showed on the scanner. What's going on? I was scared a little, then she grabbed a pen, scratched my seat number and have written 4A over it. “You are upgraded to the Upper Class, sir.” What!? I moved along, sat in the gate and tried to recover from my shock.
After declining to pay 1200 pounds, after inquiring about better seats, seeing how tall am I, the gods of aviation have smiled upon me. My first transatlantic flight ever, my first op-up ever, and just in the right moment. I do not know which person of the Virgin staff picked my name, but it was THE RIGHT DECISION. I wasn't very happy with choosing Virgin, as they served only long haul destinations, so collecting their miles wasn't very lucrative. I was considering opening a BA club account and flyin BA on my next trip overseas. Well, I guess it will be Virgin next time because of this
Good job.
I am writing this in my seat, from somewhere over Canada, 2402 miles from my destination, 35997 feet high. The upper class cabin looks completely full, the premium economy too. There is definitely a guy sitting in my newly assigned seat, I can check the rest on my next strech-up. I managed to get 3 hours sleep in the beginning of the flight to sync to the pacific time zone a little, but the Virgin issued noise cancelling headphones aren't doing very good job. Also the announcement that we have a newlywed couple on board was transmitted into the headphones, and woke me up. The bed was pretty good, I fit with no problems, only the joint of the seat was too hard and was just pressing on my spine(?) while laying on my back. We also had delay on departure, the stewardesses were looking for two passengers, who probably change their seats and were unaccounted for.
For lunch I had Seasonal Leaf Salad (with Danish blue cheese, poached pear, bacon and tarragon dressing) and Baked Cod (with sun-dried tomato and basil pesto, roasted new potatoes, butter beans and spinach). The portions were quite small, (3 potatoes) but the food was pretty good, and I asked for the cheese plate aftewards. I want to limit the alcohol, so I cannot report on the champagne, but the glass of Saladini Pilastri 2008 (Italy, Falerio, Certified Organic) was very nice with the lunch.
90 minutes before the landing an afternoon tea was served, and I asked for Classic Sultana scone (with Tiptree jam and clotted cream) and Spicy pastrami & English mustard sandwich. From the onboard bar I tried Aberfeldy 12 year old Single Malt whisky.
The flight was wonderful, I only regret that I was asleep for 3 hours and did not enjoy the onboard bar more
The upgrade probably won't repeat in my lifetime, but Thank You, Virgin!
