horseguy
Mar 17, 08, 11:35 am
Mrs. Horseguy and myself just completed out first Oneworld RTW (AONE4), and I thought there might be some interest in our experience. For those that don't know the Oneworld codes, the "A" in AONE4 means everything booked into the first class cabin.
We flew MCO-DFW-DEN-LAX-SYD-SIN-HKG-CDG channel tunnel to London, LGW-DFW-MCO
MCO-DFW-DEN-LAX was pretty much the standard domestic AA F experience. The only exception was that our flight from DEN-LAX was delayed a couple of hours and an AA representative called us to let us know about the delay and assure us that it wouldn't be a problem (we had four hours to connect in LAX and already knew that). The cool part is the Aagent could see our RTW ticket and just gushed about what an incredible journey we had lined up. She said "You two are doing what even we in the travel industry only dream about doing." From reading FT, I thought what we were doing was fairly routine, so hearing that really set a hugely positive tone at the start of the trip. ^ to that Aagent!
When we got to LAX, we raced off to try to find a departure board (no Aagent at gate with connecting information). We went about 50 feet, and never found a departure board, because our flight to SYD was departing from the gate next to where our flight from DEN arrived! I thought that part was pretty darn funny.
Now, to the meat of the matter, our first International flight.
Qantas LAX-SYD: This crew was _incredible_. My wife thinks it was the best crew we've ever had. The menu had the most options of any menu we experienced. Since we had eaten on the LAX-DEN flight, we started off with the light menu, and I picked a burger, mostly because of the novelty of a burger on an airplane (I was curious how close to what is done in a fully equipped kitchen they could come...they nailed it, a top 10% burger). The thing that blew me away was that when I got up in the night to use the lavatory, when I went back to sleep, one of the FAs tucked me in. My wife said same thing happened to her. My wife described the experienced as being mothered by the FAs. And I mean this in a very pleasant way.
As far as the seats, they were what I consider to be middle of the road of all the International flights we were on. I'm 6'3" and I fit in the bed, but just barely. The lavatory was easily the nicest lav I've seen on an airplane. It was bigger and tastefully decorated. Every other airline appeared to us to simply use standard lavs for the F cabin.
British Airways SYD-SIN: I thought the best way to describe this flight was very competent. IMHO, the seats were slightly better than Qantas (but not by much). The service was very good and pleasant, but it always had a very proper business like feel. Menu choices were varied and the food was good.
Cathay Pacific SIN-HKG: Before we flew it, I didn't think anything memorable would happen on this flight as it was short haul. I was wrong. This flight had an outstanding F cabin crew. With our food they included little notes wishing the two of us pleasant a journey (with little hearts they drew in). The crew made my wife and I feel exceptionally welcome and cared for.
The physical seats were similar to what Qantas or BA had with one major drawback. There was no seat for a visitor, which also meant that the second piece of hand luggage had to be stored overhead for takeoff and landing. The FAs mentioned CX is putting in new seats in FC that are much better. I hope so, because CX's seats were the worst of the airlines we flew on.
Cathay Pacific HKG-CDG: It was kind of the like the BA flight all over again for me. I felt the crew was professional, but nothing stood out to me as very good or very bad. Same kind of seats as the previous CX flight. Menu was the least varied of all the International flights we took.
American Airlines LGW-DFW: What can I say? AA's 777 flagship suite in the FC cabin is _incredible_. As far as the seat layout goes, this configuration is simply head and shoulders above all the other seats we were in. I would accept a seriously lower level of service to fly in these seats!
Fortunately, we didn't have to do that. The service level my wife and I received was a little different. My wife considered it to be quite professional (like the BA flight), but I thought it was very warm and caring. The difference might be because I'm an AA junkie (I was wearing my AA polo shirt) and I simply gushed to the FAs about how much better the seats were (and why in detail) than Qantas, BA, or CX. I'm pretty sure the FAs liked me after that:D.
The food had more choices than BA or CX, but less than Qantas. AA did leave out a self serve shelf of snacks for us for almost the entire flight. None of the other airlines did this, and I thought it was a nice touch.
DFW-MCO: Standard domestic AA experience.
After it was all over, I asked Mrs. Horseguy what her preferences were for future travel. I've been instructed to book Qantas whenever possible. AA is her second choice and she is indifferent to BA and CX. Personally, I prefer AA over Qantas because of the incredible suites, but because of the route differences, there really isn't any conflict.
I think it is noteworthy that the very worst service we experienced on the whole trip was still very professional and at least as much as what I would have expected. All in all, I'm very happy with Oneworld and our experience is such we are probably hooked on RTW trips!
We flew MCO-DFW-DEN-LAX-SYD-SIN-HKG-CDG channel tunnel to London, LGW-DFW-MCO
MCO-DFW-DEN-LAX was pretty much the standard domestic AA F experience. The only exception was that our flight from DEN-LAX was delayed a couple of hours and an AA representative called us to let us know about the delay and assure us that it wouldn't be a problem (we had four hours to connect in LAX and already knew that). The cool part is the Aagent could see our RTW ticket and just gushed about what an incredible journey we had lined up. She said "You two are doing what even we in the travel industry only dream about doing." From reading FT, I thought what we were doing was fairly routine, so hearing that really set a hugely positive tone at the start of the trip. ^ to that Aagent!
When we got to LAX, we raced off to try to find a departure board (no Aagent at gate with connecting information). We went about 50 feet, and never found a departure board, because our flight to SYD was departing from the gate next to where our flight from DEN arrived! I thought that part was pretty darn funny.
Now, to the meat of the matter, our first International flight.
Qantas LAX-SYD: This crew was _incredible_. My wife thinks it was the best crew we've ever had. The menu had the most options of any menu we experienced. Since we had eaten on the LAX-DEN flight, we started off with the light menu, and I picked a burger, mostly because of the novelty of a burger on an airplane (I was curious how close to what is done in a fully equipped kitchen they could come...they nailed it, a top 10% burger). The thing that blew me away was that when I got up in the night to use the lavatory, when I went back to sleep, one of the FAs tucked me in. My wife said same thing happened to her. My wife described the experienced as being mothered by the FAs. And I mean this in a very pleasant way.
As far as the seats, they were what I consider to be middle of the road of all the International flights we were on. I'm 6'3" and I fit in the bed, but just barely. The lavatory was easily the nicest lav I've seen on an airplane. It was bigger and tastefully decorated. Every other airline appeared to us to simply use standard lavs for the F cabin.
British Airways SYD-SIN: I thought the best way to describe this flight was very competent. IMHO, the seats were slightly better than Qantas (but not by much). The service was very good and pleasant, but it always had a very proper business like feel. Menu choices were varied and the food was good.
Cathay Pacific SIN-HKG: Before we flew it, I didn't think anything memorable would happen on this flight as it was short haul. I was wrong. This flight had an outstanding F cabin crew. With our food they included little notes wishing the two of us pleasant a journey (with little hearts they drew in). The crew made my wife and I feel exceptionally welcome and cared for.
The physical seats were similar to what Qantas or BA had with one major drawback. There was no seat for a visitor, which also meant that the second piece of hand luggage had to be stored overhead for takeoff and landing. The FAs mentioned CX is putting in new seats in FC that are much better. I hope so, because CX's seats were the worst of the airlines we flew on.
Cathay Pacific HKG-CDG: It was kind of the like the BA flight all over again for me. I felt the crew was professional, but nothing stood out to me as very good or very bad. Same kind of seats as the previous CX flight. Menu was the least varied of all the International flights we took.
American Airlines LGW-DFW: What can I say? AA's 777 flagship suite in the FC cabin is _incredible_. As far as the seat layout goes, this configuration is simply head and shoulders above all the other seats we were in. I would accept a seriously lower level of service to fly in these seats!
Fortunately, we didn't have to do that. The service level my wife and I received was a little different. My wife considered it to be quite professional (like the BA flight), but I thought it was very warm and caring. The difference might be because I'm an AA junkie (I was wearing my AA polo shirt) and I simply gushed to the FAs about how much better the seats were (and why in detail) than Qantas, BA, or CX. I'm pretty sure the FAs liked me after that:D.
The food had more choices than BA or CX, but less than Qantas. AA did leave out a self serve shelf of snacks for us for almost the entire flight. None of the other airlines did this, and I thought it was a nice touch.
DFW-MCO: Standard domestic AA experience.
After it was all over, I asked Mrs. Horseguy what her preferences were for future travel. I've been instructed to book Qantas whenever possible. AA is her second choice and she is indifferent to BA and CX. Personally, I prefer AA over Qantas because of the incredible suites, but because of the route differences, there really isn't any conflict.
I think it is noteworthy that the very worst service we experienced on the whole trip was still very professional and at least as much as what I would have expected. All in all, I'm very happy with Oneworld and our experience is such we are probably hooked on RTW trips!