Envoy Trip Report

[US1YFARE]

I flew Envoy from PHL-LHR and the experience, for the most part, was underwhelming, disappointing, and overpriced. I paid nearly $4000 for my ticket.

Envoy Club: Service was good and the drinks were well done and big variety. The food was for the most part, terrible. They were serving dried out cru' de tet and what appeared to be some sort of plastic noodles. They did have some yummy cookies though.

PHL-LHR: Envoy had the pod seats which were outstanding. I loved them. Very good for a business flight. I found the seat to be very comfortable and loved the set-up, including the AVOD, but the selection on the AVOD was just fair. My flight attendant was horrible, and I mean horrible. In fact, my business partner had problems with his AVOD unit and they had to keep rebooting it. His flight attendant said to me at one point, "He may have the bad seat, but you have the bad flight attendant." The other F/A's were good, but she really left a black cloud over the entire flight.

We were served champagne, our drink of choice and hot nuts. The salad was very good and fresh. They served it from the cart and I thought they did a nice job. The meal, well, it was totally disgusting. I would have asked for more salad if I had known that the main course was so gross. I forget the 3 choices, but the beef medallions looked the best of the 3 and they were just awful. The Cabernet, was fair. Next came the cheese course and the dessert. The chocolate cake was as hard as a rock. The cheese was fair.
Fell asleep. The seat was great. Breakfast was disgusting. It was a yogurt and pound cake. In all fairness, the pound cake was just ok, but that was a lame breakfast for business class. Not even a hot meal?

One problem with the pod seats--don't let anything slide underneath because you will need to rip apart the seat to find it.

LHR-PHL: The BMI lounge was nice. The flight back had the older seats which do not compare to what the new seats have to offer. The meal was fair, not as good as a CO transcon flight. Most of the flight crew was great--very friendly. The "A" was a bit neurotic and was rushing our side of the plane with the service. I just love the F/A who wears the apron with the name "O'Stewardess". The arrival meal was some awful cheese and turkey sandwich....or should I say about 1/3 of a sandwich.

I didn't want to fly US, but my business partner did, so I did. Overall, my choice would be another carrier, but if US could improve the service, those new pod seats are something that would make me think twice.

 

[etops1]

Sorry to hear that Yfare. I had an hr long phone conversation with Hector about 5 days ago. The inflight service will change. ALL f/a will be sent back to service and standards training in the near future. Hopefully the experience will get better. First things first... F/a's need to obtain a better contract..I can sympathise with you on the apron issue. Atleast you didn't have the f/a I flew with last week to MAD. She had on a pink vinyl apron on with cupcakes printed on it. No joke. Drove me insane .That would never be acceptable at any other carrier.problem is people simply do whatever the hell they want around here and no one gets addresed about it . But I blame management for it because the standards were never enforced. Trust me, we have them ..same as any other airline . Its in our policies and procedures manual(we actually have one). but if it doesen't start from the top, might as well throw it out the window which is what many have done around here..

 

[nycbusdriver]

You do mean "crudite," don't you? Not "raw head."

 

[RealisticObserver]

I too work for a company that has shredded my contract, lowered my wages, forced me to make home/personal choices that I am not happy about, however.... I would never let anyone else outside of this company know how upset I am. (And with seniority in my company, I am looking to go elsewhere, even if the wages are somewhat even, only because I want to be in a better environment where everyone else around me is not frustrated/angry/disrespected)

The flight attendants who are bitter, and perhaps rightfully so, either need to resign and live your life in peace, or suck it up and do your job with a smile. Somewhere, sometime ago, you used to have personal pride in your job. If you cant do it the same way, then do not do it at all. Your loathing attitude creates a lousy environment for passengers, and fellow employees.

Every person in life has a choice. If someone stripped me of 10,15,20+ yrs of hard work, I would be bitter also. But then I would look at my family and the rest of my life, and realize that I have the ability to leave the poisoned work environment, and focus on what makes me happy, or I can put on a happy face for 7-10 days a month and do my job for my own personal pride.

You can blame the man/Tempe all you want (and I would agree that the people out there make poor business decisions; in that they do not seem to care about their employees or customers, but that is a different topic), but in the end of the day, it is always up to each individual to control how they let other people make them feel and react.

I have experienced the best and the worst on US over my 30-yrs of flying. Same airline, same planes, same equipment, same contracts, yet different people. It is you, the employee that can choose to display your personal pride and work for your own personal satisfaction, or let your toxic attitude and bitter emotions spoil into the cabin and the work environment. If at the end of the day, it is too hard to swallow the pain that you feel has been caused by the many layers of management since your glory days, then do the right thing, and enjoy the rest of your life on the ground doing something you like again. Do not spoil the experience or the environment for the rest of us.....

 

[Gloria Holtz]

Well it couldn't have been me because I don't do London..I got my Harrod's bag 20 years ago...that trip is not worth enough time. I tend to like high-time 767 trips. (I would do London if they brought it back to PIT)....

But I digress.....

The way I like to do the service is to serve the nuts salad and entree at the same time right after departure. Then while you're eating, I start preparing the desert..so I try to have the whole service done within 30 minutes. That leaves plenty of time for you to sleep or play with the IPOD. Now if your IPOD breaks, you better hope Floyd is my galley because I have no idea how to work those things.

And as far as going back for more service training...I don't think so. I am a 40 year flight attendant - I don't need any more training - I need a contract!!!!

 

[Dog Wonder]

Wisdom of the aged.

 

[notquiteUS]

Seems like somebody here could write a book...

 

[JAMAKE1]

I too work for a company that has shredded my contract, lowered my wages, forced me to make home/personal choices that I am not happy about, however.... I would never let anyone else outside of this company know how upset I am. (And with seniority in my company, I am looking to go elsewhere, even if the wages are somewhat even, only because I want to be in a better environment where everyone else around me is not frustrated/angry/disrespected)

The flight attendants who are bitter, and perhaps rightfully so, either need to resign and live your life in peace, or suck it up and do your job with a smile. Somewhere, sometime ago, you used to have personal pride in your job. If you cant do it the same way, then do not do it at all. Your loathing attitude creates a lousy environment for passengers, and fellow employees.

Every person in life has a choice. If someone stripped me of 10,15,20+ yrs of hard work, I would be bitter also. But then I would look at my family and the rest of my life, and realize that I have the ability to leave the poisoned work environment, and focus on what makes me happy, or I can put on a happy face for 7-10 days a month and do my job for my own personal pride.

You can blame the man/Tempe all you want (and I would agree that the people out there make poor business decisions; in that they do not seem to care about their employees or customers, but that is a different topic), but in the end of the day, it is always up to each individual to control how they let other people make them feel and react.

I have experienced the best and the worst on US over my 30-yrs of flying. Same airline, same planes, same equipment, same contracts, yet different people. It is you, the employee that can choose to display your personal pride and work for your own personal satisfaction, or let your toxic attitude and bitter emotions spoil into the cabin and the work environment. If at the end of the day, it is too hard to swallow the pain that you feel has been caused by the many layers of management since your glory days, then do the right thing, and enjoy the rest of your life on the ground doing something you like again. Do not spoil the experience or the environment for the rest of us.....

One of the best postings I've read on here in a long time...

 

[NAPAUS]

Well it couldn't have been me because I don't do London..I got my Harrod's bag 20 years ago...that trip is not worth enough time. I tend to like high-time 767 trips. (I would do London if they brought it back to PIT)....

But I digress.....

The way I like to do the service is to serve the nuts salad and entree at the same time right after departure. Then while you're eating, I start preparing the desert..so I try to have the whole service done within 30 minutes. That leaves plenty of time for you to sleep or play with the IPOD. Now if your IPOD breaks, you better hope Floyd is my galley because I have no idea how to work those things.

And as far as going back for more service training...I don't think so. I am a 40 year flight attendant - I don't need any more training - I need a contract!!!!

You are what is the REAL problem at Uselessair. 40 years and all you care about is a contract. Guess what sweetie, in the real world , EVERYBODY needs re-training now and then. Loose ur nasty Allegheny attitude or retire. You dont deserve a new contract - u earn it !!! YOUR TUC has expired. bye bye

 

[Travelpro72]

I'm sorry but a contract is something you "earn"? I'm not sure I get that part. As for the Envoy product it's much improved over the old as far as the flow of service. The food that is served is HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. Don't tell me it's ok. Well maybe ok when your starving and your raiding the cart at 3am while the passengers are sleeping. The service is tacky (though improved slightly from old) and many that serve it have NO class and are absolutely miserable. Not all but many.

 

[JAMAKE1]

I would just add that anyone who feels compelled to do a combined service (nuts, salad, and entree) on a transatlantic business class service DEFINITELY needs more training.

And I actually thought her posting was tongue-in-cheek, but I guess not.

 

[RealisticObserver]

It sounds like Ms. Holtz's service regimen is based on the 80's 737 evening flights from PHL to PBI, where you used to get drinks, nuts, dinner, and hot towels prior to landing. To run that type of service on an 8+hr transatlantic flight is exactly the reason customers feel infuriated after paying thousands of dollars for a "first" class ticket.
If a passenger wants to sleep, they will sleep, and then a good F/A will try to accommodate them when they wake up, as has been my experiences on most other foreign and domestic airlines, including US, when proud employees have worked the flights.

 

[Dog Wonder]

What kind of cues to you need to figure out some one is jerking your chain?

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

What the latest update if which A/C have the new Envoy seats?

 

[flygirl74]

It sounds like Ms. Holtz's service regimen is based on the 80's 737 evening flights from PHL to PBI, where you used to get drinks, nuts, dinner, and hot towels prior to landing. To run that type of service on an 8+hr transatlantic flight is exactly the reason customers feel infuriated after paying thousands of dollars for a "first" class ticket.
If a passenger wants to sleep, they will sleep, and then a good F/A will try to accommodate them when they wake up, as has been my experiences on most other foreign and domestic airlines, including US, when proud employees have worked the flights.

There used to be a topic called the "Galley Show" that had a huge following for about 2 years. Then, mysteriously, it disappeared. Not just closed, but gone. Anyway, it was a parody of current events involving characters with sterotypes. One was Floyd, the flaming gay flight attentdant with sexual fetishes, and another was Gloria, the 40 year PIT f/a that still considers PIT mecca. There were other characters too. But anyone could add to the story and it was a fun way to weave current happenings around the bad behavior that customers would hate. And make fun of ourselves in the process. Too bad it is gone, because you could pour yourself a glass of wine and laugh yourself silly by reading that topic.