Programs: MUCCI, BAEC Blue, BAA Yellow Cross-Hatch, Priority Club Gold.
Posts: 2,378
BA World Traveller Plus - LHR-JFK-LHR
BingBongBoy Goes Shopping – A Cause to an End…
(Due to me wishing to protect, to some degree, my anonymity on this forum, I have not included flight numbers, seats or dates and time of flights.)
Background
A few people have mused that I may be embarking upon these trips just to get a shiny Silver Card. Now, that is partly true, but there is indeed a method to my madness.
Apart from the fact that I love to travel, always have, always will… And despite now travelling for a living, there is still something that excites me about flying. Every day at work, I still get a small swarm of butterflies in my tummy when I board an aircraft, or walk through a terminal building. The whole experience of flying, the airport experience and everything leading up to soaring into the sky still gets me each and every time.
Now, the reasoning behind this whole epic.
Next year is a big year. One of those years that should be memorable, well for most.
The big THREE ZERO. Looming ahead of me, I made a decision about a year ago, that I wanted to go to my favourite city, with some good friends and share the special trip with one of my best friends who’s 25th is the day after my 30th. Not such a momentous birthday, but a little special.
Having investigated prices for flights at the time, I found that I could get decent prices through Hotline (A staff, family and friends discount scheme for BA flights.). Prices rounding off around the £1400 return in Club World to San Francisco. A price I was very willing to pay for a confirmed ticket, no standing by and running through the airport at 45 minutes before departure to end up on a jump seat or middle seat in World Traveller.
Now, baring in mind that all these decisions and the planning were made before the announced and implemented change to the BA seating policy, it all made sense, now, not so, but everything is pre-paid and non-refundable, so it is happening, and having Silver for a year will not be a bad thing with the other little trips I have planned.
My understanding of the new BA seating policy in relation to the Upper Deck of a 747 is that these seats will only be able to be pre-selected by BAEC Silver, Gold and Prem. Passengers, and the Oneworld equivalents, and are exempt from the scheme to pay to select your seats.
To pre-select my seats on the upper deck in Club World, with no status would have meant having to pay full fare J prices, which for the flights I wanted was looking at around the £5400 mark, way out of my price range, and to be honest, a price I would never pay for an airline ticket. So, after taking a family holiday in World Traveller Plus, flights booked through Hotline, realising that they triggered full BAEC benefits, i.e. Tier Points and Miles, I formulated a plan.
Mother had paid for the family holiday flights, so that cost me only a few extra hugs.
I booked some leave at work and then searched for some flights through Hotline. I wanted short Long Haul flights, so east coast USA was ideal. I am already familiar with several cities on the east coast, and could visit multiple times and still be happy as a sand dancer (northern terminology, sorry.) After some searching with my dates, I was able to find two flights, which were booked.
LHR – JFK – LHR for £379 in World Traveller Plus.
LHR – BOS – LHR for £369 in World Traveller Plus.
With the tier points earned from those flights, in addition to the ones earned from the family holiday flights, oh, and a recent household move to France (woops!) I would attain BAEC Silver status. Thus meaning, paying:
£379 +
£369 +
£1400 = £2148
Even with additional cost of transport, hotels and the likes, still a lot more of a reasonable price to pay for Club World and pre-selecting seats on the upper deck, instead of the full fare J tickets. Which, in the process, would also give me two mini-breaks to the US, a country I enjoy travelling to for various reasons.
Before I begin the main feature, I would just like to make some points in relation to the ticketing of this flight, so as to dispel and possible thoughts that I would receive and preferential treatment being that I am staff and crew.
Hotline bookings are normal bookings, which range between slightly and significantly discounted, depending on availability and targeted marketing of the Hotline scheme. The bookings do not show anything specific on the PIL (Passenger Information List) that the crew are given onboard the aircraft, or for ground staff on the systems they use. As far as anyone is concerned, I am a normal passenger on a normally booked ticket.
Preparation.
Organised young man that I am, everything is printed, folded and slotted into its appropriate sleeve in my newly purchased A5 folder. ESTA completed and stored safely.
I had a small dilemma when selecting luggage for this trip. I want to buy some new jeans and some other bits when in the Big Apple, but do not want to check a bag in on the outbound flight. I do travel reasonably light, but decided that I would need the majority of space in my carry on for items required for the trip its self. So, I have purchased a small folding Samsonite holdall that I can check in on the return journey with purchased items packed! Genius! (With the additional staff discount, even better!)
Being that I travel for a living, I have a selection of cabin baggage to choose from for this trip, I decided that I would exclude my two current work cases from the selection process, leaving me with a rather tired looking previous work case, or a Victorinox bag that I was able to pick up in the Selfridges sale a few years ago at a bargain price, and is still looking the part. Victorinox it was.
I am going to get the Heathrow Express from London Paddington station, direct to Terminal 5.
Being that I am not yet Silver, and obviously have no lounge access, I decide to leave at 00:00(not actual), meaning I will be there around 2H30 minutes before departure, but also leaving leeway in case of any delays. An added benefit of being BA staff, is that we qualify for the BAA discounted tickets on the train of choice, bringing a return ticket down to £16.00 return, which is more than an acceptable price to pay!
Arriving into Terminal 5, directly in the basement level on the Heathrow Express means only a short elevator ride up to the top floor of the terminal to the Departures level. Within 3 minutes of the train doors opening, I am at a Self Service Check-in Machine entering my booking reference.
I am always in awe of the departures level of the building. The massive roof spans and side supporting columns and struts are a true show of strength within this massive structure.
Check –in is as expected, quick and painless. I head for the Visa Check desk and am given my immigration forms in preparation to complete before arrival in JFK. A sensible way of doing it I feel. Plenty of spare time in the terminal, an ideal time to complete mundane tasks such as form filling. Out of force of habit, I head for the South Security, not sure why, just seems to be less hassle there in past expeditions through to the other side.
It is approaching 000:00, and I am pleasantly surprised to see that there is hardly any queuing for North Security, and with that, I am standing at the fan dangled security tray machine. I place my lap top in one tray, then my liquids in another, along with my jacket, satchel bag and peripherals from my pocket. My pleasant inner state is awoken with the rude “bark” that is “BELT”… to which my response is a scowl and the removal of the item which I had not yet had a second to remove, due to dismantling the rest of my ensemble… I pass through the magic arch, and of course I set it off.
I am then met with “SHOES” in a rather barky tone too. I start to move over to the row of seats to sit down and remove my shoes, when a hand is placed on my shoulder and the word repeated again. I turned and told the man that if he wanted my shoes, I needed to sit down to unlace them.
This was met with a shrug and a mutter.
I am regular through airport style security, up to 4 times a day, at either T5 or out stations. I have to say, that for a search after going through the magic arch, I have never felt so violated and dirty in my life. The man was rude, rough and with no apologies. In different circumstances, I may very well have enjoyed it, but on this occasion, it was certainly a non-enjoyment. I made my feelings known to him once he was complete, and again, that was met with a shrug and a mutter.
Mini Review – Gordon Ramsey’s “Plane Food”
Now, seeing as I am not yet Silver, and this is one of the reasons I am embarking on this madness, I have no lounge access. Following several recommendations, I decided to try the much raved about restaurant in the T5 airside area. It was now around 00:00 and the place was not overly busy, I imagine the majority of the breakfasters had been and gone. I would estimate there to be around 45-50 people sat in the restaurant. The service was slow, quite sloppy when it did arrive and in my eyes, the addition of a £1.50 cover charge to each table is quite a liberty, however I feel that about any restaurant that adds anything service related to a bill. A firm believer that I should decide if service is worthy of a tip, I decided to overlook this for the moment.
I opted for the “Classic Breakfast” @ £9.50, English Breakfast Tea and an Orange Juice.
The tea arrived with a jug of milk, however I am not sure if my table had maybe not been prepared correctly, but I had to ask for a cup…
Breakfast also arrived and it was ok. Scrambled eggs were a little on the runny side for my liking, but edible. Sausage only browned on one side, however cooked through, so fine.
Grand total of £16.72, not great value and service in my mind and will not be going there again.
British Airways BAXXX – Scheduled Departure: 00:00
London Heathrow Terminal 5 – New York John F. Kennedy Terminal 7
Boeing 777-236 – G-CXXX
4 Class (First/Club World/World Traveller Plus/World Traveller)
Seat XX – World Traveller Plus.
We were boarding from gate A10… and having read the comments and complaints on many forums about the coaching operation at T5, I as a little dubious about what to expect. I decided to get to the gate as soon as it was displayed to get an overview of how it worked, as being crew, we do not go from the passenger bussing gates when we need to go to a remote stand. I went down to the gate area, and found it easy to navigate and went to my gate, A10B. There was a seat directly by the entrance to the tensor barrier maze, so I sat in it. Expecting to wait some time to get the call to board, I made myself comfortable. However, around 5 minutes after taking my seat, at a time of 00:00, boarding was announced. There was no scrum, no mad dash by all in sundry to enter the maze, no one scrambling to beat people to the bus… calm, orderly, and with me at the front!
Boarding pass scanned, bus boarded. I recognized the bus driver as one of the ones who used to drive the crew buses when we were based at Compass Centre and said hello. I quickly remembered some of his little quirks, when the doors closed and the music was turned on… George Michael on the air waves today! He gave us a little running commentary of the journey over to a stand at T5C. Very delightful gentleman. Drives rite up to the steps of the aircraft, and we were to disembark at the front door, which was around 2 meters from the bottom of the steps. Being sat at the front of the bus, with bags beside me, I was first up the steps to be greeted by a delightful female CSD, soft Scottish accent. Welcomed by name and directed down the first aisle to my seat in XXX.
I was quite lucky at online check in and managed to get an aisle seat at the front of WT+. I have a strong preference for window seats, but there were none available. The only other seats free to select when checking in were the E+F seats in the back two rows. The cabin was pretty much immaculate. I did not see any obvious defects or broken items. My seat was well dressed and presented, as much as it can be for WT+. A friendly crew member said a bright hello and asked how I was. I returned the gesture.
In the A+B seats was a family with a child, who had started crying already. And it cried, and cried and cried till well after take off. The child was starting to get louder and louder, and the father got out a small carton of juice to try and calm the child, however, the child squeezed it too hard and the contents of which then covered the child and the mother. I turned away whilst trying to stifle the laughter, whilst listening to the argument erupting from the couple about who’s fault it was to let the child hold the carton in the first place. Boarding was swift, items stowed with ease, plenty of room left. Crew were efficient, assisting the family with the child, setting screens for the demo video etc… All carried out with a smile. It turns out that they are on the first sector of a 5 day back-to-back trip, so feeling energetic and fresh (words of the crew member, not me.) Safety demo done, cabin secured and ready for departure. We were scheduled to depart at 00:00, at 00:00, we are still on stand. Captain came onto the PA and apologised for the delay, citing airfield congestion, but that we had just been given permission for push back and engine start. Which we did and taxi was immediate after that. Take off came, and off we were.
Drinks were out around 15 minutes after take off, the crew member serving my side of the cabin was very friendly, chatty and very pleasant. I asked for a diet coke with ice, and was presented with the request, an additional can and some pretzels. I remember the outcry from my Long Haul colleagues at the removal of the pretzel offering from World Traveller in the latest round of cost cutting, so was surprised to have them offered as I presumed it must have been in World Traveller Plus too.
I chatted to the passengers in the seats next to me, who were off to join a cruise out of New York and discussed their plans for their couple of days in the city before they set off.
Lunch was soon served. It was the typical WT+ tray, starter salad, main course hot dish, sweet, bread roll and butter, dressing for the salad and water cup-let. The choice of main course was Cottage Pie or a chicken dish. I went for the cottage pie, which was very nice, a lot more meet in it than I was expecting. Again, meal service very friendly, offered water, juices or wine with the meal, of which I accepted some more water. I was expecting to have to wait for a while to have the tray cleared, but timing was perfect, and the tray was taken away about 30 minutes after being served. Tea and coffee offered, but declined, had my lot of tea before departure. Overall, I enjoyed the meal a lot. I still firmly believe that the World Traveller product is very good. I have limited experience of comparative products, mainly with the large US based carriers, but I was impressed at the quality ex-LHR.
After the service I chatted to the Purser in the galley over a glass of water and a toothpick (of which I was shocked to be told that they do not have in World Traveller and Plus on Long Haul, as we do in Euro Traveller on short haul, but she got me some from First.) and we chatted about the differences of working on long and short haul, as by this time I had mentioned I was crew. She regaled me of tales of her 31 years flying for BA, on the 707, Classic 747 and the DC10. 21 day trips to Auckland, via Kuala Lumpur and Sydney. A thorough delight to talk to, very personable, and that showed in the mood and service provided by the crew.
Whilst I was there, the other crew members were doing the in-flight retail service, and I purchased the recently launched Calvin Klein “CK Free” of which I have already used a bottle. Nice, fresh fragrance, love it. I was asked if I had my work ID with me, which I did, and promptly had my staff discount applied at 10%. However the bar operator was a little quick off the mark and selected “No” to the Exec Club Card before I had a chance to do anything about it. I will have to claim them back online, hopefully.
The aircraft was AVOD embedded and appeared to be working throughout the flight without any issues. I had things to do on my lap top and my ipod with me, so for once, did not actually switch on my screen to watch anything, but judging by the laughter coming from the cabin, plenty of comedy was abound on the selection.
I do find the World Traveller Plus seat to be relatively comfortable for this duration of flight, however, having sat in it on a night flight from SFO, I did find it started to get very uncomfortable after the 8-9 hour mark, so thankfully, our JFK is expected to take 6H20, a tad shorter and comfortable for the behind. I do think it is a shame that the cabin still had the EmPower system installed, and as such was unable to plug in my laptop (currently typing away with 37 minutes remaining and 3 hours to go!). Hopefully and new World Traveller Plus and indeed World Traveller hard product will have normal power supply available.
After some time, a little reading, and some more chatting to the crew in the galley, who I do have to say again, were superb. Even before I mentioned that I was crew, they were super.
We had our pre-arrival snack and cup of tea. Now. A VERY important note for all of those who miss the short haul sandwich product. It has now replaced the “deli box” product as the second service on the JFK! Although you no longer get the half and half sandwich mix, it is identical, although minus the small rubbish bag in the napkin pack. It was coronation chicken filling, very fresh, cool, but not cold. A nice large deli cup of tea with milk and extra sugar (I was starting to flag at this point). Again, very competent, efficient, polite and courteous service from the same crew member as earlier. Once cleared away, I listened to some music on my ipod before the 40 minutes to landing call was made and the wash room beckoned. I went and refreshed and returned to my seat, sorted out my documents ready for the scary man and I was all set.
Now, this leads me on to a point that, as a working crew member gets my goat big time, and as a passenger annoys me too. 40 minutes to landing announcement is made, and advises that seat belt signs will go on in 20 minutes, so please avail yourself of the washroom facilities in the next 20 minutes. Yes, as soon as the seat belt sign is switched on, all in sundry decide that is the point that they will make a trip to the bathroom… ...? Being that I was in XXX, and had a very good view into the Club World cabin, it was quite nice to see the crew being quite firm with the passengers. A few went to the bathroom after the seatbelt sign had been switched on, but after a few minutes, it was a firm apology and no to moving around.
Good landing and short taxi to the gate. I was off the aircraft in around 5-7 minutes after landing. The queue for immigration had not built up at all, and there were roughly 40 people in front of me, I queued for no more than 9-10 minutes before being in front of an immigration officer, of which the process took no more than 2 minutes to complete and I was on my way.
I was tempted to use the Air Train and subway to get to my destination, but I was seriously flagging at this point, having not slept well the night before. Too much excitement. So I decided on a shuttle van. I did consider a cab, but seeing as expense was a consideration I had to make, I decided against it. Don’t get me wrong, I am no skin flint, but I wanted to try and minimize cost wherever possible on the trip, due to the reasoning behind it. So, $45 + tip and toll for a cab, or $19 for a shuttle, I went for the shuttle. The queues for a cab was very long, and the wait time for a shuttle was given as 15 minutes, so all round, a reasonable compromise.
I waited the duly advised 15 minutes, and almost to the minute, I was called to the desk and introduced to the driver. Off we went! However… Big mistake… I thought we were full, but oh no, we were not. A stop at another terminal to pick up an additional 4 people, and then we were full.
I will not be doing that again, and certainly not on the way back to JFK!
Programs: MUCCI, BAEC Blue, BAA Yellow Cross-Hatch, Priority Club Gold.
Posts: 2,378
BA World Traveller Plus - LHR-JFK-LHR Part 2 "Le Grade Pomme"!
Hotel
After receiving much advice from many in the know members of several forums, I joined the IHG Priority Club rewards scheme. Accruing points from different sources, I used the points to pay for a “Part Points – Part Cash” reservation at:
Crowne Plaza Hotel – Times Square
1605 BROADWAY
AT 49TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY, NY 10019
UNITED STATES
I recently attained Gold Status within the reward scheme, which in fact gives you almost bugger all in terms of recognition, being that is ever so easy to get to Gold, however, it should mean that my arrival documentation and paperwork is ready to go when I arrive, and I am able to use the Priority Club check in desk and be more swiftly on my way to my room. Having read, and been in the majority very happy with the reviews the hotel has on sites such as Trip Advisor, the one sticking point that is mentioned in most reviews in the bun fight that is Reception, so I was not overly expectant of the process. I approached with an open mind.
The hotel is slap bang in the middle of everything. You could not get more central if you tried.
Up the escalator to the lobby, very nicely designed, refurbished at the end of 2008, so still looking fresh and clean. I approached a friendly looking lady at reception and was welcomed warmly. Not in the over the top Californian way, but a nice genuine hello, how was my trip etc… I presented my Gold card and was advised that I was able to select between a regular king room, or a wheelchair accessible king room. The lady said under her breath that the wheelchair accessible rooms are quite a bit larger, especially the bathrooms, so I opted for that one. I did at first think of feeling a little guilty that a wheelchair user may need it, but she did not mind, so I thought “hey, why should I!”
So, here I am on the 42nd floor with a view out to the Hudson, not a fantastic view, although some spying into some apartments may take place if there is anything decent looking in any of them! Room is large, bathroom is, as promised, large.
Plenty of amenities in the bathroom, as well as a nice little kit on the bed, which includes:
I was also advised at check in, that as a Gold member, I was entitled to complimentary in-room wireless internet access. I was not expecting this and was a welcome addition. I was told that I had to register it to my bill as normal, and it would be removed, which it was, at check out. I was astonished to see that a 3 day internet access package was $49! Expensive, but now free.
I was a little worried that the room was by the lifts, but the way the room lay out and shape worked, the bed was far away from the lift area and did no cause any problems what so ever.
The rooms are very nicely decorated, with plenty of room to move around. My previous experience of hotel rooms in New York is of small pokey spaces, just enough room to move around the bed and a small bathroom. As advised by the lady on reception, the bathroom was a lot larger, being a disabled access room, no bath tub, but a large shower area which was very nice, some pictures below. Bed VERY comfortable indeed…!
The stay was pretty much uneventful, the on demand TV did not work, however it charged me twice for trying to get it to work, which again were removed from my bill. I had no need to order room service or anything like that, being so close to everything, so ate out when required. I found all the staff that I came into contact with at the hotel to be very pleasant, helpful and informative, and my overall impression of the hotel was of a clean, modern, well proportioned property that was indeed a very comfortable stay. I would very happily stay there again, using points and cash.
I have included some pictures below, just of the area, Times Square, and some sight seeing in New York... Boring for some, but I had a good time!
Programs: MUCCI, BAEC Blue, BAA Yellow Cross-Hatch, Priority Club Gold.
Posts: 2,378
BA World Traveller Plus - LHR-JFK-LHR Part 3 Homeward Bound
British Airways BAXXX – Scheduled Departure: XX:XX
New York John F. Kennedy Terminal 7 - London Heathrow Terminal 5
Boeing 777-236 – G-CXXX
4 Class (First/Club World/World Traveller Plus/World Traveller)
Seat XXX – World Traveller Plus.
A wonderful time was had in Le Grade Pomme, meeting some wonderful people and doing some much needed retail therapy. I met a new friend for brunch and sought some advice about using the Subway and Airtrain connection to get to T7 for my homeward bound flight. I did, and I did.
It just happened to be, or maybe they were trying to make me feel at home, that there were engineering works taking place on the line that I needed to get to connect with the Airtrain. However, when I collected my bags at the hotel, the concierge were very helpful in assisting with finding a new route. I will not bore you with the details of that journey, apart from it is a convenient and much cheaper alternative to all other surface transport options that are available to JFK. In total, from leaving the hotel to stepping inside the doors of T7 at JFK, took 1H05M, very reasonable.
I had already checked in online the evening before, and knowing that the flight was full, I was a little worried having checked the seating maps the day before on Expertflyer, that there were only going to be middle World Traveller Plus seats left to select from. I am not sure if it is due to my seating preference in my BA Executive Club profile for a window seat, however I was allocated at the time of online check in, a front row window seat… FANTASTIC! I was very pleased and left it at that and confirmed my online check in, expressing my choice to pick up my boarding pass at the airport. Which I did at a Self Service Check-in Machine. No issues, quick and painless.
I put my crew ID badge around my neck in order to assist in my approach to the far left security lane which looked a lot shorter and is also marked for Staff too. On my approach to the line, a lovely, somewhat older lady in BA uniform caught my attention and beckoned me over. Pleasantries exchanged, she asked which flight I was on and in what cabin. She then told me if I wanted to pop up to the lounge, I was more than welcome, and she would ring them and let them know I was on my way up. A lovely surprise from a delightful lady!
I was through security without a problem, maximum 3-4 minutes. Pleasant security agents, greeted with a hello and goodbye, which made a refreshing change from London security.
I had never been to the Terraces lounge at JFK before and followed the signs which quickly lead up a small escalator from the main departures level to the entrance to the lounge. I was a little dubious that this was actually happening, so I waited till there was no one at the reception desk before approaching. The conversation went something like this:
Me: “Hi… One of your lovely colleagues downstairs said that if you were not busy, I may be allowed in for a little while before the BAXXX?”
Agent: “Hello! I was expecting you! Security is quick today then I see!”
Me: “Indeed, I was shocked!”
Agent: “By all means, come in and have a seat, relax for a little while, your flight is full full full, so make the peace and quiet whilst you can!”
Me: “This is very kind of you, thank you. Enjoy the rest of your shift…”
Agent: “Have a nice flight!”
So, in I ventured.
I found a seat in the corner, trying to be inconspicuous. Revved up my lap top, signed on to the WiFi and then went to get a drink and some nibbles. There was a selection of sandwiches, which were around the size of a postage stamp, some slice wraps and some biscuits and cakes. I had a couple of each and opted for a can of Sprite, full size, and made my way back to my seat.
Got on with some e-mailing and surfing and bided my time. People watching is a favourite past time of mine, and I enjoyed watching the varied groups of people appearing in the lounge, some more business looking than others, and some obviously still in the old school of flying.
Time goes by and I decide to head to the gate 45 minutes before departure. I was a little worried that will all my shopping, which I decided to squeeze into my roll on, instead of packing in my new holdall, had made my bag a little fatter than desired and was worried about overhead locker space with the flight being full. So at the gate I waited, and pre-boarding was called, and the whole lounge area stood and made it’s way to the gate, to then be turned away by the agents and advised to wait, which they all did. I waited at the entrance to the tensor barrier lines, and when general boarding was announced, I was straight down there. One of the first into WT+, baggage stowed and seat taken by the window. One of the last people to board was my seatmate. An exceptionally handsome mid 20’s gentleman, who smiled and stowed his small carry on. That was the end of the pleasantries. We sat and waited, crew busied them selves doing their duties. I noted the manual safety demonstration kits out and ready at the front of the cabin and that set alarm bells ringing. I was to be proved correct.
We sat and waited some more, then the captain came on the PA. He did the usual welcome onboard PA, followed by a but… and a big hairy ugly but it was. Due to congestion at JFK, we
were to wait at least 45 minutes to push back and engine start. Delightful, great start to the journey. The 45 minutes passed and after around an hour, the captain came on the PA again, advising us that it would be another few minutes before we push back, and as stated, 5 minutes later, we push back. All the usual takes place at this point, doors to automatic, crew in position for the safety demo. Manual safety demo completed, with a rather embarrassing rendition of the safety PA from the CSD. We then taxied, taxied, taxied and taxied… very slowly. We taxied for over an hour and a half. So in all, over 2H30M after scheduled departure time, we make it to the end of the take off runway. Off we go. At last.
Shortly after take off, the CSD welcome PA is made. The usual welcome to Exec Club members and the likes, then the bad news. We were then advised that the aircraft we were flying on was fitted with AVOD, however the aircraft left London with this system broken. We would still have the use of broadcast system, with looping films and audio, however there were still some problems that may crop up during the flight. I was very disappointed, as during taxi, I had, for once in my time flying, actually opened the Highlife magazine and looked at the movie listings, and was excited that there were at least 3 films that I would very much like to watch. Given that I find it difficult to sleep on an aircraft, it is usually quite a big thing for me. After another 10 minutes, I decided to boot it up and see what happened. Out came the screen and I plugged in my headset. The screen came on… then went off. I pressed again, on it came, then off again. I thought, being a bit broader around the hips, that I was pressing something in the in-arm control unit, but I removed it from it’s recess and held it in my hand, yet still nothing. I decide to wait a little longer, in case it has not been switched on yet. But, after a few minutes, I see other people with their screen on, with the 3 options on the touch screen instead of the usual 6.
I wait for someone to pass through the cabin, and as yet, the curtain between Club and WT+ is not yet closed, and I can see 2 crew in Club trying to assist with screens in there, so I knew it was not just me. And it was not, by a long shot. There were several screens in Club not working, and from what I can tell, a similar number in WT+/WT not working either. I waited my turn for someone to come through and mentioned to the crew member that my screen was not working either, which was replied to with a rather flippant remark which I did not really hear, but took it that it was noted. A purser came from the rear of the aircraft and fiddled with the screen, then said she would come back.
Well, the service started, and I was sort of resigned to the fact that I was not going to get anywhere with the screen. The crew member offered a drink, which I again, asked for diet coke with ice. I was given one can and a packet of pretzels. She told me that the screen had been noted and the CSD would try and sort it out. Well, drinks service done, meal service time.
I have to say, the main hot portion of the meal was passable, but the rest was just awful. The starter salad was, well, I do not know. It was some concoction of very finely shopped vegetables, although which ones I am not sure. I think there was pepper and tomato in there, with, I think mint and possibly coriander, with far too much oil… not nice. The bread roll was hard and very cold, butter solid. The main meal was either Ginger Chicken with Rice, or Pasta with Tomato sauce. I went for the pasta. It was as expected, nothing special, but hot. The sweet was a small, square of some very white sponge with lemon tasting icing/crème on top. There was a chocolate on the tray also. I have noticed that there are no “Refreshing Wipes” in the cutlery packs any more, which I missed. Nice to be able to wipe your hands after the meal service, but never mind, more cost cutting no doubt.
The meal certainly was not the best I have had, and was a little disappointing. I waited for the tray to be cleared, and was offered tea when the crew member arrived, I accepted the offer of tea, however when it was paid, it looked like the tea bag has been wafted somewhere near the tea pot, and then taken away again. A very light, pale brown tinged water. I then refused the tea, shockingly… Tray was taken, and I got out my book to try and make myself comfortable for the remainder of the 4H30 flight time. I managed to be comfortable for about 30 minutes, until handsome sitting next to me decided that he was not comfortable and started throwing himself around in his seat to find a suitable position. Up his feet went on the bulkhead. I got an elbow in the side as his arm slipped off the arm rest. A grudging apology followed.
The next couple of hours passed, with no more communication from the Purser or CSD in relation to the non working condition of my IFE screen. No information about compensation or a letter etc… which has now been taken up with customer relations. The occasional rest was interrupted with the flinging of arms and legs next to me, accompanied by some huffing and puffing. I finished my book and wanted to get up to use the loo, which involved asking the man next to me to move his legs so I could get out. Something which I would not normally have a problem with, however I have to say I was a little scared to do it on this occasion! I did, and returned, removing my ipod before sitting.
I think I fell asleep for about 30 minutes, which is a record for me in a non horizontal seat on an aircraft, and woke to the lights being switched on in preparation for the “Breakfast Service”. It arrived, which was a typical BA Deli box, containing a cup let of orange juice, a napkin pack and a cinnamon pastry. The juice was fine, quite nice in fact. The pastry however was awful. It was very cold, dry and the cinnamon flavoured jelly type stuff tasted awful. I had a nibble on it, then left it. Once again, the tea was awful, and on this occasion, I did comment that the tea was very week, which was met with a non response and a sort of shrug. “I give up” I thought…
The next hour and a bit passed quickly, eventually getting the 40 minutes to landing call, and watching the queue build for the facilities. I did not join the queue as I was not desperate and could wait till the airport. We landed around 30 minutes behind schedule, due to the delay leaving JFK and holding into London. The taxi to the gate was short and we were parked at T5B. Being at the front of WT+, I was quickly on my way off the aircraft and on my way through the airport. The transit was there and waiting when we got to the platform, and I was in the border control line around 5 minutes after stepping off the plane. The queue was not very long, I waited around 3 or 4 minutes to be seen, and was on my way home.
Sorry for no pictures in this part of the report. Apart from the access to the lounge at JFK, which was a delightful surprise, overall I had a very disappointing return trip to London. Being a night flight, and feeling a little hassled, I did not take any pictures.
I hope you all enjoyed the trip report. I am heading to Boston in December, in Club World and returning in World Traveller Plus, so will attempt a better report then!
