I saw a post on one of the various travel forums I read saying that Virgin Airlines were offering First Class to Cape Town at a reasonable price (well more reasonable than it has been of late). It's one of those cities that we've always said we'd visit but whenever we've flown to Southern Africa it's been mid-winter there and the weather is not so good. I thought Ian would veto the idea but I'd forgotten how much he dislikes damp, grey, miserable November days and of course he'd missed out on the autumn sunshine I picked up in Rhodes with Wendy. Anyway, long story cut short, he jumped at the idea and so we got the flights and brought the cost down a couple more £100s by using Virgin points.
The initial idea was to stay in Cape Town but we figured 4 days there would probably be enough and so despite always being nervous of driving there - you hear such scary tales - we decided to hire a car and head down to Hermanus for 2 nights, Malgas for 1 night then back to Stellenbosch (2 nights) before catching the mid morning flight home 10 days later.
We were looking forward to spending a few hours in the Virgin Lounge at Heathrow as it's one of the best. This time we weren't arriving by taxi at the posh entrance but accessing through the main T3 building but nevertheless the experience was quite nice. We were welcomed warmly at check-in and ushered to a private lift which took us up to security which was probably the quickest ever. Despite my worry we might be too early for the lounge (I read that there was now a 3 hour restriction in place) we went straight in. 2024 marked 40 years of the company and in the lobby area there was a display of uniforms over the years.
It's still November - what's the matter with people!
The lounge used to be solely for Virgin Upper Class passengers but following a recent hook up with Delta and other airlines they now allow others to use the facilities. It still wasn't crowded by any means and we sat down to enjoy the first of many glasses of pink fizz.
Ian chose a cold starter from the cold deli counter.
Whereas I opted for a warming Butternut Squash soup, which unfortunately got delivered at the same time as the main courses of Grilled Chicken Burgers and chips.
After a very nice late lunch Ian settled down for 40 winks and I wandered around. This is the outside roof terrace.
Unfortunately the pool table has gone (to make room for more seating I understand) but a Shove Halfpenny table has taken its place.
The Quiet Area is a little different now too; the chairs have gone so presumably now you just lie on the floor.
I recognised this young lady as soon as I saw her behind the bar - she was amazed when I dug out the old picture from 2 years ago.
We boarded just before 18:00 and although I already knew it was Coffin Class, I was still somewhat underwhelmed by the cabin and seating layout. We're luckily in row A which means we face the back of the seats across the aisle but coming home we're on the right of the plane and so will be looking at other people's feet.
Still, it's a lay flat bed, albeit that you have to get the staff to position it for you.
After a very nice meal which we'd pre ordered and I can't remember what it was, we settled down for some rest but unfortunately there were 3 very loud Scottish women who decided to sit at the bar behind us (3 rows away) until past midnight. Eventually I got fed up and asked a flight attendant to shut them up which she did.
I was hoping to see Table Mountain as we flew in but unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the plane (and will be when we fly out) so these are the only air shots I got.
Another down side to Coffin Class is that you can't see out of the window whilst seated, so in order to get these I had to kneel twisted on the bed. I got chatting to the guy next door who turned out to be a holiday accommodation owner and actually owned a couple of flats in the building we'd rented ours in - small world (Nils - Urban Elephant). He was really lovely and gave us loads of useful tips for places to eat etc and reassured us it was perfectly safe provided the usual care is taken and common sense employed.
My first glimpse of the iconic mountain as we taxied along the runway
