Vacation Report, India: The Arrival
Vacation Report, India: Poetree Sarovar Portico
Vacation Report, India: Periyar National Park
Vacation Report, India: Grand Hyatt Mumbai
Vacation Report, India: Airport Lounges
Vacation Report, India: Departure
COK-DOH
Upon arriving at the airport I inquired to see if it was possible to upgrade to Premiere (Business Class). Finding out that there were seats available, we opted to pay the difference (cheaper than a single ticket from COK to DOH, amusingly enough) for the upgrade.
The seats were noticeably wider than economy, as to be expected, but were not lie-flat as it was a Boeing 737-800. They did, however, have extra recline and calf-rests which helped considerably. We were offered per-departure beverages and we were soon on our way.
The only frustrating thing was that the TV screens were shared and were always on for the duration of the flight, so it made sleep a little difficult.
DOH-LHR
For the flight from Doha to London-Heathrow, I opted to take the backwards facing window seat on the B777. While this made for some frustrating navigation when leaving my seat, it offered some excellent views of the terrain!
As we boarded, I managed to capture a few pictures of the suites available in the First Class cabin.
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Terrain Shots
Sheraton Skyline
With a 20 hour layover in London, we took some time to really catch up on sleep. After having spent a lot of time with recycled air and confined spaces, a nice big bed was definitely appreciated.
As a pleasant surprise, I was given a toy Mini-Cooper upon check-in (the local specialty) and was given a customized fruit basket! Talk about service! It is nice to see brand loyalty rewarded, truly.
LHR-DTW
From London to Detroit we used Delta SkyMiles to book Upper Class tickets on Virgin Atlantic’s VS107. This flight is serviced by an Airbus A330-300. This was our first experience flying Virgin Atlantic, let alone their Upper Class product, so we were both extremely excited. The seats were arranged in a herringbone configuration with the ottomans facing the aisles.
Though we already had a feeling we were in for a treat from everything we experienced getting situated, the meal service is what really made that clear to us. In addition to a private bar available (not pictured) behind the Upper Class cabin, the menu is carefully thought out with fairly healthy options. Furthermore, everything was adorable.
One interesting feature of the flight-map is that it also showed various landmarks, like the location of the Titanic, in addition to cities.
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DTW-RDU
The last leg of our flight was by far the most frustrating. Instead of the initially scheduled 5 PM departure, our flight was moved up to 3 PM, which left very little time to get through customs and re-check all our bags. Thankfully, the Diamond Medallion line was very helpful and took care of rebooking both of us on the 8 PM flight (keeping us in First Class, no less). Though it took a fair amount of time on hold, everything was sorted out before we even boarded our flight in London. I love how helpful Delta staff are – they go above and beyond, consistently!
Instead of a regional jet, we returned home in a Boeing 717-200, which offered a lot more room for our cabin luggage (to our relief!).