OW RTW Part I: AA/EI LGA-ORD-DUB-LHR
Jun 5, 2003, 5:01 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,348
OW RTW Part I: AA/EI LGA-ORD-DUB-LHR
Hi folks,
Here is my long awaited European trip. I am presently at Copenhagen, Denmark, after staying at London two nights! I am finishing up my RTW trip with the “Oneworld alliance,” and the rest of the trip involves Aer Lingus, Finnair, BA, and CX. Due to the cancellation of the Saturday’s flight to BKK and SIN by Finnair, I was forced to reroute myself through LHR and HKG onto AKL. Well, I don’t mind flying CX, but sort of want to see how AY scores on the long haul flights… maybe next year.
June 2, 2003
AA 341 LGA-ORD Lv1600 Arr1741
MD-80 N442AA
The trip began with the familiar routine with AA. The First class lines were empty and I was checked in quickly. The agent was shocked to see my routing, but was fine with it. Nevertheless, she forgot to give me a priority tag. The Oneworld alliance is really not big into priority tags… it happened today, when I checked in for AY’s flight to HEL and then onto CPH. Is it that difficult to get some priority tags printed? Indeed, my bags are not treated as special… pretty unacceptable for world-class carriers like BA and AY.
Well, D5 was the gate and the flight was pretty full this late afternoon. Boarding began at 3:31pm, and then door closed at 3:50pm, and pushed back shortly after. No pre-takeoff beverage was served today. Well, we headed to Runway 31 for takeoff and flying time was two hours and we climbed to 31,000ft.
Coach service got only beverage and pretzels, but first class got a dinner. Here is my description –
Mixed green salad with mandarin orange segments, shredded radish, almond slices, chow mein, and sesame vinaigrette dressing. Choices of cheese or sourdough rolls.
Entrée choices of:
Fettucine
Or
Poached Salmon with a vinaigrette sauce on the side, carrots, and potatoes
Not a bad choice – the pasta looked pretty rough… my neighbor had it. The salad was very nice too. The salmon was a bit overdone, but tasted fine.
Dessert
Marble Cheesecake
Everything was served in one single tray, and prior to dinner, we got hot towels, and a separate warmed mixed nuts and beverage service. The service was much better than I think. It will be interesting to compare it to United, when I will fly them next week on the same route between ORD and LGA. I think AA maintains a good service on this flight because of its business nature – more business travelers. We landed on Runway 9R at 5:12pm, and parked at K9 a few minutes later. Since my bag was checked in all the way to London, I proceeded to the train station for the shuttle over to terminal five.
EI 124 ORD-DUB Lv1940 Arr0910+1
Airbus A330-300 EI-ORD “St. Maeve”/ “Maedbh”
Terminal Five is relatively new, but I like SFO and JFK’s terminal four better – more space and natural lights. The check-in areas of T5 of ORD seem a bit tight – can be crowded during peak hours. I actually went to EI check in for an aisle seat. The EI area was fairly busy but a friendly agent helped me after ten minutes. She apologized for the long wait and traced my bag, without me asking. She then told me where the Golden Circle lounge was, and I proceeded to the security area.
Most airlines own their own lounges at ORD, which was a surprise, especially with all these alliances. I was sort of expecting to stay at the Terraces, but was okay with EI’s own lounge. The lounge had no windows, but the seating area was relatively spacious. There was full alcoholic and non-alcoholic bar, and snacks include the usual array of prepackaged stuffs, but also fruit brochettes, sandwiches, cheese and crackers. I had some fruit and juice. I felt really clastrophobic inside the lounge, so I headed out early to take on my cell phone (because the lounge was very quiet). The plane-spotting was interesting with Iberia’s Airbus A340-300 parking at T3 EC-GPB, Royal Jordan’s A340 (JY-AIB), SAS’s Airbus A340-300 (LN-RKF Godfred Viking), BMI’s Airbus A330-200 (G-WWBB), two BA’s B777s – one with Union Flag and one with Hong Kong design, Kuwait’s A340, and Lufthansa’s A340. It was like an Airbus land, with the exception of AA, BA, and US using Boeing 777s.
Boarding began at 7:01pm, and there were separate check ins for J class, Oneworld members, and row numbers for Y class. I waited till the last minute to boarding the plane, as I was talking with a few friends. EI-ORD was definitely the plane to avoid – no personal TV in Y, and only old chairs (with small pitches but leather though) available in J. No sky map! It was a bit disappointing, especially for an overnight flight. I would definitely take the LAX-DUB next time. Well, the F/As were professional and polite – immediately assisting passengers with seat assignments and passing out a tray of orange juice, water, and champagne… even offered for refills and yes, they are served in real glasses. Then they came around with papers, menus, and amenity kits, after the door was closed at 7:36pm. It was a fairly busy night at ORD, but not too bad! We headed to Runway 32R a few minutes later, and to my surprise, we took off at 7:48pm (only twelve minutes after pushing back – I did not recall a takeoff that quick at ORD for a while). Flying time was six hours and forty-give minutes, with an initial attitude of 37,000ft, and later climbing to 39,000ft for the crossing.
A little disappointed with the meal – it was a simplified supper service, which allowed passengers to maximize rest time. Fortunately, the content was still good, and the F/As tried to be as efficient as possible. They accommodated one of the passengers, which ordered his salad and entrée to be served immediately after takeoff. Next time, I will definitely fly the LAX flights, which will have to serve a full dinner, due to its earlier departure time form LAX and more times to cross the ocean. Well, the table cloth for this flight was burgundy red, instead of orange like last year.
Here is the menu transcript --
Pre-flight drinks
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Premier Cru
Fresh Orange Juice
Or
Water
Dinner
To start
Canapé
A selection of cold canapés served with your choice of aperitif
Smoked salmon & salmon roe tart, ham & salami on white bread, and roast beef on rye – nice canapés but missed the hot savories as well.
Salad
Wild Mesclun Salad with grilled chicken breast, roma tomato, English cucumber and Kalamata olives. Accompanied by a balsamic and virgin olive oil dressing.
Instead of separate appetizer and salad, a combined course was served first. A few slices of chicken… On the tray, three pieces of Varda chocolate also presented!
Bread Basket
Selection of warm rolls
Four kinds of bread slices – white, rye, wheat, and egg – cold bread slices – not warmed defintely
Entrées
Boursin Crusted Fillet of Beef
Beef tenderloin crusted with Boursin cheese paired with carrot infused mashed potatoes and garden fresh broccolini
Or
Chile BBQ Free Range Chicken Breast
Served with Ancho chili sweet potato hash, garden peas with caramelized shallots, accompanied by a BBQ demi glace sauce*
Or
Golden Crusted Sea Bass
Resting on a bed of toasted orzo, with sautéed baby spinach, served with a charred tomato cream sauce*
An excellent entrée but the fish was a bit heavy!
Or
Spinach and Egg Stripped Agnolotti
Cheese agnolotti in a roasted red pepper Alfredo sauce with grilled Portobello mushrooms, asparagus and pepper medley
Trays will be collected to facilitate passengers wishing to turn in for the evening
Dessert
Ice cream truffle
Accompanied by a warm chocolate chip cookie
Liqueurs
Tea or Coffee
Very nice dessert – dessert tray was served separately with a set of teacup with cream, sugar, and various accompaniments with the hot beverage – I love the sugar cubes. The ice cream was a blackcurrant favor with a nice chocolate coating, and I love the cookie. I had some tea and then trays were collected with the lights off.
The movies were boring, and I tried to sleep, but could not really. Well the F/As pretty hid in the galley, water bottles (Crystal Geyser) were passed out after the meal, but the F/As skipped me. Anyway, there could be more beverage runs. About an hour priority to arrival, the F/As passed out trays of orange juice and strawberry smoothie for continental breakfast. I was shocked to find out that only breads were passed out, not even a fruit salad – I actually care more for the fruit, then the other sandwich thing. The breadbasket had croissants, muffins, Danish pastries, & regular rolls. The breakfast tray came with individual containers of creams & sugars, and the coffee mugs had these Oscar Wilde’s quote – “I can resist everything exception temptation.”
Breakfast
Orange Juice
Or
Fruit Energizer drink
Coffee and Tea with selection of warm breakfast pastries
Selection of cereals and yogurt available on request
Wine List
White Wine
San Angelo Pinot Grigio 2002 Castello Banfi
Saint Aubin 1er Cru 2001 Chartron & Trebuchet
Red Wine
Chateau Cloitre Lescours 1998 Jean Pierre Moueix
Reserva Dao 1999 Sogrape
Domino De Valdepusa Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 Marques De Grinon
Descent soon began at 2:04am East coast time, soon the gear came down at 8:34am Irish time, and we landed on R/W 10 two minutes later and headed towards Gate C45. The F/As told me that I need to go through custom and immigration at Dublin, but once we were parked, my names were called. Ground personnel lead three of us (all heading to the UK – London and Manchester) onto the comfortable Premier van. We skipped every possible formality and headed towards the Golden Circle lounge. The lounge was spacious and with a great view of Dublin airport – I love it. There is no continental breakfast setup though – a bit disappointing – the same prepackaged snacks, but we had a full alcohol and non-alcohol bar… it never ceased to amaze me on how folks can drink a beer nine in the morning, but it happened. But it will be nice if internet stations can be set up.
June 3, 2003
EI 162 DUB-LHR Lv1120 Arr1235
Airbus A321-200 EI-CPC “Feargus”
Well, Dublin’s plane spotting is not as excited as Heathrow, but gotta see all the US aircrafts arriving – CO’s 764, DL’s 763, US 762, AC 762 (fleet#632)… I also saw the official Hot Talk’s aircraft EI-CPH “Dearbhile” A321 – heading to Paris this morning – the only flight to Paris for EI due to strike in France that day.
Gate C43 was it, and we were parked next to BMI’s A321 for LHR too. We literally departed at the same time, but BMI went off early. We only began boarding at 11:05am. Well, EI’s convertible seats were fairly not comfortable. The flight was very full this afternoon. After waiting for EI’s Premier bags loaded, door was closed at 11:31am, and pushed back a minute later. We headed to Runway 10 and took off at 11:46am. Flying time was fifty minutes and the F/As started the service shortly after takeoff. A nice paper bag with the clear label of Premier (the bag reminds me of bags from fancy stores like Gucci – hard cardboard paper) was handed out to each passenger. Then the beverage cart came along – only plastic cups were used, and then two servings of tea and coffee. After the bags were collected, a hot towel service was offered.
The Premier bag was similar to AA’s Bistro bag, but with nicer contents… I guess…
Here is the content –
Honey Roasted ham and Emmenthal cheese with tangy mango chutney in an oral Scotch bap
Yogurt Fruit Flapjack
Pretzel Nuggets
A bottle of water
Cup for hot drinks and sugar pack with stirs
The sandwich was not too bad, and I got two cans of ginger ale, which were nice. Descent soon began at 12:13pm, and we landed on R/W9L at 12:34pm, and we were parked at gate 88 shortly. The bags came out fifteen minutes later, and my bag was among the last to be off-loaded. Next time, I will definitely check it again with EI at ORD or whatever US points of entries. EI business class passengers got priority tags. Due to the arrival into the Irish area, I did not need to pass through immigration.
Well the next installment tomorrow – AY’s LHR-HEL-CPH on Airbus again…
Here is my long awaited European trip. I am presently at Copenhagen, Denmark, after staying at London two nights! I am finishing up my RTW trip with the “Oneworld alliance,” and the rest of the trip involves Aer Lingus, Finnair, BA, and CX. Due to the cancellation of the Saturday’s flight to BKK and SIN by Finnair, I was forced to reroute myself through LHR and HKG onto AKL. Well, I don’t mind flying CX, but sort of want to see how AY scores on the long haul flights… maybe next year.
June 2, 2003
AA 341 LGA-ORD Lv1600 Arr1741
MD-80 N442AA
The trip began with the familiar routine with AA. The First class lines were empty and I was checked in quickly. The agent was shocked to see my routing, but was fine with it. Nevertheless, she forgot to give me a priority tag. The Oneworld alliance is really not big into priority tags… it happened today, when I checked in for AY’s flight to HEL and then onto CPH. Is it that difficult to get some priority tags printed? Indeed, my bags are not treated as special… pretty unacceptable for world-class carriers like BA and AY.
Well, D5 was the gate and the flight was pretty full this late afternoon. Boarding began at 3:31pm, and then door closed at 3:50pm, and pushed back shortly after. No pre-takeoff beverage was served today. Well, we headed to Runway 31 for takeoff and flying time was two hours and we climbed to 31,000ft.
Coach service got only beverage and pretzels, but first class got a dinner. Here is my description –
Mixed green salad with mandarin orange segments, shredded radish, almond slices, chow mein, and sesame vinaigrette dressing. Choices of cheese or sourdough rolls.
Entrée choices of:
Fettucine
Or
Poached Salmon with a vinaigrette sauce on the side, carrots, and potatoes
Not a bad choice – the pasta looked pretty rough… my neighbor had it. The salad was very nice too. The salmon was a bit overdone, but tasted fine.
Dessert
Marble Cheesecake
Everything was served in one single tray, and prior to dinner, we got hot towels, and a separate warmed mixed nuts and beverage service. The service was much better than I think. It will be interesting to compare it to United, when I will fly them next week on the same route between ORD and LGA. I think AA maintains a good service on this flight because of its business nature – more business travelers. We landed on Runway 9R at 5:12pm, and parked at K9 a few minutes later. Since my bag was checked in all the way to London, I proceeded to the train station for the shuttle over to terminal five.
EI 124 ORD-DUB Lv1940 Arr0910+1
Airbus A330-300 EI-ORD “St. Maeve”/ “Maedbh”
Terminal Five is relatively new, but I like SFO and JFK’s terminal four better – more space and natural lights. The check-in areas of T5 of ORD seem a bit tight – can be crowded during peak hours. I actually went to EI check in for an aisle seat. The EI area was fairly busy but a friendly agent helped me after ten minutes. She apologized for the long wait and traced my bag, without me asking. She then told me where the Golden Circle lounge was, and I proceeded to the security area.
Most airlines own their own lounges at ORD, which was a surprise, especially with all these alliances. I was sort of expecting to stay at the Terraces, but was okay with EI’s own lounge. The lounge had no windows, but the seating area was relatively spacious. There was full alcoholic and non-alcoholic bar, and snacks include the usual array of prepackaged stuffs, but also fruit brochettes, sandwiches, cheese and crackers. I had some fruit and juice. I felt really clastrophobic inside the lounge, so I headed out early to take on my cell phone (because the lounge was very quiet). The plane-spotting was interesting with Iberia’s Airbus A340-300 parking at T3 EC-GPB, Royal Jordan’s A340 (JY-AIB), SAS’s Airbus A340-300 (LN-RKF Godfred Viking), BMI’s Airbus A330-200 (G-WWBB), two BA’s B777s – one with Union Flag and one with Hong Kong design, Kuwait’s A340, and Lufthansa’s A340. It was like an Airbus land, with the exception of AA, BA, and US using Boeing 777s.
Boarding began at 7:01pm, and there were separate check ins for J class, Oneworld members, and row numbers for Y class. I waited till the last minute to boarding the plane, as I was talking with a few friends. EI-ORD was definitely the plane to avoid – no personal TV in Y, and only old chairs (with small pitches but leather though) available in J. No sky map! It was a bit disappointing, especially for an overnight flight. I would definitely take the LAX-DUB next time. Well, the F/As were professional and polite – immediately assisting passengers with seat assignments and passing out a tray of orange juice, water, and champagne… even offered for refills and yes, they are served in real glasses. Then they came around with papers, menus, and amenity kits, after the door was closed at 7:36pm. It was a fairly busy night at ORD, but not too bad! We headed to Runway 32R a few minutes later, and to my surprise, we took off at 7:48pm (only twelve minutes after pushing back – I did not recall a takeoff that quick at ORD for a while). Flying time was six hours and forty-give minutes, with an initial attitude of 37,000ft, and later climbing to 39,000ft for the crossing.
A little disappointed with the meal – it was a simplified supper service, which allowed passengers to maximize rest time. Fortunately, the content was still good, and the F/As tried to be as efficient as possible. They accommodated one of the passengers, which ordered his salad and entrée to be served immediately after takeoff. Next time, I will definitely fly the LAX flights, which will have to serve a full dinner, due to its earlier departure time form LAX and more times to cross the ocean. Well, the table cloth for this flight was burgundy red, instead of orange like last year.
Here is the menu transcript --
Pre-flight drinks
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Premier Cru
Fresh Orange Juice
Or
Water
Dinner
To start
Canapé
A selection of cold canapés served with your choice of aperitif
Smoked salmon & salmon roe tart, ham & salami on white bread, and roast beef on rye – nice canapés but missed the hot savories as well.
Salad
Wild Mesclun Salad with grilled chicken breast, roma tomato, English cucumber and Kalamata olives. Accompanied by a balsamic and virgin olive oil dressing.
Instead of separate appetizer and salad, a combined course was served first. A few slices of chicken… On the tray, three pieces of Varda chocolate also presented!
Bread Basket
Selection of warm rolls
Four kinds of bread slices – white, rye, wheat, and egg – cold bread slices – not warmed defintely
Entrées
Boursin Crusted Fillet of Beef
Beef tenderloin crusted with Boursin cheese paired with carrot infused mashed potatoes and garden fresh broccolini
Or
Chile BBQ Free Range Chicken Breast
Served with Ancho chili sweet potato hash, garden peas with caramelized shallots, accompanied by a BBQ demi glace sauce*
Or
Golden Crusted Sea Bass
Resting on a bed of toasted orzo, with sautéed baby spinach, served with a charred tomato cream sauce*
An excellent entrée but the fish was a bit heavy!
Or
Spinach and Egg Stripped Agnolotti
Cheese agnolotti in a roasted red pepper Alfredo sauce with grilled Portobello mushrooms, asparagus and pepper medley
Trays will be collected to facilitate passengers wishing to turn in for the evening
Dessert
Ice cream truffle
Accompanied by a warm chocolate chip cookie
Liqueurs
Tea or Coffee
Very nice dessert – dessert tray was served separately with a set of teacup with cream, sugar, and various accompaniments with the hot beverage – I love the sugar cubes. The ice cream was a blackcurrant favor with a nice chocolate coating, and I love the cookie. I had some tea and then trays were collected with the lights off.
The movies were boring, and I tried to sleep, but could not really. Well the F/As pretty hid in the galley, water bottles (Crystal Geyser) were passed out after the meal, but the F/As skipped me. Anyway, there could be more beverage runs. About an hour priority to arrival, the F/As passed out trays of orange juice and strawberry smoothie for continental breakfast. I was shocked to find out that only breads were passed out, not even a fruit salad – I actually care more for the fruit, then the other sandwich thing. The breadbasket had croissants, muffins, Danish pastries, & regular rolls. The breakfast tray came with individual containers of creams & sugars, and the coffee mugs had these Oscar Wilde’s quote – “I can resist everything exception temptation.”
Breakfast
Orange Juice
Or
Fruit Energizer drink
Coffee and Tea with selection of warm breakfast pastries
Selection of cereals and yogurt available on request
Wine List
White Wine
San Angelo Pinot Grigio 2002 Castello Banfi
Saint Aubin 1er Cru 2001 Chartron & Trebuchet
Red Wine
Chateau Cloitre Lescours 1998 Jean Pierre Moueix
Reserva Dao 1999 Sogrape
Domino De Valdepusa Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 Marques De Grinon
Descent soon began at 2:04am East coast time, soon the gear came down at 8:34am Irish time, and we landed on R/W 10 two minutes later and headed towards Gate C45. The F/As told me that I need to go through custom and immigration at Dublin, but once we were parked, my names were called. Ground personnel lead three of us (all heading to the UK – London and Manchester) onto the comfortable Premier van. We skipped every possible formality and headed towards the Golden Circle lounge. The lounge was spacious and with a great view of Dublin airport – I love it. There is no continental breakfast setup though – a bit disappointing – the same prepackaged snacks, but we had a full alcohol and non-alcohol bar… it never ceased to amaze me on how folks can drink a beer nine in the morning, but it happened. But it will be nice if internet stations can be set up.
June 3, 2003
EI 162 DUB-LHR Lv1120 Arr1235
Airbus A321-200 EI-CPC “Feargus”
Well, Dublin’s plane spotting is not as excited as Heathrow, but gotta see all the US aircrafts arriving – CO’s 764, DL’s 763, US 762, AC 762 (fleet#632)… I also saw the official Hot Talk’s aircraft EI-CPH “Dearbhile” A321 – heading to Paris this morning – the only flight to Paris for EI due to strike in France that day.
Gate C43 was it, and we were parked next to BMI’s A321 for LHR too. We literally departed at the same time, but BMI went off early. We only began boarding at 11:05am. Well, EI’s convertible seats were fairly not comfortable. The flight was very full this afternoon. After waiting for EI’s Premier bags loaded, door was closed at 11:31am, and pushed back a minute later. We headed to Runway 10 and took off at 11:46am. Flying time was fifty minutes and the F/As started the service shortly after takeoff. A nice paper bag with the clear label of Premier (the bag reminds me of bags from fancy stores like Gucci – hard cardboard paper) was handed out to each passenger. Then the beverage cart came along – only plastic cups were used, and then two servings of tea and coffee. After the bags were collected, a hot towel service was offered.
The Premier bag was similar to AA’s Bistro bag, but with nicer contents… I guess…
Here is the content –
Honey Roasted ham and Emmenthal cheese with tangy mango chutney in an oral Scotch bap
Yogurt Fruit Flapjack
Pretzel Nuggets
A bottle of water
Cup for hot drinks and sugar pack with stirs
The sandwich was not too bad, and I got two cans of ginger ale, which were nice. Descent soon began at 12:13pm, and we landed on R/W9L at 12:34pm, and we were parked at gate 88 shortly. The bags came out fifteen minutes later, and my bag was among the last to be off-loaded. Next time, I will definitely check it again with EI at ORD or whatever US points of entries. EI business class passengers got priority tags. Due to the arrival into the Irish area, I did not need to pass through immigration.
Well the next installment tomorrow – AY’s LHR-HEL-CPH on Airbus again…
Jun 8, 2003, 2:13 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: LAX and LHR. UA lifetime Gold 1.9MM 1K , DL Gold Medallion, HHonors Gold, Marriott Gold, Avis President's Club
Posts: 3,592
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Carfield:
Wine List
White Wine
San Angelo Pinot Grigio 2002 Castello Banfi
Saint Aubin 1er Cru 2001 Chartron & Trebuchet
Red Wine
Chateau Cloitre Lescours 1998 Jean Pierre Moueix
Reserva Dao 1999 Sogrape
Domino De Valdepusa Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 Marques De Grinon
</font>
Wine List
White Wine
San Angelo Pinot Grigio 2002 Castello Banfi
Saint Aubin 1er Cru 2001 Chartron & Trebuchet
Red Wine
Chateau Cloitre Lescours 1998 Jean Pierre Moueix
Reserva Dao 1999 Sogrape
Domino De Valdepusa Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 Marques De Grinon
</font>
Jun 9, 2003, 4:36 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,444
I'd agree about priority tags - OW are useless with this. As an example, BA policy is not to use them AT ALL except for transfer bags at LHR. The theory is that if you check in at the J/F desks all the bags from there get prioritised. Needless to say, it doesn't work quite as well as CX/SQ.
