dat4life

I fixed the formatting and screwed up picture links. There were quite a few pictures (food porn) that didn't show up before because of a couple of stupid typos. Sorry about that. I threw this together on a whim.

Thanks, iluvduco! To be fair, the catering on my AUH-DOH flight was excellent, so I'm willing to chalk it up to crappy LHR catering.

Thanks, Descending! Funny you mention that, as I wondering that myself when the table was setup for the second meal.

Thanks, Thunderroad!

Haha. I would agree, Jermyn. There are far worst ways to fly! With respect to the food, I tend to think it was because of LHR catering as the food on my AUH-DOH flight was excellent.

Thanks, Madone59! I loved the bed. It was on the firm side, which I like but I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to compare it to the LH 744 bed, as I have actually never set foot on a LH aircraft. One of these days...

Thanks, Digital01! Again, I think the food issues were due to LHR catering as the food on AUH-DOH was excellent. It certainly was weird taking off backwards, but well worth it.

Spymon

I had the exact same meal last week.

Really enjoying your TR so far, can't wait for the rest. Food aside the Ethiad Apartment looks absolutely amazing.

Short hair Francis

dat4life, I actually did this flight myself on Feb 27 too.
The trick to get the plane pic is to back-track and go to Gate 8-9.

You should count yourself your flight went on-time.
Around my date, they had a medical emergency so the plane was running hours late just to catch up the schedule.

Only 1 Meal? I got 2 meals out of it
Sucks to hear your food wasn't good.
Mezze was the weak part I agree, but even with short crew for my flight, they gave CX/JL/NH/SQ their run for their money.

You kidding me SFO777
I've been trying to convince you to spend the dough for Residence for like the last 3 weeks ! @:-)
<POUTING SHF>

offerendum

Why should Mrs. SFO wonna fly Apartment

SFO777

Actually, the real question is will Mrs. SFO now be happy flying commercial?

offerendum

OK, you have a new "problem" But to be honest I would prefer flying Apartment compared to this small private jets on long haul.

dat4life

Thanks, Spymon.

Ah. I just saw the row of shops, and didn't I think to go past them.

I just saw the JL update to your report. Dude... I need to lose enough weight as it is lol. I can put away a decent bit of food, but there's no way in hell I can keep up with you.

Once you go private, you never go back.

It's all about managing expectations. For us mere mortals, remembering to put down the toilet seat warrants a happy dance. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything. SFO777, you good sir have raised expectations to an astronomical level.

Short hair Francis

Nah, with the delay on my flight, I was bored in that tiny EY lounge.

Really? I was wondering if anybody read it since that TR has been so quiet.
You've met me so at least you can be a reference.
I'm one small guy (Caucasian World) but I probably eat like a football player LOL
I thought you can keep up with me since you're a bit bigger than I am.

BTW, I'm shocked Saints trades Jimmy Graham to the Seahawks, not really sure if it's a good move or not

wrp96

I've been following along. I just haven't commented because I'm in awe of your eating prowess.

dat4life

It was a quick 20 minute ride to my hotel, the Marriott Marquis City Center. Revenue rates for my three night stay ran a cool $250 per night, so I redeemed my annual Category 1-5 free night certificate from my Marriott Rewards credit card and 15,000 points per night for the remaining two nights of my stay. Despite separate reservations, the front desk agent was able to quickly confirm me into one room for the duration of my stay. I was assigned a city view room on the 31st floor. It was large, comfortable, and well appointed.


When I checked in, I chose the food and beverage amenity over the measly 500 points Marriott offers Platinums. The amenity was sent up to my room the second afternoon of my stay. It consisted of hummus and warm Arabic bread. Holy crap, I can still taste it now. The hummus was rich, flavorful, and almost had a butter like consistency. So flipping good.


A friend of mine happened to be in the Middle East at the same time. So she rearranged her schedule to meet up with me in Doha. I should note this was my first trip to the Middle East, period. I was happy to have someone who knew the area and culture to be my guide. We saw quite a bit of Doha including the Museum of Islamic Art, the beautiful State Grand Mosque, the Islamic Culture Center, took a stroll along Corniche Road, and of course City Centre mall. Now I’m embarrassed to say despite taking quite a few pictures. I don’t have any to share with you. You see, on my last evening in Doha, I removed my SD card from my camera intending to download pictures. However, I put it down on the desk in my hotel room to answer a Skype call. And I completely forgot about it, until I saw the no memory card error message when I attempted to use my camera. Upon contacting the hotel afterwards, they were unable to locate the card. Just as well, because I had put it on top of the hotel magazine or the information binder where it could easily been knocked into the trashcan or a hard to reach cranny. Anyways, I had a spare SD Card with me so I was good to go photography wise on my journey home.

isaifan asked me to comment on my thoughts on Doha up thread. To state the obvious, Doha is a beautiful modern city. There was the trademark Middle Eastern opulence, as well as a heavy western influence. For crying out loud, America’s favorite bar and grill, Applebee’s has a location in the City Centre mall. Everyone I interacted with was very friendly and helpful. That said, most of the places I went to were on the well beaten tourist path. So I don’t think got the true Doha experience. I did enjoy my time there, and would not hesitate to return.

dat4life

Feeling lazy, I once again booked a car through the hotel to the airport. Though we left the hotel at 5:30AM, we encountered a fair bit of rush hour traffic so the ride took a bit longer than expected. But I still arrived at the airport about 2 hours prior to departure. The driver assumed I was flying First or Business when I told him I was flying Qatar, and tried to drop me off at the premium entrance. I set him straight, and was at the “regular entrance” a couple of minutes later. Quite frankly, the regular entrance looked ten times better than most, if not all, premium entrances at U.S. airports.

I quickly found the oneworld elite desk and was helped immediately. My bag was tagged all the way to Houston, and my boarding passes were issued on real cardstock. By real cardstock, I mean good thick glossy cardstock, not the barely thicker than paper crap most North American and European carriers use. After clearing immigration, I headed to the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan lounge. Leading up to my trip, I saw a number of reports of oneworld elites being turned away from the lounge. So I was prepared somewhat to get turned away. My concern was moot, as the lounge dragon cheerfully waved me on through. However, from what I understand this is only a temporary arrangement until new “VIP lounges” will be opened to accommodate oneworld Sapphires and Emeralds.

Now, this is a lounge. It was large, well appointed, and beautifully designed. There was plenty of seating available, as well as a restaurant area located up the spiral staircase, right by the water feature, which is directly to the right when you enter the lounge. I didn’t realize the restaurant existed until just before I left the lounge, so I made use of the cantina located to the far left of the lounge. The cantina offered made to order lunch type sandwiches. I had a turkey sandwich, which was good but I would prefer more of breakfast oriented menu. But I suppose that is what the restaurant is for.


Keep in mind this is just a Business Class lounge… The Al Mourjan Lounge is definitely a great Business Class lounge, and could pass for a very good First Class lounge. Too bad it won’t be available for status based lounge access in the near future.

Since I wasn’t flying upfront, there really was no need to board early as in my experience there is far less competition for overhead space on international flights. So I left for the gate about 30 minutes prior to departure. I was pretty stoked to see the “world’s newest aircraft”, the Airbus A350, parked at the gate next to mine. After my boarding pass was scanned, I asked the gate agent if I could step aside and take a picture of the A350. It wasn’t an issue. What was an issue was the “dot tint” that was on the window, the enemy to avgeeks everywhere.


Speaking of which, what a trip this has been for my avgeek side already. My second ever flight aboard an Airbus A380 was already in the books, flown on a new airline (Etihad) to boot. And now I was about to board my third whale jet, and log a flight on yet another new airline. I have in the past gone out of my way to fly new airlines, new routes, and of course new aircraft. This was purely a happy coincidence.

Qatar Airways 3
Doha (DOH) - London Heathrow (LHR)
Depart: 7:45 AM
Arrive: 12:30 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Seat: 64H (Economy Class)

I’m not going to lie, it was a bit of shock to see rows and rows of seats, especially being just a few days removed from flying Etihad First Class Apartment. But I quickly got over it. You see, I’m more than used to it, having quite a bit of long haul economy for various reasons in the last 6 months, including American’s 8,111-mile HKG-DFW service. And I lived to tell the tale. Seriously, I didn’t think it was bad at all. I do enjoy premium cabins just as much as the next guy; however, my love of aviation and of the act of just going somewhere is what really does it for me.


Seat pitch and width was excellent for economy.


The IFE screen was plenty large enough, and the resolution was excellent. The interface was easy and intuitive to use as well.


The seats were quite comfortable overall, just a tad too firm. I would actually say that my Main Cabin Extra seat on my American 77W flight was a bit more comfortable than Qatar’s seat.


Pillows and blankets were already placed at each seat.


My luck while flying long haul economy has been ridiculously good of late. Out of 4 longhaul flights in recent months, I have either had an empty middle seat or the entire row to myself. It was looking quite good for me, as the cabin was less than half full when I boarded late in the process. While I had a seatmate in the window seat, the row behind me was empty. The boarding complete announcement was made about 10 minutes after I boarded. I quickly staked claim to the empty row behind me and got comfortable.

Wet towelettes, headphones, and amenity kits were distributed prior to pushing back.


The only downside of where I was seated was that the massive, and man do I mean massive, wing was obstructing my view of the ground below.


Having flown only in First Class on the A380 up until this flight, I am pleased to be able to confirm that it’s just as quiet for those slumming in the back as it is for the folks at the pointy end.

We climbed out over the Arabian Gulf before setting course toward London Heathrow.


The IFE system can be controlled using either the touchscreen screen or the handheld controller. Both were responsive and very easy to use. The variety of content available was excellent. I chose to watch Fury, which was ok, but not great.


In lieu of paper menus, meal choices were shown through the IFE system. The downside, is that the menu was shown for nearly 5 minutes without a way to bypass it, interrupting those who were using IFE. Annoying, but it soon passed.

I chose the pancakes, which were actually excellent but a bit small in terms of portion. Breakfast was served with fruit, yogurt, and a croissant. The fruit was fresh and ripe, but the croissant was just so-so. All in all, it was a pretty nice economy class meal.


The IFE offered a heads up display-esque flight information option, which was pretty cool.


Since I had the entire row to myself, I used the IFE screen on the aisle seat for the moving map display, the center screen for entertainment, and the window one for the HUD. Try doing that in First or Business Class.

I napped for awhile and woke up just in time for the second service, which was performed about 90 minutes out. No choice, this time. Just a Hot Pocket type sandwich and a blueberry muffin. Take it or leave it. The sandwich was filled with sausage and cheese. It was fine.


Not long after, the cabin screw being scurrying around the cabin to batten down the hatches for landing. I switched over to the window seat for landing and turned on the tail camera for landing. As usual, there was a thick overcast shrouding Heathrow. We didn’t break out of the overcast until well into our decent. Before long, the familiar sounds of flaps being extending and the landing gear being lowered permeated through the cabin. The runway lights soon came into view via the tail camera.


We touched down very solidly on the runway. Instead of hearing the customary sound of the thrust reversers being deployed, the engines actually spooled up, the spoilers remained stowed, and the aircraft gained speed. It took me several seconds to realize what was going on. By the time I did, we were rotating off the runway and climbing skyward once again. My very first touch and go! And what it sight must have been for those watching on the ground.

After climbing above the overcast, the captain got on the PA and explained we performed the maneuver due to a small technical problem which was now solved.


ATC vectored us in for another crack at landing. This time around, both the thrust reversers and spoilers deployed as expected and the massive aircraft slowed to taxi speed.


After parking at the gate, the captain asked to remain in our seats as immigration would be coming aboard. Sure enough, an immigration officer along with two armed police officers showed up. They talked to a gentlemen seated in a “D” seat a few rows in front of me. I couldn’t hear what they said, but the man soon gathered his things and left without a fuss. After they deplaned, we were released to leave the aircraft.

Had everything gone as scheduled, I would have exactly 2 hours to make my connecting flight. The delay in getting off my inbound flight left me just 1 hour 45 minutes. At most other airports around the airport, that would be more than enough time. However, I was connecting at the sprawling London Heathrow. Every minute counts. Since Qatar operates out of Terminal 4 and my British Airways flight left from Terminal 5, that required a bus transfer. Fortunately, a bus arrived just as I arrived at the stop. The bus did several circles around Heathrow, and in and out of several tunnels. But we made it eventually. Transit immigration was breeze, but I hit a snag at transit security. By the time I cleared security, I had an hour before departure. I hopped on a train bound for T5S, where my flight was departing from.

Since there was a British Airways Galleries Lounge near my departure gate, I had just enough time for quick bite and even a shower prior to boarding. Boarding was well underway when I arrived at the gate. I took advantage of the Fast Track lane to jump the main boarding line. My boarding pass was scanned, and the last leg of my journey was upon me.

British Airways 197
London Heathrow (LHR) – Houston Intercontinental(IAH)
Depart: 2:30 PM
Arrive: 6:45 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 46D (Economy Class)

I had no trouble finding my allocated seat, 46C. Pillows, blankets, and headphones were already placed at each seat.


Seat pitch was much tighter than on Qatar Airways, though it was certainly doable as long as the area underneath the seat isn’t used for storage. The seat itself was actually pretty comfortable.


While my row was empty when I arrived, someone came to take the window seat a few minutes later. The rest of the cabin began to fill up as well; however, I did spot one row that stayed empty throughout the boarding process. Once the boarding complete announcement was made, I grabbed my bag and hustled over to that empty row. Score! Make 5 for 6 longhaul flights with an empty row or seat next to me.
Due to an issue with loading cargo, we pushed back 25 minutes late. Taxi to runway took another 20 minutes. On the way to the runway, it was quite evident that Heathrow was British Airways’ turf.


The 747 sure takes its time getting up in the air. Our stately takeoff roll lasted a good 50 seconds before we rotated off the runway and climbed over suburbs of London. The A380 and even its younger stable mate, the 777, might get off the ground far quicker than the 747, but there is no one prettier.


We flew past Heathrow as we headed toward the Atlantic Ocean.


About 30 minutes after takeoff, the neatly spaced contrails around us indicated we had entered our assigned transatlantic track. As there is no radar coverage over most of Earth’s vast oceans, aircraft traversing over these massive bodies of water fly assigned predetermined routes, or tracks. KLM actually made a video on how these transatlantic crossings are made as part of their Cockpit Tales series. The entire series is definitely worth watching for avgeeks and frequent fliers alike.


The bar cart was soon rolling down the aisle. I ordered my usual gin and tonic. To my horror, what was plopped down on my tray table was a mini of Gordon’s Gin: the stuff of nightmares and US airline lounges. Since the flight attendant had opened the bottle already, I felt bad about wasting it so I choked it down. Then again, wasting might have been the better option.


The entertainment was several generations behind what I had on my Qatar Airways flight to London. The screen was small and of not so great resolution, the interface was clunky, and the selection of content was poor and outdated. However, in the world of CX Studio, Krisworld, and ICE, this particular iteration of British Airways’ entertainment system was dubbed “Highlife”. Is it 420 yet? Luckily, I had plenty of movies and TV shows to keep me entertained


Lunch was a choice of some sort of pasta and honey chicken. The honey chicken sounded interesting, so I went with that. It was actually very good, though the portion was small. The coleslaw was fresh and pretty tasty, and the packaged sticky toffee pudding dessert was fantastic. Perhaps the most surprising part of the meal was the packaged dinner roll as it was soft and edible. I can’t remember the last time I had an edible roll in economy class. I had a spot of tea to accompany the meal.


Trays were cleared fairly quickly, and I settled in for the long flight. I alternated between napping and catching up on season 2 of House of Cards. Flight attendants made frequent water, juice, and tea runs throughout the flight, and even enlisted the help of a young brother and sister to help out on one of the runs. Considering on which part of the plane I was in, service was excellent.

After waking up from a nap, I saw we had entered U.S. airspace and flying over the frozen northeast.


Afternoon tea was served after another episode of House of Cards. I know many on the British Airways board detest afternoon tea in Business and First Class. But I think it’s actually quite perfect in economy. It’s hard to screw up, easy to serve, and tasty. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.


I had some fun with my scone, going preserves first on one half and cream first on the other half. Hopefully, I’m not offending anyone, but I actually prefer preserves first.


Soon, we were crossing the mighty Mississippi River into Louisiana. The setting sun and clear skies made for a nice picture.

[center]

Despite leaving late, the aircraft parked at the gate on time. But due to weight and balance issues, we were not allowed to deplane until cargo was unloaded from the rear hold. Eventually, we were let off. I was through immigration in the matter of minutes, thanks to Global Entry. But I had to wait another 20 minutes for my bag, so I lost any time savings there.

While short, I had a blast on the trip. It’s always great to be able to see and catch up with old friends and of course visit new places. For my avgeek side, I was able to notch two new airlines and several new routes. I’m sure some of you are thinking this was a waste of time/money/points given the short amount of time I spent at each location. I may not have spent a lot of time at each location, but I feel the quality of the time I spent was excellent. And as always, the journey is just as important as the destination.

Thank to all of you who have read and taken the time to comment thus far!

Blackcloud

Thank you for taking the time and effort for writing this trip up and I think the balance between photo and text is quite good. Everytime I see photos of Paris memories flood back, like one of those past loves that you have mixed feelings about (great memories and genuine love but then you remember the single experience that ended it all).
Oh on the EY did you mention anything to Karl about the food and if so what did he say about it?
I am always envious of those that are able to use points to book premium travel, QFF is not a good programme to earn/burn and I refuse to divert credit card earnings into such a poor programme.

dat4life

Lol. Figured that was the case, so that's why I didn't head for the terminal until the last minute.

Hahaha. It would be cool to see how you stack up with big Offensive Linemen.

But yeah, I've been reading. I typically wait until the end to comment though.


I was shocked at first, but then I realized it makes perfect sense. Drew has gotten older and can't air it out like he used to. So we're shifting more into a power running team; thus, Jimmy was expendable. It also provides us with much needed cap relief and a much needed presence in our interior line to be that running team. As much as I liked Jimmy, he's not great with going up for contested passes and was a subpar blocker.

+1

Thanks, Blackcloud! Paris is indeed a wonderful city.

I didn't mention anything to the crew at all. While they weren't great, service was perfectly acceptable and the food, while not very tasty, was edible. It takes a lot for me to complain.

offerendum

The flight back I would call horror....

Long Train Runnin

Really enjoyed reading your report. As long as you felt the redemption was worth it who cares what others would say.