Kiwi Flyer

On request, food review so far.

AKL-SIN SQ

Excellent as usual. I had tuna salad with no dressing, curry chicken, satay, salad no dressing, hapuku, fruit.

SIN-NRT SQ

I had book the cook - nasi biryani. It was excellent.

NRT-SIN SQ

Very good - top restaurant quality (other than service issues like not being offered sake). I had satay, hana goyomi.

SIN-AKL SQ

Good. I had salad no dressing, book the cook yam duck, fruit and for breakfast book the cook nasi biryani.

AKL-SYD QF

Terrible. I asked for the omelette but gave it away after 1 bite. Likewise for the fruit.

SYD-SIN QF

Okay but not the standard I was expecting. I had salad, kingfish, fruit. I note that QF only has one meal on this flight, while SQ on the slightly longer flight from AKL has 2 meals plus mid-flight snack.

SIN-LHR BA

Good. I had fresh salad, risotto, cheese & port. The port wasn't up to scratch.

LHR-AUH BA

Good. I had salmon starter, cod main and souffle desert.

AUH-MCT BA

No meal.

MCT-AUH BA

No meal.

AUH-LHR BA

Mixed. Skipped supper, but had breakfast. The smoothie and coffee were good. Fruit also good. Omelette merely okay.

LHR-BCN BA

Terrible - inedible.

BCN-LHR BA

Okay.

LHR-LAX BA

Very good. I had crab salad, chicken and fruit for the first meal. Sandwiches and tart for the second. I didn't try out the new Club Kitchen mid-flight option.

LAX-ORD AA

No meal.

ORD-ELP AA

Okay. I had chicken and salad, skipped the mixed nuts and biscuits (both heated).

ELP-ORD AA

Same as above.

ORD-LAX AA

Same as above.

Kiwi Flyer

Los Angeles to Boston (LAX-BOS) First Class on AA 757

I skipped back and forth a couple of times between the Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge, so as to get the free self-serve drinks and also to use the computer terminals. I don't know why they can't put a couple of computers inside the Flagship Lounge - it is annoying to have to do this shuffle.

I also grabbed a, you guessed it, shower (key from lounge reception). The shower stall has a timer for the light - goes off in 1 hour (based on the countdown, not that I waited an hour to confirm this).

The One World Explorer allows one trans-continental flight in North America. I had chosen LAX-BOS as one of the longer ones (since LAX-SJU is out of season) because:

• it was in a higher status earning zone than some other trans-continental options
• had easy connections
• gave me opportunities in Boston (more on this later)
• meant my 6 North American flights could be all over 1200 miles (ie at least zone 3 on Qantas Frequent Flyer) and all 2-class with first and coach so I'd earn at the higher first class rate instead of business class for any Caribbean flights

The gate was right next to the lounge and I headed there just over 30 minutes before departure to find boarding was almost complete. I have noticed that boarding for AA's domestic flights seems to take place quite early - so with the overhead bin space more likely to fill up than on some other airlines (eg european, asian or pacific) I am leaving the lounge a lot earlier than would overwise be the case. Also if the flight is known to have a delay in pushing back they don't seem to delay start of boarding, instead preferring to have everyone seated. I guess this improves their on-time departure stats a little, but slightly annoying.

We pushback and the captain announces we are number 2 for take-off but yet it still takes 30 minutes before we begin take-off roll despite a short taxi.

Meal starts with warm nuts and drink. Then a choice of salady thing or fruit + cheese. I skip this to try to get some sleep on this moderate length red-eye. We also get given a water bottle.

We get views of the lights of the LA basin before I drift off to sleep. The front main screen (ie that used for rows 1 to 4) is pushed up in the ceiling - thus if you wanted to watch the movie you'd need to be sitting at row 5 or higher.

I get woken up 15 minutes before arrival. In the soft early morning light the sight of rolling forested hills positively glowing from both sunrise and autumnal colours, is accenuated by fog patches in the valleys. It is a great view to wake up to. We turn over the city and follow the estuary/harbour shoreline in to land.

On landing I exit to landside to meet up with cfischer over breakfast.

Kiwi Flyer

Summary days 1-11

• map
• 51,907 flown miles
• 19 flights
• 7 a/c types
  • 747-400
  • 767-300
  • 777-200
  • 767-200
  • A319
  • MD-80
  • 757
• 4 airlines
  • SQ
  • QF
  • BA
  • AA
• 9 countries
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • United Kingdom
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Oman
  • Spain
  • United States of America
• 12 airports (number of transfers)
  • 3 SIN, LHR
  • 2 AKL, AUH, ORD, LAX
  • 1 NRT, SYD, MCT, BCN, ELP, BOS

Kiwi Flyer

Boston to Dallas Fort Worth (BOS-DFW) First Class on AA MD80, and security incident

As I've alluded to already, I had a side trip on a cheap first class fare (YUP) to rack up even more miles and status credits. This is a fairly simple 4 sector round trip in under 24 hours, with each leg over 1200 miles and every sector having a back-up flight in case of problems. I could have gone for more segments at risk of misconnecting (and only small increase in mileage and status earning), or to a destination further away (eg Honolulu) with much tighter connections, but I decided to take the easy way.

For those unfamiliar with YUP fares, some airlines (including at least United and American - not sure who else) sell economy fares that book into first class subject to availability. On aa.com you select book by fare and choose restricted first. There are various types, YUP, QUP, KUP. Some are refundable and some are not. As long as first class is available, then earning is at first class rates. Basically it is structured by the airlines to "fool" the beancounters who require economy only, while actually giving first class in most cases. My booking is refundable and books into full Y if first is not available, ie almost as flexible as a refundable first class fare.

So I head to F check in and wait and wait while the one agent attends to what seems to be a tricky case. Economy check in has several agents and much faster moving line so I wonder why they don't move an agent or two from there to first check in (there are empty F check in desks). After 10 minutes or so (and the agent still on the same person), a couple more agents do turn up and so the queue starts moving again. I ask for the return boarding passes but am told they couldn't check me in. Looking at the boarding pass I notice my status isn't showing, so I ask for my FFP # to be entered to be told it is already in there (as it should be since issued by AA at their ticketing office). Oh well, will see if I need to chase up the mileage credit. By the way in checking my account regularly I see that QF and BA have posted fast - within 24 hours of the flight. So far none of my AA flights have posted

I head to security and take the elite lane. The lady in front of me has a huge clear plastic bag with lots of toiletries (at least a dozen) and several look to be much bigger than 3 ozs (about 90mls), which is the current limit (unless it has changed very recently).

I put my couple of small 1 oz toiletries in a clear ziplock bag, put carry on on the machine along with belt and shoes. When my bag comes through they want to search it for some reason. This takes 15 minutes or so and ends with them confiscating my small toiletries as well as an airline amenity kit (which I'd emptied of liquids). ...? These same toiletries have passed inspection throughout US and around the world. They are also much less than the toiletries successfully taken through by the lady in front of me. So I politely ask why mine are being taken. I don't get any answer at all - "they are not allowed" is not a valid answer in my view. I pause, wondering if I should get into a discussion about how they've passed security at LHR, LAX, ORD and ELP already. Given my rather unusual itinerary, shortish time until my onward flight and near certainty that the TSA dude would call over his supervisor and no doubt take a long time to discuss this I reluctantly decided not to pursue it. BTW I also posted about this incident on the ziplock bag carnival thread.

So now I need to get new toiletries that are still legal (and what might that be if they can be so arbitrary and seemingly make stuff up?), as well as a new clear ziplock bag - yes they confiscated that also.

Fuming slightly I head to the lounge. Hopping on the computer I check in and print out the boarding passes for the return flights, including the flight the next day. There does seem to be something odd happening with turnaround check ins - see this AA thread for example.

It is soon 30 minutes prior to departure so I head to the gate to see the aircraft has only just arrived. So boarding is slightly delayed and pushback, but not by too much. The flight is totally full with a lot of standby passengers not making the flight.

A struggle to fit carryon in overhead bin anywhere near my seat - on arrival in Dallas this caused minor injuries as a fellow passenger standing in front of me leaned behind me to pull his carry on down, clipping my head on the way. No pre-departure drinks. Meal is salad and choice of pizza or roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce.

I sleep most of the flight.

We arrive in Dallas slightly early but have a small wait for another aircraft to leave our gate. I make my way to the lounge in between arrival and departure gate for a shower, plus catching up on FT and posting this.

cfischer

very nice report indeed. Sorry to hear that BOS security confiscated you stuff Too bad that I had so little time this morning, at least I made it back in time for the meeting.

Kiwi Flyer

Dallas Fort Worth to Seattle (DFW-SEA) First Class on AA 757

I left the lounge a few minutes later than I intended. When I checked the monitors en route I saw the gate had changed to one half a terminal further away, so I started running. About 3/4 of the way to the gate a guy on a buggy saw me and took pity - offering me a ride since he was heading in that direction for a pick up. Boarding was nearly finished when I got to the gate. There was still room in the overhead bin near my seat, but only just. The bins were shallower than normal but luckily my carry-on still fitted wheels first - the only way it was going to end up in the bin.

This is a differently configured 757 from the ones I had flown previously. For a start there is no 1EF seats, also the bulkhead has a cut-out section to stow small carry-ons and enable stretching the legs properly ^ The centre arm rest is however a little smaller but with the fold out drink holders still big enough.

We push back on time. As we taxi out we are, for a time, parallel to AA's DC3 (yes that's right a real old bird) "Flagship" which is currently touring the country doing sightseeing flights. Even better - we hold up just short of the runway and get to see it lumber down the runway and take off. The difference in power with modern jets is amazing.

Food is nuts (in a glass this time instead of the usual bowl) followed by the simple salad and a choice of pizza or chicken and pasta.

There is minor turbulence much of the way and little to see other than cloud and the odd glimpse of mountain, until we reach the west coast just in time for sunset. We have great view of the lights of Seattle whilst the sky is still light enough to clearly see the waterways and mountains. Great.

Kiwi Flyer

Seattle to Dallas Fort Worth (SEA-DFW) First Class on AA MD80

Another night, another redeye. While I wait for boarding time to come around I wander the terminal admiring the many pieces of artwork that are all around us - hanging from the ceiling, the fish and aircraft inlaid tiles on the floor, the murals on the walls and pillars, the display pieces, etc.

We board on time but there is a delay to push back while a ground staff fixes the FA control panel (for lights, heating, etc) and then has a chat with the pilots (hey do you mind doing it on your own time?).

After take off we again see the lights of Seattle, but this time against a jet black background. No meal or even hot nuts. No pre-departure drink.

The flight is fairly short (about 2 1/2 hours) so we all try to sleep as much as possible. A passenger behind me is excited about her first time in first (which she'd paid for). Her seatmate is trying to explain that she only gets a slightly better seat, a drink or two and extra miles; and would be better off getting an Admirals Club daypass for her 12+ hours layover in Dallas.

I struggle awake as we come in over the metropolitan area before landing at DFW. This time my arrival and departing gate are close to each other and to an Admirals Club, so I head there for a quick shower during my short transfer.

Kiwi Flyer

Dallas Fort Worth to Boston (DFW-BOS) First Class on AA MD80

Another full flight which is well into boarding when I arrive at the gate. We leave slightly late after waiting for a few stragglers, but not before someone tries it on self-upgrading. "We requested an upgrade but told it was full - look there are 2 free seats, we'll just take those."

Breakfast is fruit plus bagel or biscuit and omelette or cereal. I spend most of the time catching up on sleep, but wake in time to see the same stunning scenery as the previous day as we do a big loop around Boston before landing.

This ends the side-trip, back to the round the world ticket. I rush to the lounge since I want to take an earlier flight (of which there are 2 options - 1 of which is just closing). The next connection is fairly tight, having been shortened significantly since I booked it and I wanted, if possible, to take an earlier next flight so I don't have to rush later. The lounge agent says flight is full and no point in even trying standby.

Kiwi Flyer

Summary days 1-12

• map
• 58,350 flown miles
• 23 flights
• 7 a/c types
  • 747-400
  • 767-300
  • 777-200
  • 767-200
  • A319
  • MD-80
  • 757
• 4 airlines
  • SQ
  • QF
  • BA
  • AA
• 9 countries
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • United Kingdom
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Oman
  • Spain
  • United States of America
• 14 airports (number of transfers)
  • 3 SIN, LHR
  • 2 AKL, AUH, ORD, LAX, BOS, DFW
  • 1 NRT, SYD, MCT, BCN, ELP, SEA

Seat 2A

Another amazing trip and report written in typically engaging and entertaining style with all the detail we've come to appreciate from one of the masters of the genre.

Well done, Kiwi Flyer! This report will definitely be included in my scrapbook of FT's best reports. Thanks!

Kiwi Flyer

Half way through and I get my first risk of misconnecting, and my first delay of more than a few minutes.

Kiwi Flyer

Apologies for the lack of recent posts. Been too busy travelling and having fun to log on. I'll post some more today.

das

This is definitely good stuff. I haven't flown for over a month so am getting a bit jealous. ;-)

Kiwi Flyer

As promised, here is the latest instalments. Apologies if major typos creep in - this keyboard has keys in unfamiliar positions so I am having to remember to look at the keys when I usually donīt bother.

Boston to Dallas Fort Worth (BOS-DFW) First Class on AA MD80

So I have time for a shower and to check emails and surf FT (no Iīm not really addicted - ah who am I trying to kid here?). I head for the gate 30 minutes prior to departure. Boarding hasnīt yet started and a few minutes later I see the pilots board - we probably wonīt be departing on time.

I decided not to head back to lounge and shortly after boarding began. We did push back 20 minutes late - not too bad but makes my connection in Dallas rather tight. Fortunately no delays in taxiing and we are straight out for take off.

The meal is again a salad and choice of roast beef salad or pizza.

The flight is again full but uneventful. We arrive on a remote runway so have a long taxi, and by the time we reach the gate at terminal A it is already past the time for boarding to begin over in terminal D.

So I skip the lounge, head for the airtrain, and 15 minutes later Iīm at the gate for the onward flight. Boarding hasnīt yet started but the boards are still showing on time departure. After a few minutes the gate agent announces a delay while they replace some brake pads. In less than a minute the delay changes from unspecified short delay, to 15 minutes, to 45 minutes. I, and a few other fellow passengers, immediately head for the lounge.

Kiwi Flyer

Dallas Fort Worth to Buenos Aires Ezeiza (DFW-EZE) Business Class on AA 767

I down some drinks and send messages to let know I will be late in arriving. The new departure time comes and goes and still no sign of boarding. Eventually boarding is called. This is completed fairly quickly with the less than full flight, but even so we are 90 minutes late in departing.

I notice there are a couple of spare seats side by side (bulkhead no less, an advantage as we shall soon see) so I politely ask if I can switch seats to give myself and my seat neighbour more room to spread out. She lets me do so.

I had low expectations of American Airlinesīlonghaul business class due to their reputation. How would I find the flight? Can they exceed my expectation or will the reputation be deserved (admittedly only a small sample of 1 flight)?

The seat was better than AAīs domestic first seat, but not up to scratch for longhaul in my view. The width and pitch were okay without being generous. The padding is old and worn out, so that it feels hard and difficult to sit or lie in one position for too long. The legrest is useless - not only does it not elevate very far, the foot rest is far too short for all but the shortest passenger. Being in the bulkhead I do something I normally detest, which is to put my feet up on the bulkhead. Iīm not proud of doing this as it was the only position which felt remotely comfortable to me. The seat is the worst business class longhaul seat I have ever sat in.

If anything, the in flight entertainment (IFE) was worse. There are no personal tvs, only a mainscreen. On the mainscreen was shown a CBS informercial plus a single movie. That is all. This on a flight of nearly 11 hours. In business class we were handed personal DVD players and a personal library of 24 DVDs. Great you might say - makes up for the lack of PTV and AVOD, right? Wrong. The DVD library consisted of lots of old movies with no releases within the last 6 months, and very few within the last 2 years. Cīmon AA every other airline has at least a few current offerings. Then there was the problem with power. Every 5 minutes it would cut out, making viewing impossible (for this is barely long enough to restart the DVD). I tried using the power in both my seat and the spare one next to me. I tried different DVD players. All to no avail. I donīt think I was just unlucky as several other passengers also had power problems with their DVDs.

Now on most airlines such a failure of IFE in business class would result in a profuse apology, maybe a bottle or two of wine to take away AND a voucher as compensation. Well not on AA. The FAs couldnt care less and just shrugged their shoulders. Bad form

The food was mixed. Parts were surprisingly good and of a type and quality that Iīd expect on a top class airline. Other parts were a disgrace. The starter and mains that I had were excellent. I was disappointed as a one world top tier elite (one of only a few on the flight) to be told my first choice, the beef, had run out.

The cheese plate was terrible. Only 2 small pieces of cheese, that were hard around the edges through having been cut too long ago, 2 walnut halves and 4 strongly flavoured crackers. I would have been much happier with 4 different cheese cut as it was served to me, plus 2 or 3 water crackers. The port was also disappointing and far too young IMHO.

Breakfast was a choice of cereal (1 type only) or omelette, with fruit salad, yoghurt (fruited only, no option of plain or low fat), and a dry muffin or croissant. Ummm no thanks. Iīve had better breakfasts on short domestic flights.

The service was poor. The FAs would pass by and see plate needing clearing or an empty glass and ignore them, or take a plate and not bother checking if you needed more drink. The only way to get any drink was to use the call button and ask for it The were very slow serving dinner, taking more than 2 1/2 hours, while breakfast was super speedy with all passengerīs trays cleared less than 20 minutes after serving the first person. So why so slow with the dinner?

Also they starting serving breakfast just 1 hour before arrival, I suppose to ensure maximum sleep time. Thatīs great - too many airlines serving breakfast on overnight longhaul flights far too early, some as much as 3 hours before arrival. Not so good was the fact they spent 40 minutes getting ready for breakfast in the galley and made quite a racket while doing so, waking up almost every passenger.

The amenity kit bag is a little like the old Air New Zealand first one. A reasonable sized bag with one large drawstring pouch the full length and breadth that doesnīt come with anything in it, plus side pouches with the socks, eyeshades, ear plugs, toothbrush and toothpaste plus a couple of creams. With the supplied amenities it isnīt very full and thus can fold over itself (and button up).

So overall I think the standard is very mediocre and lives up to the reputation. There are aspects that show signs of promise but ultimately it fails to impress (at least for those whoīve flown business class in a classier airline).

With the flight being in darkness most of the time, and blinds down for all but the last 15 minutes prior to landing I didnīt get any views of the Gulf of Mexico, the central american ranges, the Andes or Amazon jungle, or pampas of Argentina. Iīd like to fly this route or similar in daylight as I expect there is some fascinating scenery.

There was reasonable amount of turbulence the entire flight except for the last 20 minutes. This made a deep sleep difficult as no sooner (it felt) had I dropped off than Iīd be worken by a large jolt. We made up some time en route and landed only an hour late. As we pull up to the gate I see the American Airlines flight from Miami has arrived and also Lufthansa but most other gates are empty. So we seem to have beaten the early rush. Indeed in 5 minutes I have made my way from airbridge, through immigration and customs, changed some money and waiting at my agreed rendevous point.

While I waited I watched the other passengers arrive landside. It seems that AAīs Miami flight and the Lufthansa flight both disembarked after our flight for some reason. In addition there are arrivals by Air France, United, Continental, Delta, Alitalia etc. A lot of people and some lengthy queues at immigration and baggage claim. I felt fortunate to get through so quickly.