From the Mile-High City to the Square Mile, AA/BA DEN-DFW-LHR
Sep 2, 2015, 9:30 am
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,992
From the Mile-High City to the Square Mile, AA/BA DEN-DFW-LHR
From the Mile-High City to the Square Mile, American Airlines/British Airways DEN-DFW-LHR in biz
Welcome back to the second and final part of my trip report. You can find the first part linked below, where I travelled from Dublin to Los Angeles via LCY and JFK.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...ple-socal.html
My return itinerary was a slightly more simple DEN-DFW-LHR.
Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
During my stay in Denver I stayed at the Homewood Suites Downtown Denver/Convention Centre. Homewood Suites is my preferred (ish) hotel when staying in the USA (if the price is right of course) due to the variety of added extras like the evening buffet , the slightly more “refined” buffet breakfast. etc.
The hotel:
Anyway, below is a few photos of downtown Denver.
I was booked to return to the UK leaving DEN at around 1130am on the first leg to DFW. I was relying on public transport, and took the RTD bus from Denver Union Station to Denver Airport which unfortunately meant a rather earlier wake up call than I might have desired! There were later flight options to make the connection at DFW shorter, but they appeared a few months after I had booked my ticket and it would have cost me to change it.
Goodbye Denver:
Hello DIA. Some impressive architecture:
I arrived at Denver Airport at around 0930, made my way to the American check in desks and got my boarding passes for my flights. The queue for security was HUGE, guessing due to the time of the year but I managed to skip most of it thanks to the priority queue. The TSA officers were all really friendly and chatty at DEN... the officer who checked my boarding pass even said my British accent wasn't very good!
My flight is on-time, so it appears:
Love the Frontier livery:
After what was easily a 30 minute wait for security, it was up to the AAdmirals Club which was the usual US standard you could imagine it being... the two ladies on the front desk were very nice though.
Not the most welcoming of entrances:
AAdmirals Club:
I grabbed a coffee for 10 minutes or so and then made a slow walk to the gate, A49.
My plane:
It seemed like a totally full flight, with around 10-15 standby passengers and I was surprised they didn't solicit volunteers to take a later flight. I did offer as boarding started, but the agent either didn't hear me or completely ignored me!
The flight was originally scheduled to be on one of the new A321s, but a schedule change a few months ago ended up with it being switched to the MD82. I'm not complaining- always happy to get on something older!
From: Denver (DEN)
To: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Airline: American Airlines
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas MD-82
As I made my way onto the aircraft, I took my assigned seat and made myself comfortable. I really like these armchair style seats.. perfect for short hops. I think I could actually be quite comfortable on them for a longer flight!
We were welcomed aboard in the traditional “we're sorry you're inconveniencing us” style over the PA and a flying time of 1hr29 minutes was announced. Pre-departure beverages were offered to order to those that wanted them.
A neighbour just pulled up:
Pushback was bang on time and we made our way out to our departure runway. It's at that point you realise the airport is a huge .. apparently the largest in terms of land space in the USA. It's in a pretty remote spot too, surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and hills.
And we're up:
After takeoff, warm nuts were distributed and drink orders were taken. I had a cranberry juice and vodka.. although it was a little too heavy on the vodka and ice for my liking. Let's just say the vodka went straight to my head...
A further drink run was done and I assumed that'd be it as far as catering goes, or there'd be snack basket passed around. But no, to my surprise we were offered a cheese & fruit plate or a gloop based salad with artichoke, spinach and LOTS of mayonnaise. Is this fairly standard offering for AA flights of this duration, or is it a recent enhancement? Anyway, I chose the gloop and it was somewhat edible. The FA then bizarrely passed around a tray of leftover crackers and offered final drinks.
Before long, the seatbelt sign was pinged on and the FO announced our descent into the Dallas area. We were on a parallel approach into DFW with another AA MD-80, which was rather cool to watch.
You can just see the other MD:
Just as we departed ahead of schedule, we landed earlier than scheduled and made our way to concourse C at DFW.
After deplaning I made my way over to the D concourse to await my BA flight back over to LHR.
Walking to the D concourse:
With a 4 hour wait ahead of me, it was plenty of time to gorge myself on junk food. I also took a shower which freshened the cockles for the flight ahead.
Showers.. lots of different shower head/jet settings for those with unique tastes:
After showering, it was about an hour before departure so I made my way towards the gate, D12. I had to get my passport checked because I was transferring from another airline. Shortly afterwards, it was time to board the 77W for the flight to Heathrow. Again, it seemed like a pretty full flight.
From: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
To: London Heathrow (LHR)
Airline: British Airways
Aircraft: Boeing B777-300ER
As I made my way down the jetbridge, I noticed the cabin crew were wearing the silly hats BA make them wear so I assume this was a mixed fleet flight. The cheerful greeting at the door once again set the tone for the friendly and professional service throughout the flight.
As I made myself comfortable in my seat, I theoretically patted myself on the back for selecting such a good one.... the view from this seat toward the massive engine was one of the best in the house. PDBs were offered... either water, orange juice or champagne. Naturally the occasion suggested I choose the latter.
Pushback was bang on time, if not a little early and we passed the many hundreds of AA aircraft on the ramp. The Captain came on the blower and announced a flying time of 8hrs40, with an estimated time of arrival of around 08:50am.
As we taxied to the runway, I exchanged a nervous glance with my seatmate... I could tell he was thinking “can I put the privacy screen up yet?”. In fact, it became a bit of a joke as we smirked every time one of us put it back up after the FAs lent on to put it down to pass down drinks and food.
Takeoff video. Is Johnny Crust in the house please?
Shortly after takeoff, the crew distributed the menus for the flight ahead followed by drinks and nuts. Another FA returned five minutes or so later to take the starter and main orders.
Menus:
This time I opted for the rosé champagne which was not to my taste.
The rosé was not to my taste, but Sarah Hyland is:
Not long afterwards the starters made an appearance. I had the salmon with horseradish cream, which was rather nice, along with a side salad and lashings of warm carbs.
Starter:
After that, the main course came. I had the seabass... it was probably the best meal I've had onboard a plane and was cooked to perfection. I was a little weary of the lentils (is that staple of the month at BA or something?!) but actually this time they were alright. The two fillets of seabass were really quite filling.
Not beautiful but certainly tasty:
Desert was either a choice of a chocolate tart (described in the menu as a “vanilla twist”?!) or cheese. I decided on the chocolate tart and it was decent. I'm not a massive chocolate fan and this was a little sickly.
At this point, the whole meal service had taken about 3 hours and I was starting to get tired having been up quite early. After I'd finished watching the hilarious Richard E Grant in Tokyo with this “Hotel Secrets” I slipped into something more comfortable and slid into my flat bed. I had to read the instructions to see what I was meant to do with the foot rest though..
Cabin in darkness:
I then had probably the best sleep I've ever had on a plane. After about 4 hours, I woke up in a groggy state miraculously as the breakfast trolley was passing. As the breakfast choices were either a yogurt parfait, fruit, pastries/bread or bacon rolls I decided to just stick with the yogurt parfait and eat something more substantial in the arrivals lounge. I then got a another 40 minutes or so of shut eye before the seatbelt signs were lit up.
Something light for breakfast. Yogurt with peach compote:
Sun rising as we approach Ireland:
Speedbrakes out:
Not a great day for it:
Amazingly, we had little or no holding and were soon on the ground at around 08:55, so well ahead of schedule.
Landing video:
We docked at the C pier, and because time was on my side I walked under the T5 tunnels to the A gates. It was actually quite a pleasant walk.
In the tunnels:
Queues for immigration were minimal, however the bags seemed to take ages to start coming out and that was with my slow walk and waiting around in the baggage hall for at least another 10 minutes. I was on no particular schedule so it wasn't the end of the world.
I then made my way to the arrivals lounge for my inaugural visit. I stopped by the Elemis Spa to try and book a complimentary massage but they had no free slots until about 3 hours later at 13:00. Defeated, I headed off for a shower.
The area around the showers in the arrivals lounge is actually quite fancy, it's just a shame the actual shower rooms remind me of the prefab plastic ones you find in Travelodge and Ibis hotels.
It was then breakfast time, and I settled down to a cooked breakfast from the buffet. Much better than the offering on the plane in terms of choice.
Some sort of abomination:
After an hour or so of writing this report and relaxing after the flight I made my way home.
________________________
So what did I think of these flights?
AA met my expectations. There was nothing really wrong with the crew, but they were quite surly and really only 'business' friendly. The seats on the MD-82 were comfortable and it was nice to get a food and beverage service more enhanced than just the pass of a snack basket.
BA were great again. I may have just 'lucked out' that I had a great crew on both Club World flights I took on this trip, but if that is consistent I would certainly use BA again on a long haul business class trip. The crew member who primarily served me was extremely friendly, and always seemed to have a smile on her face.
The dinner service seemed to take quite a long time, not exactly sure why... the crew seemed like they might be quite new so I'm sure they'll speed up over time. I can certainly look beyond the slowness.. as the personal service made up for it.
The quality of the food seemed very good too. My main course was plentiful and tasty. The breakfast wasn't the most inspiring.. but then again, do you really need a big cooked breakfast 4 hours or so after a 3 course meal served for dinner? I was happy to eat in the lounge.
Welcome back to the second and final part of my trip report. You can find the first part linked below, where I travelled from Dublin to Los Angeles via LCY and JFK.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...ple-socal.html
My return itinerary was a slightly more simple DEN-DFW-LHR.
Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
During my stay in Denver I stayed at the Homewood Suites Downtown Denver/Convention Centre. Homewood Suites is my preferred (ish) hotel when staying in the USA (if the price is right of course) due to the variety of added extras like the evening buffet , the slightly more “refined” buffet breakfast. etc.
The hotel:
Anyway, below is a few photos of downtown Denver.
I was booked to return to the UK leaving DEN at around 1130am on the first leg to DFW. I was relying on public transport, and took the RTD bus from Denver Union Station to Denver Airport which unfortunately meant a rather earlier wake up call than I might have desired! There were later flight options to make the connection at DFW shorter, but they appeared a few months after I had booked my ticket and it would have cost me to change it.
Goodbye Denver:
Hello DIA. Some impressive architecture:
I arrived at Denver Airport at around 0930, made my way to the American check in desks and got my boarding passes for my flights. The queue for security was HUGE, guessing due to the time of the year but I managed to skip most of it thanks to the priority queue. The TSA officers were all really friendly and chatty at DEN... the officer who checked my boarding pass even said my British accent wasn't very good!
My flight is on-time, so it appears:
Love the Frontier livery:
After what was easily a 30 minute wait for security, it was up to the AAdmirals Club which was the usual US standard you could imagine it being... the two ladies on the front desk were very nice though.
Not the most welcoming of entrances:
AAdmirals Club:
I grabbed a coffee for 10 minutes or so and then made a slow walk to the gate, A49.
My plane:
It seemed like a totally full flight, with around 10-15 standby passengers and I was surprised they didn't solicit volunteers to take a later flight. I did offer as boarding started, but the agent either didn't hear me or completely ignored me!
The flight was originally scheduled to be on one of the new A321s, but a schedule change a few months ago ended up with it being switched to the MD82. I'm not complaining- always happy to get on something older!
From: Denver (DEN)
To: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Airline: American Airlines
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas MD-82
As I made my way onto the aircraft, I took my assigned seat and made myself comfortable. I really like these armchair style seats.. perfect for short hops. I think I could actually be quite comfortable on them for a longer flight!
We were welcomed aboard in the traditional “we're sorry you're inconveniencing us” style over the PA and a flying time of 1hr29 minutes was announced. Pre-departure beverages were offered to order to those that wanted them.
A neighbour just pulled up:
Pushback was bang on time and we made our way out to our departure runway. It's at that point you realise the airport is a huge .. apparently the largest in terms of land space in the USA. It's in a pretty remote spot too, surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and hills.
And we're up:
After takeoff, warm nuts were distributed and drink orders were taken. I had a cranberry juice and vodka.. although it was a little too heavy on the vodka and ice for my liking. Let's just say the vodka went straight to my head...
A further drink run was done and I assumed that'd be it as far as catering goes, or there'd be snack basket passed around. But no, to my surprise we were offered a cheese & fruit plate or a gloop based salad with artichoke, spinach and LOTS of mayonnaise. Is this fairly standard offering for AA flights of this duration, or is it a recent enhancement? Anyway, I chose the gloop and it was somewhat edible. The FA then bizarrely passed around a tray of leftover crackers and offered final drinks.
Before long, the seatbelt sign was pinged on and the FO announced our descent into the Dallas area. We were on a parallel approach into DFW with another AA MD-80, which was rather cool to watch.
You can just see the other MD:
Just as we departed ahead of schedule, we landed earlier than scheduled and made our way to concourse C at DFW.
After deplaning I made my way over to the D concourse to await my BA flight back over to LHR.
Walking to the D concourse:
With a 4 hour wait ahead of me, it was plenty of time to gorge myself on junk food. I also took a shower which freshened the cockles for the flight ahead.
Showers.. lots of different shower head/jet settings for those with unique tastes:
After showering, it was about an hour before departure so I made my way towards the gate, D12. I had to get my passport checked because I was transferring from another airline. Shortly afterwards, it was time to board the 77W for the flight to Heathrow. Again, it seemed like a pretty full flight.
From: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
To: London Heathrow (LHR)
Airline: British Airways
Aircraft: Boeing B777-300ER
As I made my way down the jetbridge, I noticed the cabin crew were wearing the silly hats BA make them wear so I assume this was a mixed fleet flight. The cheerful greeting at the door once again set the tone for the friendly and professional service throughout the flight.
As I made myself comfortable in my seat, I theoretically patted myself on the back for selecting such a good one.... the view from this seat toward the massive engine was one of the best in the house. PDBs were offered... either water, orange juice or champagne. Naturally the occasion suggested I choose the latter.
Pushback was bang on time, if not a little early and we passed the many hundreds of AA aircraft on the ramp. The Captain came on the blower and announced a flying time of 8hrs40, with an estimated time of arrival of around 08:50am.
As we taxied to the runway, I exchanged a nervous glance with my seatmate... I could tell he was thinking “can I put the privacy screen up yet?”. In fact, it became a bit of a joke as we smirked every time one of us put it back up after the FAs lent on to put it down to pass down drinks and food.
Takeoff video. Is Johnny Crust in the house please?
Shortly after takeoff, the crew distributed the menus for the flight ahead followed by drinks and nuts. Another FA returned five minutes or so later to take the starter and main orders.
Menus:
This time I opted for the rosé champagne which was not to my taste.
The rosé was not to my taste, but Sarah Hyland is:
Not long afterwards the starters made an appearance. I had the salmon with horseradish cream, which was rather nice, along with a side salad and lashings of warm carbs.
Starter:
After that, the main course came. I had the seabass... it was probably the best meal I've had onboard a plane and was cooked to perfection. I was a little weary of the lentils (is that staple of the month at BA or something?!) but actually this time they were alright. The two fillets of seabass were really quite filling.
Not beautiful but certainly tasty:
Desert was either a choice of a chocolate tart (described in the menu as a “vanilla twist”?!) or cheese. I decided on the chocolate tart and it was decent. I'm not a massive chocolate fan and this was a little sickly.
At this point, the whole meal service had taken about 3 hours and I was starting to get tired having been up quite early. After I'd finished watching the hilarious Richard E Grant in Tokyo with this “Hotel Secrets” I slipped into something more comfortable and slid into my flat bed. I had to read the instructions to see what I was meant to do with the foot rest though..
Cabin in darkness:
I then had probably the best sleep I've ever had on a plane. After about 4 hours, I woke up in a groggy state miraculously as the breakfast trolley was passing. As the breakfast choices were either a yogurt parfait, fruit, pastries/bread or bacon rolls I decided to just stick with the yogurt parfait and eat something more substantial in the arrivals lounge. I then got a another 40 minutes or so of shut eye before the seatbelt signs were lit up.
Something light for breakfast. Yogurt with peach compote:
Sun rising as we approach Ireland:
Speedbrakes out:
Not a great day for it:
Amazingly, we had little or no holding and were soon on the ground at around 08:55, so well ahead of schedule.
Landing video:
We docked at the C pier, and because time was on my side I walked under the T5 tunnels to the A gates. It was actually quite a pleasant walk.
In the tunnels:
Queues for immigration were minimal, however the bags seemed to take ages to start coming out and that was with my slow walk and waiting around in the baggage hall for at least another 10 minutes. I was on no particular schedule so it wasn't the end of the world.
I then made my way to the arrivals lounge for my inaugural visit. I stopped by the Elemis Spa to try and book a complimentary massage but they had no free slots until about 3 hours later at 13:00. Defeated, I headed off for a shower.
The area around the showers in the arrivals lounge is actually quite fancy, it's just a shame the actual shower rooms remind me of the prefab plastic ones you find in Travelodge and Ibis hotels.
It was then breakfast time, and I settled down to a cooked breakfast from the buffet. Much better than the offering on the plane in terms of choice.
Some sort of abomination:
After an hour or so of writing this report and relaxing after the flight I made my way home.
________________________
So what did I think of these flights?
AA met my expectations. There was nothing really wrong with the crew, but they were quite surly and really only 'business' friendly. The seats on the MD-82 were comfortable and it was nice to get a food and beverage service more enhanced than just the pass of a snack basket.
BA were great again. I may have just 'lucked out' that I had a great crew on both Club World flights I took on this trip, but if that is consistent I would certainly use BA again on a long haul business class trip. The crew member who primarily served me was extremely friendly, and always seemed to have a smile on her face.
The dinner service seemed to take quite a long time, not exactly sure why... the crew seemed like they might be quite new so I'm sure they'll speed up over time. I can certainly look beyond the slowness.. as the personal service made up for it.
The quality of the food seemed very good too. My main course was plentiful and tasty. The breakfast wasn't the most inspiring.. but then again, do you really need a big cooked breakfast 4 hours or so after a 3 course meal served for dinner? I was happy to eat in the lounge.
