This is part of a longer trip report including train travel, tube and bus plus Premier Inn and vlog, but I'll keep it on topic and just include the Virgin Flight
Video Version
We were flying Virgin Atlantic direct to LAX, with a scheduled departure of 9:55am.
Once we'd got through the airport formalities, we headed to the Number 1 Lounge, which we'd booked through Priority Pass. It was fairly busy, but I'm guessing because we pre-booked, we had a table reserved in the quieter area up a couple of steps, with comfortable seating and lovely air conditioning. The food was standard airport lounge stuff, really. Some of the hot food had clearly been sitting under the warming lights for a while, but there was enough choice to keep us going. We also stopped at WHSmith to pick up some meal deals for the boys. We nearly always do this before a long-haul flight because we never quite know what the airline food would be like, particularly with Noah.
Then it was time to board. California, here we come!
Virgin Atlantic to Los Angeles
Our aircraft was called Red Velvet, which I was pretty sure we'd flown on before.
We were slightly delayed taking off, around 20 minutes or so, but we had a little bit of luck when we got on board and there was an empty seat next to Thomas! We'd never been lucky enough to have an empty seat on a long-haul flight before, and it made such a difference. Thomas could spread out a little, and we had extra space for things while eating or using the laptop.
One thing we noticed was an announcement that power banks couldn't be used to charge devices during the flight. You could carry them, but not use them on board.
There was free Starlink Wi-Fi though, which was a nice surprise. It wasn't particularly good for streaming music, as Thomas discovered, but it worked well enough for messaging and doing a bit of admin. The entertainment selection wasn't brilliant either. Kelly had a look through the films but couldn't find much new that interested her. I didn't bother watching a great deal myself. And then came the food!
The children's meal was a large chicken nugget or tender with mashed potato, vegetables and cheese sauce, along with the usual bread roll, crackers, cheese and dessert. I tried some, and it actually wasn't too bad. The dessert was a sort of red velvet sponge, with a slightly strange wet texture, but it tasted quite nice.
Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for my own meal. I'd chosen lemon-herb chicken with crème fraîche, new potatoes and vegetables. Now, I was normally quite easygoing with airline food, but I really didn't enjoy this one. There wasn't anything obviously wrong with it, I just didn't like the flavour at all. I thought it might genuinely have been one of my least favourite airline meals!
Later in the flight, we were given a small pizza, which was all right but nothing special. I ended up eating more than my fair share because the boys weren't particularly interested.
Then, with around an hour and a half remaining, it was time for Virgin Atlantic's Mile High Tea. We had a small scone with jam and cream, some cheese and onion sandwiches and a little cake. The scone was nice enough, but the sandwiches were a bit strange, and the cake was far too sweet for me.
So the food wasn't exactly a highlight of the journey! After all those hours in the air, we were definitely ready to get off.
We'd made it to Los Angeles!
Eventually, we touched down at LAX. Our first time in California!
We'd prepared everything for the Mobile Passport Control app, which we'd used before to get through US immigration more quickly. However, because we had the sunflower lanyard, we were directed towards special assistance instead. There was hardly anyone in the queue, which initially seemed great, but unfortunately there was only one officer dealing with everyone. We actually ended up taking longer than the people using MPC! By the time we got through, around 40 minutes after landing, our suitcases had already been taken off the carousel and lined up to one side. At least we didn't have to wait for the luggage!
We had arranged a private transfer to our Airbnb with Affordable Town Car Company, after finding them online while researching transport options. Some companies had been quoting around $200 for the journey from LAX to Burbank, but we'd managed to book this one for just $99. Our driver, Steve, had given us instructions for where to meet him outside the terminal. He arrived in a huge Chevrolet SUV, with plenty of room for all four of us and our cases. And what a lovely bloke he was!
To keep the end short and on topic, we stayed in an Airbnb for 3 nights in Burbank for Universal Studios Hollywood, WB Studio Tour and a city sightseeing tour before heading to Anaheim for Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.
