matthandy

Hi all,

I've seen that people have done this before, so, as I'm travelling alone today, I thought I'd try it. Feel free to comment at any time!

My previous trip reports can be found here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...rld-777-a.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=866907

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=881262

Flight Details

Today I'm flying on the BA115 from LHR Terminal 5 to New York's JFK Terminal 7. The flight is due to depart at 16:00 UK time.

This is a journey that I've done many times in the last few months, travelling back and forth between London and New York for an IT project that I am currently involved with. I have an apartment in the UK and in New York and it does make life very interesting. Sometimes I don't know where I am.

The Report

I'll try to post photos as I go. If there is anything that you'd like me to report on or photograph, I will try my best to accomodate.

In the spirit of Twitter, here goes.

Sunday - 4:15PM
I loaded up the computer to complete BA's online check in. As a Silver member, I'd already pre-selected 64K as my seat for this flight. At the time of booking I had almost the entire cabin to choose from. Having travelled in 62A, 64A and 60A before, I thought I'd try out one of the other 'favourite' seats, 64K. Don't ask me why, I don't know, but I always tend to sit on the 'A' side of the aircraft. It'll be a nice change to be seated on the 'K' side. I must admit, I have reservations about 64K, being so close to the toilet is not desirable for me, but I'll find out if this is actually an issue or not.

I'll now all checked in, time to pack.

Monday

9:58 AM
I was woken up by Chris Moyles (radio DJ) at about 8.40. A quick peak out of the window revealed that no snow had fallen overnight. Thank god for that. I live about 60 miles from Heathrow so there is a good chance that if it isn't snowing here, then it won't be snowing there. A quick check on the BBC weather side confirms this. In fact, the forecast seems to have been revised for Monday night and Tuesday, down from the heavy snow that was predicted.

It's T-2 hours before my car arrives to whisk me to Heathrow so I'd better finish packing. I'm only going away for a couple of weeks which makes life easier and my suitcase lighter.

11:32 AM
Packing all done. Just scoffing down some toast and a smoothie. I've had news that some colleagues who are on the 1pm flight are stuck on a National Express coach in Buckinghamshire. Perhaps I'll be seeing them in the lounge later afterall.

11.58 AM - Car is waiting
Just got a call. The car is waiting outside. I'm all packed and ready to go.

Off I go to Heathrow. More updates from the lounge.

13.30
Arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 after a reasonably short, 1h 15m car ride from home. The M25 was appallingly wet but at least it wasn't snowing.

Went up to the Club World check in desks to be met by a very grumpy agent. I seemed to have interrupted her tapping away on the computer so it took her a minute or so to even acknowledge me. How rude. Anyway, she checked me in. No op-up at this stage which is always disappointing. I'm determined to fly First at some point!

Headed for security, as I normally find at this time of day, fast track was about same queue length as the regular queues which were both reasonably short. Shoes off through security and I was on my way to the South Galleries Club lounge in about 5 minutes from stepping out of the car. Not bad.

13.36

A quick trek up the first escalator and around to the spa. I was in two minds about getting a massage and decided that I'd try for one in the T5B lounge since I haven't been to this spa yet. Up the second escalator to be greeted by the 'dragons' who were all smiling today.
The lounge does seem quite busy, at least it is by the windows where I am currently sat. I'm not sure if I will take any photos as it is going to be difficult to be discreet. There are too many people around.
There are plenty of photos in one of my other TRs: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=866907

13.57
Lots of noisy people on their phones. No details of the flight yet. Fingers crossed for T5B soon.

14.38
Managed to get a photo of the lounge and the view:





I think that the wind must have changed as flights are now departing on the South runway, in the opposite direction:



And the star of the show:





14.43
Flight is leaving from B44 so I'm off to T5B.....

15.22
Arrived at the T5B lounge about 25 minutes ago and have just finished having the 'Spot On Power Back Massage' at the T5B Elemis travel spa. I cannot praise this enough. Compared to the T5A spa, this one is quiet, relaxing and intimate. I was able to get an appointment straight away and the masseur was professional and thorough and didn't once try to sell me anything, thank god! I actually feel refreshed.

15.25
I'm relaxing in the main lounge area. I love this lounge, so quiet and relaxing, no hustle and bustle. It's just a shame that BA are not able to assign a gate sooner, as I think that I would head straight here and not bother with the T5A lounges at all.

It's T-35 mins to departure and the screen is simply showing 'Gate Open'. Looks like we may be slightly late.

15.40 - Boarding
Headed down from the T5B lounge and crossed over the terminal to make my way to gate B44. On the way I almost had a mini heart attack as the plane that I was convinced that I was travelling on started to pull away from the gate! Of course, I realised that I had been fooled and the aircraft that I would be travelling on was the one closest to me in the photograph.

I must have been one of the last to board as there was no queue at all at the gate and only short queue on the airbridge. I was greeted by the lovely CSD, Alex, who suggested that I already knew where my seat was, which I did. Up the stairs and into the upper deck cabin where I was greeted by two friendly cabin crew. This is when I knew that I must have been one of the last because the cabin was full. I squeezed myself into 64K and started to realise why a lot of people rate this seat very highly. It is incredibly private, more so that it's opposite number, 64A and it can be pre-assigned, unlike 64A. With the screen up no-one can see you.

I emptied the contents of my bags into two of the four window bins that I had access to while my seat mate joined me. This guy really knew what he could get away with hand luggage wise. On stowing his bag, a suit carrier, he took up two thirds of the overhead bin. He then went off in search of another bin for his large trolley case. I'm guessing that this guy probably isn't travelling with any checked luggage at all, which is certainly sensible.

Pre-departure drinks were served, with the usual offer of Champagne (Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve), orange juice or water. I chose the champagne and water. This makes the first alcoholic drink since I started this journey, unusual for me. At this point I noticed that my seat was suffering from severe 'wobbly arms syndrome'. Annoying to say the least but no exactly the end of the world.

16:00

Pushback - exactly on time. The captain introduced himself and the female first officer. The CSD then came on to introduce herself and all of the crew.

16:20
Take off roll. We'd travelled the short distance to the southern runway and were very soon above the low cloud and glorious sunshine filled the cabin. What a change to the miserable soggy day that had been Heathrow.

One thing I continue to notice about sitting forward of the engines is how different the noise is. The engines give out a whine as opposed to the roar that you hear sitting back in economy. I guess it is a reassuring audible reminder of where you are sitting.



16.25 (approx)
Menus and amenity kits were handed out. On browsing the menu I realised how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten anything since the couple of slices of toast I scoffed down at about 11 this morning. The menu looked delicious. See below.

Lunch

Starters

- Smoked salmon with beetroot and horseradish cream (pictured later)
or
- Marinated artichoke with rocket and Parmesan

Salad
- Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

Main

- Fish pie of smoked haddock, cod and prawn
- Liam Tomlin's braised veal shank with potato gnocchi, mushrooms and peas (sounds great but they had run out by the time they got to me )
- Three bean cassoulet with Feta and herbs
- Chilled main course salad of lemon-infused chicken

Dessert

- Rhubarb tart with light ginger custard
- Cornish Camembert and St. Stithians cheese with oatcakes and biscuits
- A selection of fruit
- Chocolates (Artisan du Chocolat Truffles)

Wines

Champagne

Champagne Cocktails

- Kir Royale
- Buck's Fizz

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve Champagne

White

- Hahn Estates Monterey Chardonnay 2006
- Pouilly-Fume La Moynerie 2006, Michel Redde

Red

- Cline Cellars Cool Climate Syrah 2005, Sonoma Coast
- Artesa Napa/Sonoma Meritage 2005
- Crozes-Hermitage 2007, Eric Texier

16.40 (approx)

Dinner orders. It seemed as though orders where being taken by status. The veal shank sounded fantastic. What luck to find out that they had run out. The first few rows must have already ordered it. Damn. Back to the old staple, the fish pie, which is generally always good.

16.50 (approx)

The first drinks round. Surprisingly I was addressed by name by the male FA. I ordered a diet coke and was also presented with the macademia nuts as standard. No photo, I'm sure that you all know what a diet coke and nuts looks like?


17.11 - Wow
A great thing just happened. The lovely CSD (Alex) came round and greeted me personally by shaking my hand and welcoming me on-board. Fantastic. This had never happened to me before on any flight I'd ever taken on BA. What a pleasure. I'm sorry to say that my initial reaction was a cynical one. I thought that I was going to be asked to fill in a customer survey. Not at all, she just wanted to welcome her passengers and ensure that everything was satisfactory. The guy next to me had a moan about not getting the veal but, if you fly a lot you realise that these things happen.

I thought that maybe I'd just shaken hands with the famous PG? I'm too shy to ask. Maybe later.

17.20
More drinks, a top up of diet coke and a spare for later.

17.32 - Dinner
The salad and the starter (salmon) are served:



17.49 - Main
The main course of fish pie arrived. It doesn't look that good but always tastes great. Although, I agree with some posters that it seems more like an economy meal rather than business class fare.



18.13 - Dessert
I'm not a fan of rhubarb. To me it is in the same category as brussel sprouts, something you end up being forced to eat as a child but as an adult, you can make the sensible choice to avoid . I chose the cheese and oatcakes. The two cheeses on offer today were:

- Cornish Camembert - 'Handmade by Cornish Country Larder between Padstow and Newquay. Full bodied, it has a smooth texture and delicious tangy flavour.'

and

- St Stithians - 'Handmade on Netherton Farm in Cornwall. It is a semi-hard cows' milk cheese with a firm texture and slightly nutty flavour.'




18.24 - Duty Free
My table was cleared and duty free was offered but I declined. I had plenty of alcohol at my apartment in Manhattan and I really didn't need any more!

18.30
The sun was setting....still.



18.36
Time to try out the IFE which was AVOD on this aircraft as it is on all 747s in the BA fleet. I chose to watch 'Max Payne' and put my seat into the Z position. At this point the cabin lights were turned off.

19.25 - Ice Cream
Ask and you shall receive. I went downstairs to the Club Kitchen. It was very well stocked but the one thing that I was looking for was missing. Ice cream. I asked the FA if there was any available and she told me that it was kept upstairs. I grabbed an orange juice and a twix and followed her up. She gave me a pot of lovely Purbeck ice cream, yummy. That seemed to prompt the upper deck FA to start handing it out, perhaps they were wanting to keep it to themselves? I wouldn't blame them.

20.08 - Flatulence
Someone has a bad case. Not cool.

20.40
Max Payne has finished. It was pretty good actually, much better than I thought it would be. I suspect that it would be better watched at home though, with surround sound and a bigger screen.
The guy next to me is snoring, he's also prime suspect for the bad case of flatulence .

21.30 - Sunset
This flight seems to have an almost endless sunset, it's been going for about 5 hours now. It does make for some fantastic views though.









22.05 - Tea
Afternoon tea was served approximately one hour and 30 minutes before landing.
The choices were, sandwhiches (smoked salmon and roasted vegetables) or salad to start followed by a Bakewell tart and warm scones with jam and clotted cream (my favourite!).



I asked the female FA if I was allowed to take two scones, her enthusiastic response was 'Yes!' in a tone that suggested that taking only one would be a sin in itself. Great service.

22.25
I've finished my afternoon/evening tea and it's time to start tidying up and putting everything away.
At this point I have about 45 minutes before landing. The guy next to me was still sleeping.

22.30 - 40 minutes
At 40 minutes until landing the captain came on to inform us of our expected arrival time. All standard fare although at this point we hit a bit of turbulance so it was seatbelts on. To the disgust of my seat mate, he was woken up for this. A just punishment for farting and snoring perhaps?

22.50 - 20 minutes
It's 20 minutes until landing and things are frantic in the cabin. Lots of glass collecting and floor clearing.

23.10 UK / 18.10 NY - Landing
We landed about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The landing itself was very smooth, no reverse thrust was used to slow us down.

23.30 / 18.30 - Stand
We are on the stand after waiting a few minutes for a fellow BA 747 to vacate. Within about 20 seconds of the seat belt sign going off a lady in from row 63 is already up and down the stairs. It must be a record!

I leave the aircraft about 5 minutes later and hurry along to security. Anyone that has been to JFK before will know that making a dash for immigration is very wise, unless you like standing in hour long queues. But, what's this? Two immigration officers checking forms before we even get to the immigration hall? I've never seen that before. I make my way into the particularly drab immigration hall and I'm ushered rather quickly to see an officer. A most polite older gentleman was serving me today. He actually addressed me by name when asking me for my finger prints. Most polite, I've never had this before in my many journeys through JFK immigration. Top marks.

Luggage was destined for carousel 1 and upon arriving, my bag was the third that actually passed me. Cool. Quickly past the customs officers and out to find a taxi. Amazingly, there was no queue/'line' at the taxi rank at all. Again, I've never seen this before. Maybe everyone got picked off by the touts? This time a guy from one of the coaches tried to ensare me and then some cheeky sod in a BMW tried to get me while I was standing waiting for a 'real' taxi. Why these people are not shown off the airport by the police amazes me. They are a genuine nuisance and I'd be happy to bet that they ensare a large number of first time visitors everyday.

00.00 / 19.00 - Taxi to Manhattan
I'm in a taxi on my way to my apartment in midtown Manhattan.

Verdict
Another great Club World flight from BA. The service was great and I'm still a bit shocked about the personal greeting from the CSD. It was disappointing that the veal sounded so good on the menu but then wasn't available at the time of ordering. However, these things happen and it hasn't really spoilt the overall experience.

The T5B Galleries lounge was a haven of tranquility again. I really do love that place, it's just a shame that it never seems possible to spend too much time there, due to the lateness of BA announcing flights departing from the B gates.

64K is probably the best seat on the upper deck and therefore maybe the best seat in Club World? It is so private, more so that 64A or 62A and K. This is now going to be my seat of choice for further flights on the 747 and I'd recommend it to everyone.

I hope that you enjoyed the trip report. It certainly kept me busy throughout today . As ever, if you enjoyed it, say so, I love hearing your comments.

Until next time.....

faithwins

Great Report! Keep em coming

Kevincm

Nice reporting and I like the "tweet" style ^

Looks like you had a great flight

matthandy

Bump - the trip report is now complete. Time for bed .

Euan

Great report

ua_to_ord

Fantastic report! ^ I'm a hopeless UA/*A addict, thus it was refreshing to read about an alternate way across the Atlantic.

Moomba

Great Report matthandy. Hmm that fish pie looks like cholesterol heaven.

HIDDY

Now why would BA's tea trolley lady at headquarters be acting as a CSD on your flight?

The fish pie looks a bit odd. More like one of my omelettes gone wrong than a fish pie. Glad it tasted good though. ^
Enjoyed the layout of your report,great idea.

daph

Thanks for allowing me to relive my my last September flight in 64A LHR-LAX. The male FA called me Mrs. B-----and was very pleasant as was the female FA who helped my husband. I did ask him about PG but he didn't seem to know about her and he'd been a BA TA for 12 years. Pucci, you're really good at good at your disguise! Enjoyed the sunset photos-I've only seen a really great one, going DFW-LAX. The photo of the tea sandwiches reinforces my memory-I do think that the crusts should be off [give us a third one if not having crusts would cut down on our meal. I forage though the plane for those macadamias-would be very disappointed if BA ever takes them off the Club menu.

matthandy

Agreed, but lucky it didn't taste too bad. I'm sure that the veal would have been better though.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. Glad that you all enjoyed the report.

lucky9876coins

Beautiful trip report with great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to write it!^

BA still ranks high on my list of airlines to try.

DALelite

At Delta's Business Elite it is mandatory that the purser/pursette welcomes you with a handshake and also saying goodbye this way...

rfrost

Great report, Matt, thanks. So being near the loo wasn't bothersome?

speedymac

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

Aargh! Can't see the pics anymore. I do remember most of them, though, as they were of unusually high quality and esthétique. I'm particularly envious of the everlasting sunset! Great report. ^

eddyP

The veal can be a bit and hit a miss, having had it twice in the last month (out to ORD both times). First time it was excellent, second time barely any meat and too much gravey. So don't feel too bad for having missed out!