Brian
Feb 7, 00, 1:19 pm
United Flagship Service in C....
This was the 2pm flight to JFK, which is the latest flight I can take and still get any work done the next day. Boarding was smooth and on-time, as was take off. I was in 11F, one of the single seats at the back of business. I came to regret this vis a vis the lav smells on both my outbound and return flights.
Dinner was one of the new(ish) Pepin meals. It is almost comical how much better the Pepin food is than the regular meal services on other flights. Seats were the old style biz class, but given my relatively private location and extra room, I am disinclined to complain. Arrival was 10 minutes early, and I was in a cab 8 minutes after the doors opened. My kind of flight.
Hotel was the the IC on Central Park, which was the old Ritz Carlton till they were defrocked for not paying franchise fees, or declining standards, or whatever. The hotel was a good value at $200 a night in NYC.
Furnishings and hallways were a bit faded, but serviceable. I liked the two line phones in the rooms with data port, and the room size was better than average for NYC, unless you enjoy spending $350+ per night, and the location was good. Staff was fine, but I will starve before I pay $28, plus $17%, plus $2 for a chicken breast and vegetables. Kee Wah Yen delivers. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif By the way, I am always, always looking for great places that deliver around Central Park, and near the Regal UN Plaza.
This was the week of the Noreaster that hit Manhattan, and the first morning there was half a foot of snow on the ground. The city was in very slow mode, and most of the flights were cancelled that day, which put a lot of planes out of position the next day. United cancelled most of the flights (the next day) until the evening, so my 5:30 pm flight was very, very full. The flight didn't arrive at JFK until 20 minutes before scheduled departure, so we knew we would be late, and we were. By the time they stowed baggage and seated a lot of irate folks, we were 75 minutes late off the ground, which wasnt unreasonable given the number of cancellations. By the way, the new Red Carpet Club in the domestic UA terminal at JFK is reasonably nice. Even on a busy day, there was adequate room.
I had 11F again, which was very nice from the standpoint of solitude, but the lavatory traffic reminded one of a bad hotel in the third world. Never again. Fortunately, dinner was before it got busy, so I was able to enjoy a SPECTACULAR Rack of Lamb. The rest of the flight was uneventful, and landing was about the same 75 minutes late as takeoff was.
Good short trip, being repeated this week.
This was the 2pm flight to JFK, which is the latest flight I can take and still get any work done the next day. Boarding was smooth and on-time, as was take off. I was in 11F, one of the single seats at the back of business. I came to regret this vis a vis the lav smells on both my outbound and return flights.
Dinner was one of the new(ish) Pepin meals. It is almost comical how much better the Pepin food is than the regular meal services on other flights. Seats were the old style biz class, but given my relatively private location and extra room, I am disinclined to complain. Arrival was 10 minutes early, and I was in a cab 8 minutes after the doors opened. My kind of flight.
Hotel was the the IC on Central Park, which was the old Ritz Carlton till they were defrocked for not paying franchise fees, or declining standards, or whatever. The hotel was a good value at $200 a night in NYC.
Furnishings and hallways were a bit faded, but serviceable. I liked the two line phones in the rooms with data port, and the room size was better than average for NYC, unless you enjoy spending $350+ per night, and the location was good. Staff was fine, but I will starve before I pay $28, plus $17%, plus $2 for a chicken breast and vegetables. Kee Wah Yen delivers. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif By the way, I am always, always looking for great places that deliver around Central Park, and near the Regal UN Plaza.
This was the week of the Noreaster that hit Manhattan, and the first morning there was half a foot of snow on the ground. The city was in very slow mode, and most of the flights were cancelled that day, which put a lot of planes out of position the next day. United cancelled most of the flights (the next day) until the evening, so my 5:30 pm flight was very, very full. The flight didn't arrive at JFK until 20 minutes before scheduled departure, so we knew we would be late, and we were. By the time they stowed baggage and seated a lot of irate folks, we were 75 minutes late off the ground, which wasnt unreasonable given the number of cancellations. By the way, the new Red Carpet Club in the domestic UA terminal at JFK is reasonably nice. Even on a busy day, there was adequate room.
I had 11F again, which was very nice from the standpoint of solitude, but the lavatory traffic reminded one of a bad hotel in the third world. Never again. Fortunately, dinner was before it got busy, so I was able to enjoy a SPECTACULAR Rack of Lamb. The rest of the flight was uneventful, and landing was about the same 75 minutes late as takeoff was.
Good short trip, being repeated this week.