The Easy Flight

We're in California for a while...

Today we flew from London to San Francisco where we'll be for the next two months.

I am usually a nervous wreck before flying because it's such a long and boring flight and people are often badly behaved. When we checked in at Heathrow they said that only one of our seats was pre-assigned. Now, I know I went online and reserved both our seats in the upper deck but alas something went wrong. She wanted to give us seats in the middle section but I freaked out a little because that's where the very crowded and horrendously noisy bar is. I did something I rarely do, I made a little fuss but I did it nicely. She made a phone call and then put us in the two seats at the front of the lower deck. Those are our favorite seats, yay! The flight was mostly quiet. I slept and was woken up once by the talking at the massage area.

We really enjoy flying Virgin Atlantic upper class but I have to say that for all the great things they have, they really are clueless about some other things. For example: they never seat couples together, they seat them opposite each other. They seem to have never gotten over the habit of reserving seats for people in sequential order, e.g. row 4 seats A and K. But with the new seating configuration, those seats are across the aisle from each other. To be together, it should be for 4A and 5A. Every single time when we fly on Virgin Atlantic there are people being seated who are upset that they are not sitting next to each other and the stewardess has to beg other passengers to switch around. This has been going on for years. Years! I just don't understand how Virgin Atlantic doesn't get it. However, that is why we love the seats in the first row of the lower deck because, although they are across from each other, our feet touch because we are in the nose of the plane.

The other problem with Virgin Atlantic is the massage area. It's nice that they offer free massages to people who paid thousands of dollars for a seat but it is really unfair to the rest of the people in the area who also paid thousands of dollars for their seat. The massage therapist and client often talk, often loudly, during the massage, which makes sleeping a problem, even up in the front row. For example, I was aleep on the flight today and that's what woke me up. Also, it's particularly unpleasant when you are in a seat directly next to or even near the massage area. Once I was unlucky enough to get one of those seats and was woken up by the bizarre moaning of someone getting their massage. Loud moaning. WTF. You are in a public place and everyone around you is sleeping. STFU.

But the biggest problem with flying Virgin Atlantic upper class is the bar. That section of the plane is completely off limits to any sane, civilized person. The bar has a party going on during the entire flight. There are usually some really hard-core drinkers there, talking and laughing so loudly that there is no chance of sleep and even hearing the movie through your headphones is difficult. It's just very bad behavior, and instead of finding ways to discourage bad behavior, Virgina Atlantic has found a way to encourage it. The only good thing is, they close down the bar on the night flight from San Francisco to London, so it is usually quiet. But on the flight from London to San Francisco it is chaos. The worst, are the seats on either side of the bar, they are practically in the bar. Those people paid the same thousands of dollars everyone else paid. It's an incredible intrusion. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars to sit in a bar, those seats should be free. But I really think Virgin Atlantic should get rid of the bar completely and show some respect to the people who pay thousands of dollars for their seat and then get stuck sitting near it.

Why not switch to another airline then? Well, we really do enjoy Virgin Atlantic. The massage area and bar issues are annoying but everything else about Virgin Atlantic is so fabulous, particularly the seats in upper class, that we really don't want to look elsewhere. I am just confused that an airline that is otherwise so great, would even have issues like the massage and bar fiascos. Please get a clue, Virgin Atlantic, we think you're fab.

So, today's flight was particularly easy. At Heathrow, Virgin Atlantic has made a few changes and after you check in you go up in a private elevator to a separate security area where you just breeze right through. Amazing! As always, their Lounge is fabulous. We didn't watch any films this time, nothing appealed to me. We just listened to our iPods and slept.

Oh yes, one more little item about Virgin Atlantic. They redesigned the upper class seats a little bit. The buttons are recessed now, preventing making your seat go up or down by accidentally bumping the button. Nice. However, the little table that pops out is right under the lamp, so a glass of champagne barely fits on it see photo). LOL. But the best part is that the flat bed is soft now. It used to be pretty hard and kind of uncomfortabe. But the new one is really nice and I think definitely contributed to our being able to sleep this time. Well done, Virgin Atlantic!