Across the pond on a A318
Nov 6, 2011, 8:28 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London, UK
Programs: AA 2MM - PLT, BA GGL, SPG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,221
Across the pond on a A318
Back in July a friend and I decided we would break free the shackles of adulthood, work and all things mundane and organise a long weekend being kids again at Disney World in Orlando. Now the sane amongst us would fly on BA’s direct flight to MCO but the more adventurous, like my friend and I, decided to do something different.
After a bit of planning and playing with search engines we decided to give the London City to New York all business class service on BA a shot. Not wanting to do the simple route home we created an open jaw ticket with the return being from LAX-LHR. I then plugged in our route into AA.com and got us a JFK-MCO-MIA-LAX ticket to fill the gap.
Next up was organising a hotel. Well as you know for me that means SPG or SPG. We booked a twin room at the Swan and settled back to wait until our flights in late October.
A few weeks before the date I noticed a starpicks rate for our hotel that would save us a couple of hundred USD each for the four nights so I grabbed the opportunity.
I had been ground based for almost 6 weeks since I returned from the first leg of my current RTW ticket and was itching to get into the sky again.
Eventually the day arrived and as the flight left from LCY at 13:05 I was able to have a leisurely start to the day and hopped aboard a south bound Jubilee line train at 11:00.
I met my friend at Waterloo who had travelled in on an overland train and jumped back on the Jubilee line to Canning Town where we switched over to the Docklands Light Rail to get to LCY airport.
There is a desk just outside the terminal where LCY-JFK passengers can check in but as it was busy we walked inside instead. This was also busy but we decided to wait. We were soon called forward and enquired about checking our bags through to MCO on a separate AA ticketed AA flight. The agent was unsure if it could be done and rang someone. She spoke for a while and then said that she could but she needed to see the ticket desk first. She hopped out from behind the counter and walked over to ticketing. I assume this was to link the two tickets together. She came back a couple of minutes later and was able to check our bags through to MCO and said as we clear customs in Shannon we wouldn’t need to get our bags again until we got to Orlando.
She completed the check-in process and wished us a pleasant trip. We thanked her for her efforts with the luggage and walked up stairs to security. There was a very short queue but they took a liking to my carryon and wanted to swab it before letting me go. This only took a few seconds and I was soon on my way through to the airside lounge.
We were told at check-in that the BA gate lounge was open at gate 24 and headed off in the direction. The BA LCY-JFK service is an all business class affair and has a maximum load of 32 seats. They had modified the gate 24 waiting area to turn in into a small lounge with alcohol, some hot and cold food and tea/coffee/juice etc.
The lounge area has windows onto the tarmac and we were able to see our tiny A318 plane waiting for us in the drizzly weather. Our boarding passes were checked at the entrance and we were give US customs forms to fill out.
The lounge staff poured us a couple of glasses of bubbly and we grabbed some snacks to have while we waited. The had some hot prawns, chicken wrapped in prosciutto and small sausage rolls along with crisps, fresh fruit, some packaged cakes and biscuits. The bubbly was Ayala champagne that I am none too fond of and have in the past likened it to cat urine.
I asked the agent who swiped our BPs at the desk what the load was like today and she said it was only half full. In the end there were 15 people waiting to board when they announced we could do so.
There of course is always one looser on every flight and so it was when Mr Joe I’m so cool I need to wear my sunglasses inside, rocked up in the lounge and proceeded to have a conversation with his mate at volumes that all could hear. Some people are just so important.
We were asked to board at 12:35 and only one person made a move to do so. My friend and I decided got up and went outside into the blustery cold and drizzly weather. There was a security person standing at the foot of the stairs to the aircraft who had been checking ground staff’s ids as the got on the plane. As I went up the stairs I said to her ‘that must be a fun job in this weather’. She smiled and said it was great.
Flight BA0001 LCY-JFK Seat 2K
Aircraft: 318
Departure time: 13:05
On board we were greeted by the crew and directed to our seats in row 2. The seats on the 318 are in a 2-2 arrangement with 8 rows in total.
We chatted to the crew and they took our jackets to hang. We were told we had the A team on board today. There are no pre take off drinks on this service as I suspect given the short boarding and taxi times there would be no time to actually do it. Of course Mr Joe I’m so cool had a moan about this, ‘what sort of premium service is this?’. The purser had a word with him and quieted him down. Although as he was such a loud mouth you could still hear him throughout the cabin as he carried on conversing with his seatmate.
It seems when out in public his foul language filter isn’t used either.
The captain came on the horn and announced a flying time to Shannon of 1 hour and 5 minutes. The crew informed us they would be serving drinks and appetisers on this short sector and lunch from SNN to JFK.
We pushed back, or more precisely tugged forward at 13:02 and the safety demonstration was presented.
We taxied down the runway to the end and then turned on a dime before the captain put the pedal to the metal for a very short take off at 13:06.
Once in the air the crew explained how the inflight wifi worked and there is a separate light alongside the seatbelt lights that indicates when the wifi is operation. Phones had to remain switched off until the lights indicated it was ok to use them.
After we levelled out the crew came around with the appetiser and drinks order.
On the menu were:
London City – Shannon
Appetiser
Dublin Bay prawns with celeriac slaw
or
Chestnut and thyme tart with cranberry and apple chutney
I opted for a Kir Royale, the only acceptable way to drink Ayala, and the prawn starter.
The prawns were pretty tasteless but not too tough as they can be when served cold.
The purser came around asked what meal we would like for the main course.
On offer for lunch was:
Shannon-New York
Lunch
Fillet steak glazed with Yorkshire Fine Fettle cheese and a rich tomato and olive sauce
Thyme-grilled breast of corn-fed chicken with creamed savoy cabbage, bacon and new potatoes
Roast Scottish halibut anchovy Hollandaise, celeriac and wild mushrooms
Pumpkin, red onion and Cheddar pan haggerty with sage
London City club salad with candied bacon
All main courses are served with British vegetables
Desserts and Liqueurs
English custard tart with raspberries
Somerset Brie and Blacksticks Blue cheese served with red onion and blueberry marmalade, Nairn’s oatcakes, Carr’s water crackers and grapes
Club Kitchen
After lunch please help yourself to a selection of tasty treats including crisps, chocolates and biscuits available in the forward galley area for you to choose from.
Wines:
White:
Chablis 2009, Domaine Louis Moreau, Burgundy, France
Pouilly-Fume 2010, Domaine de Fontenille, Loire, France
Red:
Chateau Barateau 2006, Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France
Medalla Real Carmenere Gran Reserva 2008, Colchagua Valley, Chile
Champagne:
Ayala Brut Majeur NV, Champagne
The flight was over pretty quickly although my drink was topped up along the way as the crew made their way back up the cabin.
It was soon time for descent and the purser explained the process for clearing immigration in Shannon. Anyone without checked baggage could proceed directly through immigrations any one with checked bags needed to wait until told before going through. We landed at 14:07 in Shannon.
We got off the plane and an agent directed us down through to the arrivals hall where those with checked bags were asked to wait in a separately roped off area. A few minutes later we were invited to make our way into the US immigrations area. We first had to put our hand baggage and shoes through an x-ray machine and were then directed down to the agents.
When I got to the front several agents all waived me over and one down the end said ‘over here’. I figure they are mostly bored sitting there and wanted to do something. I selected the agent who said ‘over here’ and walked up to her. She asked me if I was going to Orlando to play some golf. I said ‘no to be a big kid for a few days’. She said ‘on your own?’ I replied that I was with a friend and pointed over to another agent. She laughed and said ah the Swan that is supposed to be good. I said yes and it is onsite too. She asked me to identify my checked bag that was showing up on a monitor and I confirmed it was mine. She got me to put my paw on the fingerprint machine and it recognised me straight away. She did the stamp, stamp, stamp thing and wished me a pleasant stay in the US.
I made my way airside again and sat down to wait for the flight to be called. There was a roped off area next to the gate that had seating and tables to make it look like a BA terraces lounge. This was not in use though and the 15 of us all just milled around the departure area or sat on one of the many other seats. There were no other flights boarding from this area of the terminal at the time.
After 10 minutes or so, at 14:40, they announced boarding and we made our way back onto the plane. The crew welcomed us again and took my jacket with a comment about déjà vu.
The captain announced a flying time of 7 hours to JFK and we pushed back at 14:49. We again taxied down the runway and turned before taking off New York bound.
After take off amenity kits were handed out and a hot towel was delivered. A drinks round followed that was served with a small packet of nuts. I opted for my usual scotch and dry.
iPads were handed out for our IFE and were loaded with a limited number of movies and television programmes. There was no music on them though so bring your iPod if you want music on these flights. As usual BA’s programming was not to my taste and I struggled to find something of interest to watch.
The crew were quite chatty and often stopped to have a chat about our plans and odd routing.
Lunch was served after a re-fill of our drinks and was presented with the salad and main already on the tray. We needed to place the iPads on the footstool, as there is nowhere to rest them whilst the tray is on the table.
There was a little bottle of spicy lemon dressing that I think BA have had on board for years now. I would prefer a simple balsamic dressing or at least the option of something else. For the main I tempted fate again and ordered the beef. It was edible and not too tough but still far from the best steak dish I have had on a plane.
The crew were good with top ups of wine and extra bread during the service. After the mains were done and dusted the offer of dessert or cheese was made. I went with the custard tart which was quite lovely and washed down with a single malt. A bottle of water, Coffee and chocolates were next up before the crew retired to the galley.
About 2 hours out of JFK one of the crew came through the cabin with a tray of juice and water.
An hour later the crew busied themselves with the afternoon tea service.
On offer was:
Afternoon Tea:
Rosemary goat’s cheese and pea shoots with mint dressing
An individual selection of sandwiches featuring cucumber with mint, chicken with coleslaw and smoked salmon
Cake selection of coffee and walnut cake and raspberry fairy cake
I opted for the salad to start and was quite refreshing. The fairy cake was very sweet and sickly but the walnut cake was quite nice. The crew came around with fruit or plain scones that were not listed on the menu. There was a small tub of clotted cream and a tiny jar of strawberry jam to accompany these. Another offer of scones was made as the crew made their way back up the cabin; I declined.
After the afternoon tea service the crew cleared away and started to lock down the cabin for landing. The captain told us ATC had routed us into a holding pattern and we would arrive a little later than expected. It was at this point I realised another downside to the iPad IFE. There is no moving map available so you can't track where you are.
We eventually landed at 17:21 and then taxied to the middle of the field and stopped. After what seemed an eternity the captain finally announced that we were awaiting clearance to cross the active take-off runway. Eventually we started to move along with planes to our left and right.
We made it to the gate at 17:40 where we disembarked just next to the Concorde room. The beauty of this service comes into play at this point as we arrived as domestic passengers and were able to make our way straight out of the building and over to the AA terminal. Of course were praying and hoping that our checked bags would do likewise.
We caught the train over to the AA terminal and made our way into the Premium Check-in area. An agent was soon free and called us over. We explained that we had bags checked from LCY and handed over our baggage receipts. She did some typing and said that the tags were already in their system and that BA were usually pretty good at getting the bags over to them. She printed our BPs and explained we had access to the Flagship lounge and gave us directions. We thanked her and moved on towards security. This was fairly quick and painless although I almost forgot to de-shoe as I am now so used to not doing this in the UK.
We made our way up to the AC and after a little wait in the queue the agent asked another agent who was walking by to escort us into the Flagship lounge. We were seated in the lounge with a beer some 40 minutes after landing at JFK. Pretty impressive. ^
The flagship lounge seems to have more in the way of hot food than I remember and there was salads, two soups, roasted veg salad, tuna salad, rice, cauliflower and an Indian spiced chicken breast. There was also the usual crudités and snacks along with a selection of wines and beers and some sparkling wine.
I grabbed a Sam Adams and a bowl of chowder to slurp on whilst waiting.
We headed down to the gate a little early and that required us going down under the tarmac to the infield terminal. We waited at the gate a few minutes before proper premium boarding was announced with First class being asked to board first before any elite passengers.
We walked up had our BPs scanned and wandered on down the ramp.
Flight AA1515 JFK-MCO Seat 5F
Aircraft: 737
Departure time: 19:45
We were greeted as we boarded and made our way to our seats. I sat my jacket on my knees and it was eventually taken and hung by the crew once the boarding scrum settled down. We were offered a pre take-off beverage and I just went with some tomato juice.
The captain announced a flying time of 2 hours and 36 minutes and after the cabin was locked down we pushed back at 19:45. The safety demonstration was played in English and then in Spanish as it seems to be these days on AA flights. I saw an interesting article online that predicted that there would be more native Spanish speakers in the US than English speakers buy 2025!
The two crew working the front cabin, were well, umm, ancient. The woman seemed to me to be older than my Mum who is 77. They were however both efficient and friendly and were constantly working the cabin and did a good job with what AA gave them to work with.
First up was a round of drinks and the lovely warm nuts. Over the years these little dishes of nuts have shrunk and we have seen the hideous soybeans come and go, but I still feel like I am back on AA when that dish of nuts appears. As usual I chose my scotch and dry to accompany this little treat. My drink was refilled and further offers were made and declined.
There was some entertainment playing on the main screens but I wasn’t really taking much notice. The crew had handed out small bud style earphones for our use. I find these things next to useless, as they never seem to want to stay in my ears. The only other IFE option was the in-seat IFE option of various radio channels.
The flight was fairly uneventful and around an hour out the smell of fresh baked cookies lingered into the cabin. Soon the crew were out offering a chocolate chip cookie warm from the over with coffee and liqueurs. I decided to finish the night off with a baileys on ice.
I was a bot disappointed that AA didn't think that a service at that hour and of that length didn't require anything more substantial in the way of food in their front cabin.
We landed at 22:30 and taxied to the gate. After walking off we made our way on a small train to the main terminal and went down to the baggage claim area. We met our pre-arranged driver and waited for our bags to appear, hoping like heck that they made the connection at JFK ok. My friends' bag appeared first, much to our relief and mine followed soon after.
A 40 minute or so drive later we rocked up at the Swan hotel and checked in for 4 nights.
A few more photos can be found here
After a bit of planning and playing with search engines we decided to give the London City to New York all business class service on BA a shot. Not wanting to do the simple route home we created an open jaw ticket with the return being from LAX-LHR. I then plugged in our route into AA.com and got us a JFK-MCO-MIA-LAX ticket to fill the gap.
Next up was organising a hotel. Well as you know for me that means SPG or SPG. We booked a twin room at the Swan and settled back to wait until our flights in late October.
A few weeks before the date I noticed a starpicks rate for our hotel that would save us a couple of hundred USD each for the four nights so I grabbed the opportunity.
I had been ground based for almost 6 weeks since I returned from the first leg of my current RTW ticket and was itching to get into the sky again.
Eventually the day arrived and as the flight left from LCY at 13:05 I was able to have a leisurely start to the day and hopped aboard a south bound Jubilee line train at 11:00.
I met my friend at Waterloo who had travelled in on an overland train and jumped back on the Jubilee line to Canning Town where we switched over to the Docklands Light Rail to get to LCY airport.
There is a desk just outside the terminal where LCY-JFK passengers can check in but as it was busy we walked inside instead. This was also busy but we decided to wait. We were soon called forward and enquired about checking our bags through to MCO on a separate AA ticketed AA flight. The agent was unsure if it could be done and rang someone. She spoke for a while and then said that she could but she needed to see the ticket desk first. She hopped out from behind the counter and walked over to ticketing. I assume this was to link the two tickets together. She came back a couple of minutes later and was able to check our bags through to MCO and said as we clear customs in Shannon we wouldn’t need to get our bags again until we got to Orlando.
She completed the check-in process and wished us a pleasant trip. We thanked her for her efforts with the luggage and walked up stairs to security. There was a very short queue but they took a liking to my carryon and wanted to swab it before letting me go. This only took a few seconds and I was soon on my way through to the airside lounge.
We were told at check-in that the BA gate lounge was open at gate 24 and headed off in the direction. The BA LCY-JFK service is an all business class affair and has a maximum load of 32 seats. They had modified the gate 24 waiting area to turn in into a small lounge with alcohol, some hot and cold food and tea/coffee/juice etc.
The lounge area has windows onto the tarmac and we were able to see our tiny A318 plane waiting for us in the drizzly weather. Our boarding passes were checked at the entrance and we were give US customs forms to fill out.
The lounge staff poured us a couple of glasses of bubbly and we grabbed some snacks to have while we waited. The had some hot prawns, chicken wrapped in prosciutto and small sausage rolls along with crisps, fresh fruit, some packaged cakes and biscuits. The bubbly was Ayala champagne that I am none too fond of and have in the past likened it to cat urine.
I asked the agent who swiped our BPs at the desk what the load was like today and she said it was only half full. In the end there were 15 people waiting to board when they announced we could do so.
There of course is always one looser on every flight and so it was when Mr Joe I’m so cool I need to wear my sunglasses inside, rocked up in the lounge and proceeded to have a conversation with his mate at volumes that all could hear. Some people are just so important.
We were asked to board at 12:35 and only one person made a move to do so. My friend and I decided got up and went outside into the blustery cold and drizzly weather. There was a security person standing at the foot of the stairs to the aircraft who had been checking ground staff’s ids as the got on the plane. As I went up the stairs I said to her ‘that must be a fun job in this weather’. She smiled and said it was great.
Flight BA0001 LCY-JFK Seat 2K
Aircraft: 318
Departure time: 13:05
On board we were greeted by the crew and directed to our seats in row 2. The seats on the 318 are in a 2-2 arrangement with 8 rows in total.
We chatted to the crew and they took our jackets to hang. We were told we had the A team on board today. There are no pre take off drinks on this service as I suspect given the short boarding and taxi times there would be no time to actually do it. Of course Mr Joe I’m so cool had a moan about this, ‘what sort of premium service is this?’. The purser had a word with him and quieted him down. Although as he was such a loud mouth you could still hear him throughout the cabin as he carried on conversing with his seatmate.
It seems when out in public his foul language filter isn’t used either.
The captain came on the horn and announced a flying time to Shannon of 1 hour and 5 minutes. The crew informed us they would be serving drinks and appetisers on this short sector and lunch from SNN to JFK.
We pushed back, or more precisely tugged forward at 13:02 and the safety demonstration was presented.
We taxied down the runway to the end and then turned on a dime before the captain put the pedal to the metal for a very short take off at 13:06.
Once in the air the crew explained how the inflight wifi worked and there is a separate light alongside the seatbelt lights that indicates when the wifi is operation. Phones had to remain switched off until the lights indicated it was ok to use them.
After we levelled out the crew came around with the appetiser and drinks order.
On the menu were:
London City – Shannon
Appetiser
Dublin Bay prawns with celeriac slaw
or
Chestnut and thyme tart with cranberry and apple chutney
I opted for a Kir Royale, the only acceptable way to drink Ayala, and the prawn starter.
The prawns were pretty tasteless but not too tough as they can be when served cold.
The purser came around asked what meal we would like for the main course.
On offer for lunch was:
Shannon-New York
Lunch
Fillet steak glazed with Yorkshire Fine Fettle cheese and a rich tomato and olive sauce
Thyme-grilled breast of corn-fed chicken with creamed savoy cabbage, bacon and new potatoes
Roast Scottish halibut anchovy Hollandaise, celeriac and wild mushrooms
Pumpkin, red onion and Cheddar pan haggerty with sage
London City club salad with candied bacon
All main courses are served with British vegetables
Desserts and Liqueurs
English custard tart with raspberries
Somerset Brie and Blacksticks Blue cheese served with red onion and blueberry marmalade, Nairn’s oatcakes, Carr’s water crackers and grapes
Club Kitchen
After lunch please help yourself to a selection of tasty treats including crisps, chocolates and biscuits available in the forward galley area for you to choose from.
Wines:
White:
Chablis 2009, Domaine Louis Moreau, Burgundy, France
Pouilly-Fume 2010, Domaine de Fontenille, Loire, France
Red:
Chateau Barateau 2006, Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France
Medalla Real Carmenere Gran Reserva 2008, Colchagua Valley, Chile
Champagne:
Ayala Brut Majeur NV, Champagne
The flight was over pretty quickly although my drink was topped up along the way as the crew made their way back up the cabin.
It was soon time for descent and the purser explained the process for clearing immigration in Shannon. Anyone without checked baggage could proceed directly through immigrations any one with checked bags needed to wait until told before going through. We landed at 14:07 in Shannon.
We got off the plane and an agent directed us down through to the arrivals hall where those with checked bags were asked to wait in a separately roped off area. A few minutes later we were invited to make our way into the US immigrations area. We first had to put our hand baggage and shoes through an x-ray machine and were then directed down to the agents.
When I got to the front several agents all waived me over and one down the end said ‘over here’. I figure they are mostly bored sitting there and wanted to do something. I selected the agent who said ‘over here’ and walked up to her. She asked me if I was going to Orlando to play some golf. I said ‘no to be a big kid for a few days’. She said ‘on your own?’ I replied that I was with a friend and pointed over to another agent. She laughed and said ah the Swan that is supposed to be good. I said yes and it is onsite too. She asked me to identify my checked bag that was showing up on a monitor and I confirmed it was mine. She got me to put my paw on the fingerprint machine and it recognised me straight away. She did the stamp, stamp, stamp thing and wished me a pleasant stay in the US.
I made my way airside again and sat down to wait for the flight to be called. There was a roped off area next to the gate that had seating and tables to make it look like a BA terraces lounge. This was not in use though and the 15 of us all just milled around the departure area or sat on one of the many other seats. There were no other flights boarding from this area of the terminal at the time.
After 10 minutes or so, at 14:40, they announced boarding and we made our way back onto the plane. The crew welcomed us again and took my jacket with a comment about déjà vu.
The captain announced a flying time of 7 hours to JFK and we pushed back at 14:49. We again taxied down the runway and turned before taking off New York bound.
After take off amenity kits were handed out and a hot towel was delivered. A drinks round followed that was served with a small packet of nuts. I opted for my usual scotch and dry.
iPads were handed out for our IFE and were loaded with a limited number of movies and television programmes. There was no music on them though so bring your iPod if you want music on these flights. As usual BA’s programming was not to my taste and I struggled to find something of interest to watch.
The crew were quite chatty and often stopped to have a chat about our plans and odd routing.
Lunch was served after a re-fill of our drinks and was presented with the salad and main already on the tray. We needed to place the iPads on the footstool, as there is nowhere to rest them whilst the tray is on the table.
There was a little bottle of spicy lemon dressing that I think BA have had on board for years now. I would prefer a simple balsamic dressing or at least the option of something else. For the main I tempted fate again and ordered the beef. It was edible and not too tough but still far from the best steak dish I have had on a plane.
The crew were good with top ups of wine and extra bread during the service. After the mains were done and dusted the offer of dessert or cheese was made. I went with the custard tart which was quite lovely and washed down with a single malt. A bottle of water, Coffee and chocolates were next up before the crew retired to the galley.
About 2 hours out of JFK one of the crew came through the cabin with a tray of juice and water.
An hour later the crew busied themselves with the afternoon tea service.
On offer was:
Afternoon Tea:
Rosemary goat’s cheese and pea shoots with mint dressing
An individual selection of sandwiches featuring cucumber with mint, chicken with coleslaw and smoked salmon
Cake selection of coffee and walnut cake and raspberry fairy cake
I opted for the salad to start and was quite refreshing. The fairy cake was very sweet and sickly but the walnut cake was quite nice. The crew came around with fruit or plain scones that were not listed on the menu. There was a small tub of clotted cream and a tiny jar of strawberry jam to accompany these. Another offer of scones was made as the crew made their way back up the cabin; I declined.
After the afternoon tea service the crew cleared away and started to lock down the cabin for landing. The captain told us ATC had routed us into a holding pattern and we would arrive a little later than expected. It was at this point I realised another downside to the iPad IFE. There is no moving map available so you can't track where you are.
We eventually landed at 17:21 and then taxied to the middle of the field and stopped. After what seemed an eternity the captain finally announced that we were awaiting clearance to cross the active take-off runway. Eventually we started to move along with planes to our left and right.
We made it to the gate at 17:40 where we disembarked just next to the Concorde room. The beauty of this service comes into play at this point as we arrived as domestic passengers and were able to make our way straight out of the building and over to the AA terminal. Of course were praying and hoping that our checked bags would do likewise.
We caught the train over to the AA terminal and made our way into the Premium Check-in area. An agent was soon free and called us over. We explained that we had bags checked from LCY and handed over our baggage receipts. She did some typing and said that the tags were already in their system and that BA were usually pretty good at getting the bags over to them. She printed our BPs and explained we had access to the Flagship lounge and gave us directions. We thanked her and moved on towards security. This was fairly quick and painless although I almost forgot to de-shoe as I am now so used to not doing this in the UK.
We made our way up to the AC and after a little wait in the queue the agent asked another agent who was walking by to escort us into the Flagship lounge. We were seated in the lounge with a beer some 40 minutes after landing at JFK. Pretty impressive. ^
The flagship lounge seems to have more in the way of hot food than I remember and there was salads, two soups, roasted veg salad, tuna salad, rice, cauliflower and an Indian spiced chicken breast. There was also the usual crudités and snacks along with a selection of wines and beers and some sparkling wine.
I grabbed a Sam Adams and a bowl of chowder to slurp on whilst waiting.
We headed down to the gate a little early and that required us going down under the tarmac to the infield terminal. We waited at the gate a few minutes before proper premium boarding was announced with First class being asked to board first before any elite passengers.
We walked up had our BPs scanned and wandered on down the ramp.
Flight AA1515 JFK-MCO Seat 5F
Aircraft: 737
Departure time: 19:45
We were greeted as we boarded and made our way to our seats. I sat my jacket on my knees and it was eventually taken and hung by the crew once the boarding scrum settled down. We were offered a pre take-off beverage and I just went with some tomato juice.
The captain announced a flying time of 2 hours and 36 minutes and after the cabin was locked down we pushed back at 19:45. The safety demonstration was played in English and then in Spanish as it seems to be these days on AA flights. I saw an interesting article online that predicted that there would be more native Spanish speakers in the US than English speakers buy 2025!
The two crew working the front cabin, were well, umm, ancient. The woman seemed to me to be older than my Mum who is 77. They were however both efficient and friendly and were constantly working the cabin and did a good job with what AA gave them to work with.
First up was a round of drinks and the lovely warm nuts. Over the years these little dishes of nuts have shrunk and we have seen the hideous soybeans come and go, but I still feel like I am back on AA when that dish of nuts appears. As usual I chose my scotch and dry to accompany this little treat. My drink was refilled and further offers were made and declined.
There was some entertainment playing on the main screens but I wasn’t really taking much notice. The crew had handed out small bud style earphones for our use. I find these things next to useless, as they never seem to want to stay in my ears. The only other IFE option was the in-seat IFE option of various radio channels.
The flight was fairly uneventful and around an hour out the smell of fresh baked cookies lingered into the cabin. Soon the crew were out offering a chocolate chip cookie warm from the over with coffee and liqueurs. I decided to finish the night off with a baileys on ice.
I was a bot disappointed that AA didn't think that a service at that hour and of that length didn't require anything more substantial in the way of food in their front cabin.
We landed at 22:30 and taxied to the gate. After walking off we made our way on a small train to the main terminal and went down to the baggage claim area. We met our pre-arranged driver and waited for our bags to appear, hoping like heck that they made the connection at JFK ok. My friends' bag appeared first, much to our relief and mine followed soon after.
A 40 minute or so drive later we rocked up at the Swan hotel and checked in for 4 nights.
A few more photos can be found here
Last edited by Moomba; Nov 8, 2011 at 11:43 am
Nov 6, 2011, 2:36 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,606
Very nice ^ I'm moving some business over to EXP so I'm looking forward to using this as one of my options for getting to London.
Nov 6, 2011, 2:48 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: somewhere
Programs: their are many of them
Posts: 1,614
Same Bussiness travelers fly the route. It is a J/F cabin only on the airbus and i haven't heard of about award seats on it much.....
I dunno would prefer the BA 747 any day........ but it is a nice product. though.
Nov 6, 2011, 3:01 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London, UK
Programs: AA 2MM - PLT, BA GGL, SPG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,221
Thanks for the kind words everyone. I will post the return journey as soon as I summon up the energy and time to put it together.
Hi will2288. We were able to access the Flagship lounge as I am Executive Platinum with AA and we were on a same day connect from an international OW operated flight.
I was quite impressed that the check-in agent and the lounge agent didn't even question my access. In fact the check-in agent made a point of telling us where it was.
I was quite impressed that the check-in agent and the lounge agent didn't even question my access. In fact the check-in agent made a point of telling us where it was.
Last edited by Moomba; Nov 6, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Nov 6, 2011, 3:57 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,809
Great report Moomba!
How did you find the LCY service overall? If you had to fly LON-JFK again would you choose that flight or something from LHR?
The catering looks quite good, especially the afternoon tea, when compared to BA's other trans-Atlantic services.
Looking forward to the rest!
How did you find the LCY service overall? If you had to fly LON-JFK again would you choose that flight or something from LHR?
The catering looks quite good, especially the afternoon tea, when compared to BA's other trans-Atlantic services.
Looking forward to the rest!
Nov 6, 2011, 6:16 pm
#9
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,211
Didn't have you down as a Disney World type of bloke Moomba....that's shocking news.
Very good report as usual. ^
Would you fly on it again or would you prefer to go from LHR?
Nov 6, 2011, 11:04 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,464
INteresting report however why does BA use a A318 and not the A319 which can make the LCY-JFK without stopping in SNN? Is it due the face the runway is not long enough for a fully loaded A319 take off? ALso the hour + in SNN for customs would equal the same total time if the flight went straight to JFK. Anyhow great report...
Nov 6, 2011, 11:12 pm
#11
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,809
It is almost as you describe. LCY cannot take a fully laden A318 due to the steep climb angle required, hence the stop.
Nov 7, 2011, 12:44 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,464
Nov 7, 2011, 1:15 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London, UK
Programs: AA 2MM - PLT, BA GGL, SPG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,221
Great report Moomba!
How did you find the LCY service overall? If you had to fly LON-JFK again would you choose that flight or something from LHR?
The catering looks quite good, especially the afternoon tea, when compared to BA's other trans-Atlantic services.
Looking forward to the rest!
How did you find the LCY service overall? If you had to fly LON-JFK again would you choose that flight or something from LHR?
The catering looks quite good, especially the afternoon tea, when compared to BA's other trans-Atlantic services.
Looking forward to the rest!
Yes the 318 leaves LCY without a full load of fuel. It then refuels when in SNN.
Would I do it again? If flying direct to JFK or there is no other direct route to where I am going then I possibly would.
The crew were great and the food and drink were acceptable. Even though the overall trip time would be equivalent to a direct flight and a wait at immigration at JFK I would still prefer this service. I haven't tried the seat as a bed so I can't comment on the return flights. Certainly the queues at immigration at LCY have never been as horrendous as those I have seen at T5 at times.
It feels much more private and special and besides I would rather spend time in the air than queuing for immigrations. The fact that you can exit the airport as a domestic arrival is fabulous. The layover in SNN was only 40 minutes or so and it wasn't a painful experience at all.