My first Upper Class experience on Virgin is met with mixed reviews. The day started exceptionally well with my driver arriving promptly at 7:30 am and meeting at me at the door to take my rather large bag. When I asked for a few minutes to say goodbye to the family he did not mind.
The Volvo saloon (sedan for the US folks) was exceptionally well maintained and very comfortable. The morning paper was crisp and clean and waiting for me to enjoy. Of course I had to pull myself away from phone and blackberry to be able to enjoy it. The driver did a three point check (passport, itinerary, sharp objects in carry on) with me as I entered the car and then exclaimed to me, after pressing a few buttons on his PDA, ‘You’re now checked in’ I was impressed.
The driver was a professional. Anticipating all of the daily traffic snarls through London he took the streets to get to Heathrow and arrived on time.
As we approached the airport the driver arrived at a special VIP entrance to T3. Pacing the car at brisk pace was a highly polished, red-clad customer service representative that had a pre-printed baggage claim ticket to attach to my bag. Before I could even get out of the car, my bag had disappeared into a well rehearsed process of expedited check-in. Next the private security agent appeared from nowhere and asked me some questions and then applied his validation sticker to my passport.
Red then escorted me through the terminal to the private security point where I dutifully laid my bag on the belt and was scanned in a matter of seconds. I walked through the duty free shopping area straight to the club lounge.
Curb to cocktail in seven minutes!
The lounge at Heathrow has wow factor. Feels more like ski chalet than airport lounge. I was thoroughly disappointed in my lack of preparation for this event. I did not wear clothes to allow for a trip to the steam room, I had not pre-booked a haircut or massage appointment. I was just left to figure out how to use my time in the acre of space. Once reality hit I went to the library (yes, the library) to sync up my e-mail and to make a few urgent phone calls. Despite having to do the boring stuff, it was done in comfort with a great latte.
Boarding the plane was great. I got such a rush as I was able to turn left after entering the plane as opposed to turning right. Walking into the Upper Class cabin is like entering a banquet hall. Once you pass the bar, you see the seats which are more like pods dedicated to personal comfort.
The greeting was great. Got myself settled in and reviewed the menu, the video options, how the seat works, and all fun stuff. We took off an hour late, but who cared, for this brief moment, I was the man!
Then reality hit. After take off I realized that my video unit did not work. After three system resets- no luck. I was devastated. After flying internationally for a decade in the back of the bus, my shining moment had been marred by a technical fault. The travesty! How could this be? Was this some bizarre way of realizing that it is just a flight and not some right of passage to the big time?
The customer service dude offered me the portable video console. I was dejected and sad. I used that thing on a previous flight on Virgin when my video unit did not work. How can you sit in Morton’s and get a hamburger. I wanted the filet mignon!!! How could this be? There is not nearly enough functionality in a portable DVD to feed by blackberry starved fingers throughout the flight. I don’t think I have ever seen a movie all the way trough. I am the attention deficit disorder guy that checks the sky map every 15 minutes and quickly interpolates progress based on miles and airspeed. How could I just sit there and not know the speed of the beloved tailwind propelling me though the stratosphere at even greater speeds. What if we had a dreaded headwind? I am an information junkie and I was being starved of this valuable data. I just did not have enough gadgets to play with and I was very upset about it.
The Volvo saloon (sedan for the US folks) was exceptionally well maintained and very comfortable. The morning paper was crisp and clean and waiting for me to enjoy. Of course I had to pull myself away from phone and blackberry to be able to enjoy it. The driver did a three point check (passport, itinerary, sharp objects in carry on) with me as I entered the car and then exclaimed to me, after pressing a few buttons on his PDA, ‘You’re now checked in’ I was impressed.
The driver was a professional. Anticipating all of the daily traffic snarls through London he took the streets to get to Heathrow and arrived on time.
As we approached the airport the driver arrived at a special VIP entrance to T3. Pacing the car at brisk pace was a highly polished, red-clad customer service representative that had a pre-printed baggage claim ticket to attach to my bag. Before I could even get out of the car, my bag had disappeared into a well rehearsed process of expedited check-in. Next the private security agent appeared from nowhere and asked me some questions and then applied his validation sticker to my passport.
Red then escorted me through the terminal to the private security point where I dutifully laid my bag on the belt and was scanned in a matter of seconds. I walked through the duty free shopping area straight to the club lounge.
Curb to cocktail in seven minutes!
The lounge at Heathrow has wow factor. Feels more like ski chalet than airport lounge. I was thoroughly disappointed in my lack of preparation for this event. I did not wear clothes to allow for a trip to the steam room, I had not pre-booked a haircut or massage appointment. I was just left to figure out how to use my time in the acre of space. Once reality hit I went to the library (yes, the library) to sync up my e-mail and to make a few urgent phone calls. Despite having to do the boring stuff, it was done in comfort with a great latte.
Boarding the plane was great. I got such a rush as I was able to turn left after entering the plane as opposed to turning right. Walking into the Upper Class cabin is like entering a banquet hall. Once you pass the bar, you see the seats which are more like pods dedicated to personal comfort.
The greeting was great. Got myself settled in and reviewed the menu, the video options, how the seat works, and all fun stuff. We took off an hour late, but who cared, for this brief moment, I was the man!
Then reality hit. After take off I realized that my video unit did not work. After three system resets- no luck. I was devastated. After flying internationally for a decade in the back of the bus, my shining moment had been marred by a technical fault. The travesty! How could this be? Was this some bizarre way of realizing that it is just a flight and not some right of passage to the big time?
The customer service dude offered me the portable video console. I was dejected and sad. I used that thing on a previous flight on Virgin when my video unit did not work. How can you sit in Morton’s and get a hamburger. I wanted the filet mignon!!! How could this be? There is not nearly enough functionality in a portable DVD to feed by blackberry starved fingers throughout the flight. I don’t think I have ever seen a movie all the way trough. I am the attention deficit disorder guy that checks the sky map every 15 minutes and quickly interpolates progress based on miles and airspeed. How could I just sit there and not know the speed of the beloved tailwind propelling me though the stratosphere at even greater speeds. What if we had a dreaded headwind? I am an information junkie and I was being starved of this valuable data. I just did not have enough gadgets to play with and I was very upset about it.
Instead of being smart, I sat and simmered in my discontent. I had mentally drafted my note to Sir Richard Branson at least a half dozen times wondering what silly threats I was going to deliver. ‘I fly over a 100,000 miles a year with your airline and now I am never going to fly again!’
The lacklustre response from the customer service agent irked me. I could select an item of up to £50 from the duty free catalogue to compensate me for my misery. £50? Are you %*^* kidding me? I spent over £4000 on this ticket and you trivialize my pain and agony by offering me a bottle of virgin vodka or a model airplane? I wound up taking a little gizmo for my i-pod that I would never buy myself and probably won’t ever use. The principle was that I got SOMETHING.
I declined the portable unit and focused on work for the trip. I broke out my laptop, strapped on the i-pod and cleared down 400+ e-mails.
Seriously… How hard could it be for them to test these things before the flight??? It is almost inexcusable to have something like this happen when you pay that much for a seat in front of the bus. I was the only one in this predicament. I was upset and obviously still am. I will seriously reconsider my allegiance to this airline. Perhaps I will just go back to United. Their planes are ugly but at least their systems work.
The lacklustre response from the customer service agent irked me. I could select an item of up to £50 from the duty free catalogue to compensate me for my misery. £50? Are you %*^* kidding me? I spent over £4000 on this ticket and you trivialize my pain and agony by offering me a bottle of virgin vodka or a model airplane? I wound up taking a little gizmo for my i-pod that I would never buy myself and probably won’t ever use. The principle was that I got SOMETHING.
I declined the portable unit and focused on work for the trip. I broke out my laptop, strapped on the i-pod and cleared down 400+ e-mails.
Seriously… How hard could it be for them to test these things before the flight??? It is almost inexcusable to have something like this happen when you pay that much for a seat in front of the bus. I was the only one in this predicament. I was upset and obviously still am. I will seriously reconsider my allegiance to this airline. Perhaps I will just go back to United. Their planes are ugly but at least their systems work.
Then, not being able to do the math, they did not even prioritize me for my massage. These guys were rookies! Adding insult to my injury!
Looking back, I am sure I over played the experience in my mind. It was just a 10 hour flight. But my impression of Virgin’s legendary service has been altered now and I will reconsider flying them in the future.
Posts
1 comment:
In all fairness, Morton's does a pretty amazaing burger!
Post a Comment