David:
Well. Day 1, as we call it, was a long
day. In Travelagentspeak Day 1 was very short. 2150 to 2400.
No problems on the M25 so we arrived at
Heathrow in record time at about 1530 for a 2150 flight.
Checkin with Virgin toook nearly 30
seconds and I was irritated that there was also no checkin queue for
the cheap seats at the back. After all what's the point of Premium
Economy if there's no hoi polloi to upset by walking straight to a
dedicated desk. That's a big part of the experience I paid for and
Virgin let us down badly. I'll be writing to R Branson suggesting he
closes 90% of his economy desks to create queues for Premium People,
like us, to breeze past.
A further extravagance of mine to curry
favour (get it?) with the Memsahib was an airport lounge. Again
there were common people in there but we found a corner to sit in, I
found the unlimited free snacks and Sue found the free Sauvignon.
It seems that when the British left
India in 1947 they took back with them the concept of the British
Queue. (For our US readers: Standing in Line) So when the call came
for Upper and Premium Economy passengers to board it created a
stampede of all but the Anglo Saxon passengers, who sat still. Sue
said 'Welcome to India'.
Checkin gloating opportunities apart,
Virgin Premium Economy is wonderful. Large comfortable seats, more
legrooom, a greater recline, champagne on boarding, a better meal,
served on china with real cutlery. Breakfast was abysmal. Probably,
no, definitely, the worst airline breakfast I've ever had. But
This coming weekend is Republic Day and
they closed Delhi airport for an hour of aerobatic practice when we
were due to land, so our takeoff was delayed by an hour. That then
shortened our afternoon coach trip aroud Delhi, but there was a
silver lining. Delhi was also closed, for rehearsals so all the
sights were unavailable. Our guide worked hard and we were told
exactly which tourist sights were concealed behind the buildings that
we were allowed to pass.
So we've had a long journey around
Delhi and no pictures to show you.
Got to go now. I've been wearing flight
socks for 28 hours and my legs are the shape of a wine glass. Slender
up to the knee then widen right out.
More soon. Hopefully.
Well done for managing the flight socks. We bought some for our first long haul to Sri Lanka back in 2003 but quickly discovered we couldn't bear them so preferred to be sock-less (unless walking around) and wiggling a lot !!!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of flight socks. Wear diabetic socks which have the same effect. Travelling is horrendous. So glad you survived it.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, flight socks are supposed to lessen the risk of a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) due to long periods of immobility. I think theyre modelled on compression stockings that hospital patients wear post-op. I had to look up Diabetic socks as I'd not heard of them and those sold in the UK appear to do exactly the opposite, they are non binding and without seams so as not to cause blisters etc. Gosh I'm now a leading authority on socks LOL !
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Diabetic socks either JJ (and Stephen's diabetic!) but at least I know which friend to come to for knowledgeable sock info xxx
DeleteYep, I think medical evidence shows that flight socks do less good than walking round regularly but both our flights are night flights and tagged onto long coach journeys so we figured we err on the side of caution.
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