WDCT - Episode 1

Where does Chistery Travel? I was in London for work recently and picked this stuffed Chistery doll up at Wicked London. I had intentions on giving it to my youngest nephew, Miles.

the view from the Virgin Atlantic Club House in Heathrow

In fact, I was pretty intent on him getting it. I stowed it in my carry on when I checked my bags on the flight home. Then, I was sitting sipping tea in the Virgin ClubHouse and a thought passed through my brain.

you can't go to the Club House and not sit in one of the iconic bubble chairs

I couldn't stop it - Chistery came out of the carry on and I started snapping pictures. I thought it would be really cool if I started taking Chistery with me on my travels and snapping pictures along the way. A bit like a Flat Stanley - only something my nephews could enjoy following along with.

the Upper Class seats are so comfortable

I don't think they really understand what it is what Uncle Greg does. I know they don't really understand what Wicked or Billy Elliot is - or have even heard the music. I do know they know about Flying Monkeys - the Chistery character in Wicked.

you can't sit in Upper Class and not have a drink at the bar...

Since Uncle Greg works on Wicked all over the place, and they don't have stuffed Billy Elliot dolls, I thought this was the next best solution. So...without further ado, I give you the first of Chistery's adventures on the road. He thoroughly enjoyed his Upper Class journey from Heathrow to JFK - and there are many more adventures to come.

after all that...it's bed time for Chistery

Special thanks and shout outs to Danny and Louisa in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic Flight VS9 from LHR to JFK who helped get all the pictures in flight. This is for my nephews, whom I love dearly - I hope they enjoy Chistery's adventures and all the photos along the way. Miles - you might get Chistery, eventually. Miles, Logan and Connor - Uncle Greg loves you.

Strongly worded letter

There's that moment in the film Titanic that Jack says to Rose, reflecting on their current predicament - afloat in the North Atlantic, waiting to be rescued - "I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star line."

I use that phrase now all the time now. When I become frustrated with customer service, or lack thereof. When any number of things a company could be doing better are just not being done. I joke around with friends when we don't get great service that we should write a strongly worded letter. There are a ton of scenarios that this has become my go to line for. I've never actually done it, until recently.

I am a loyal Virgin. No, not that kind. I am loyal to the Virgin airline brand. I fly Virgin Atlantic overseas to London. I am a member of their Flying Club. I've gone gold and accumulated status with them. Virgin America doesn't fly everywhere I need them to, but when I am going somewhere they do fly, I do my best to take their flights and earn more miles and points. I am a loyal Virgin.

I have only been Gold since December, but have been a loyal Virgin for a few years. It's how they treat me as a customer. I have never felt anything but valued as a loyal customer. I recently flew to LAX on Virgin America. I checked in and proudly showed my Flying Club Gold card to make sure they have my number on file. That status helped me get an exit row window seat - those are reserved for members with status or for an extra cost. I boarded in group E. How many boarding classes does Virgin America use? A, B, C, D and E. I boarded the plane last - even with my status. I didn't think anything of it, and just boarded the plane. I checked in at LAX and again my status got me an exit row window seat, but I still boarded in Group E. Last. I watched people with no loyalty to the Virgin brand board the plane with more priority than me.

Now, why am I not an Elevate member (Virgin America's flying program), you ask? Well, when I joined Virgin Atlantic's program, they were in the midst of merging all of their programs (Flying Club on VAtlantic, Elevate on VAmerica and Velocity on VAustralia) meaning that I could accumulate miles and points on my Virgin Atlantic Flying Club no matter which airline I flew. I could also then spend those miles on any of the three airlines. You can't accumulate miles on more than one program at a time, and if you could use your miles across the board on all of the airlines, why would I be a member of all 3? I chose to just keep my Flying club membership and rack up my miles and points there.

If your programs are all about encouraging brand loyalty, why would you not reward that? I am not asking for a free First Class upgrade or anything like that. I'm asking for a little priority boarding for being loyal to the Virgin brand and I was disappointed that people that had never flown Virgin (any airline) before were boarding before I was as a loyal customer. Am I wrong?

I've written my strongly worded letter to Virgin America, and have sent a copy to Virgin Atlantic. I don't know what will happen with it, but I do know that I felt better afterward. I still LOVE the Virgin brand, and will continue to use Virgin Atlantic when I fly to London, I'm just disappointed with my lack of recognition for my loyalty to the brand.