SvenB1414

Well everyone, this is my second trip report, and though my first received no commentary, these are decidedly more interesting flights than HP domestic service. So here goes:

21 June 2003: BA 216 1850 - 0715
Boeing 777-200 series

Started off on June 20th by participating in OLCI, first time for me and it was excellent! I learned that my preassigned seat of 12A was actually one of the window seats blocked by a wall, so I switched to 13K, the only available window outside of 12A in club.
I arrived at Dulles airport about 2 hours in advance (gotta get some good lounge time, right :-)), waited for one person in the Club World check-in line, and then promptly (like within 1 minute) received my boarding pass and handed over my one checked bag.
Clearing security was not difficult, although over by the United/Star Alliance area of IAD the security line was huge. Luckily, BA is located on the other side of the main terminal.
At Dulles, as many here already know, one must take a "people-mover" to one's respective terminal. It's an interesting concept, and I like it not because it's a timesaver or anything, but rather it's something different from what you see in airports the world over. So, I hopped on my "people-mover" to the BA gates, which are in the D-terminal at IAD. This, unlike B at IAD, has not been renovated, and is truly an eyesore.
The BA lounge at IAD has been berated before, and to be honest, it does not compare to the London lounges, but, it has a good selection of hot food (pre-flight dining) and a full bar. It is crowded with full flights, and some may even say understaffed, but in the end, it is definitely sufficient.
I enjoyed a hot meal, and a nice view of the new addition to IAD, AF's Concorde. Then, it was time to begin the real journey!
I boarded and took my rear-facing window seat and realized once again how much I love BA's NCW cabin. Some find it narrow, claustrafobic, or just not as nice as a typical business class seat, but me, I find it to be the best (probably why I flew BA then, eh?). It does help that I am average height and slim, but I truly find this seat to be comfortable. Another anecdote: people say that it is harder to get out of the window seat when the corresponding aisle is reclined. I wholeheartedly disagree. Not only do I find it easy to leave the window, I find it easier than a standard business class layout.
Once onboard, I received a "wash-bag," menu, and pre-takeoff drink of OJ (it was that or water). Takeoff was slightly delayed due to traffic at IAD (everyone and their brother was taking-off to cross the pond!). But before long, we were up, up, and away, journeying for 6 hours 31 minutes to LHR.
Once at sufficient height, the F/A's passed through to take our orders for dinner:

SUPPER

Please choose from the following options, or if you prefer, see our GOODNIGHT EXPRESS Option located at the bottom of this page.

APPETISER
Greek salad with Feta cheese, red onion and roast tomatoes

MAIN COURSES
Fillet of beef, musroom Marsala sauce and olive oil mash

Roast breast of chicken wrapped in prosciutto with garlic creamed spinach and rosti potatoes
(My choice, dry chicken, but honestly flavorful. Final verdict, not good, but wasn't the worst either.)

Gorgonzola cheese, wild mushroom and walnut risotto

DESSERT
Wild berry tart

A cheese and Port service is available upon request.

Selection of fresh fruit

Coffee/tea

GOODNIGHT EXPRESS Option:
A quick light meal served soon after takeoff, allowing you more time to sleep, work, or simply relax.

Mixed green salad served with vinaigrette

Pasta with fire roasted pepper sauce and smoked Provolone cheese

Hot chocolate and warm cookies

Edited to add wines:

WINE LIST

CHAMPAGNE
Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave, 1997

WHITE WINES
Geyser Peak Sonoma County Chardonnay, 2001

Chablis 1er Cru Beauregard, 2000, Jean-Marc Brocard

RED WINES
Rodney Strong Sonoma County Merlot, 1999

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Trerose, 1999, Tenimenti Angelini


So the menu was at least in my opinion, the classic supper service seen throughout many carriers serving the US East Coast - Europe flights. It was filling, but personnally, for the extravagant price of Club, I would like to see a full dinner service (i.e. with an appetiser and then a salad, like on westbound transatlantic flights with BA).
After dinner, I finished my movie, enjoyed a Baileys (I'm a sucker for the stuff!) and then settled in to enjoy my book, with of course the moving map on screen in front of me! Seeing that I had no pressing business upon arrival in Paris, I decided not to try and sleep away the flight.
About 1 hour before landing in LHR (just as we reached the Irish coast, IIRC), breakfast service commenced:

GOOD MORNING

TO START YOUR DAY....
Chilled orange juice and ruby grapefruit juice

Our special wake-up energising smoothie

Fresh seasonal fruit
or
Cereal with fresh milk

Hot bacon rolls
or
Cheese and black pepper savouries

Selection of breakfast pastries

Coffee/tea

So, a hot breakfast is back (somewhat) which I find nice, and the hot bacon rolls were welcome! Soon we began our descent in LHR, stacked for just about 10 minutes, and then landed.
I quickly proceeded to the Molton Brown travel spa, booked a massage (they were busy!) and then enjoyed a second breakfast in the First Lounge. Whilst not the Concorde Room, it is truly a great place. Good eats, comfy seats, and great service!
Ever too quickly the time passed, and after my massage it was time to board:

22 June 2003: BA 308
1030 - 1215
Airbus A319 series

A very quick flight, with the standard salad. Service was abbreviated, but even more so than normal as the captain forbade hot drinks due to expected turbulence (that never materialized). I say better safe than sorry.

Thanks for reading, the return is to follow shortly. I appreciate any and all commentary from this great community of flyers!
Steven

[This message has been edited by SvenB1414 (edited 07-16-2003).]

JohnG

Nice report, thanks !

Glad to see that BA is up there with AA in terms of poor food. Breakfast in international J is pretty sad these days...however, it does make me feel better, as now I know all I am missing is the flat bed, at least the food has the same problems.

SvenB1414

Ok folks, so now for the return, I hope you all enjoyed the first part! The return is CDG-LHR-JFK

11 July 2003: BA 303
0740 - 0810
Boeing 757-200 series

After awakening at an ungodly hour to drive to CDG, I arrived about an hour before departure. I quickly checked my one bag for the return, receiving (yea!) a priority tag.
Proceeding to Satelite 5 of Terminal 1, I went directly to the BA lounge. Located on 2 levels, the lounge had a rather poor selection of breakfast items (croissants, that was it). But, of course, a full bar (b/c that is exactly what I wanted at 7am, not!). The nice thing was the size, it was a rather large lounge, and did have a computer terminal with free internet! Of course, I did the obligatory check of Flyertalk.
Getting onboard, I had been assigned 6D (due to my later check-in time). At least it was an aisle!
Service commenced immediately after takeoff, with beverages and the hot breakfast to follow. Within 15 minutes, everyone had what they wanted. Kudos to a really terrific crew, they really offered kind service especially for such a short duration flight. I think they might have been Concorde regulars, b/c I saw a couple had the Concorde pens, but this is just speculation.
We then encounted the obligatory LHR hold, and circled for about 1/2 an hour (about the time it took us to get from CDG to LHR!). But soon, we touched down and had a short (surprising) taxi to Terminal 4.
I went straight away to the Molton Brown spa since I am addicted to the free (albeit plus gratuity, I know its been discussed and debated, but I do tip) massages. Had a really fantastic and energising massage, and then proceeded to the Terraces lounge for email, tomato juice, and some snacks.
Before I knew it, it was time to get on the 747 to JFK, good bye for now LHR, see you next week!

11 July 2003: BA 175
1025 - 1305
Boeing 747-400 series

I boarded, climbed the stairs, and sat down in one of my absolute favorite seats in NCW, 61A. I really enjoy the upperdeck, it's quiet, private, and the service is fantastic. Just another anecdote: LH
747-400's have 16 FIRST CLASS seats up top, with 2 flight attendants and 2 lavatories; on the same plane BA has 20 seats, only four more, and the same 2 lavatories and flight attendants. Not a bad ratio for business class in my opinion!
Well, onboard, they told us that they had to change a tire on the right hand side (so I couldn't see it), so we waited about 40 minutes, and in the meanwhile they passed out wash-bags, menus, and drinks (OJ or water) and took our orders:

LUNCH

APPETISERS
Micel Roux's seared prawns and tabouleh salad
(Very tasty, and beautiful presentation, but so so small!)
or
Goat cheese, Mozzarella and slow roasted tomato timbale with oregano dressing

Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

MAIN COURSES
Grilled fillet steak, roast shallot and balsamic butter, potato fondantes, green beans and roast rustic carrots

Vineet Bhatia's grilled breast of chicken marinated in mustard, aubergine mash and pea tikki

Poached Loch Fyne salmon, Hollandaise sauce, asparagus and parslied new potatoes
(Really a great dish, except for the fact that it came with broccoli instead of asparagus)

Chef's salad of poached pear, candied walnut and Roquefort cheese

DESSERT
Chocolate brownie ganache torte with chocolate sauce

Blue Wensleydale, Mull of Kintyre and Taurus cheese

Fresh fruit

Coffee/tea


Lunch was delicious, but did have some shortcomings as I mentioned in the menu descriptions. Soon after, the crew dimmed the lights and laid out "Raid the Larder" in the galley. This has truly suffered cutbacks, as now it just has fruit and nuts, no more Cadbury, or crisps, or ice-cream.
I took a walk back, and did see that our plane was pretty full, although not like the outbound where every single seat was taken.
The flight passed without incident, and the crew did keep putting out fresh drinks (different juices and water) on the table by the stairs. It is important to mention that after lunch the crew passed out water bottles to each passenger (at least on the upper deck).
About 90 minutes before landing, the second service commenced:

AFTERNOON TEA

Chicken with whole-grain mustard and chunky egg mayonnaise sandwich (Yummy, that's all I have to say)
or
Poached salmon with lemon mayonnaise and vintage Cheedar with red onion chutney sandwich

Warm fruit scones served with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry preserve

Farmhouse fruit cake (DID NOT EVEN TOUCH IT)

Coffee/tea

The sandwich was great, and the scones with clotted cream and jam was perfect. With the tea served, it was a great refresher before landing in New York.
And the landing came oh too soon. We touched down just a little behind schedule around 1320 local time and parked at Terminal 7 at JFK.
This was a great flight, although the service was just a little bit behind what I received on the outbound portion, surprising since this was technically an "easier flight," not as full, and a better crew assenger ratio. I should say though that I was impressed as always when the crew introduced themselves in English, French, Spanish, German, and Swedish, all on a flight between 2 English speaking countries.
Once again, thanks for reading and your comments and questions and even criticism are always welcome!
steven

pallensf

This is a nicely done report Steven...I'll have to go back and read your 1st one from before.

Sounds like despite the BA cutbacks, you still had a good time in the air...

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Patrick A. Inouye, LMT
volunteer trip reports moderator

SvenB1414

Thanks Patrick, I truly did have a good time in the air, and it is a treat to fly BA NCW, at least for me. Here's to many happy landings
Steven

RTW4

Great report. I felt as if I were in club world as well!

Buster CT1K

Thanks for a fine report. It's great to have multilingual introductions, but I'm always peeved when they take forever to go through everything in all the languages on United, taking time away from entertainment programming (and Channel 9). I don't mind the multi-lingual "turblence ahead, please fasten seat belts" but they just take forever with service introductions.

Swiss Tony

Thanks for the report - am flying NCW for the first time later in the year & always good to see what you get compared with the competition.

airoli

Enjoyed reading your report - thanks!

------------------
truly yours. airOli.

Jet'Dillo

Okay, stupid question:
What's a wash-bag?---I fancy myself quite a good decoder of Brit-isms, but this one escapes me.
I'm going to assume it's some sort of amenity kit but can't shake the image of the FA's going around handing them out for you to put your wash in !

SvenB1414

Yes, you're right, a washbag is an amenity kit, but I like the British term, it's a change and sounds cool, like overhead bin = overhead locker!
steven