The photos
I have parked the AONE in JFK for the time being and will back to that later in the year. For the time being I need to get back to the UK. Thanks to AA eVIP vouchers I was able to pay whY and Fly J for this part of the report.
I awoke early as my body had no idea what time zone it should be in. This was good as I needed to try and stay awake now until bed time in the UK some 13 or so hours later. This was to be the first time I had caught an east coast US to LHR flight that was not an over night flight. I looked forward to not arriving in London at stupid o’clock in the morning.
I was too early for the ‘in lounge’ breakfast at the hotel and instead caught the 06:30 bus to JFK. The AA terminal was the first port of call and I was inside queuing in the First class line thanks to my Executive Platinum card.
The business class queue had about 8 or 9 people in it and the F queue had one person in front of me. I overheard part of a conversation between two people in the biz queue. I didn’t catch the first part but the response was ‘I think there is only one queue.’ I thought huh? What do you think I am doing standing here? Oh well if they are too stupid to figure out there was a queue for Biz and another for F then that is their problem.
I was called over and handed over my passport and stated I was off to London. My BP was issued quickly and the agent wished me a pleasant flight and I was on my way to security. There was a fast track line which moved pretty quickly and after my BP and passport were checked I was free to partially undress for the security scan.
This was a painless affair and I was soon walking straight on and up the stairs to what I thought was going to be the Flagship lounge 25 minutes after my hotel departure.
Alas the lounge is being refurbished – already!
They had commandeered the AC for use by F flyers so I was ushered on through to the very large space. An interior agent checked my BP again and explained the temporary facility and offered me a “citi” branded travel wallet to take away we with me.
Inside there were the usual cereal, muffins, bagels and some fruit along with self serve coffee, tea and juices. There was a manned bar at the far end and computers for use at either end of the lounge.
I grabbed a juice, coffee and a bagel and had my breakfast whilst looking out over the apron. In the distance I could see the towers of Manhattan through the smog.
I went to the gate early, as usual, and then waited for a while. The agents asked people with the green I94-waiver stubs to come up to the desk and surrender them. I did so and the agent said I could put my passport away as it wouldn’t be needed when boarding. I thought this was odd for an international flight. Around 10 minutes later the agent announced they would start boarding soon and also said that contrary to her earlier instructions we would need to have our passports out but not open. They just needed to sight the passport as we boarded.
Eventually the wheel chair passengers were taken on board at around 07:50 and then the call was made for First only travellers. Then Business was called and I walked on up to the entrance, had my BP scanned and walked on down the ramp.
Flight AA142 JFK-LHR Seat 9J
Aircraft: 777-200
Departure time: 08:25
On board I made my way to my seat and stashed my wheelie overhead and kept the items I needed at my seat. It never ceases to amaze me how much faffing about people do when boarding a plane. They are in and out of their bags getting this and that. Are people really that scatter brained that they can’t be prepared for the flight?
I am invariably sitting there rearing to go whilst there is chaos about me as people sort themselves out.
Whilst I am in rant mode I may as well add a gripe about the constant chatter by people on their mobile phones whilst boarding. Can people really not live without being in constant touch until the very last minute?
The flight was packed to the gunnels and I think the only free seats were a couple up in the pointy bit.
Amenity kits, blankets and pillows were at the seat when I boarded and after things settled down a bit the crew came around with OJ, water and bubbles (in plastic glasses) to partake of. Yes even at 08:10 I chose champagne – so what of it?
We pushed back at 08:25 and the menus were handed out whilst taxiing. At first the wrong ones were handed out. I was wondering why they were in English and Portuguese. I checked the back page and saw they were for US-GRU. I wonder if I was the only one that could have told the crew what flight the menus were for?
Anyway they rectified the situation and replaced the menus with ones showing our Brunch and Snack service to the UK.
Brunch
To Start
Your choice of juices
Orange, Apple, Tomato
A selection of fine traditional and herb teas
Fresh seasonal fruit
Yoghurt
Cereal served with seasonal berries
Breakfast Breads
As assortment of warm breads
Main Course
Cheese Omelette
Monterey Jack cheese and pepper omelette with pomodoro sauce, sautéed mushrooms, potato croquette and sun-dried tomato basil turkey sausage
While Wheat Pancakes
Golden brown pancakes offered with scrambled eggs and potato cake with blueberry sauce
Chicken Quesadillas
Flour tortillas filled with chicken and smoked Gouda served with sautéed bell pepper and onions
Mid-Flight Snack
Basil caciotta and white cheddar cheese accompanied by seasonal grapes
Champagne
Pommery Brut Champagne
Founded in the 1830’s, Pommery is recognised as one of the Grande Marque vintners in the renowned Champagne region of France. This dry, white sparkling wine of crisp tartness and savoury toasted apple bouquet is considered by many to be the epitome of fine Champagne, earning four starts in Decanter magazine.
White Wines
Joseph Drouhin Rully Chardonnay
In the southern part of the Cote d’Or lie the vineyards of Rully. As in the rest of Burgundy, the continental climate, with its warm summer and mild fall, is very favourable to the good maturity of grapes. Rully is a delicious white Burgundy wine which resembles the whites from the Cote de Beaune: a luminous, golden green colour, a toasty, fruity nose, a refined, elegant body
with floral and cinnamon notes.
Groom Lenswood Sauvignon Blanc, Adelaide Hills, Australia
Australia has suffered many years with a drought, but the Lenswood estate vineyard in the Adelaide Hills has a long growing season and soil that retains water well. The Groom family achieved a tiny but excellent quality harvest last year. The wine is mouth-watering with crisp acidity, tropical aromas and a bright palate. It is a superb wine with shrimp, smoked salmon, salads and Asian cuisine.
Red Wines
Fontanafredda Barbera Briccotondo
This wine is deep rustic red in colour with an aromatic, spicy nose of red fruits and damsons. It is medium-bodied and soft, with balancing structure to the blackberry and morello cherry flavours, finishing rounded and supple with a hint of liquorice.
Wattle Creek Shiraz, Alexander Valley
Alexander Valley is famous for producing delicious, generous red wines. Aussie winemaker Michael Scholz has added the Australian strength of style, and the results if a magnificent wine with hearty fruit and spice, in a balanced package. Enjoy this Shiraz with red meats, bold chicken dishes and cheese.
Sherry
Emilio Lustau Sherry
Phoenician traders founded a frontier settlement called Shera on the Mediterranean coast. Following Roman and Moorish occupation it became the Spanish Jerez de la Fontera, now known as the Sherry region. Lustau medium Sherry is a hearty aperitif wine, amber in colour, specially fermented and continually blended through decades of ageing to achieve the nutty caramel flavours.
Dessert Wine
Graham’s Vintage Port
Founded in 1820, W. & J. Graham & Co. maintains its place as one of the most prestigious names in Port wines. Careful decanting results in a brilliantly clear and sweet ruby red dessert wine of unequalled charm. Grahams’ Vintage Port fulfils its rich heritage with bold brambleberry and plum flavours slowly mellowed to a satin texture.
The flight time was eventually announced as 6 hours.
Orders were taken after takeoff and then the Bose headsets were handed out. This was followed by a round of drinks. I said I would have a Bloody Mary and got the ‘a lush’ look from the attendant. Oh well.
Perhaps she wasn’t so disapproving after all as she offered to re-fresh the drink on her way back up the aisle.
After the drinks the hot towels made an appearance.
Next up the cart was rolled out with the fruit platters on trays. Offers of cereal, yoghurt and breads were made at this time. I opted out of the cereal and yoghurt but did partake of one of the biscuits from the bread basket.
After my fruit was polished off the plate was taken away and soon replaced with my preferred meal that being the quesadillas.
They were a little dry around the edges but quite edible and went well with the remains of my Bloody Mary.
After the meal tray was taken I settled in to watch a movie or two and some TV shows. Unfortunately the IFE on AA is somewhat limited in choice. I did notice that they have rectified the stupid situation of older versions where the menu list did not say what the movie was. Instead it used to show a still from the movie. If you didn’t recognise the actors you had no idea what it was until you chose that option and went in to the synopsis page. Quite stupid it was, but as I said they now show the movie titles in the menu lists.
A pretty uneventful flight all up, with the next flurry of activity being the crew passing around with plates of the cheese snack about 1.5 hours after breakfast. I declined this offer and decided to wait until the final snack meal which really couldn’t be that far off on a flight this short.
Light Meal
To Start
Warm mixed nuts
Bread Basket
Assorted gourmet breads
Main Course
Ham and Swiss Cheese Croissant
A savoury croissant filled with ham and Swiss cheese accompanied by roasted asparagus, hearts of palm, zucchini and bell peppers
Bulgur Wheat Salad
Cracked wheat kernels with scallops and mussels accompanied by roasted vegetable slaw
Dessert
Citrus carrot cake
We invite you to enjoy your choice of traditional and herb teas
The second meal service started with the signature warm nuts and I asked for the Shiraz wine to go with this meal.
Re-fills and of the nuts and wine glass were made before the trolley came out again with the snack meals. I decided to go healthy, hmm after all this weekend of excesses I needed to, and went with the salad.
It was very nice and was just enough to fill me up along with a piece of focaccia bread and more of the Shiraz of course.
Eventually the meal tray was cleared and we were making fast for the coast of Wales. As we got closer to London and most of the tidying up was done the crew came around once more with trays of the:
Pre-Arrival Beverage
Chilled sparkling water with a fresh citrus garnish.
This gem has been on the menus of AA for quite some time now but I very rarely ever see an appearance. Kudos to this crew for doing it by the book and adding this nice touch to the end of the flight.
After a few loop the loops over Surrey it was time to head on through to west London before doubling back to the airport.
We landed at 20:10 and were at the gate 5 minutes later. I walked a million miles to immigration where one of the two Iris machines was playing ball.
Once through I made a beeline through customs and down to the HEX station. A train just pulled in as I approached and I was on my way back to Paddington at 20:35. A couple of tube rides later and I was home by 21:10. An equal best on getting from aircraft door to my door.
Here endeth the first part of my RTW for this year.
I will be back in July with more tales of the totally addicted.
The photos