A tinge - but I must confess only a microscopic twinge - of guilt zoomed through me. I was checking in, clearing customs, sitting in the lounge, boarding, sipping champagne. And whither? To London, in Virgin Upper Class.
But the guilt quickly subsided. This was my treat and why the hell not?! I'm lucky and I appreciate the fact, and now that I was sitting in seat A1 on the tarmac at NBO (read Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport - about to jet off to LHR (read London Heathrow) I was loving every second of it.
It was quite some time since I'd flown VS (read Virgin Atlantic Airlines) in their business class. And I remembered it well. The seats had changed to the herring bone configuration with a flat-bed option - but surprisingly the safety video, complete with its quirky animations - was the same from about 10 years ago. That was fine - actually, it was still quite amusing.
The in-flight service, after only about half an hour in, was impressive - even if the champagne served was lukewarm - an ice cube delicately dropped into the generously filled flute soon remedied that. I was then cocooned in my bubble-of-a-seat and ready for the 8.35 hour flight.
BRB - as the youngsters say.
But the guilt quickly subsided. This was my treat and why the hell not?! I'm lucky and I appreciate the fact, and now that I was sitting in seat A1 on the tarmac at NBO (read Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport - about to jet off to LHR (read London Heathrow) I was loving every second of it.
It was quite some time since I'd flown VS (read Virgin Atlantic Airlines) in their business class. And I remembered it well. The seats had changed to the herring bone configuration with a flat-bed option - but surprisingly the safety video, complete with its quirky animations - was the same from about 10 years ago. That was fine - actually, it was still quite amusing.
The in-flight service, after only about half an hour in, was impressive - even if the champagne served was lukewarm - an ice cube delicately dropped into the generously filled flute soon remedied that. I was then cocooned in my bubble-of-a-seat and ready for the 8.35 hour flight.
BRB - as the youngsters say.
* * *
Well, I'm almost landing and it's been a mixed flight - if truth be told.
The seats are actually quite old; the rough-around-the-edges feel you get from years of rdisrespectful passengers is showing through. You can see from the photos crumbs in the personal stowage pocket and wine stains on the seat where I was to place my head when snoozing.
The crew have been pleasant enough and the food very passable - but I haven't been wow-ed. One of the best things has been the cosy duvet you get to lure the sandman in - it beats the hessian-type blankets one is thrown from many other airlines in so-called business class.
What was good?
The seat configuration - if the guy in 2D hadn't spent the first hour of the flight perched on the "guest" seat of 2A - next to me But there I stumble...I, unfortunately, find many more things to urge improvement on. The entertainment system was primitive: tapes on a loop with no interactive options. Even the magazine choice was limited to at least 6 six copies of the same edition of Conde Nast Traveller magazine - I love to travel but even I can't skim the same jaunting journalism six times in succession!
Something I didn't mention earlier was the schlepp to the aircraft: we cleared security screening (with two separate passes through the x-ray conveyor belts) at gate 10. This was apparently a UK Department of Transport requirement: apparently the Kenyans can't be trusted to get it right first time..! Then we trawled down stone steps to the tarmac, where I presumed to find an expectant bus driver complete with bus to ferry us to the airplane boarding steps. But that wasn't to be. We then had to walk about 200m towards gate 12 and climb the 2 flights of stairs to access the ganty to the plane door.
Now, I suspect the aforementioned additional security can only be accommodated in one place - NBO (remember what that stands for?!) not being the best organised airport on the planet. It would have been nice to get an apology from VS as we boarded - but not a peep from anyone on the matter. One would have they thought could lobby the airport for a bit more coordination - sigh. And at least an apology from either the in-flight supervisor or the captain would have been a nice interjection to the inocuous, rambling, nauseating "do"s and "don't"s list - which I'm sure gets longer and longer each time I get on a plane (especially UK-based carriers). (Can you believe on Virgin they even warned against standing up while wearing ones earphones: reportedly this unmeasured action can result in damaging the earphone sockets and impair your listening pleasure for the remainder of the flight. Geez!!
So I'll be disembarking a wee bit disappointed, and think next time I'll take premium economy out and the bed in Upper Class back for the night jounrey. As a research man, I'd give the entire experience a rather lukewarm 7/10 - just like my champagne upon boarding.
Come on Virgin! You can do better.
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