andrzej

On this beautiful morning in early January, a friend picked me up at my house on Siesta Key. It took us about an hour and a half to get to TPA. I know I’m somewhat jaded, but I still think that TPA is one of the best airports around. I was booked in coach, but thanks to a very, very good friend, who in his infinite wisdom decided to bestow upon me couple of VIPOWs, I was able to upgrade to F on the TPA-ORD-DFW legs and C on the DFW-LGW part. So after a painless 5-minute check-in, here I’m sitting at gate 79 waiting for boarding to start. It looks like a half-empty/semi-full flight. Flight uneventful, usually lunch choices. Few glasses of wine and Chicago here I’m. Met briefly with a possible future business partner, collected some important papers, and decided to catch an earlier flight to Dallas. Originally scheduled for 2:30 pm, was able to catch the 1:30. Again flight itself very uneventful, same lunch choices, some more wine, and the plane’s wheels were touching the runway in Dallas. Here is one hiccup, at least on the outbound, of the trip. As soon as we taxied to terminal B, I noticed through the window another MD-80 and security and fire trucks just standing around and blocking any possibility of getting to the gate. After few moments, the captain announced that there was a security breach at DFW and it looks like at least an hour before we can get to a gate. Well, one hour turned into 2 and finally around 6 pm we were able to get off. If there is reason for death penalty, it should be for any idiot that grabs a bag and starts running through the security section. Thousands of travelers were inconvenienced and airlines loosing thousands of dollars a minute because this jerk decides to play a stupid game. Anyway getting back to my trip. Our DFW-LGW flight scheduled for 7:10 was 20 minutes late taking off. Had a window seat (10A) with nobody next to me. Ohh - heaven......

Here is the menu:

Entrees - :
Lamb Medallions
Breast of Chicken
Cannelloni
Filet Mignon
Vegetable Plate
Desert Cart:
Saga Blue and Jarlsberg Cheese
Vanilla Ice Cream
Godiva Chocolates

Breakfast - :
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Yogurt
Cereal
Assorted Breakfast Breads

Service was just about perfect, and the Cannelloni dish was outstanding. Finished it off with vanilla ice cream topped with nuts. Delicious. Slept for about 3 hours, and just around 9am London time, had a light breakfast, refreshed myself and got ready for London. Landed around 10:15 am , train, taxi, and at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel front desk at around 11:30am. The room was not ready so went off to have a drink and a bite and finally around 1pm received the key. The room, big for London, was not exactly a 5 star. It did the job, and it even had a jacuzzi but it definitely seemed better days. The public rooms of the hotel are very nice, and the service in general was very good to excellent Great location. If you could get a good price I recommend it, but not if you are paying full fare. Had 4 days of fun in London, and now it’s time to go back. It’s Tuesday 5:30 am. Getting ready to get up and do the morning routine. More later.
Well, here I’m at AC LGW. Check-in at the business desk was painless again. No questions asked about the VIPOW. And again, no problem getting into AC. Nice place, small, but a self-serve bar and a very helpful desk.. An hour later the flight started to board, so it was time to leave the quiet confines of AC. Settled in 10A again, but this time had a neighbor, oh well.... Couple of hours after takeoff dinner was served,

Here is the menu:

Entrees -
Filet Mignon
Horseradish-Crusted Salmon
Farfalle Pasta with Wild Mushroom Sauce
Key West Chicken
Vegetable Plate

Hors D’Oeuvre Plate
Warm Goat Cheese
Southwest Pork Tenderloin
Smoked Salmon

For dinner I ordered the Pasta dish, but it wasn’t to my liking. I was not feeling to good, so that may have been the reason. Did not eat very much on this flight, but drank quite a bit of wine. Service was great again. We landed in Dallas about 45 minutes early, so I finally had the time to install and run T-Mobile Hotspot wireless internet at the AC in B terminal. No problems getting into AC, but as always, few problems trying new technology. Called T-Mobile customer service and within minutes I was able to surf the net from my laptop without any wires, whoopeee!!! Love that thing. (By the way, if anybody is thinking about signing up, will you please e-mail me first, so I could mail you a referral card, once you sign up for monthly service I get 1 month free. That comes with the welcoming kit, so you could do the same later). Around 3:45pm walked to B6 and boarded my flight to ORD. Flight uneventful, but for the first time, did not get any food served. Talked to the FA, and was told that if the flight is under 3 hours and at certain time of the day, all F is going to get is pretzels and peanuts. Landed at ORD and walked over to the H/K AC. The man at the front desk questioned(very briefly) my right to get in, but after he typed few things into the computer, immediately changed his mind. Checked my laptop connection, and this time I was surfing within minutes. An hour+ later walked over to H9 and boarded my flight to TPA. This time we were served some food, but I was soooo tired I can’t remember what it was. We had a choice of 2 meals. Landed in TPA about 20 minutes early. A friend was waiting for me and about an hour and a half later I was home.

Here are few thoughts,

VIPOW - did not have ANY problems using them, although they had a different name printed on them. So all the rumors I was reading here in the last few months can’t be true, you know, the ones about checking with the owner, asking for details about the owner, and so on and so on.......

Meals in F on domestic flights - There is some truth about some of the postings lately, but from what I saw it’s only for certain flights, NOT all.

Service - The great folks at AA seem to be trying VERY hard to make sure the passengers are happy. Not once was I faced with a rude, not carrying AA employee.

Access to AC for Plats on an international flight day - Other than the one question at ORD on the last leg of my trip, did not experience any problems. Always welcomed with a smile and a free drink coupon.

Just my story and I will stick to it....

djcrooks

Good report, thanks. By the way, your menu on the return flight is basically identical to mine in F from CDG to DFW on Jan. 2.

Bretteee

Am I correct that vanilla ice cream is the standard AA desert in C and F? Quite frankly I can get that at home myself. Very unimpressed that's why I would never upgrade to AA C or F but I must say that their Y service with the most legroom and edible catering makes it good. However I hope their security has improved since the shoe bomber etc.

gapilot

andrzej--thanks for the excellent report. I, too, fly out of TPA and definitely agreement with your assessment. Am envious of your good fortune to receive the VIPOW's, but oh well, I'll have PLAT before the quarter is over. Happy flying!!

EnhancedByCO

True enough, but is your home 37,000 feet above sea level and 2 hours away from the nearest freezer? Sure, it's not that complicated to have ice cream on board, but there's still something exotic about it being available on an airplane that I find alluring.

andrzej

Welcome to FT. It's nice to get another Sarasotan here.

JohnG

Welcome to Flyertalk, GApilot.
I'm afraid you'll still have to be envious of Vipows as a PLT, there not available to us, only when you make executive PLT..

RTW4

I wished that I saw the same enthusiasm on my recent AA flights. VERY POOR FA from LAX-JFK in Premium. Food and entertainment were great however