30th birthday trip...... ABZ-DUB-LHR-LAX-HNL-OGG-HNL-LIH-HNL-LAX-LHR-DUB-ABZ
Sep 2, 2015, 3:55 pm
#32
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Sep 2, 2015, 4:23 pm
#33
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Sep 2, 2015, 4:31 pm
#34
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Sep 3, 2015, 4:20 am
#35
Join Date: Aug 2008
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^
Sep 3, 2015, 4:24 am
#36
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Great 2nd part LHR-LAX, you certainly had a great crew, and yes it does make all the difference to a trip, we have had good, and some awful crew. You were certainly well looked after on the food side which looked very good, and how very proactive the crew member was suggesting trying and bringing first 3 samples of white wine in glasses, and then producing 3 bottles of red for you to choose, very impressed. Enjoy your rest and sunshine in LAX and look forward to the LAX - HNL trip.
^
^
Sep 3, 2015, 9:27 am
#37
Join Date: Jul 2014
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I'm loving the photos stu1985, especially that great shot of Windsor Castle.
The food in First looks scrumptious (now really upset my tequila trip got cancelled!). Did you get that box of chocolates all to yourself!?
Thanks for the report, I'll be watching closely!
The food in First looks scrumptious (now really upset my tequila trip got cancelled!). Did you get that box of chocolates all to yourself!?
Thanks for the report, I'll be watching closely!
Sep 5, 2015, 11:11 am
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
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Great 2nd part LHR-LAX, you certainly had a great crew, and yes it does make all the difference to a trip, we have had good, and some awful crew. You were certainly well looked after on the food side which looked very good, and how very proactive the crew member was suggesting trying and bringing first 3 samples of white wine in glasses, and then producing 3 bottles of red for you to choose, very impressed. Enjoy your rest and sunshine in LAX and look forward to the LAX - HNL trip.^
^
Sep 5, 2015, 11:43 am
#41
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
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First port of call in the Flagship lounge was a shower. It was a great feeling and I was refreshed after it. The shower room was of good size and spotlessly clean.
I then grabbed a seat by the window and looked at the American birds outside.
Food selection wasn't much to shout about...
The lounge itself was pleasant enough and was very quiet most of the time I was there. I loved that the big windows let in a lot of natural light.
I realised that there was a bald head in front of me which looked familiar. And when the person spoke to his wife, I knew instantly who it was: William Hague. I loved listening to him speak in the Commons. His story telling voice got me every time. I said a quick "hello" to him on the way out and wished him well for whatever he is doing now that he has left politics.
AA297, LAX-HNL, N122NN
American Airlines crew......wow. What is there to say? They're a right mix, aren't they? All ages. And why do they all have on different uniforms?! Weird. Anyway, settled into 1F after an older couple who were going on honeymoon asked if I would move over. Had some nice chit chat with my seat neighbour - a middle aged woman on her way back home. No PDB before we headed off.
Some great views of the Californian coast we took off from LAX.
So there were two crew up front in First. One in her late 60s and one in her late 40s. After take off, the tables were set up with a slick looking black tablecloth and I would smell the ovens warming something up...
"Honey, I burnt your nuts, I'm so sorry. It's a new plane for us and we don't quite know how to use the ovens yet.".......Erm, ok.
Meal orders were taken in whatever weird way it is that AA do. By the time she got to me, there was only lasagne left. Fine. It was actually a very tasty meal. Nice bite sized starter of filled beef, crispy salad and tasty lasagne.
The famous AA sundae which was great.
After the meal, I snuggled under the blanket and got a little bit of shut eye. After waking up, we had just started our descent towards HNL. After landing, I was into the terminal in no time but had to wait what seemed like an age for my cases to come out.
I had booked the Roberts Taxi service from the airport to the hotel and it was great. Friendly staff who adorned me with a lei made from small shells when I arrived. No chat about any welcome meeting which others on the BA forum had mentioned. I was at the Holiday Inn after the other passengers had been dropped off and up to my room on the top floor - the 25th.
The room itself was a decent size with a great big bed. Bathroom was adequate, although the shower cubicle was tiny and the shower pressure was rubbish. Nice small balcony overlooking Waikiki and the beach.
I stayed up short while before I headed to bed. Around 3am, I was rudely awoken by this...
One look outside confirmed that the message was correct. The rain was crazy. The main street had turned into a river which cars were having to drive through. The noise of the rain was immense!
After a drink of water, I managed to sleep until around 7am which I thought was pretty good. The rain had stopped but there was cloud everywhere.
I left the hotel and went for a wander to explore. About 20 mins into my walk, the rain started. The place was stinking because some of the sewers had overflown and I was raging. I hoped that this wouldn't be what the whole holiday was like! Dull weather when on holiday really does dampen the mood!
Central Waikiki was packed with people even though the weather was rubbish. It's a nice place - lots of shops, restaurants and bars which are all within a stone's throw from the beach.
After a good few hours of walking, I was starting to get hungry so headed back to a place beside the hotel for some lunch. After filling up on dumplings and pizza (!), the sun started to come out so I went to the pool and chilled out for all of 15 mins before the rain came on again!
Because I had eaten a relatively late lunch, I wasn't hungry for dinner. I popped down to the ABC store which is 5 mins walk from the hotel and bought some beer to put in the fridge in the room and some nibbles. I chilled out in my room with a few beers before deciding to call it a night.
I then grabbed a seat by the window and looked at the American birds outside.
Food selection wasn't much to shout about...
The lounge itself was pleasant enough and was very quiet most of the time I was there. I loved that the big windows let in a lot of natural light.
I realised that there was a bald head in front of me which looked familiar. And when the person spoke to his wife, I knew instantly who it was: William Hague. I loved listening to him speak in the Commons. His story telling voice got me every time. I said a quick "hello" to him on the way out and wished him well for whatever he is doing now that he has left politics.
AA297, LAX-HNL, N122NN
American Airlines crew......wow. What is there to say? They're a right mix, aren't they? All ages. And why do they all have on different uniforms?! Weird. Anyway, settled into 1F after an older couple who were going on honeymoon asked if I would move over. Had some nice chit chat with my seat neighbour - a middle aged woman on her way back home. No PDB before we headed off.
Some great views of the Californian coast we took off from LAX.
So there were two crew up front in First. One in her late 60s and one in her late 40s. After take off, the tables were set up with a slick looking black tablecloth and I would smell the ovens warming something up...
"Honey, I burnt your nuts, I'm so sorry. It's a new plane for us and we don't quite know how to use the ovens yet.".......Erm, ok.
Meal orders were taken in whatever weird way it is that AA do. By the time she got to me, there was only lasagne left. Fine. It was actually a very tasty meal. Nice bite sized starter of filled beef, crispy salad and tasty lasagne.
The famous AA sundae which was great.
After the meal, I snuggled under the blanket and got a little bit of shut eye. After waking up, we had just started our descent towards HNL. After landing, I was into the terminal in no time but had to wait what seemed like an age for my cases to come out.
I had booked the Roberts Taxi service from the airport to the hotel and it was great. Friendly staff who adorned me with a lei made from small shells when I arrived. No chat about any welcome meeting which others on the BA forum had mentioned. I was at the Holiday Inn after the other passengers had been dropped off and up to my room on the top floor - the 25th.
The room itself was a decent size with a great big bed. Bathroom was adequate, although the shower cubicle was tiny and the shower pressure was rubbish. Nice small balcony overlooking Waikiki and the beach.
I stayed up short while before I headed to bed. Around 3am, I was rudely awoken by this...
One look outside confirmed that the message was correct. The rain was crazy. The main street had turned into a river which cars were having to drive through. The noise of the rain was immense!
After a drink of water, I managed to sleep until around 7am which I thought was pretty good. The rain had stopped but there was cloud everywhere.
I left the hotel and went for a wander to explore. About 20 mins into my walk, the rain started. The place was stinking because some of the sewers had overflown and I was raging. I hoped that this wouldn't be what the whole holiday was like! Dull weather when on holiday really does dampen the mood!
Central Waikiki was packed with people even though the weather was rubbish. It's a nice place - lots of shops, restaurants and bars which are all within a stone's throw from the beach.
After a good few hours of walking, I was starting to get hungry so headed back to a place beside the hotel for some lunch. After filling up on dumplings and pizza (!), the sun started to come out so I went to the pool and chilled out for all of 15 mins before the rain came on again!
Because I had eaten a relatively late lunch, I wasn't hungry for dinner. I popped down to the ABC store which is 5 mins walk from the hotel and bought some beer to put in the fridge in the room and some nibbles. I chilled out in my room with a few beers before deciding to call it a night.
Sep 5, 2015, 11:56 am
#42
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: North of Carlisle
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 1,536
"Honey I burnt your nuts" must be a contender for one of the quotes of the year Stu . Are some of those pics taken in Aberdeen ? - weather looks similar. Heading up to Aberdeen later this month to play the Trump course, please can you arrange some good weather for us. good luck for the rest of the trip - hope the weather improves
. Are some of those pics taken in Aberdeen ? - weather looks similar. Heading up to Aberdeen later this month to play the Trump course, please can you arrange some good weather for us. good luck for the rest of the trip - hope the weather improves
Sep 5, 2015, 12:16 pm
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
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"Honey I burnt your nuts" must be a contender for one of the quotes of the year Stu . Are some of those pics taken in Aberdeen ? - weather looks similar. Heading up to Aberdeen later this month to play the Trump course, please can you arrange some good weather for us. good luck for the rest of the trip - hope the weather improves
. Are some of those pics taken in Aberdeen ? - weather looks similar. Heading up to Aberdeen later this month to play the Trump course, please can you arrange some good weather for us. good luck for the rest of the trip - hope the weather improvesThe weather did improve thankfully! Some lovely hot sun the rest of the time!
Sep 5, 2015, 12:47 pm
#44
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,921
Reminds me of the time we asked to have our nuts heated up more as they were not warm. The FA came back holding the bowls in a towel and expressed the hope that they would be hot enough now. We had to eat them rather slowly - but they were not burned!
Sep 5, 2015, 12:52 pm
#45
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
Great report thanks for posting
I find the American staff are often not very professional, unlike BA (not intended to be biased it's just what I see).
No apparent dress code, often they start making an announcement and then forget what they're going to say, sometimes they seem quite unfamiliar with the aircraft they operate (maybe the crew aren't passengers very often), when things are broken they don't really seem to know what to do ...
I find the American staff are often not very professional, unlike BA (not intended to be biased it's just what I see).
No apparent dress code, often they start making an announcement and then forget what they're going to say, sometimes they seem quite unfamiliar with the aircraft they operate (maybe the crew aren't passengers very often), when things are broken they don't really seem to know what to do ...