Abridged trip report LHR-JFK the good, the bad and the mad
Outbound BA115 5th Dec, we were at the very back ( row50) of a 777-300 so no lounges for us, however we had a very pleasant meal in Plane Food so the time passed quickly enough.
Left from C66,very civilised boarding and uneventful flight, my only criticism is that it was very cold, I ended up wrapped in two blankets.
Food ('sorry no Chicken left, it's pasta or fish!') was not only edible - it was really nice, dessert was a small, extremely rich chocolate orange mousse mmmmmm.....
Snack was a chicken sandwich
On our arrival at T7 we left the jet bridge, walked about 20 yards and joined the immigration queue.
I have never EVER waited for as long, unfortunately we were behind an Iberia flight and a Finn-air (?) one, the announcements told us that our luggage had been taken off the belt to make way for other arriving flights. We waited about 2 hours before we got to the head of the 'line'. Arriving after us was BA3 - I'm assuming the passengers on that flight were as impressed as we were.
I found my case on the now stationary luggage belt but Mr D's case was AWOL, so after our mega wait we were in the baggage office.
The agent who dealt with us said that the case was definitely on board so he went off to find it......30 mins later he and 'it' arrived
Apparently they had switched off the belt with MrD's bag inside
Return was BA178 13th December.
Seats 53b/c,boarding from gate 4 was very well managed.
The 747-400 was very clean (cleaner than the outbound 777-300) and although the screens were smaller it still had AVOD.
Lovely English Breakfast (mushrooms,sausage,scrambled egg,bacon,tomato and potato 'thing')with apple pastry, strawberry yoghurt, roll butter and jam, also orange juice.
Snack was a lemon and orange muffin.
One final comment, security at T5 was not that bad, the staff seemed friendly and relaxed, on the way through JFK we were redirected from the pleb row to fast track, a little compensation for us for having to wait so long to enter the country (of course it's pure coincidence, but maybe we deserved a little good luck )
Actually chose it !
I don't like the bulkheads as they have the bassinets and the last row either side is a twin seat - best of all no one behind me prodding the screen !
No bacon roll ! Cooked brekkie was much better
Actually chose it !
I don't like the bulkheads as they have the bassinets and the last row either side is a twin seat - best of all no one behind me prodding the screen !
If you're heading to the US and want to get through immigration before your hair goes grey, having an extra few hundred people in front of you, doesn't seem like a great idea to me.
If you're heading to the US and want to get through immigration before your hair goes grey, having an extra few hundred people in front of you, doesn't seem like a great idea to me.
My hair is probably grey by now (I'll ask my hairdresser!) - I saw passengers that were in club that maybe got through about 20 mins before us - so in the general scheme of things I'd have been really pi**ed off if I were them, at least I was expecting to be at the back of the queue - just not such a long one. We had time to do an approximate head count and there were about 1000+ passengers ahead of us.
I'm amazed no one 'kicked off' but everyone was resigned to waiting, even the immigration agents were trying to speed things up, just fingerprints and photos - no purpose of visit or other questions.
You were lucky, in that you had the option of swaddling yourself. Many people often find the cabin very hot but they can't really strip off, can they?
cheers,
Henry
When you consider it like that, you're right, I'm just glad there were enough blankets, I work outside all year round so I love a bit of warmth inside this time of year.
I think some passengers were quite warm on the way home, not me - I was in heaven !
Flew on BA0115 myself recently in F. Immigration was a very long line, and however we were pulled from the line and we escorted to the front by ground staff upon arrival. Great service.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lobengula
What?
No Bacon Roll as breakfast JFK-LHR? Have BA finally got rid of them?
The 178 is a day flight... I don't believe we have ever served a bacon roll for breakfast on the daylight flight. It is a full breakfast service after departing JFK.
Also, to add to that... The catering company changed at JFK a few months ago, and the food quality is significantly better. I have just done a JFK/JFK back to back trip and comments about the food were very good indeed.
The bacon rolls that used to be served as part of the breakfast service AFTER a night flight have been replaced with panini style hot sandwiches instead.
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I work for British Airways, my comments and opinions do not represent my employer. Current: 767/777/747(787) Past: A320/757
First time I landed in JFK was in 1969. Pretty slow it was.
Last time I was there was a couple of years ago. Unbelievably slow it was.
And they say the world is getting better every year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
US immigration...
It isn't uniformly awful. I've been a couple of times in the past year or so and was through in under 15 minutes both times (IAD the first time, was in WT+ and well positioned in mobile lounge, second time was EWR was in WT and did a bit of a sprint). On both occasions immigration was worse at LHR
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My employer says I'm not allowed to tell you their opinion
It isn't uniformly awful. I've been a couple of times in the past year or so and was through in under 15 minutes both times (IAD the first time, was in WT+ and well positioned in mobile lounge, second time was EWR was in WT and did a bit of a sprint). On both occasions immigration was worse at LHR
I was shocked with the length of the queue, normally it takes us about an hour tops, sometimes as little as 10 minutes, and one time at ORD less than that, the long queues were for returning US citizens !
That will be famous last words, with an ORD trip coming up early next year it will probably be a 3 hour wait !
Going back through LHR was a breeze, MrD was complaining bitterly because I still have my old passport and not a 'chipped' one, then insisted on joining me in the 'welcome home' line rather than the 'e'gate. As luck would have it our line moved very quickly and we were out in no more than 5 minutes.
Baggage claim made me think I was training for the next Olympics, I spotted my case as it went past and had to 'hurdle' several trolleys and bags to retrieve it before it disappeared, I even got some praise from another passenger for my athletic endeavours !
)
