Swanhunter

Thanks London Elite, a very kind offer. Sadly, I will have to take you up on that another time. I'm in Guatemala when the do in on , on holiday!

Here is the next installment.....

Here we go again, another early start for another day flying around. Check out was as friendly as check in at the Hampton Inn – while the facilities are no more than straightforward this hotel seems to have no problem getting good staff. Another rip-off US$9 taxi ride got me back to the airport in plenty of time for:

AA1932 1/11/03
0804 SJU – MIA
A300-600
J Class Seat 2A

No queue at the premium check in desk (elites, F and J pax). It’s the one of the few AA stations that also shows OW status of signs – I guess direct Iberia flights from MIA have encouraged that. The agent was bemused by my routing and offered to put me on the LAX non-stop if I wanted. No thanks! As a treat she also added a premium tag to my bags – it looks nice but I suspect that’s all it will do. Security was a breeze once more, and again was staffed with friendly and professional people. Very re-assuring.

I had to hand around again waiting for the A.C to open at 7. I had one of the most disgusting cups of coffee in my life and stared out the window for a while. Once inside the door there was a queue to get in – everyone seemed to have a seating/upgrade query that needed sorting NOW. Very annoying. The A.C itself is standard issue bland Middle American design. No bar at this time, but there were a few muffins and some OJ kicking around which helped stave off the hunger and thirst pangs. Emerging at 7.30 I found boarding had already started and I joined Group 1 to get on the plane. The group boarding system seems to work quite nicely when enforced properly – certainly we got on the plane quickly.

My first time on board one of AA’s A300’s. First class is a tiny cabin at the front of the plane, just 16 seats and the rest is economy. The F seats are quite smart looking in leather and blue fabric but in design and legroom they are little different to the seats on a 757. I wouldn’t recommend the bulkhead seats as they do have limited legroom – it was impossible to stretch my legs out fully.

Pre-take off drinks were offered on this flight – I tucked in to a tasty plastic glass of OJ. Why do they use plastic before take off and glass after? Orders were also taken for breakfast – a choice of cheese omelette or cereal. FEBO was followed and as the flight seemed to be undercatered I was glad I had got a good seat as the last 3 pax got no food at all – save for as many granola bars as they could eat. They seemed quite calm, but I would have been mightily narked. Surely it’s not that difficult to cater the correct number of meals?

Anyway, my cereal was fine and served with a huge, wasteful carton of mile. The accompanying fruit plate was good with plenty of pineapple and melon and Another lovely bagel too. That is 2 breakfasts now where I have been reasonably pleased with the food, though I am missing having a full English!

Flying over the Caribbean normally seems go give good views and this was no exception with Dominica brooding on the horizon and endless chains of small islands with white sandy beaches littering the sea. The view from the window was much more interesting than the rubbish on the IFE – who the hell is Raymond anyway? We had a few bumpy bits owing to the remnants of some storm cells, but this was noting out of the ordinary and we comfortably made it in to Miami on time. The terminal buildings were surrounded by the usual phalanx of AA planes – the cargo terminals looked much more interesting with some real exotica. It’s not so often you see more than one 707 at a time nowadays.

After being badly bitten in a couple of previous visits to MIA I approached this fairly tight transit (1hour 10 min) with some apprehension, visions of hour long security queues and running along endless corridors dancing in front of my eyes. This time, it was a breeze. Despite arriving at the remote part of E concourse with the ORD flight leaving from the far end of A I was sat in the BA lounge with 15 minutes to go before boarding started – a remarkable performance. While some of the check in lines were busy in C concourse, the walk up to A was quite pleasant and security was a breeze.

AA1339 1/11/03
10:51 MIA – ORD
757-200
F class Seat 5A

I decided to pop in to the BA lounge for a drinkie. The agents that work this lounge have a reputation before difficult and the agent I had to deal with certain was. She wasn’t going to let me in as I was flying AA, even though I hold BA Gold status, which gives lounge access regardless of who you are flying with. I pointed this out and asked her to find the lounge access card with the rules on; at which she snapped ‘oh just give me your card’. This caused another problem as it is out of date and BA seem unable to get a new one posted to me. My ‘lounge letter’ on BA notepaper was grudgingly deemed acceptable – so long as I only went into the Miami Club Lounge, not the main part. The Club lounge seems to be used a third party lounge for TAM and a couple of other South American airlines, as while the décor is standard Terraces, the drink selection is a bit below par. With no T.V, no music and no one else in the lounge, it was a bit like a morgue.

Boarding time came round and I wandered down to the gate to find that Captain Cock Up had come to pay a visit. The doors wouldn’t open, then the P.A broke down and the BP scanning machines wouldn’t work. This was all handled with lots of arm waving and yelling. We finally got on about 10 minutes late. I was first on the place, only to find the crew all gathered in the F class section ‘having a meeting’. I don’t know why, but they soon shooed me off the plane. Another 5 minutes cooling my heels on the jetway and we were graciously allowed to board the plane.

After that little episode, things got a lot, lot better. The 757 is the 757 and is fine for a 2.5-hour hop like this. What really made this a good flight was the service from the 2 senior F/A’s. Totally breaking the stereotype these two ladies offered really excellent service throughout the flight – everyone was addressed by name, they stopped to have a quick chat with everyone in First and kept offering drinks and refills the whole way through even though the cabin and plane were full. By far and away the best service I have ever had on board an AA plane, or indeed any operated by an American carrier. It was more like flying SQ or CX. They made a great fuss of the woman in 4 B who had a Gucci pet carrier holding a small rat like dog. I suspect the woman was some variety of wannabe – shades on the whole way through the flight. Whatever!

Pre-take off drinks were offered and orders taken, just like every other flights. After take off we got the traditional AA warm nuts – a really nice touch. The lunch offerings were either a Turkey Wrap (the f/a thoughtfully explained to me what a wrap was – patronising but a nice touch!) or Chicken Salad Sandwich on Foccacia.
I had the chicken was good and moist and the foccacia was very cheesy too. This came with cold potato wedges in some sort of sauce and sun dried tomato. I had a glass of fairly decent red wine to help this go down. 2 Milano cookies and some Monterrey Jack cheese with crackers rounded off a perfectly acceptable lunch.

We landed on schedule at the controlled chaos that is ORD. ATC at this airport must be one of the most demanding jobs on earth – it just seems to be permanent bedlam. Having seen most AA planes for the last day, it was nice to see a selection of European widebodies parked at the terminal. I made a point of saying a big thank you to the team on that flight, they had done a great job. Even more shockingly, one of the F/A’ was holding back the economy passengers so that everyone up front could get off first. A really nice touch.

I was able to carry on the happy vibes by heading over to the Flagship Lounge. Probably the best in the AA network after LAX, it’s a pleasant place to wait a while. Walking in I was shocked to find it deserted – but at least that I meant I didn’t have to fight to get on a P.C. When I checked in at the gate I was also advised of an equipment change from a 767-300 to a 757-200. At least it wasn’t a MD-80! The hot snacks weren’t out on display yet so I had to contact myself with some fruit and crudités (my girlfriend would find that hard to believe but I did) washed down with about 2/3 of a bottle of Piper Heidseck. In the resulting bubble fuelled haze I staggered out into the concourse for:

AA 455 1/10/03
15:05 ORD – LAX
767-300 (changed to a 757-200)
F class Seat 5J (changed to 5E)

Even though I was a bit boozed up, my brain did register the dread words ‘Cancelled’ next to my flight. The next 30 seconds would have acted as an harsh reminder to any bystanders of the damage alcohol can wreak on the brain as I jerked backwards and forwards deciding what to do – go to the gate, back to the lounge, to the nearest bar?

After a detailed consideration of the best course of action I swung off back to the FL – after all that was were the free booze was! The agents were a bit shocked to see me back and even more shocked when I told them that the 455 was cancelled – no-one had let them know! Thankfully they worked their magic and got me protected on the next flight out – the 729 leaving at 16:35. How exciting, my first ever cancellation!

This left we another hour and a bit to plough through some more booze and some of the lovely hot nibbles that came out – chorizo, kebab and samosa. The lounge was a lot busier as the evening flights to Europe drew closer. Let try to get out of ORD again:

AA 729 1/10/03
16:35 ORD – LAX
757-200
F Class Seat 3B

Unsurprisingly the gate area was heaving with people, many of whom had a tortured expression on their faces. They’ll be travelling on standby then! Yet again there was also an entire flight crew travelling with us – I can’t begin to imagine how much revenue AA must be loosing through all these deadheading crews. Crazy, as they were also asking for volunteers in the gate area. The crew were also first to get on – I suppose it gets them out the way.

On board was a bit hot and smelly and the place felt it had not been cleaned properly for a while – pen on the seat backs, grubby carpet. We also had crappy little pillows and blankets that looked no use for anything. I felt sorry for the Y pax – bistro bags for a 4-hour sector is not funny. Hopefully the first menu will be better. There seemed to be a large number of elites on the route – lots of people in Group 1 and lots of pax connecting from Iberia too.

There were no pre-take off drinks but there was still plenty of time of the crew to enjoy a coke and a chat in the forward galley. Good for them. L The captain came on to advise us that we had a small mechanical problem and that we would be flying at FL260 tonight owing to a really strong jetstream. This would further delay our arrival into LAX. When it rains it pours!

The mechanical problem was soon solved and we were airborne after another AA 757. Dinner orders were taken – tonight’s choice was fish fillet (no more information than that), spinach pasta and roast chicken. Feeling brave I went for the fish option – which was not bad, served with potatoes and green beans. It was nicely plated up too. The salad which preceded the main course was pretty typical, apart from some funny green things in it. Dessert was either a sundae or some cheese. I passed as I was starting to feel a bit bloated from everything I had put back in the lounge.

I wish had more to tell you about the flight but I feel asleep and woke up on final descent into LAX. I am sure the other passengers had a great time but I was dead to the world. In my drowsy state LA though the windows looked liked a video game this time round. Very pretty.

I was jolted firmly back into reality at baggage reclaim, when for the second time in 2 weeks my bags went for a walk. That sickening feeling when the belt stops and everyone else has walked away is not one to treasure. My heart sunk even further when the baggage service told me they didn’t know where it is – ‘maybe on the next flight from ORD’. AA doesn’t seem to have any way of tracking bags in the system – or so it seemed from the answers I was getting to my questions. I stuck around for the next flight to arrive – a very long 40 minutes. But, I was saved again as my trusty Samsonite came barrelling down the ramp, rush tags hanging from it. Saved!

flyingmad

Thank you for the wonderful report. It is extremely entertaining and I find myself anxiously awaiting the next chapter! Well done!

Frequent_Flyer1

This is one of the best trip reports I've ever read! Very informative and enjoyable. I'm already looking forward to the next part... Thx, Swanhunter!

Swanhunter

Thanks for the compliments,

I spent another night at the LAX Hilton on a decent rate of US$79. This time I was upgraded to a Towers room – the big difference being matching furniture, slightly more tasteful fabrics, a robe (only one though) and a fake marble sink surround. A hint to anyone looking for their free water – it’s inside the TV cabinet. I also checked out the Towers Lounge, which is not bad, with a free selection of muffins, cookies and coffee plus a widescreen T.V.

Another pre 6 o’clock start, this time for:

AA 898 2/10/03
07:46 LAX – MIA
767-300
F class Seat 3J

Terminal 4 was a fair bit busier than on Friday morning but it was an hour later. The Executive Platinum/Airpass check in line was open today, which I made full use of. The line is very convenient and quick with a female agent who was highly efficient. I really took to her when she commented that I look much young in the flash than my passport photos. What a nice lady! With priority tags attached to my case I wheeled it down to the TSA X-ray point. This time I was able to lock the case and watch it go through the machine. It didn’t need further inspection, so leaving it in the tender mercies of the LAX baggage handling system I went through security (another short line, friendly people) to the Flagship lounge. Once again I had to remind the front desk that OW Emerald = Flagship lounge. As AA get paid by BA for me using the facility and get even more for a First lounge, I really don’t know why they are so protective.

The lounge was a little busier than last time and some fruit had put in an appearance. I helped myself to an average croissant and some good pineapple, all washed down with Moet and water. Jolly good!

I schlepped up to the gate, pausing only to buy the LA Times, which probably added about 4 lbs. to the weight of my bag. A pity most of it is advertising. Boarding had already started so I joined the short queue – again using groups seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the process manageable. For once there was a f/a checking BP’s and she let me cross through the galley to my seat. The cabin was busy with activity so I sat down until things calmed down, before hauling out laptop, newspaper and book. My seat opponent joined me – she had been checking at the next counter to me so we exchanged a few comments about where we were headed for – she was going to MAD too but picking up the AA flight instead.

I am not sure whether the LAX – MIA route counts as ‘Flagship’ or not. Either way, the crew on this flight seemed pretty competent though not quite up to the standard of yesterdays MIA – ORD. We got pre-take off drinks, either OJ or water. Pushback was a few minutes late as one of the airspeed indicators needed replacing. As we were taxiing out one of the QF flights touched down – a 747 landing is not an elegant sight and the landing was pretty ropey too. Makes sure the pax are awake I suppose!

Off up and away into a beautiful Californian morning – not a cloud in the sky after the much needed rain. Thankfully no sign of any fires as we swung round over the Pacific and back towards Palm Springs. I settled down in my seat and after about 5 minutes battled the lumbar support into submission. It finally worked out that spontaneous inflation was not part of the job description. The legroom on the 767 is world-class but the seat just feels a bit too narrow. The recline is pretty stunning too – it’s about as near to flat as I have ever experienced with a conventional seat. Not a bad product, but on a 5-hour flight you really do notice the absence of any form of personal IFE. If this is a flagship service, how about providing some DVD players? Watching some cruddy movie on a bad quality main screen is not good for a ‘premium’ product. Bose headsets would be nice as this 767 in particular was really loud – lots of air and engine noise.

Going off on a slight tangent, I am baffled by the way the seatbelt sign is used on AA. I am used to the sign being on meaning no walk around the cabin – a mandatory requirement strictly enforced by the cabin crew. Here, it seems to serve as an advisory notice and the crew doesn’t seem to care except on final approach. The Captain will make a fuss about turning the sign off; at which point half the cabin has already gone to the lavatory! Very strange.

We didn’t get any menus but our friendly f/a came round to offer us either cereal with fruit, jack cheese omelette or French toast. Against my better judgement I went for the omelette which was fine – not soggy at all and served nicely plated with 2 hash brown thingies. The portion was a bit sparse, as had been the preceding fruit plate. Another lovely cinnamon and raisin bagel rounded off the service.

About 2 hours after breakfast we seemed to jump to after dinner mode when the crew brought around a cheese plate with wine. The selection was O.K – very young Brie and some red Leicester but the accompanying Merlot was really very nice indeed. I managed to put back several glasses in the next hour. To my surprise, an hour later saw cookies (either a rather nice chocolate or raisin) come through with the rather unpleasant combination of a glass of milk. There were no under 10’s in the cabin so why the milk? Bleurgh, horrible stuff. The cookie was most welcome though.

All in all, the flight passed nice and quickly – I was amazed when the Captain announced we were 20 minutes out of Miami. Touchdown was almost on schedule and we quickly rumbled to the gate at B concourse.

So, what did I think of AA this time around? Overall, an improvement. The staff seemed more focussed and motivated which resulted in better service. I had plenty more happy experiences rather than bad ones. There are still irritating inconsistencies i.e pre take off drinks, grumpy ground staff and the arcane baggage tracing system but overall there are plenty of positives too. I think avoiding MD80’s and F100’s and sticking too the big jets enhanced my experience. 2 sectors (and there should have been 3) on the 767-300 helped too.

Back at Miami, a B concourse arrival left me with a long walk down to G concourse and the Iberia check in area where I needed to pick up a lounge invitation and sort out a seat on my connection from MAD back to sunny LHR. There was a huge queue stretching out from the desk and a clusterf*ck around the ticket desk. The reason was clear when I check a monitor and saw that my flight had been delayed 1.5 hours. Argggh! There were a lot of very unhappy people around the desk – it seems that one of the previous night’s flights went tech and there was also a problem with the 747 for my flight, the IB6122. A lot of people were being involuntarily bumped, hence the total understandable wailing and gnashing of teeth. This is one of those occasions when flying premium and holding Emerald status becomes valuable as you a pretty much the last person who is going to be bounced. I double check my seat was O.K (it was) but had some bad new about my connection. We had no chance of making the 9.15 from MAD and the next seat available was the 2.30! The agent waitlisted me on everything in between but was doubtful it would clear as there were delays to everything from the US that evening and a lot of connecting pax were being shuffled around. As I was on a different ticket, I hadn’t been protected – fair enough. She did put me into Business Class on the 2.30, which was a good gesture of goodwill.

I now had a long wait to while away. This would have been fine in a normal lounge with a free bar – to my distress IB use the E concourse AC instead so it was 2 drinks vouchers and snack mix for me. I snagged a good table overlooking the apron and whiled way the time working and reading, stopping now and again to admire a stunning sunrise and watch the planes land. With a bit over an hour to go until the new departure time of 19:20 I thought it best to head over to the E concourse satellite. There is convenient lift from the AC down to the train that is the only access to the remote gates. Coming out of the train my worst fears were realised – a huge queue for the 4 checkpoints. However, my luck was in as there was an Iberia agent hauling Madrid pax out the queue and sending down the crew lane. It still took the best part of 10 minutes to clear in a gloomy, hot and smelly alcove. The fear and loathing in the air was quite unpleasant – a lot of irritated people, raised voices and bad temper. MIA at it’s worst – and it must be particularly traumatic for those that only fly twice a year.

The flight was due out of E24, which is located down an escalator – a ride that was plunging into a hot, sweaty nightclub only without the loud music, alcohol or enjoyable ambience. A belated realisation on my part prompted me to sidle over to the desk and ask to swap to an aisle seat, as I was not to keen on being cramped in for 8 hours. Imagine my surprise when my boarding pass was handed back with 2L on it. A very pleasant surprise – an upgrade to First!

IB6122 2/10/03
17:45 MIA – MAD (rescheduled to depart at 19.20)
747-200
J class Seat 6A (upgraded to F class seat 2L)

Boarding was slow getting underway and was an extremely disorganised process. The initial boarding call was for First, Business and Iberia/OW elites but soon turned into a stampede. The agent that upgraded me plucked me out of the clusterf*ck and propelled me on to the jetbridge. Boarding the 747 was more like walking through a guard of honour – 6 f/a’s all lined up to inspect the pax. Judging from the look that I got, I don’t think they were 2 impressed. Slightly overweight 29 year old, slight unshaven wearing jeans but clutching an F boarding pass? I must have been a huge disappointment!

Iberia has first class on the upper deck on the 747-200, so I had the pleasure for the first time ever of climbing up the spiral staircase. Given the shrinking number of Classic’s in service, it may well be my last. My graceful entrance to the plane was completed when I tripped at the top of the stair and went sprawling in to the cabin. Idiot! The bubble is fitted with just 8 seats in a 2+2 arrangement, and is not fitted with overhead bins. This gives a very spacious and airy feel to the first class cabin. The dominant colour is cream, with the frames and surround of the seats a maroon colour. As the arrangement suggests, the plane is not fitted with suites. The seats are similar to the AA ‘coffin’ first class design – lie flat but not actually a bed and are upholstered in cream fabric. The controls are fairly standard – legrest, lumbar support, recline and a bed/upright option. I learnt the hard way that pressing the bed option means it goes all the way back in one go – and you can’t stop it half way through. This early experiment earnt me a withering looking from the flight attendant on the upper deck. I sensed I might not be making much of an impression….. The footrest seemed rather out of place – a shiny hard metal bar that was seriously uncomfortable.

Pre take off drinks were an unusual twist – chilled, white sherry with a linen cloth. The cloth was nice but the sherry was horrible – very bitter and sharp. I drank it anyhow, in the interests of Flyertalk you understand. The flight attendant looking after us was really quite miserable – the least happy person I had run across all trip. My pyjamas (blue with a lovely red collar trim) were almost thrown at me, along with a burgundy plastic amenity kit and blue felt slippers. The amenity kit had the usual stuff it – either eau de rochas or some dubious homeopathy branded products. Accompanying these were the standard sock, mask and ear plugs. Another one to add to the collection.

Looking around the cabin I started to realise just how old this plane was. I haven’t seen old style air vents and smoking signs like that for a while. The cabin itself had a slightly battered air, though the seats still looked quite modern. The galley is also pretty large and the lavatory is a most unusual shape, being wrapped around the side of the staircase. Even with all the seats occupied the cabin was quiet – really peaceful.

19:20 came and went without any announcement – I would imagine that boarding took quite a while. We finally pushed back another 30 minutes late – no apology or explanation whatsoever. I then spent 5 minutes playing with the IFE, which a fairly ancient 16 channel system, with English and Spanish for each of the 8 movies or short packages on offer. J class has the same and Y have to make do with a good old-fashioned main screen. First class pax also have the offer of a rather antiquated Video Walkman system with a choice of another 10 moves titles. The guy next to me rather upset the attendant by asking for the Walkman at the same time as his dinner. She couldn’t get her head around the idea, threw her hands in the air and stomped off – and then ignored him for the rest of the flight. By this point I had got the message that I needed to be a well-behaved young man, keep my arms in and not ask for anything difficult. It was at this point that I broke the cocktail table that pops out of the seat arm. I decided to say nothing – I imagine I would have been made to stand in the corner of the cabin if anyone had noticed.

After take off the meal service commenced. And there you will have to wait until I find the menu!

Swanhunter

Phew, found it. A couple more comments and then it's dinner time.

Just before the IFE was switched on we were offered noise cancelling headphones. My no stretch of the imagination were they Bose, but they worked reasonably well. I had decided I wanted to watch the old Italian Job. Sadly, the tapes seemed to have been changes to the November selection without anyone updating the in-seat guide. I had to settle for Down with Love instead as they was the only thing I hadn't already watched. Afterwards, I wondered why I had bothered.

Time for food! The offering was

Appetizer (which was a filled tomato on a stick and a piece of smoked chicken with a cucumber - a wierd and rather dull choice)
***
Iranian Sevruge Caviar (more like it - a whole 25g jar just for me. Sevruge is not the best available, but it's pretty nice, especially when with all the trimmings. Smirnoff Red was a poor vodka offer)
***
Marinated Kind Prawns (huge and tasty, marinated in garlic and something)
or
Goose Liver Pate (didn't look that great)
***
Veal Consomme (it was a consomme - fine but a little over salty)
***
Fresh Vegetable Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing or Basil Vinagrette (this didn't appear - no idea why and I forgot to ask for it)
***
Beef Tenderloin with Morel Sauce (anyone know what Morel is?)
or
Hailbut with Saffron Sauce
or
Duck Breast with Cherry Vinegar flavoured Port Sauce (not enough sauce, very tough and fatty duck)

accompanied by Steamed or Jacket Potatoes (I had no choice - it was steamed)
Baby Yellow Squash and Baby carrots (which tasted just like they would in Y)
Bok Choy and Sugar Snap Peas (the peas were way overcooked)
Basmati Rice with Wild Rice (much have done for another main course)
***
Plate of Cheeses with Grapes (loads of lovely seedless grapes, cheese selection identical to that offered on AA previously)
***
Fresh Fruit (pass, too full now)
***
Tiramisu (pass again - felt a bit queasy when I saw this)
***
Ice Cream (no, please no more food.....)
***
Coffee (phew, that's better - only it was horrible really)

Dinner was served on rather smart blue patterned rimmed china, and with the exception of the caviar and prawn/pate courses was hand served from the kitchen. We were joined by a second member of the crew for the dinner service. This meant the food was delivered literally as fast I could eat. We went through all of that in a little over 30 minutes! It's some sort of miracle I didn't get indigestion.

The menu has a comprehensive offerings od wine, of which a selection was available. I tried 2:

Brut Nature, Freixent Cava. Very, very fizzy with a light citrus flavour. No champagne so I had to have this instead - I'll repeat NO CHAMPAGNE. Now, I know Iberia like to act as a cultural ambassador for Spain, but offering me Cava which I used to buy when I was a student (GBP1.50 in the local off licence) and then mix with cider is not good.

Montecillo, Gran Riserva 1995 Rioja, Bodega Osborne. No, nothing to do with Ozzy, this was a fantastic example of a Rioja. Delicious.

A selection of spirits and beers were available, but nothing special. Hot towels both preceeded and followed the meal - proper heavy cotton ones with an Iberia logo on them. Very smart.

jongar

Morels - Woodland or 'Wild' Mushrooms

The menu will tell you they were picked fresh that morning from a wood, in truth, probably picked from a bale of hay in a dark greehouse or stable - very nice all the same

mad_atta

More great stuff, Swanhunter. Sounds like F on Iberia could do with a bit of improvement - no champagne? I ask you!

I'm interested to hear you didn't enjoy 'Down With Love' - I thought it was hilarious when I watched it on an NZ flight a few months ago. Then again, I'd consumed numerous glasses of champagne and fine NZ wine by that stage, so I may not have been at my most discerning...

So when people ask me in a disapproving tone "where are your morels?", is this what they mean?

[This message has been edited by mad_atta (edited 11-05-2003).]

cathaana

Absolutely love the report. Too bad it has to come to an end sometime. At least then I'll be off on my RTW. Thinking about writing a report, too, but after yours, mine is going to be very boring.

jpatokal

Swanhunter, great report! Just wanted to note that I also got bumped from Business to First on a transatlantic Iberia 747 flight (MAD-JFK) over 10 years ago... and it sounds like absolutely nothing has changed! I seem to recall the plane wasn't in the best shape even back then, and indeed a little googling shows that Iberia's 747s range from 21 to 32 years of age.


[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited 11-05-2003).]

NoWindowSeat

Absolutely great stuff! Suppose your trip is coming to an end soon but with the all the mileage accrued, I think it won't take long before we can see more of this

Lux

Loving the report, just started a DONE4 (with my own money!!) from CAI so may try and report anything interesting that happens on that trip.

IB is a cruddy airline, flown in J to S America half dozen times, none much fun. The only airline I've flown that has deployed the emergency chute when offloading, uses buses for almost all flights at its home airport (worse than LHR T4) and allowed me to be in my seat at full recline with a glass of sherry in hand at takeoff.

Anyway, I've a HKG-LHR overnight leg booked on CX - would you recommend BA instead, as I intend to sleep?

Swanhunter

Maybe i was being a little churlish when I wrote the report - looking back it wasn't that bad.

jongar, thanks for filling me on wild mushrooms, and thanks everyone for the nice words.

Back on IB6122, I settled down for a decent nights sleep. The coffins convert into a reasonably flat surface, though were the cushions join there are a few lumps and bumps. The legrest does not come fully up either so you don't get the full length, a pity as it would be longer than any of the suites on the market. Cuddled up with the my pillow, there I slept, until awoken 40 minutes out of MAD.

Breakfast was simply a selection of pastries and coffee/tea. This was plenty for me, and actually perfectly sensible for an 8 hour flight, but I am sure some would have preferred a more substantial option.

I went for a quick wander downstairs. The J class cabin looked quite reasonable. Standard business class seats, very similar to the CX Old Business Class arrangement with a 52inch pitch and personal IFE. J is in the nose and just behind door 1L - very similar to LH's 747's. Y looked just as you would imagine it too - save for the very funky blue tartan blankets. Much groovier that the beige fine wool upstairs!

I sat slightly groggly as me descended into Barajas airport, noting the snow capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada on our way in. I really struggle with the idea of snow in Spain, but there we go.

After a brief taxi we arrived at one of the gates on the A concourse. This meant a 10/15 minute walk through various corridors, up and down stairs to reach a queue free immigration area. Just like landing at Heathrow really. Baggage reclaim was a zoo - ghastly. The main monitors were showing different flights to those hanging over the carousel, and the confusion this caused was compunded by all 3 North Americna flights seeming to have arrived simultaneiosly - 3 widebodies worth of pax, around half of whom had missed connections made for an unhealthy atmosphere. I finally tracked my bag down after 20 minutes of charging around and drove my trolley at high speed through the green channel and out to the comparative peace of the arrivals hall.

So what of Iberia? On that performance, not much. An adequate product with largely standard service, pretty much as their reputation suggests. I know one flight is a poor statistical sample but I saw nothing that made think wow. Still, the upgrade was nice!

Thanks for reading all of that. There is more to come - the Iberia flight back to London. That may take a little time as I am off on holiday to Guatemala tomorrow - which will be the source of another report. I also have a corker from early October on Air Moldova but that will have to wait too.

Cheers!

Swanhunter

If sleep is your main focus then BA is best, though if you are over 6ft or quite ´large´ you might find the seat a little cramped.

However, if you have not flown CX before and may not do so again, stick with them to try out the food, service and lounges. Hvaung said that, the 2 late HKG - LHR flights don´t give the full experience of any of those.

mtacchi

Really great report. You've kept me up far too late reading it. There is nothing wrong with champagne for breakfast, it gives the day a nice start.