makin'miles
Nov 23, 03, 6:23 pm
So it’s another rainy Sunday afternoon in Grand Rapids: grey, dark, and quiet… While I should be working on my term papers, their lack of progress is also a little depressing, so my mind has turned to more exciting things: travel! I thought I would write up a (short?) trip report of my trip to Europe last spring. Well this is indeed another BA WT+ trip report, I haven’t seen one in awhile, so I thought this might be interesting for some of you…
This is my second ever trip report (and the first one was a touch boring http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif), so I hope that I can pick it up with this one. It may not be international first or anything like that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Like many other here who have tried WT+ for the first time, I too got my ticket on that crazy night after Thanksgiving, 2002. Of course, in that moment, I didn’t think to book an add-on connection from my home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Instead, I booked a flight out of Chicago to Amsterdam via London. Afterwards, I used a left-over $150 VDB credit from UA to book a separate GRR-ORD return.
14 March 2002
UA 7557 GRR-ORD
1045-1040 CRJ
I booked a flight that would give me plenty of connection time in Chicago, as I was worried that BA would not re-accommodate me was my connection missed, being on two different tickets. This flight was a pretty run-of-the-mill as far as Express flights out of Grand Rapids go. Although the flight was overbooked, it did not go out oversold; three non-revs were able to board and one or two seats were still open.
Although United used to use the jetway for CRJ flights out of Grand Rapids, they have not done so for sometime. Not using it usually allows them to turn the plane around faster, I guess. It was no problem this morning, however. After I had my boarding pass checked, I headed down the stairs, out the door, and into the sunshine and a cool breeze. I hoisted my small roll-aboard onto the cart and made my way up the stairs and into the jet.
For some reason, I booked myself into a window seat and I am not really sure why. I am a little over six feet tall, so the window seat is really uncomfortable, as my head needs to lean away from the fuselage. I don’t really like to complain, but even a short little thirty minute hop down to Chicago is too much if I am next to the window. If I have an aisle, though, I can certainly handle it.
This flight was operated by Atlantic Coast, so I was really surprised that the flight attendant hustled up and down the aisle, distributing small granola bars and bottles of water. I have noticed that there is huge inconsistency in service on this route. I’ve seen a really hard-working flight attendant bust around to get everyone served on a full flight and others just read their book despite a lighter load. I’ve been trying to figure out if there is any rhyme or reason to this, but I’ve noticed the service to be spotty whether on United mainline, Atlantic Coast, or Air Wisconsin.
Anyway, we landed in Chicago not too long later and taxied over to the F concourse. I stepped off the plane and picked up my bag inside the jetway, made my way to the concourse, and waited for my friend Laura, who was on her way home to LAX for the break. We did get a jetway at ORD, which can be a bonus coming of an Express flight, but things certainly do get plugged up as everyone waits for their valet cart bags to be brought inside. I wonder if there would be some way for United to do a more ‘clean’ job of this bag claim?
Since Laura had 1.5 hours between her flights, we schlepped over to the C concourse and grabbed some McDonalds, found a quieter gate, and spent the duration chatting. Not too long after that, she boarded her flight for So-Cal and I found a quiet gate to read at. When I got sick of reading, I walked pretty much every concourse at ORD, checking out the bookstores and other shops. I was hoping to really tire myself out before flying overnight… I suppose it did tire me out somewhat.
Now you might be asking, ‘why didn’t he just go into Chicago for the day?’ or something like that. I had considered doing that, but reading FT Itineraries, spiff and I made plans to meet up at ORD, as we would both be on the same BA flight to London. I told him I would be at his gate when his DL flight came in, and I didn’t think that I would be able to get past the TSA if I had a flight departing from another terminal.
Well, eventually spiff’s flight did come in. He brought me as his guest into American’s Flagship Lounge, which was really great. The staff there seemed awfully nice, and I grabbed a few bits to eat and a bottle of water. I noticed some guy composing an FT post on the ANA board and spiff talked to him for a second, but I’m not sure what his handle was.
Before too long, we left that lounge and made our way to the train and Terminal Five. At the T5 station, we met up with essxjay, who had just flown in from Portland, I think. It was nice for me to meet the first two FTers ever in person. We all chatted a bit and then hurried upstairs to make the one hour check-in deadline for our BA flight to Heathrow. Courtesy of spiffs EXP status, we used the first class check-in, which was deserted. In fact, we were pretty much the only people in line, bar one other woman at the club desk.
A lady from Special Services took care of the check-in. She seemed rather stern, but I tried to be really polite and I think that might have taken some of the edge off of her. I noticed that BA removes physical ticket coupons at check-in rather than the gate, probably in an attempt to keep them all together. Having just two or three flights a day makes this possible, I guess.
Spiff and I cleared what he termed the ‘charade’ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif and made our way to the BA F lounge. This was a nice lounge, although it was a touch crowded. It had a really great view of the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200. The woman at reception was really nice, spoke with an accent, and wore a light coloured outfit that didn’t really appear to be a uniform. She changed the BA number on my boarding pass to my AS number, as I couldn’t find the card at check-in. I went and used the washroom and when I came out, everyone was leaving for the aircraft.
14 March 2003
BA 296 ORD-LHR
1735-0720+1
I settled into the last row of WT+, seated on the aisle of the section of four seats. I sat beside an older woman who was returning from a conference in New Orleans with her teen-aged daughter. We had a pleasant chat as the plane readied for its departure and left Chicago behind.
Before too long, the flight attendants came around with a dinner service, which was exactly the same as the offerings in World Traveller, except that we were served first. If I recall correctly, I had some sort of (obviously) unmemorable chicken dish, along with vegetables and a roll. Dessert – a quasi-cheesecake with some sort of fruit sauce – didn’t look that great, but was rather tasty. Although it wasn’t an amazing meal, it was a passable economy meal.
The WT+ seat was certainly more comfortable than a regular economy seat, but there is a reason that it’s called WT+ and not NCW–. The increased width and pitch are nice, but the seat doesn’t recline as far as I hoped it would; it is definitely closer to economy. Some might say it’s more equivalent to a domestic business/first seat, but I don’t know if I’d even give it that. There was a decent entertainment system, but I decided to spend most of the flight sleeping, so I didn’t pay too much attention to it.
After dinner had been cleared away, I pulled my roll-aboard out from the overhead locker, grabbed some slippers and my toiletry kit, and headed for the lav, which was located right behind my seat, through the curtain to the World Traveller cabin. I soon settled into my seat and was able to get a few hours of sleep, although it was rather restless.
Midway through the night, I trudged back to the rear galley to grab a drink and spent a few minutes chatting with two of the cabin crew, who were enjoyable. In fact, the entire crew seemed to be really hard-working, competent, and friendly.
About 60-75 minutes outside of Heathrow, the crew came through with a breakfast service, which included yoghurt, fruit, and a scone or something. Before too long, we arrived at Heathrow. Unfortunately, we ended up in the penalty box and waited around fifteen minutes for a gate. After getting off the plane, spiff and I parted ways, as I was continuing to Amsterdam from Terminal Four while he was headed to another European city (Italy, maybe?) from Terminal One. It was nice to meet him and, in fact, this was the meeting that inspired the Thanksgiving Airport RendezWho thread in FT Community.
Anyway, I am going to leave this here, now… if you got this far, thanks! The rest of the report will feature BA Eurotraveller (yippee!), Dutch domestic and international train service, the Radisson SAS Brussels, Belgian chocolates, Thalys Comfort One service, the Dorint Amsterdam Airport Hotel, and my flights back to the States. It might take me a bit to get the other parts up… if you have any questions about anything, just ask!
Thanks.
This is my second ever trip report (and the first one was a touch boring http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif), so I hope that I can pick it up with this one. It may not be international first or anything like that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Like many other here who have tried WT+ for the first time, I too got my ticket on that crazy night after Thanksgiving, 2002. Of course, in that moment, I didn’t think to book an add-on connection from my home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Instead, I booked a flight out of Chicago to Amsterdam via London. Afterwards, I used a left-over $150 VDB credit from UA to book a separate GRR-ORD return.
14 March 2002
UA 7557 GRR-ORD
1045-1040 CRJ
I booked a flight that would give me plenty of connection time in Chicago, as I was worried that BA would not re-accommodate me was my connection missed, being on two different tickets. This flight was a pretty run-of-the-mill as far as Express flights out of Grand Rapids go. Although the flight was overbooked, it did not go out oversold; three non-revs were able to board and one or two seats were still open.
Although United used to use the jetway for CRJ flights out of Grand Rapids, they have not done so for sometime. Not using it usually allows them to turn the plane around faster, I guess. It was no problem this morning, however. After I had my boarding pass checked, I headed down the stairs, out the door, and into the sunshine and a cool breeze. I hoisted my small roll-aboard onto the cart and made my way up the stairs and into the jet.
For some reason, I booked myself into a window seat and I am not really sure why. I am a little over six feet tall, so the window seat is really uncomfortable, as my head needs to lean away from the fuselage. I don’t really like to complain, but even a short little thirty minute hop down to Chicago is too much if I am next to the window. If I have an aisle, though, I can certainly handle it.
This flight was operated by Atlantic Coast, so I was really surprised that the flight attendant hustled up and down the aisle, distributing small granola bars and bottles of water. I have noticed that there is huge inconsistency in service on this route. I’ve seen a really hard-working flight attendant bust around to get everyone served on a full flight and others just read their book despite a lighter load. I’ve been trying to figure out if there is any rhyme or reason to this, but I’ve noticed the service to be spotty whether on United mainline, Atlantic Coast, or Air Wisconsin.
Anyway, we landed in Chicago not too long later and taxied over to the F concourse. I stepped off the plane and picked up my bag inside the jetway, made my way to the concourse, and waited for my friend Laura, who was on her way home to LAX for the break. We did get a jetway at ORD, which can be a bonus coming of an Express flight, but things certainly do get plugged up as everyone waits for their valet cart bags to be brought inside. I wonder if there would be some way for United to do a more ‘clean’ job of this bag claim?
Since Laura had 1.5 hours between her flights, we schlepped over to the C concourse and grabbed some McDonalds, found a quieter gate, and spent the duration chatting. Not too long after that, she boarded her flight for So-Cal and I found a quiet gate to read at. When I got sick of reading, I walked pretty much every concourse at ORD, checking out the bookstores and other shops. I was hoping to really tire myself out before flying overnight… I suppose it did tire me out somewhat.
Now you might be asking, ‘why didn’t he just go into Chicago for the day?’ or something like that. I had considered doing that, but reading FT Itineraries, spiff and I made plans to meet up at ORD, as we would both be on the same BA flight to London. I told him I would be at his gate when his DL flight came in, and I didn’t think that I would be able to get past the TSA if I had a flight departing from another terminal.
Well, eventually spiff’s flight did come in. He brought me as his guest into American’s Flagship Lounge, which was really great. The staff there seemed awfully nice, and I grabbed a few bits to eat and a bottle of water. I noticed some guy composing an FT post on the ANA board and spiff talked to him for a second, but I’m not sure what his handle was.
Before too long, we left that lounge and made our way to the train and Terminal Five. At the T5 station, we met up with essxjay, who had just flown in from Portland, I think. It was nice for me to meet the first two FTers ever in person. We all chatted a bit and then hurried upstairs to make the one hour check-in deadline for our BA flight to Heathrow. Courtesy of spiffs EXP status, we used the first class check-in, which was deserted. In fact, we were pretty much the only people in line, bar one other woman at the club desk.
A lady from Special Services took care of the check-in. She seemed rather stern, but I tried to be really polite and I think that might have taken some of the edge off of her. I noticed that BA removes physical ticket coupons at check-in rather than the gate, probably in an attempt to keep them all together. Having just two or three flights a day makes this possible, I guess.
Spiff and I cleared what he termed the ‘charade’ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif and made our way to the BA F lounge. This was a nice lounge, although it was a touch crowded. It had a really great view of the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200. The woman at reception was really nice, spoke with an accent, and wore a light coloured outfit that didn’t really appear to be a uniform. She changed the BA number on my boarding pass to my AS number, as I couldn’t find the card at check-in. I went and used the washroom and when I came out, everyone was leaving for the aircraft.
14 March 2003
BA 296 ORD-LHR
1735-0720+1
I settled into the last row of WT+, seated on the aisle of the section of four seats. I sat beside an older woman who was returning from a conference in New Orleans with her teen-aged daughter. We had a pleasant chat as the plane readied for its departure and left Chicago behind.
Before too long, the flight attendants came around with a dinner service, which was exactly the same as the offerings in World Traveller, except that we were served first. If I recall correctly, I had some sort of (obviously) unmemorable chicken dish, along with vegetables and a roll. Dessert – a quasi-cheesecake with some sort of fruit sauce – didn’t look that great, but was rather tasty. Although it wasn’t an amazing meal, it was a passable economy meal.
The WT+ seat was certainly more comfortable than a regular economy seat, but there is a reason that it’s called WT+ and not NCW–. The increased width and pitch are nice, but the seat doesn’t recline as far as I hoped it would; it is definitely closer to economy. Some might say it’s more equivalent to a domestic business/first seat, but I don’t know if I’d even give it that. There was a decent entertainment system, but I decided to spend most of the flight sleeping, so I didn’t pay too much attention to it.
After dinner had been cleared away, I pulled my roll-aboard out from the overhead locker, grabbed some slippers and my toiletry kit, and headed for the lav, which was located right behind my seat, through the curtain to the World Traveller cabin. I soon settled into my seat and was able to get a few hours of sleep, although it was rather restless.
Midway through the night, I trudged back to the rear galley to grab a drink and spent a few minutes chatting with two of the cabin crew, who were enjoyable. In fact, the entire crew seemed to be really hard-working, competent, and friendly.
About 60-75 minutes outside of Heathrow, the crew came through with a breakfast service, which included yoghurt, fruit, and a scone or something. Before too long, we arrived at Heathrow. Unfortunately, we ended up in the penalty box and waited around fifteen minutes for a gate. After getting off the plane, spiff and I parted ways, as I was continuing to Amsterdam from Terminal Four while he was headed to another European city (Italy, maybe?) from Terminal One. It was nice to meet him and, in fact, this was the meeting that inspired the Thanksgiving Airport RendezWho thread in FT Community.
Anyway, I am going to leave this here, now… if you got this far, thanks! The rest of the report will feature BA Eurotraveller (yippee!), Dutch domestic and international train service, the Radisson SAS Brussels, Belgian chocolates, Thalys Comfort One service, the Dorint Amsterdam Airport Hotel, and my flights back to the States. It might take me a bit to get the other parts up… if you have any questions about anything, just ask!
Thanks.