Gatwick Alan

Travelling with "The World Journey" Alliance

Last year i did a round the world in 16 days trip. Now im comletely hooked, i asked my company if i could have 2 months off to do it properly and to my surprise they said yes, so jm already planning my trip next October, meanwhile ive got 12 days holiday left. Hmmm, what to do with it. I looked at the various options, Star Alliance, Oneworld, Skyteam and then i find this collection of airlines who have banded together as "the world journey" to offer round the world tickets.The only criteria is to make sure i reach the U.S to see the superbowl on TV (it doesnt start til 11pm in the UK). Eventually i come up with a plan, LHR-CPT-KUL-HNL(VIA NRT)-LAS(VIA LAX)-LGW(VIA IAH). So i book it and off we go.

THURS 26TH JANUARY
LHR - CPT
SAA 221 (747-400)
SEAT 15C (BUSINESS)
DEP 8.15PM, PUSH BACK 8.20, TAKE OFF 9.10PM
ARR 9.50AM, ACTUAL 10.08 AM

Its my first flight on SAA, so i take a leisurely trip up to Heathrow and pop to see my colleagues working there for a coffee, before checking in.
Im pleased to see we are using terminal 1 rather than the zoo that is terminal 3 and check in is a breeze. The lady on check in looks through my tickets and gives a strange look and then asks me what nationality i am, a bit odd when she has my passport on the counter. She then sees im still wearing my airside pass, so probably isnt surprised when i ask about an upgrade into First, alas its a full flight so i dont get one.
Through Security fast track where we have introduced the Laptop out rule (thanks America!) and within moments im off to sample the delights of the SAA lounge.The lounge itself is quite nice with a decent smoking room the drinks are fine with a serviced bar, but oh dear, the food was the worst offerings in my experience,packs of crisps, cheesy biscuits and cake was the total choice. 2 hours flew by when i struck up a conversation with a lovely lady called Christine in the smoking room. We discussed most everything and i was amazed to find she was a rocker like me, and knew and owned some of the vague bands i enjoy such as Kings X, Axel Rudi Pell and D.A.D.
We exchanged e-mails and i ended with an invite to visit her in Jo'burg.
Time had come to board the plane, and like so many of you just love being told to turn left!, i was shown to my seat, had my jacket hung for me and took in the surroundings. The first think you notice is the amazing amount of space between the seats. i was in the front business section with a total of 14 seats, unlike most airlines SAA has upstairs fitted out as economy.
We pushed back 5 minutes late and then got to watch the SAA safety video which is done in a comedy cartoon style, which works because i actually watched it and enjoyed it!!
We queued for ever on the heathrow parking lot until we eventually got off the ground at 9.10pm.
My sparky flight attendant was excellent, soon had me sussed out, if it could be eaten or drunk i was going to have it. I didnt get the wine list, but champagne,2 reds and 2 whites were on offer and you were given a taster first, which i thought was a nice touch. The menu was as follows-

Dinner
Starter - Marinated fan tail prawns and smoked tuna with mango and lime salsa
- Seasonal salad served with red pepper mayonnaise.

Main - Grilled lamb loin tapenade with lamb jus served with roasted new potatoes, buttered broccoli florets and griled red peppers
- Salmon delice complemented by creamy herbed saffron sauce, served with baby carrots,grilled courgettes and basmati rice
- Roasted corn fed chicken breast accompanied by red pepper coulis, served with linguini pasta, ratatouille and grilled baby fennel
- Spinach and ricotta pasta blended with a 3 cheese sauce topped with chakalaka vegetables and tomato concasse

Cheese plate - Cachel blue, Double gloucester and Bourgon Melusine disc served with port wine

Dessert - Vanilla and peach ice cream with butterscotch suace complemented by a wafer fan and toasted almonds

After that lot it was time to try out the flat bed with pillow and duvet provided. It does go completely flat and my only complaint was that the cushion joins stick into you, it was wide enough for you to lay on your side and the seat was infinately adjustable, so getting comfortable wasnt a problem. I woke up to be greeted by the flight attendant saying "Ah i see we have one person in the cabin ready for breakfast!" She was right and the menu is below-

Breakfast
Selected fruit juices
Sliced fresh fruit
Natural or fruit flavoured yoghurt
Cereal, muesli or cornflakes
Scrambled eggs with chopped chives, grilled cumberland sausage, char grilled gammon steaks and lyonnaise potatoes
Bread basket served with butter and preserves.

I enjoyed the flight, the seat belt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after take off and not turned on again til 10 minutes before landing.
We arrived at a coaching gate at CPT, well i could ony see 2 air bridges and all the other gates seemed to be coaching gates.
The immigration was very quick, baggage was also very quick and the first and business bags came out first!
Jumped straight into a cab (well i had a cigarette first) and was at the hotel 50 minutes after leaving the plane.

FRIDAY 27TH JANUARY - MONDAY 30TH JANUARY

CAPE TOWN
When you visit Cape Town, the number one tourist attraction is Table Mountain, so i was gutted to hear it was closed due to fires on the mountain. It became more disappointing when i heard the fire had killed a british tourist and had been started by another Brit who had thrown a lighted cigarette out of his car, when i phoned home i heard the Brit was from my home town. The good news is that he has been caught and charged with culpable homicide.
This wasnt going to stop me enjoying myself, and a day trip to the cape of good hope national park showed me some fantastic scenery, around every turn you come across another bay that just takes your breath away, it was a great day.
Instead of going up the mountain i walked and walked, taking in some historic buildings, parks and the downtown area.
I'd been warned to watch myself in Cape Town but the taxi driver told me a different story, he said that 3 years ago Cape Town was considered one of the most unsafe cities in the world but was now in the top ten safest cities. The reason for this has been the introduction of security personnel all over the town where tourists might go to supplement the police, along with a campaign to get people off the streets and back into work. The area between the Holiday Inn Waterfront where i stayed and the Waterfront complex used to be a muggers paradise, but there has not been a single mugging in this area for the last 18 months.
I did notice the security people when i walked around, i had a chat with one and he worked for securicor, they are all radio linked. I felt safe all the time i was here, next time i'll hire a car and go and spend more time with that fantastic scenery.
Checked out of the hotel at 7.00am Monday and caught a cab back to the airport.
More to follow...........

PJK

Some side-info: this is also known as the 'old' KL/CO/NW/etc RTW... before they joined SkyTeam. Still available, and the best fare in my opinion. Especially for the Pacific/Micronesia. Backtracking within an ATA-region allowed.

Full rules: http://www.searchtravels.com/index.cfm?menuid=717

and

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327567

Gatwick Alan

MONDAY 30TH JANUARY
CPT - JNB - KUL
MH 202 (747-400)
SEAT 17K (GOLDEN CLUB CLASS)
DEP 10.45AM, PUSH BACK 10.40, TAKE OFF 10.45AM
ARR JNB 12.30PM, ACTUAL 12.18 PM
DEP JNB 14.10, PUSH BACK 14.45, TAKE OFF 14.50
ARR KUL 6.20 AM, ACTUAL 6.30 AM
Looking around check in was like a ghost town, one agent checking in Qatar and that was it, people were milling around wondering what was going on especially those o Virgin with a 16 hour delay. Eventually i managed to collar a lady who agreed to open a check in for me. After checking in and painfully extracting a decent seat, according to her business class doesnt have an exit row! Security was a breeze.
Malaysia share the premier lounge with a number of other airlines, it was quite nice but once again the food was lacking. The plane arrived from Buenos Aires 20 minutes early. When i boarded the plane the downsrairs business class section only had 2 people in it. Unsurprisingly we had a very personal service. As soon as you get on an asian airlne you can spot the difference, i was immediately addressed as Mr Alan. The flight to Joburg is only 1and a half hours, we were served a snack as below

Hot Savouries
Chicken Skewer with barbecue sauce
Salmon Trieellis
Mini vegetable pizza

Seasonal fresh fruits

Was offered seconds and thirds

When we go to Joburg we were given the option of staying on or taking a transit pass, i chose the latter. Can only comment on the airside part , but i thought Joburg was a fine airport. For all you smokers out there, Joburg has got the best smoking lounge in the world, better than some business lounges ive been in. Each of the seats had an internet point with plug sockets for most countries without the need for an adaptor, they also had computers for hire. A full wall tv, bar with waiter service and a food service completed the lounge. I was amazed.
Managed to buy a couple of gifts (yes Jo-anne and Mum, they are for you) before reboarding.
We had a different crew for this leg, the crew that brought us up on that 90 minute leg now get 3 days in Joburg until the next flight comes in, which they will then take to KL. From Buenos Aires to KL takes them nearly a week!
The new crew all called me Mr Alan, at least 4 different ones at various times. Business was about 50% full this time and i managed 2 seats to myself.
As i suspected we werent likely to get one of the refits on this route and indeed we didnt. The old seats are not the best for sleeping in.
Lunch was huge as follows

Malaysian Satay - our famous charcoal grilled chicken and beef skewers topped with spicy peanut sauce (i had 4 of each)

Appetiser - Smoked Pepper Mackerel and herbed butterfish on a bed of fine mixed lettuce

Panfried Chilean Salmon Fillet with Lemon Thyme sauce
or
Grilled Supreme of chicken stuffed with sun dried tomato
or
Gnocchi with cheese sauce, Roasted Tomato Butternut and stuffed olives

Vegetables and Accompaniments
Gratinated chateau potato
Rainbow basmati rice
Broccoli florette and butternut sticks
Mixed mini chateau vegetables

Cheese Plate

Chocolate Truffle topped with meringue (to die for!!!!)

Bread selection

I like having my main course served from the trolley in front of me, you can see what you are getting and choose how much.

After lunch the lights were dimmed and while i tried to sleep the flight attendants performed the keeping your water glass full when you are not looking trick.

2 hours out they served breakfast

Health drink
Fresh fruit juices
Seasonal fresh fruit
Corn flakes

Mushroom and spinach egg bake with veal sausage, rissolee potatoes with onions and chives
or
Crumbed crab balls served with hollandaise sauce accompanied by sauteed mushroom, spinach, tomato and rissolee potatoes
or
Spinach and cheese pancake with vegetable cream sauce

Bakery selection with jam, marmalade or honey

Not great if you hate spinach!, luckily i dont

Immigration was really quick and polite, baggage took a little longer and seemed to come out at randon ,but i guess you can understand this when they have picked up bags from 3 airports along the way.
Its the chinese new year so the roads were empty (a first for me ) and the taxi got me to the Crown Plaza Hotel in 35 minutes, instead of the usual 1 hour plus.

More to follow in a few days

Gatwick Alan

TUESDAY 31ST JANUARY - THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

The Malaysian scam.
When you come to KL if youve been before theres only one place to visit, the BB plaza, all the shops at the front sell legal software, i went to the shops at the back and brought DVD's and PC games at about £1 each, the vast majority of them work, and at the price you pay who cares about the others.
So im ambling back to the hotel via the Petronas Towers when i am stopped by this malaysian lady of about 50 years of age,she asks me if im english to which i say yes, she tells me her daughter is going to study at Leeds university and she is worried about it, would i talk to her daughter for 10 minutes to give her some tips. She asks if i will go to her house which is only 5 minutes away, at the time it all seemed so plausible that i said yes and 5 minutes later im at her house, her husband and daughter are there along with a couple of children. In true asian style they offer me a drink and then some food. After im chatting to her husband and he tells me he is a dealer at a casino in the Highlands and worked at the Flamingo in Vegas for 18 months, he does speak exceptional english. He gets out a card table, some counters and shows me how some dealers have tried to cheat at blackjack. He then tells me that he has a Brunei lady coming round to play Mah-Jong with him and that she is a mad gambler from the casino.He says we could try the blackjack treats out on her. She arrives and he asks her if she would play a few hands of blackjack with me as he has been teaching me as a novice. She says yes. At this point my suspicions are beginning to rise and i am on my guard. I should also say that i never walk around with lots of money on me. He gives me and his wife who is playing with me 300 ringgits to play with. We play 3 hands with him showing me her or my next card. Naturally i win. The Brunei lady the ups the stake with her bet, i agree to put 200 ringgit to match it, i win. She says 1 more hand, after the deal she has 20, i take an extra card and have 21, she bets and to my amazement gets US$ 20000 out of her handbag and puts it on the table. Obviously neither i nor the wife can match it, but the wife says she may be able to get it or most of it, so the cards are sealed into envelopes and we sign across the seal. The cards and the money are then locked in a drawer, and the lady drives off with the key in her possession as all her money is in the drawer, along with my 200 ringgit (about £30).
The husband then presses me to help raise the money, do i have a credit card, could i go to an ATM. What is the risk he says, we both end up withUS$10000 each and i know ive won. As the saying goes if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. I refuse to help, he says he will try himself to raise the money and will i comeback to the envelope opening as i signed it. I agree knowing i have no intention of doing so and take my leave. I never heard from them again. The experience cost me £30 and in a funny way it was worth it, i just wonder if they have found someone mug enough to go the whole way and get out the money from the bank.
I dont know how the sting ends but could probably guess.

Back to more mundane matters, the Crown Plaza is a great hotel if you are in one of the Club Suites, a real bargain.

Early tomorrow its off to Hawaii

More soon

Gatwick Alan

THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY - THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

The taxi arrived on time and a trouble free trip to the airport later and im at the Malaysian check in at KL. Ive been worrying that they wouldnt be able to check my luggage through to Honolulu as im changing onto Northwest at Narita, but it wasnt a problem and within moments im on my way, through security and into the truly excellent Golden Club lounge. Now this is what all airline lounges should be like, huge lounge, huge choice of food and drink, good views and free wireless access throughout. Spent some time talking on messenger to Jo-anne back in England and before i knew it, boarding time had arrived.
KUL - NRT
MH 70 (777)
SEAT 3A (BUSINESS)
DEP 11.O5AM, PUSH BACK 11.00, TAKE OFF 11.10M
ARR 6.35PM, ACTUAL 6.28 PM

When i walked on board my eyes lit up, we had one of the new 777's and of the 35 business class seats, only 5 had passengers in them, including me. I knew this was going to be a good flight.
Unless anybody asks i wont list another Malaysia Airlines menu, suffice to say the food was nice and plenty of it. The new seats are good, except in the total upright position where the front cushion joint cuts into your leg. There were 5 crew serving 5 passengers so we had an exceptional service, my flight attendant, a 29 year old lady came and chatted with me for about half an hour, we talked about flights, flying, places and then she started telling me about herself. Apparently the crew all take the mickey out of her because she is still not married at 29 years old. The poor girl is really quite worried about being left on the shelf, shes sweet and pretty, any of you guys need a wife? At the end of the flight she came over and shooked my hand and thanked me for being a wonderful passenger, i thanked her for being a wonderful flight attendant, it all got quite emotional, excuse me while i get a tissue!

I cant say i enjoyed my transfer experience at Narita. After deplaning i walked around to the coach transfer gate and waited and waited, the place was deserted, finally after 30 minutes a bus turned up and the driver brought round a clipboard and made me fill in my transfer details and sign the form before he would transfer me between the terminals, finally with that done we were bussed over to gate 28, close to the Northwest gates. The flight connections desk wasnt manned so i went up to the Northwest lounge to try and get the lady on the front desk to issue my boarding pass. She told me i didnt need one and just to use my ticket to get on the plane. I couldnt convince her this wasnt right, so getting irritated i headed to the gate which wasnt yet manned. However the next gate was and it had two NW flights 10 and 30 which had been amalgamated into one. I thought id try my luck and see if i could get moved up onto that flight but it was full. They did issue the boarding pass for my flight, after several phone calls about my luggage, they could understand how it had been interlined, even though i had the stub to show it. This got me suspecting my luggage would not make it to Honolulu, but it did, complete with a tokyo security"we have inspected your luggage" tag. After all this hassle i thought a drink in NW's lounge was in order. On the way to the lounge i saw the captain for our flight, which had been changed to a DC10 from a 747. This didnt impress me much as just lately at Gatwick ive seen a few appearances of the DC10's in the maintenance hanger, the captain explained that NW were now outsourcing a lot of their maintenance, and LGW was one of the places that they had outsourced to.
The NW lounge is a large and quite impressive place, loads of space and reasonable food and drink selection.

NRT - HNL
NW 22 (DC10)
SEAT 1A (BUSINESS)
DEP 9.10PM, PUSH BACK 9.00, TAKE OFF 9.10M
ARR 8.40 AM, ACTUAL 7.58 AM

Let me be upfront and say i had low expectations from my Northwest flight, but i was to be pleasantly surprised. The seat was comfortable, i slept ok on it, in fact it was better than the old Malaysian seat. Seat 1A had plenty of legroom being a bulkhead. The crew were interactive with the passengers, friendly and even called you by name when serving dinner. The menu they hand out doesnt do justice to the food served, not listing the aperitif or the fresh fruit salad that was served. The beef that i had was tender and tasty. The flight was extremely fast arriving 40 minutes early. If my next 2 NW flights are as good as this one i will happily use them again.

After such good experiences with immigration so far, could HNL live up to comparison, well the answer was yes. Im used to the print, print, photo routine by now. When i got into the immigration hall, loads of desks were open and i walked straight up to a friendly officer who welcomed me to Honolulu and told me to enjoy my stay. Through to baggage where NW were sharing a belt with Phillapinnes airlines. All the baggage was boxes, hardly a suitcase to be seen. Ours arrived after not too long a wait, and customs were also very friendly. Dont know if this is just because its Hawaii or if the TSA are really trying harder to be friendly.
After walking outside, i was accosted by Bambi the Hertz desk agent who somehow correctly identified me as a Hertz customer. She did the paperwork, the bus was outsde and 5 minutes later i was in my car. Getting off the plane to driving away in the car, 35 minutes, in the US, pretty amazing eh?

More to follow in a few days

Gatwick Alan

THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY - MONDAY 6TH FEBRUARY

I had a holiday to Hawaii planned with my partner, but the flight was scheduled for 12th September 2001 so obviously it didnt happen. We ended up spending 2 weeks in Tampa when flights resumed. That year my flights were booked with United in economy and i'd only ever flown business class twice in my life, a return flight from BKK to LHR and a couple of internal flights in Asia. Since then ive obviously become more grouchy as i find economy increasingly unacceptable. Anyway back to this trip. I'd booked a little place on the beach in Hau'ula which is to the north of the island so i took a leisurly drive from the airport. As soon as you get away from the south of the island its hard to get lost as there is only one main road and i found the place easily. I'd been told that Oahu was not one of the more attractive islands, well as i was driving up the coast, the scenery looked pretty good to me. There were 2 things that reminded me of England, firstly the poor road surfaces and secondly it rained. One thing i really like about america is the choice of radio stations, i found another one Classic Rock 105.9, which allowed me to sing quite happily when driving round, just as well i was on my own!
After bedding in on Thursday i took to driving round the island. Its quite amazing how different the weather can be just a few miles apart and how different the north and south of the island is, you would think you were in a different country. Up the north, small shops and roadside traders, Down the South, highrise and commercialised. It certainly gives you a choice on where to stay and what to do.
Id love to come back and do the other islands, shame its such a longhaul for us Brits, but when you get here its sure worth it
Drove back to the airport on monday evening, dropped off the rental car and then its time for the next leg, Las Vegas

MONDAY 6TH FEBRUARY - TUESDAY 7TH FEBRUARY

I found the airport and car rental return way too easily and arrived at the airport far too early, a quick and efficient check in led me to security. Security was quiet and all of the personnel were friendly and polite.
Firstly they found my lighter, which id completely forgotten about and confiscated it. Then they took my laptop away for "tests", i had it returned to me shortly thereafter with the proclamation "Alan, youre laptop is fine". Well thats a relief, i wonder what they thought might have been wrong with it. After getting dressed and repacking after security, i decided i needed a drink and headed for the Northwest world club lounge, only to be told that domestic first does not allow you access to the lounge. I complained that i was on a business round the world ticket and should be allowed in. The lady at the desk checked the rules and agreed and welcomed me in. The lounge isnt very big and has a rubbish selection of food and drinks, but it does have free northwest wireless access, so im not complaining. Honolulu is a nice airport, but some things strike me as a little odd, the smoking area is on an outside link bridge and you are 30 yards from the plane on gate 13, i assume the refuelling is done elsewhere! There is also a sort of sunken garden area which is part illuminated by naked flame torches.
HNL - LAX
NW 90 (757-300)
SEAT 5C (FIRST)
DEP 11.15PM, PUSH BACK 11.10, TAKE OFF 11.30PM
ARR 6.20AM, ACTUAL 6.28 AM

Another good flight by NW, thats 2 out of 2, shame i wont be using them again after the next flight as i cant earn any useful points with them. I did try to join their scheme but in a provocatively discriminatory act, they tried to force me to join the flying blue scheme which is the laughing stock of europe. i of course refused their kind offer and will therefore be going star alliance next time.The late night meal on board i have read in other posts, it was the chicken and pasta combo, which was ok. Another good flight attendant, very camp and very funny. I think hes a cocktail waiter in the wrong job, he was certainly enthusiastically giving out alchoholic cocktails before take off and non alchoholic ones before landing. He'd been doing the Gatwick run so we exchanged a few stories about the airport

LAX - LAS
NW 628 (A320)
SEAT 4A (FIRST)
DEP 9.40AM, PUSH BACK 9.40, TAKE OFF 9.50AM
ARR 10.48AM, ACTUAL 10.37 AM

Well i was delighted not to have to change terminals at LAX and didnt see much wrong with terminal 2 other than it would be a boring place for a 3 hour layover, so i headed to the worldclub lounge. The guy in front of me was being refused access, i was allowed in after the desk agent had checked her records. NW seem to have a strict policy on club lounge use, perhaps thats why it was mostly empty.
The flight to Vegas was only in the air for 47 minutes, no complaints, but it got me wondering why anyone would pay for, or spend miles on First for such a short trip. The drinks service was identical, as were the snacks. For 47 minutes it doesnt seem worth paying for 5 inches extra legroom.
Arrived at a heaving Las Vegas airport and waited 35 minutes for the luggage to appear on the belt, when i'd got my luggage went out to the cab rank to see the longest queue for a cab i'd ever seen. Mind you it did move very quickly.

TUESDAY 7TH FEBRUARY - THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY
,
Thanks to reading the tips about taking a taxi in the Las Vegas section of flyertalk i was ready with the right abswer when the taxi driver asked me "streets or freeway". I chose streets.
Im staying in Caesers Palace, which is surprisingly busy for a Tuesday. The room is ok, though the carpet is a bit grubby. I havent been to Vegas for about 5 years, and the only time before that was 20 years ago aspart of my first ever trip to the states. Last time i didnt really enjoy it that much, maybe it was the location at the Las Vegas Hilton, but this time i had a great time. I'd like to tell you guys that i won loads of money whilst i was here, i'd like to but it wouldnt be true, i lost my money like most other people. Seeing the amount of building work going on, i wonder what this place will look like in 5 years time.
Walking up and down the strip, my favourite hotel would have to be New York New York, being in the construction industry, that must have been one hell of a complex to construct, and i thought i had problems organising the work at Gatwick
All too soon its time to leave so its a cab back to the airport.

Last installment at the weekend

Gatwick Alan

THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY - FRIDAY 10TH FEBRUARY

A quick and efficient check in by CO, seats correctly allocated and luggage checked through to LGW without a query (unlike US Air), boarding passes issued for both flights and im on my way to the D gates. I like LAS, its a god airport, spacious and easy to navigate, and i have to report that the TSA were polite and friendly at security.

LAS - IAH
CO 496 (757-300)
SEAT 2C (FIRST)
DEP 11.35AM, PUSH BACK 11.40, TAKE OFF 11.55AM
ARR 4.40PM, ACTUAL 4.35 PM

This was a full flight, the flight crew were efficient but not friendly. The food choice was Chicken ceasar salad or Philly cheesesteak, which i had, Asparagus soup was also offered,which i declined.
I asked one of the crew if they knew which terminal we would arrive at but they didnt know, they said they would make an announcement half hour out, but never did. Because people had the blinds down i didnt know which terminal i was in until i walked out of the gate. I was delighted to find i was in the "E" terminal, the same as my international flight.
A quick trip to the presidents club, to messenger jo-anne and arrange my pick up in the morning. I was asked if i would be prepared to downgrade to economy, the offer was $1000 travel voucher and 15000 miles (which i dont collect), i declined. The club was heaving so i did a quick bit of duty free shopping and it was time to board
IAH - LGW
CO 4 (777)
SEAT 2C (BUSINESS FIRST)
DEP 7.00PM, PUSH BACK 7.05, TAKE OFF 7.25PM
ARR 9.55PAM, ACTUAL 9.50 AM

The business first seats are probably the best on offer by an american carrier. The food was fine, im sure you'll forgive me for not typing the menu, if you want to see it , its here http://www.continental.com/travel/in...602/iahlgw.asp
Ive got to say this was the most miserable flight crew ive ever encountered, i pity the people in economy. With the excaption of the chief purser not one smile all flight, no interaction with passengers at all. And why do CO use all plastic cutlery, not as the sarcastic flight attendant said "because your queen says so".
This has put me right off CO, give me NW anytime
When i got to LGW and went to the baggage belt, my brand new suitcase had been smashed up. The girls at the baggage desk were good and offered to take me to the baggage shop to buy a new one, but as jo-anne was waiting outside and had been moved on by a traffic warden, i declined and told them i would see them next week when im back at work at the airport.

So thats it, another holiday over, roll on October when i undertake my 2 month trip

Alan

oopsz

nice report! liked the personal touches. good to hear your travel experiences in america weren't horrendous

this fare seems like a real deal, with coverage in south america, africa and asia.

civicmon

Wow man that's a pretty neat KL story. Good thing you only lost 30 gbp