More Champagne Sir?

This is the third and final report on my recent trip to the USA. Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here.

When booking this final flight home as part of my bmi reward booking, I'd initially tried to get a flight out of NYC as late as possible in the evening so that I'd have as much of my final day in New York to actually spend in the city rather than at an airport. I'd even been willing to fly indirect to London, perhaps on the late flight from IAD, or on SQ to FRA and then home to LHR, but UA956 departing JFK at 18:13 was the only flight across the Atlantic that day (Wed 13 Sept) with availability in a premium cabin, and hence I took the seat.

However, I was determined that my last day in NYC with my parents would not be cut short and against the advice of my hotel concierge, I booked the Super Shuttle to collect me from my hotel (Crowne Plaza Times Square) at 15:30. Even when booking this, the Super Shuttle discouraged it, advising me that to be safe I should take the 13:30 bus . No way was I leaving Manhattan 5 hours before my flight!! Anyway, I knew the journey should take about 45 mins, perhaps an hour maximum, so I felt confident that I'd be at the airport by 16:30, just under 2 hours before my flight, which in my opinion when traveling in an elite cabin is easily sufficient time.

So, Super Shuttle booked, I enjoyed my last day in New York, culminating the holiday with lunch at the United Nations building in the Delegates' Dining Room. I'd visited the restaurant about ten years prior as a child and was keen to re-visit it and experience the excellent buffet and the even better dessert buffet I was not disappointed! After lunch, we took a cab back to the hotel arriving there at about 15:00. My folks went up to their room to pack (they were flying back to London on paid tickets and therefore had chosen a late-evening flight departing at about 22:30) whilst I headed round the corner to the local cyber-cafe to experience United online Easy 'Chicken' for the first time. All went smoothly and within a couple of minutes I had my self-printed Boarding Pass in my hand, and I headed back to the hotel.

I said my goodbyes to the parents and at 15:25 went outside onto Broadway to wait for the Super Shuttle..... 15:30....... 15:35........ 15:40......... 15:45.......... so I'm now starting to get slightly nervous, I ring the bus company, who apologise and assure me the guy will be with me in a couple of minutes....... 15.50.......... 15.55 and eventually he arrives just before 4pm, some 30 minutes late . I'm not impressed and I make that point quite clear to the driver who apologises profusely, before inviting me to seat in the front seat of the van (row 1... first class... made me feel special ). We made one more pick-up from a hotel near Central Park and headed over the upper level of the bridge out towards JFK. Thankfully the roads seem to be quite clear, and I start a conversation with the driver who assures me will be there quickly and I'll make my flight. But no sooner does he say that, we hit a solid wall of red brake lights. BROOKLYN GRIDLOCK. At this point, I'm thinking to myself: "why oh why was I so cocky? why didn't I listen to the concierge and get an earlier bus?", but I realise that there's no point worrying about it, I'm stuck, there's nothing I can do, and by the look of it I'm going to miss a flight for the first time EVER in my life.

We crawl slowly through the traffic, the driver comes off the highway and takes us through residential streets, back routes and shortcuts, however these are all pretty busy too. This is not good. At this point my trip report loses some detail as combined with the heat in the van, and my early start that day, I fell asleep!

Next thing I know, we're entering the JFK complex the driver is shouting out, asking all his passengers which terminal they need. I immediately look down at my watch to see 17:10. Oh my god, the flight leaves in 1 hour and I haven't even made it to Terminal 7, let alone checked my bags in!! Well, somebody upstairs must have been smiling down at me, as the driver passed Terminals 1/2/3 complex, passed Terminals 4 and 5, passed Terminal 6 and chose to go up the Terminal 7 departures ramp first, despite the fact that nearly everybody onboard needed T1 and I was the only person for T7!! He dropped me off outside the United entrance and got my two huge bags from back of the bus, and I rushed into the terminal. It was now 17:20. 55 minutes till departure! By fluke I entered the terminal using the doors at the far-right of the building, directly in front of the United Elite check-in counters which were completely empty. In fact, there was only one United agent covering all the desks, and he was sitting at the United First counter. I rushed over to him and asked if I could check in at his desk for Business class, to which he smiled and said "yes, of course". He asked me where I was heading to which I replied London, semi-expecting him to say "sorry, you're too late" but that response never came and he efficiently tagged my bags (adding bright orange priority stickers) and replaced my printed boarding pass with a Gold boarding pass which he placed along with my baggage receipts and arrivals lounge invitation card in a Gold envelope. I had this at SFO for my p.s. flight in F, and was pleased to see the Gold stationary applied to J as well as F. I do really like this touch. Just as I was about to leave the counter, another United Rep (who I later found out to be the supervisor) came to the desk and asked the agent who'd served me if he'd "ever heard of L-C-Y some airport in London other than Heathrow", my agent said he'd never heard of it, but I interrupted and explained to the supervisor that LCY was London City Airport, a small airport in the Docklands part of London. She then went on to ask me how long it would take to get from LHR to LCY and the best method of transport, as she had a passenger connecting onto a Lufthansa flight off of my LHR flight. I took the time to explain to her that the best fastest option would actually not be taxi all the way, but the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then a taxi to LCY. Both reps were extremely grateful to me for my time and assistance, and despite the fact that my flight was now departing in just under 50 minutes, at no point did they rush me or comment upon how late I was checking in. ^ United.

I turned right and then left going past the US Airways check-in desks, and found myself at the TSA checkpoints which were quite busy. I was considering walking around to the BA part of the terminal and using the Fast Track TSA line that BA operate, when I noticed that the end two lines of the main area were Fast Track lines, and were in fact considerably shorter that the 10 or so other lines. I handed my BP to the agent who confirmed my eligibility to use her line and then went through the performance of undressing at the TSA's pleasure . Security took only a couple of minutes and by 17.35 I was heading up the escalator towards the BA Lounge complex (which by the way, is absolutely brilliant!) and also the RCC lounge, which I found to be really small and quite unfriendly, much like my experience at SFO. United. No sooner had I found a seat, ordered a drink using one of my two free drink vouchers, and sat down, my flight was called for boarding. Normally I like to board the aircraft as late as possible, but for some unknown reason I was keen just to get onboard and sit down! So I headed down to the gate, where I was pleased to see two separate lines, one for economy which was very very long, and one for First and Business which was pretty much empty! The gate agent took my green Visa Waiver slip and wished me a pleasant flight.

I entered the plane at door L2 and was greeted by a nice-looking female attendant who looked at my BP and my seat number (8B), and directed me down the plane saying my seat was on the right. Here's a LINK to the seatmap, and you'll notice that my seat is in fact in the mini J cabin just behind First class, to the left of door L2. I knew this, and asked the agent if she was sure it was to the right, she looked again, laughed, and invited me to turn left. An interesting, and not brilliant start to the flight... Anyway, I got to my seat to find an amenity kit, and menu already there and a seat that looked like it was about 10 years old. It was certainly not to the standard of a business class BA flat-bed Business class seat. More about the seat later...

My jacket was immediately taken and I was offered, OJ water or Champagne, to which I took an OJ. This was a night flight, and personally I can't sleep wearing a shirt and smart trousers, so I headed to the toilet to change into some sleep-pants and a soccer shirt which meant passing door L2 whilst people were still boarding. Helpfully a flight attendant saw what I was trying to do, and invited me to use the First class toilet whilst as we were still on the ground ^^.

After changing, I took my jacket out of the closet and hung my trousers and shirt on the same hanger underneath the jacket, before replacing it back into the closet. Meanwhile the J cabin was starting to get busier with only a couple of spare seats in the mini-cabin, one of which happened to be 8A, directly next to me! I also noticed that F only had 5 passengers out of a possible 12. At this point the flight purser came onto the P.A. system introducing himself and welcoming us all onboard. He was a very funny guy, who obviously knew his stuff, but loved the sound of his own voice and kept on repeating and summarising everything two or three times!

It was now 18:10 and I overheard a flight attendant say that they were waiting for just one passenger. This was excellent news as the seat next to me was still empty. Well, sod's law, the final passenger got onboard and when was he seating? 8A . Oh well, I guess that's life. The doors were closed and I switched to Channel 9, hoping to listen to the flight deck radio. I heard nothing , and as the purser walked by I asked him if Channel 9 would be operational, he told me he'd already checked with the pilot and they would not be switching it on at any point during the flight . I was disappointed, to say the least.

Still, we pushed back on time and as soon as we left the gate, we stopped and went nowhere. The pilot came on the P.A. and said we were number 24 to take off and would be off the ground in 70 minutes!!!! I must admit, I knew JFK got busy but 70 minutes between taxiing away from the gate and take-off is ludicrous!! In the mean-time, the captain said passengers were free to get up and use the toilets but should take there seats and fasten their seat belts as soon as they were done. I musty say, I thought this was a very sensible approach to allow people to do this.

In the mean time, I had a look at the menu:

Champagne
Pol Roger Brut NV Champagne
Laurent Perrier Brut NV Champagne

White Wine
Laboure-Roi 2004 Chablis
Sauvestre 2004 Chablis
Van Loveren Chardonnay 2005 Robertson
Van Loveren Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Robertson

Red Wine
E. Guigal 2001 Cotes du Rhone
Louis Bernard 2004 Cotes du Rhone
Lockwood Merlot 2002 Monterey
Powers Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Columbia Valley


To Begin
Smoked Salmon, Pate en Croute with Pistachio, Wensleydale Cheese and Vegetable Crudite
Fresh Seasonal Greens with Country Ranch or Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

Main Course
Braised Beef Short Ribs with Port Wine Sauce
Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breast with Black Peppercorn Cream Sauce
Pasta Rotollo
Express Dine - (Fresh Entree Salad topped with a hot pecan-crusted chicken breast and served with a classic Caesar dressing and Eli's Crème Caramel Cheesecake for dessert)

Dessert
International Cheese Selection
Ice Cream

Prior to Arrival
Continental Breakfast Featuring a Fruit Appetizer, yogurt, Breakfast Bread and Fruit Preserves.


Those of you that have read this trip report will know how much I enjoyed the Pasta Rotollo, so I was delighted to see it onboard again. However, this time I had a kosher meal booked, so I asked one of the flight attendants if it would be possible to have the Pasta for main course instead of my Kosher main course. She apologised and said No, as they only carried enough main courses on board for one per person, and in effect told me that if I didn't want a special meal, I shouldn't have ordered one. I went back to my seat understanding her point, but still feeling somewhat dejected and as if I'd just been told off like a naughty school child . A couple of minutes later though, the purser comes over to me, and starts apologising to me as for some reason my Kosher Meal has not been loaded !!!!! He was full of apologies and asked me if there was anything from the normal menu that I'd like instead (I realised that he had not already spoken to the colleague I'd just spoken to) I asked for the pasta and he told me he'd hold one back for me before he went around and took everybody's orders. He apologised again, and as he left I had a big smirk on my face from ear to ear!!

Through the open curtain I could see the purser taking all the F passengers orders, but to my surprise I could also hear that they were being offered, Beef, Chicken or Pasta.. i.e. the same offerings as J! I was sure they'd have a greater selection of entrees to go with their F experience. I also had a look over our wine list and again considered having two champagnes, four reds, and four whites an EXCELLENT transatlantic business class offering, double that of American Airlines First Class transatlantic offering.

We eventually took off, and after about 15 minutes in the air, the IFE was started, along with yet another repetitive announcement from our friendly purser! The films available were:

The Family Stone
An Inconvenient Truth
Just My Luck
Over the Hedge
Poseidon
The Sentinel
X-Men: The Last Stand

In business class, the films were viewed through personal screens which were stowed in the armrests in between the seats. I watched The Sentinel (good film, but ending is too obvious), whilst I ate dinner. The salad was fresh which I accompanied with a very nice (but I imagine very fattening ) ranch sauce. The pasta was as good as I remembered it from the previous week, and once again left me know room for dessert! It was now about 2130 or 0230 UK time, and I decided to try and get some sleep. However whilst the lights were off in the J cabin and most people asleep, the F cabin lights were still on bright and the curtain directly in front of me had not been closed The seat featured a foot rest that came up and extended, and also a reclining seat back. All of these were controlled with manual buttons on the arm-rest. Unfortunately, it did not go flat and ended up in an angle, flat, angle position made up of the seat back, the main seat bit, and the foot rest (hope that makes sense). On the plus side the pillow was large and quite thick and the blanket was long enough to cover the entire seat. I ended up sleeping for about three and a half hours meaning I completely missed breakfast. I awoke as we were somewhere over Ireland, with the pilot announcing that he was putting the seat-belt sign on for landing. I rushed to the toilets to change back into my proper clothes and out of my 'pyjamas' and re-packed my hand luggage ready for landing. However we then circled LHR round and round and round as the backlog of flights who made it to London before the 6am landing curfew cleared. Whilst we circled, the purser took it upon himself to spend 15 minutes on the PA describing LHR, what the four terminals were called (!!), which airlines served which terminal etc., all useful information but perhaps it would be better presented to pax on a leaflet rather than from Mr ILoveTheSoundOfMyOwnVoiceSoImGoingToRepeatEveryAnn ouncementTwice. I also noticed that all passengers in J who had been given landing cards (i.e. not EU citizens) were also given bright pink fast track immigration passes.

We eventually landed and after a short taxi, two air bridges were connected to the plane at L1 and L2. I deplaned through L1 thanking all the staff for their help. As I got out the air bridge, I noticed a United rep holding up a board entitled "First Class Connections", and a list of passenger names and then onward destinations, who would presumably be fast tracked through the Flight Connections Centre. This is obviously an excellent benefit for those in F ^^.

I headed to the T3 immigration hall and immediately spotted the one line marked IRIS. This is a new system that I mentioned in my first trip report that allows frequent travellers to simply have their eyes scanned when entering the UK, thus saving queuing and presenting your passport to a bored immigration officer. So I headed down the line (slightly apprehensively, as this would be my first time entering the UK using IRIS), there were two machines and a representative there to deal with any problems. I entered the machine and the doors closed behind me. Two green dots appeared on the screen to my left and as I lined my eyes up with the dots, it took my retina scan. Literally a second later, the front doors opened, and that was that. Immigration completed in less than 20 seconds form entering hall to leaving hall. I was extremely impressed ^^^.

My bags came out pretty quickly amongst the first group (priority tags working), and I headed through the green 'Nothing to Declare' channel which was, as usual, completely free of any customs officers. I was in no rush to get home, so I decided to visit the UA arrivals lounge. This is located on the first floor balcony overlooking the arrivals complex, directly next door to AA's arrivals facility. I was welcomed by a nice lady who invited me to put bags (whilst still on the trolley) into the luggage check area. She then showed me to my shower suite. I was pleasantly surprised to find another UA amenity kit, different to the one I'd received onboard. I had a lovely hot shower, and feeling completely refreshed went back into the main lounge area to read the newspaper and to have some breakfast. On offer were cereals, croissants, fresh fruit along with juices, sodas and hot drinks. A very good selection.

I was minding my own business reading the paper when I heard a couple enter the lounge, and when asked if they wanted showers, they both replied yes and asked the lounge attendant if they could share the same shower!!! There was a stunned silence from the lounge attendant, and I would have just loved to have seen her face when they asked the question! She regained her composure and said yes, "you can use the larger disabled suite". It doesn't take much imagination to guess what they did in the showers and I certainly don't envy the cleaner who had to go in there after them and clean up! Ewww!

Once I finished breakfast, I ordered a taxi and headed out of the lounge and out of LHR completing my trip half way across the world to San Francisco, and back via one of my favourite cities in the world, New York.

This experience with United was excellent, everything worked well, was on time to their control (we left the gate on time, the fact that JFK is too busy is not United's fault) and again were above LHR early, but due to airport capacities ended up landing slightly late. The staff were all pleasant, apart from one about the food but all's well that end's well and I was grateful to United for not loading my KSML!! My only criticism is the J seat, but hopefully given time, United will enhance their product and offer flat beds like many other long haul carriers.

Would I fly United again on this route? YES - but they're stopping it next month!

This concludes my trip report, any comments or questions are gratefully received. Thanks!

verve

Was the lounge attendant American? When visiting the 1st class section of the Wing in HKG together with my GF, we always share one of the cabanas - and from the reactions of the CX agents this seems to be quite normal.
BTW sharing a shower if travelling as a couple mostly has very practical reasons , e.g. just needing one roll aboard for fresh clothes etc...

Anyway - great report(s) and an excellent read!

BahrainLad

Why does everyone think that those who share showers automatically have sex in them?

zrudeboyz

Yeah, I just like for someone to scrub my hairy back


Excellent report!!!! ^

LapLap

Thanks to the generosity of an FTer I was able to enjoy UA's J offering from SFO to LHR earlier this year - I understand exactly what you meant by the seat. Suited me fine though, I slept like a baby (I missed breakfast too!).

Glad you enjoyed your flight as much as I enjoyed mine. Quite impressive considering you'd been spoilt rotten earlier on your trip!!!

And with all the changes being implemented in airline seating worldwide, perhaps, like me, you'll end up feeling privileged that you got to sample non-lie-flat seats in Business Class before they became a thing of the past.

And I agree with the others - showering with someone else is a great way to get your back squeaky clean (and there are shower gels available now, no reason to drop the soap... not unless you want to! )

Thanks for your entertaining and informative reports - loads of tips on maximising benefits from your journeys. I feel like I've learnt from a pro! Cheers for sharing!

L

1P

Gold envelopes are standard for all J and F pax, and have been for years.

Can't imagine why anyone would want to change into sleeping suits on such a short flight as this one. By the time you've eaten dinner, there's only about 2½ hours left before breakfast....

This is getting increasingly common on transatlantic flights. We're all having to get used to it.

Anyone who flies out of JFK knows that this is quite normal. In fact 90 minutes between pushback and wheels up is not unusual.

The usual sort of transatlantic J offering.


Actually no. Only two out of the four whites and two out of the four reds are actually boarded - occcasionally three if you're lucky. This month, you'll probably have been offered for the two whites the Sauvestre Chablis (not a patch on the Labouré-Roi) and the Van Loveren Chardonnay (not very good, but some flights have had a Powers Columbia Valley Chardonnay - even less palatable), and for the two reds the Guigal Cotes-du-Rhone (excellent) and the Lockwood Merlot (hmm, and occasionally the Powers Cabernet has shown up - better).

If you recline the seat back all the way down, extend the foot rest to maximum and elevate it to maximum, and then place the backs of your calves or heels on the upright part of the footrest, with a pillow underneath if you need one to soften it, then you'll have a totally horizontal sleeping posture. Very comfortable.

Very usual for LHR at this time of the morning, alas. Another reason for flying on flights that reach LHR at lunchtime....

This has been standard for years in J and F.

AX9465

Still (and maybe I was lucky) there are some FAs on UA who could be engaged in discussion on the wines on offer... I was flying the same route as OP and I had lovely discussion with FA on the NV champagne (due to the process you cant predict which one would be the best choice of the moment, etc etc) and she offered (insisted) that I would have to taste both until she will serve me something else... this time LP was a winner (it usually is) so that was a bubbly of choice till shutdown time

There is no comparison between fasttrack and IRIS - I believe that if one is eligible, one should forget about this slow fast track line. There has been a while when I spent more than 30 seconds in T3 immigration..
AX