The Account Man Goes Viking to New York - BA J / Y
May 28, 2016, 4:53 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
The Account Man Goes Viking to New York - BA J / Y
Introduction
I am sure most people are the same when it comes to making any travel plans, research is undertaken, fares and costs are looked at and assessed by repeatedly processing the same request through booking engines and only cancelling at the final stage where the entering the 16 digit card number is sometimes a bigger commitment than marriage or children. At some point you decide that you are going to book or you put it off until it goes out of your mind, this final stage should never be completed when alcohol is involved. I’ve done that before and never regretted it but still I am not sure tat is a good life choice in general.
This however is flyertalk, I am writing this now to be posted on this site and even though the vast majority of people on earth would go through a similar process our species is slightly different. No longer is a single two week holiday each year suitable for our needs, we need more, we need to know we have not let a good deal pass through our hands simply because we were not quick enough to book or because work got in the way of a casual browse of the Premium Fare Deals forum or the BA Executive Club Premium Fare Deals thread. God forbid we allow hotel or airline points sit in an account too long, even worse expire due to inactivity, are flyertalk accounts still suspended for this type of irresponsible behaviour?
One part of my childhood I really valued was our two week holiday to Europe during the summer holidays, returning to school in August I felt incredibly lucky that I had been on holiday, others were not so lucky. Sure there would be the odd school trip or weekend away at other times but that was the main holiday. My parents worked hard throughout the year to provide what I needed and we all went away on holiday and had a great time. These were the days where a package holiday was the ideal, we knew no different. Who knew there we other options than Thomas Cook or Thomson with a 29 inch seat pitch, followed by long coach trip to the hotel stopping at several hotels you hoped looked no better than the one you had booked. Two weeks at a resort and then repeat to return home to look for the next holiday in 12 months.
Fast forward to now, at 30 years old I have been through university, found a job similar to the one I described to the careers advisor when I was 15 and I am in fortunate position where I can pretty much book what I want, to where I want, however many times I want and probably most importantly have full control over the cabin and hotel comfort I want.
DaveNCL’s Trip Planning
My travel bookings take different forms depending on the type of travel and at the time of year it will be taken.
Firstly, I travel a lot for work. This travel is basically booked on an ad hoc basis, I have free control of my expenses which are not questioned and my flights and hotels and often determined by meeting locations, dates and times. That doesn’t stop me using SkyTeam and OneWorld where possible and utilising Hotels.com to collect free nights in hotels. Both of these I can use for personal travel and it amazing how quickly these perks add up. Along with a credit card giving Avios on spend, people think all this is easy, it’s not. Ensuring you get to your credit card limit to be able to secure full points during a bonus period or why I would choose to route through Heathrow or Amsterdam instead of direct. Often people think it is extravagant to travel business of first class. In reality as seen throughout the forums it can be but also we have never had it so good for low cost travel or points redemptions. Of course "low cost” is all relative but I offer no apologies for getting what I need from life to be able to do this.
Secondly there is my main holiday(s) each year, note the plural and change form my childhood. The summer holiday still exists and this has the most thought placed on it. Being in the middle of the year it is often a chance to relax and take breath. As I have aged a second and third holiday, generally March and October have become main stays, these often concentrate on city visits for 4-6 nights and as I have visited most countries in Europe the focus recently has been on long haul, flying to the US and Asia.
The third and final category is the “too good to turn down deal” or “I’ve always wanted to visit here, flight times, hotel and dates for work were spot on”. This my friends is the category where this trip report falls into.
The BA Viking Fare
Back in August 2015 British Airways decided to open up their revenue and sales teams to allow the casual work experience person to control BA fate and over the course of 3 Thursdays. Instead of using carefully aligned algorithms to determine prices and passenger loads the work experience lad kindly reduced the fares to several destinations from various EU airports by simply moving the decimal point on the base fare to create some fares which are not often seen in economy, never mind business and above.
The first “campaign” involved Norwegian airports as the starting point and many US destinations as the arrival city. Thursday 6th August 2015 started out as many do for me, wake up in a hotel booked through Hotels.com, shower, take breakfast and then head out to meetings or training sessions. For me personally I was on a business trip in Poland which I detailed in my Travelling Account Man TR.
As a brief synopsis I was in Poland for two days of meetings, training sessions and to meet with colleagues. On the second day we had a training session arranged and then a meeting with a customer. I was sitting in on the training session but as it was taking place in Polish I did not have much to contribute. After 50 minutes of me looking interested, nodding my head, smiling pretending to take a keen interest I was starting to become bored. In fact, not starting, I was bored. Out came my phone, DaveNCL makes it look like he is scrolling through email, which I am sure I was at some point but my attention was taking up by flyertalk. I stumbled across the deal outlined above, the BA forum was blowing up, for once it wasn’t about the Champagne served in Club Europe, use of luggage tags or lack of priority boarding. To check this out I inputted my trip into BA.com, of course I want to go from Oslo to New York for a long weekend over the second May bank holiday which also coincides with my birthday. “What do you mean my normal starting airport is Newcastle?”, low and behold the fare was coming out a 4,407NOK which was around £340 for business class flights.
During this time the training class was still progressing in Polish, I withheld my excitement. The only problem was that I was looking at all of this on my iPhone and there was no way I would ever book anything like flights on a phone unless really desperate. My wallet was also in my laptop bag across the room so I put everything on hold for 45 minutes until the training class finished. Luckily when I went back online the price was still there, I booked up immediately and carried on with my day. Everything else could wait as there was still some conversation on the thread if BA would honour this fare and I had 9 and a half months until the trip.
NYC was not the only US destination on offer but I had already been to most and even some recently. The one city I had been looking at in general was Chicago, which was not included for the same price. NYC became the best option having last visited 8 years ago with still plenty to be seen, the 9/11 museum was top of that list which was not completed on my last visit.
I mention the Viking Fare being the first of three mistake fares in August, this was followed by Tequila a PRG-MEX fare and Bratwurst which was FRA-KUL on the next two Thursdays, clearly BA had not learned their lesson by leaving the work experience person on duty. Further details are here.I was fortunate that the Viking fare was honoured, the other two fares were not so lucky both being cancelled and refunded. I think BA thought the second and third went too far, they couldn’t accept the loss in revenue, preferring to disappoint customers. As can be proven by some people I work with, incompetence can only be an excuse for so long.
The cynical could say why do you need to return to the US for the fitth time in five months, well, that is because there was an incredible deal to be had and blow me if others were going to brag about it and I could not join in the fun.
After booking a trip I go through several stages, for the first 3-4 days there is general excitement as I look forward to the trip and then up until perhaps a week before I tend not to think too much about it part from making further bookings. During this time I booked my positioning flights to Oslo, decided I would overnight at the Airport Radisson for ease and chose my NYC hotel for 3 nights. Within this 9 months I also had trips booked to Toronto, San Francisco and Florence along with a full schedule of business travel,l so NYC was last in a long queue.
So far in 2016 I have had only 3 weeks where I have not travelled in Europe or the US so as the date approached for this trip I had not really given it much thought. Learning form my SFO trip (TR is here!) I made a semi detailed plan of possible visits. The week before the trip I had business trips booked to Dusseldorf, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and then one day left at home to clear up any work and do a few conference calls. As the days approach to departure and the diary started to clear the excitement started to build.
As well as being ecstatic due to the great price I got on the flights there would be a series of firsts which made the trip even more special, an ex-EU departure, upper deck on the 747 and Club Europe on BA were all new things to add to the trip.
The Itinerary
Positioning Flights
Hotel in Oslo (Outbound)
Viking Flights
Hotel in New York
Hotel in Oslo (Return)
So there you have it, a Viking trip with a difference.
I am sure most people are the same when it comes to making any travel plans, research is undertaken, fares and costs are looked at and assessed by repeatedly processing the same request through booking engines and only cancelling at the final stage where the entering the 16 digit card number is sometimes a bigger commitment than marriage or children. At some point you decide that you are going to book or you put it off until it goes out of your mind, this final stage should never be completed when alcohol is involved. I’ve done that before and never regretted it but still I am not sure tat is a good life choice in general.
This however is flyertalk, I am writing this now to be posted on this site and even though the vast majority of people on earth would go through a similar process our species is slightly different. No longer is a single two week holiday each year suitable for our needs, we need more, we need to know we have not let a good deal pass through our hands simply because we were not quick enough to book or because work got in the way of a casual browse of the Premium Fare Deals forum or the BA Executive Club Premium Fare Deals thread. God forbid we allow hotel or airline points sit in an account too long, even worse expire due to inactivity, are flyertalk accounts still suspended for this type of irresponsible behaviour?
One part of my childhood I really valued was our two week holiday to Europe during the summer holidays, returning to school in August I felt incredibly lucky that I had been on holiday, others were not so lucky. Sure there would be the odd school trip or weekend away at other times but that was the main holiday. My parents worked hard throughout the year to provide what I needed and we all went away on holiday and had a great time. These were the days where a package holiday was the ideal, we knew no different. Who knew there we other options than Thomas Cook or Thomson with a 29 inch seat pitch, followed by long coach trip to the hotel stopping at several hotels you hoped looked no better than the one you had booked. Two weeks at a resort and then repeat to return home to look for the next holiday in 12 months.
Fast forward to now, at 30 years old I have been through university, found a job similar to the one I described to the careers advisor when I was 15 and I am in fortunate position where I can pretty much book what I want, to where I want, however many times I want and probably most importantly have full control over the cabin and hotel comfort I want.
DaveNCL’s Trip Planning
My travel bookings take different forms depending on the type of travel and at the time of year it will be taken.
Firstly, I travel a lot for work. This travel is basically booked on an ad hoc basis, I have free control of my expenses which are not questioned and my flights and hotels and often determined by meeting locations, dates and times. That doesn’t stop me using SkyTeam and OneWorld where possible and utilising Hotels.com to collect free nights in hotels. Both of these I can use for personal travel and it amazing how quickly these perks add up. Along with a credit card giving Avios on spend, people think all this is easy, it’s not. Ensuring you get to your credit card limit to be able to secure full points during a bonus period or why I would choose to route through Heathrow or Amsterdam instead of direct. Often people think it is extravagant to travel business of first class. In reality as seen throughout the forums it can be but also we have never had it so good for low cost travel or points redemptions. Of course "low cost” is all relative but I offer no apologies for getting what I need from life to be able to do this.
Secondly there is my main holiday(s) each year, note the plural and change form my childhood. The summer holiday still exists and this has the most thought placed on it. Being in the middle of the year it is often a chance to relax and take breath. As I have aged a second and third holiday, generally March and October have become main stays, these often concentrate on city visits for 4-6 nights and as I have visited most countries in Europe the focus recently has been on long haul, flying to the US and Asia.
The third and final category is the “too good to turn down deal” or “I’ve always wanted to visit here, flight times, hotel and dates for work were spot on”. This my friends is the category where this trip report falls into.
The BA Viking Fare
Back in August 2015 British Airways decided to open up their revenue and sales teams to allow the casual work experience person to control BA fate and over the course of 3 Thursdays. Instead of using carefully aligned algorithms to determine prices and passenger loads the work experience lad kindly reduced the fares to several destinations from various EU airports by simply moving the decimal point on the base fare to create some fares which are not often seen in economy, never mind business and above.
The first “campaign” involved Norwegian airports as the starting point and many US destinations as the arrival city. Thursday 6th August 2015 started out as many do for me, wake up in a hotel booked through Hotels.com, shower, take breakfast and then head out to meetings or training sessions. For me personally I was on a business trip in Poland which I detailed in my Travelling Account Man TR.
As a brief synopsis I was in Poland for two days of meetings, training sessions and to meet with colleagues. On the second day we had a training session arranged and then a meeting with a customer. I was sitting in on the training session but as it was taking place in Polish I did not have much to contribute. After 50 minutes of me looking interested, nodding my head, smiling pretending to take a keen interest I was starting to become bored. In fact, not starting, I was bored. Out came my phone, DaveNCL makes it look like he is scrolling through email, which I am sure I was at some point but my attention was taking up by flyertalk. I stumbled across the deal outlined above, the BA forum was blowing up, for once it wasn’t about the Champagne served in Club Europe, use of luggage tags or lack of priority boarding. To check this out I inputted my trip into BA.com, of course I want to go from Oslo to New York for a long weekend over the second May bank holiday which also coincides with my birthday. “What do you mean my normal starting airport is Newcastle?”, low and behold the fare was coming out a 4,407NOK which was around £340 for business class flights.
During this time the training class was still progressing in Polish, I withheld my excitement. The only problem was that I was looking at all of this on my iPhone and there was no way I would ever book anything like flights on a phone unless really desperate. My wallet was also in my laptop bag across the room so I put everything on hold for 45 minutes until the training class finished. Luckily when I went back online the price was still there, I booked up immediately and carried on with my day. Everything else could wait as there was still some conversation on the thread if BA would honour this fare and I had 9 and a half months until the trip.
NYC was not the only US destination on offer but I had already been to most and even some recently. The one city I had been looking at in general was Chicago, which was not included for the same price. NYC became the best option having last visited 8 years ago with still plenty to be seen, the 9/11 museum was top of that list which was not completed on my last visit.
I mention the Viking Fare being the first of three mistake fares in August, this was followed by Tequila a PRG-MEX fare and Bratwurst which was FRA-KUL on the next two Thursdays, clearly BA had not learned their lesson by leaving the work experience person on duty. Further details are here.I was fortunate that the Viking fare was honoured, the other two fares were not so lucky both being cancelled and refunded. I think BA thought the second and third went too far, they couldn’t accept the loss in revenue, preferring to disappoint customers. As can be proven by some people I work with, incompetence can only be an excuse for so long.
The cynical could say why do you need to return to the US for the fitth time in five months, well, that is because there was an incredible deal to be had and blow me if others were going to brag about it and I could not join in the fun.
After booking a trip I go through several stages, for the first 3-4 days there is general excitement as I look forward to the trip and then up until perhaps a week before I tend not to think too much about it part from making further bookings. During this time I booked my positioning flights to Oslo, decided I would overnight at the Airport Radisson for ease and chose my NYC hotel for 3 nights. Within this 9 months I also had trips booked to Toronto, San Francisco and Florence along with a full schedule of business travel,l so NYC was last in a long queue.
So far in 2016 I have had only 3 weeks where I have not travelled in Europe or the US so as the date approached for this trip I had not really given it much thought. Learning form my SFO trip (TR is here!) I made a semi detailed plan of possible visits. The week before the trip I had business trips booked to Dusseldorf, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and then one day left at home to clear up any work and do a few conference calls. As the days approach to departure and the diary started to clear the excitement started to build.
As well as being ecstatic due to the great price I got on the flights there would be a series of firsts which made the trip even more special, an ex-EU departure, upper deck on the 747 and Club Europe on BA were all new things to add to the trip.
The Itinerary
Positioning Flights
Hotel in Oslo (Outbound)
Viking Flights
Hotel in New York
Hotel in Oslo (Return)
So there you have it, a Viking trip with a difference.
May 28, 2016, 5:59 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,262
Great reading so far Dave - looking forward to this one! Viking was one of my only working days when I did not check FT first thing - devastated I missed out. I did however get FRA-SYD in F couple of weeks later for £1,300. This was cancelled though! Well done on the £340 NYC 
Jun 1, 2016, 8:35 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
Day 1 - Positioning to Oslo and some sightseeing
To start off the Viking adventure I needed to get to Oslo, assessing the flight, options, costs and time I decided against doing any back to back turnarounds. I had give myself plenty of time in case of travel issues but mainly so I could also see some of Oslo. Having previously visited parts of Sweden and Denmark this would be my first time in Norway.
With this in mind I decided to take the early BA flight out of Newcastle meaning I could connect in Heathrow and arrive in Oslo in the early afternoon. After booking the Viking trip back in August these positioning flights were booked in January, the price had been stable and I didn’t think it would drop any so stumped up the £200 for the return flights in economy. BA Club Europe was simply not worth the money for a sub 2 hour flight especially with the legroom. I booked economy and secured the exit row, all the other perks came via my BAEC Silver status and I was content.
Parking was booked in the Newcastle short stay car park, my usual for business trips as it saves the 5 minute walk from the long stay. The walk early in the morning is not wanted, especially in the rain that had pounded Newcastle all night.
Route NCL-LHR
Flight Number 1321
Departure 0600 (Actual 0559)
Arrival 0720 (Actual approx 0736)
Seat 10C (Domestic)
Aircraft 319
Packed and ready to go. First trip for the new Rimowa, it still feels weird checking in a bag.
I arrived at the airport around 0445 for the 0600 departure as I had the case to check, there had been no stop rain during the night and in the morning so I was pleased I only had the short walk.
Gloomy morning in NCL.
Check in and security was painless and I was into the BA lounge by 0510, a quick breakfast and then it was time for boarding.
Normal lounge breakfast.
A normal BA domestic flight where I passed the time reading the newspaper and some saved FT pages on my iPhone.
Geoffrey the Giraffe was keeping tabs on me though! No DYKWIA behaviour here.
We landed early with a very short hold at Heathrow but we were left waiting for our stand as a plane was late departing due to a baggage discrepancy. The connection time was ample so it caused no concern. In all we sat for around 20 minutes on the taxiway before we moved onto stand.
Once off the plane it was though the connections check and into Galleries North.
Lovely day at Heathrow, styled it out next to a tree.
There was some disturbing news awaiting me on email where the BA Executive Club had got in touch to inform me that my about had been hacked and 110,000 avois had gone walking off somewhere. Immediately I changed my password and informed them I had not made the purchases. Hopefully that will get resolved, it’s one those things which I think will get sorted. More of an issue is that it is time consuming and I will need to keep track of it.
I had a quick adventure out to Dixons to look at new cameras, I’ve had my eye on the Canon 70D as a better lens option to my Sony RX100. In July I’m off to Yellowstone so my thinking is I may need a better zoom for some photos. I don’t fancy asking a moose or bear to come a little closer just so I can take a better photo for you guys on my trip report! Prices were good but not amazing enough to persuade me to part with the cash at this stage.
Route LHR-OSL
Flight Number 764
Departure 1025 (Actual 1113)
Arrival 1340 (Actual 1356)
Seat 10D (Economy)
Aircraft 319
Managed to time leaving the lounge perfectly to gate A17, priority boarding was just finishing and as my boarding pass was being scanned the remaining passengers were queuing. One thing I like about checking a bag is the need not to board early to have space for my cabin case. Just a casual walk rather than making sure there is space for a cabin case.
Into 10D with my bag stowed I was all set for Oslo but it seemed the French had different ideas as they were once again on strike. I thought when I was caught up by this last Thursday on my flights between DUS and CDG then later in the day CDG to AMS that would be me done with the French. Apparently not, they were on strike again due to the day ending in ‘i’, air traffic, hauliers burning tyres in the road they were all at it. Air traffic was reduced in northern Europe with even the pilot expressing his frustration. We pushed back on time and moved to a remote parking space to free up the gate. Waiting for around 20 minutes and then trundled our way to the end of the runway for take off.
A crossword, pathetic small sandwich and cake service from BA and the introduction to this TR kept me entertained on the short 2 hour flight to Oslo.
Within 45 minutes of arrival I was checked into my room at the Radisson for a quick turnaround and ready to head into Oslo. Most if not all of this 45 minutes was taken up waiting for my case, very slow at Oslo. The reason I chose this hotel was simply due to ease. It is around a 5 minute walk from hotel reception to the check in desks, for the 0755 flight it seemed like the easiest choice to prepare for a long day of travel which would end with me exploring New York from the late afternoon and evening east coast time.
There are two choices to reach the city centre with both an express and local train service. Of course I decided upon the express train ignorant to the exchange rate for NOK to GBP my AMEX took care of payment and it was a short wait for the train and a 20 minute ride into the centre. Now this is partly due to the fact that I am so used to business travel, generally the price is displayed I make a rough approval due to the fact that I need to get somewhere and insert my Platinum Corporate Barclaycard. Anyway that transcended to this transaction and the cost worked out at around £30 for the return trip. A little expensive but probably similar to the Heathrow express and certainly the Arlanda express. With my time limited I still felt it a good investment.
There were no plans for Oslo, I knew the Island museums would be nearly closing by my arrival but I did want to visit the Opera house for a few photos.
Before we go any further, lets test this beer. Remember dehydration is a killer in this weather.
A gentle stroll with my camera in hand though the main streets and gardens.
Up to the Palace.
Then a stop for dinner, it had been one of those days eating lounge and plane food which never feels like a full meal. A beautiful setting next to the water.
The boats operate both commuter and island services as well as taking you to some of the museums.
I went for the duck which was very nice with another cold beer.
After dinner I made sure to head back past the Opera house for a walk around and photos, then onto the train station for the 2010 train back to the hotel.
After an early start and in preparation for tomorrow I was in bed for 2130 watching some Youtube videos with the alarm set for 0600.
To start off the Viking adventure I needed to get to Oslo, assessing the flight, options, costs and time I decided against doing any back to back turnarounds. I had give myself plenty of time in case of travel issues but mainly so I could also see some of Oslo. Having previously visited parts of Sweden and Denmark this would be my first time in Norway.
With this in mind I decided to take the early BA flight out of Newcastle meaning I could connect in Heathrow and arrive in Oslo in the early afternoon. After booking the Viking trip back in August these positioning flights were booked in January, the price had been stable and I didn’t think it would drop any so stumped up the £200 for the return flights in economy. BA Club Europe was simply not worth the money for a sub 2 hour flight especially with the legroom. I booked economy and secured the exit row, all the other perks came via my BAEC Silver status and I was content.
Parking was booked in the Newcastle short stay car park, my usual for business trips as it saves the 5 minute walk from the long stay. The walk early in the morning is not wanted, especially in the rain that had pounded Newcastle all night.
Route NCL-LHR
Flight Number 1321
Departure 0600 (Actual 0559)
Arrival 0720 (Actual approx 0736)
Seat 10C (Domestic)
Aircraft 319
Packed and ready to go. First trip for the new Rimowa, it still feels weird checking in a bag.
I arrived at the airport around 0445 for the 0600 departure as I had the case to check, there had been no stop rain during the night and in the morning so I was pleased I only had the short walk.
Gloomy morning in NCL.
Check in and security was painless and I was into the BA lounge by 0510, a quick breakfast and then it was time for boarding.
Normal lounge breakfast.
A normal BA domestic flight where I passed the time reading the newspaper and some saved FT pages on my iPhone.
Geoffrey the Giraffe was keeping tabs on me though! No DYKWIA behaviour here.
We landed early with a very short hold at Heathrow but we were left waiting for our stand as a plane was late departing due to a baggage discrepancy. The connection time was ample so it caused no concern. In all we sat for around 20 minutes on the taxiway before we moved onto stand.
Once off the plane it was though the connections check and into Galleries North.
Lovely day at Heathrow, styled it out next to a tree.
There was some disturbing news awaiting me on email where the BA Executive Club had got in touch to inform me that my about had been hacked and 110,000 avois had gone walking off somewhere. Immediately I changed my password and informed them I had not made the purchases. Hopefully that will get resolved, it’s one those things which I think will get sorted. More of an issue is that it is time consuming and I will need to keep track of it.
I had a quick adventure out to Dixons to look at new cameras, I’ve had my eye on the Canon 70D as a better lens option to my Sony RX100. In July I’m off to Yellowstone so my thinking is I may need a better zoom for some photos. I don’t fancy asking a moose or bear to come a little closer just so I can take a better photo for you guys on my trip report! Prices were good but not amazing enough to persuade me to part with the cash at this stage.
Route LHR-OSL
Flight Number 764
Departure 1025 (Actual 1113)
Arrival 1340 (Actual 1356)
Seat 10D (Economy)
Aircraft 319
Managed to time leaving the lounge perfectly to gate A17, priority boarding was just finishing and as my boarding pass was being scanned the remaining passengers were queuing. One thing I like about checking a bag is the need not to board early to have space for my cabin case. Just a casual walk rather than making sure there is space for a cabin case.
Into 10D with my bag stowed I was all set for Oslo but it seemed the French had different ideas as they were once again on strike. I thought when I was caught up by this last Thursday on my flights between DUS and CDG then later in the day CDG to AMS that would be me done with the French. Apparently not, they were on strike again due to the day ending in ‘i’, air traffic, hauliers burning tyres in the road they were all at it. Air traffic was reduced in northern Europe with even the pilot expressing his frustration. We pushed back on time and moved to a remote parking space to free up the gate. Waiting for around 20 minutes and then trundled our way to the end of the runway for take off.
A crossword, pathetic small sandwich and cake service from BA and the introduction to this TR kept me entertained on the short 2 hour flight to Oslo.
Within 45 minutes of arrival I was checked into my room at the Radisson for a quick turnaround and ready to head into Oslo. Most if not all of this 45 minutes was taken up waiting for my case, very slow at Oslo. The reason I chose this hotel was simply due to ease. It is around a 5 minute walk from hotel reception to the check in desks, for the 0755 flight it seemed like the easiest choice to prepare for a long day of travel which would end with me exploring New York from the late afternoon and evening east coast time.
There are two choices to reach the city centre with both an express and local train service. Of course I decided upon the express train ignorant to the exchange rate for NOK to GBP my AMEX took care of payment and it was a short wait for the train and a 20 minute ride into the centre. Now this is partly due to the fact that I am so used to business travel, generally the price is displayed I make a rough approval due to the fact that I need to get somewhere and insert my Platinum Corporate Barclaycard. Anyway that transcended to this transaction and the cost worked out at around £30 for the return trip. A little expensive but probably similar to the Heathrow express and certainly the Arlanda express. With my time limited I still felt it a good investment.
There were no plans for Oslo, I knew the Island museums would be nearly closing by my arrival but I did want to visit the Opera house for a few photos.
Before we go any further, lets test this beer. Remember dehydration is a killer in this weather.
A gentle stroll with my camera in hand though the main streets and gardens.
Up to the Palace.
Then a stop for dinner, it had been one of those days eating lounge and plane food which never feels like a full meal. A beautiful setting next to the water.
The boats operate both commuter and island services as well as taking you to some of the museums.
I went for the duck which was very nice with another cold beer.
After dinner I made sure to head back past the Opera house for a walk around and photos, then onto the train station for the 2010 train back to the hotel.
After an early start and in preparation for tomorrow I was in bed for 2130 watching some Youtube videos with the alarm set for 0600.
Jun 1, 2016, 8:37 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
Great reading so far Dave - looking forward to this one! Viking was one of my only working days when I did not check FT first thing - devastated I missed out. I did however get FRA-SYD in F couple of weeks later for £1,300. This was cancelled though! Well done on the £340 NYC
Thanks roadwarrier.
Thanks brg.
Thanks Spymon.
Jun 1, 2016, 1:00 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
It's Herschel
Very useful with a nicely lined laptop pocket, padded back and straps, front pocket for passport and boarding passes and a big main compartment.
I can actually survive of this for a long weekend if needed.
Very useful with a nicely lined laptop pocket, padded back and straps, front pocket for passport and boarding passes and a big main compartment.
I can actually survive of this for a long weekend if needed.
Jun 3, 2016, 1:01 am
#13
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA Premier Gold (*G), IHG Platinum & Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 1,456
Loved the Opera House in Oslo.
Took my Viking trip in December and really enjoyed Norway overall.
The new Munch Museum should be great when it opens up in a few years!
Took my Viking trip in December and really enjoyed Norway overall.
The new Munch Museum should be great when it opens up in a few years!
Jun 3, 2016, 4:33 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: FLL -> Where The Boyars Are
Programs: AA EXP 1.7 M, Hilton Gold, Hertz 5*, AARP Sophomore, 14-time Croix de Candlestick
Posts: 18,669
Wonderful report and pics!
Were you able to go inside the theater at the Opera House?
Gorgeous with all wood surfaces to guarantee excellent acoustics. Intimate - at 1400 seats every seat has a close view of the stage. And the stage curtain was created by a Southern California artist:
Were you able to go inside the theater at the Opera House?
Gorgeous with all wood surfaces to guarantee excellent acoustics. Intimate - at 1400 seats every seat has a close view of the stage. And the stage curtain was created by a Southern California artist:
Jun 5, 2016, 1:40 am
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
Day 2 - The Viking Quest Begins, nearly without a hotel room!
So here we are, after a good nights sleep I woke just before 6am for a shower, check out and walk to the terminal. At this time in the morning the terminal was just waking up and felt empty, the warm up to the main business later in the day. There was no queue at the Club Europe / Priority check in desk so after collecting the boarding passes and saying goodbye to my case it was through fast track and into the lounge. Note that fast track is only available for BA Club Europe passengers and not BAEC members.
It was my first time in the lounge but it was more than suitable for the short 30 minute wait, although the coffee left much to the imagination. Once boarding was announced I made my way down through passport control and caught the end of priority boarding.
Route OSL-LHR
Flight Number 761
Departure 0755 (Actual 0808)
Arrival 0920 (Actual 0915)
Seat 3D (Club Europe)
Aircraft 319
Once into 3D it was clear the only benefit of Club Europe was the more substantial breakfast and extra drinks run. Even with the middle seat blocked it did not make up for the lack of legroom. I found the table useful for a drink but in general I didn’t find it massively beneficial. Give me an extra couple of inches of legroom any day!
There was no bar service before the meal, instead both were offered together. I decided upon the continental breakfast although there was no choice given until I asked for the choices, slightly poor by the crew in my opinion. Following protocol and so that I could understand the whole Monopole and Castleneu debate on the BA forum I went with champagne, plus it was my birthday so it deserved a small personal celebration.
We were soon coming into land and I was looking forward to more comfortable surroundings in the lounge and Club World. Arriving at gate A21 and very quick walk through the connections centre until I arrived at security. As is too often the case the staff working security at T5 were busier chatting between theirselves than doing any security processing. With my belongings in 2 trays and my bag separate I made my way through the scanner to find my bag has taken the roll of shame for secondary screening.
My first thought was had I left anything in their that shouldn’t be between Oslo and Heathrow. When travelling with work I do occasionally leave a water bottle in my laptop bag but I was sure there was nothing in there. My bag was 3 of 4 for processing when I first went through. The first bag was being searched, I used ‘searched’ as a very loose term, contents were being moved and rescanned in between conversations, laughter and general messing around. That case was then left empty with it contents strewn across the desk with the lady trying to round up her belongings and squeeze them back in, several liquids lighter. At this point the lady doing the checks decided she must take a break so was relieved by a colleague. All that talking had obviously worn her out.
Bag 2 was next onto the table, this time a bottle of aftershave was the culprit. It is just a shame this did not reduce the time taken to process it. By this time the owner of bag 4 was rather agitated that he was going to miss his flight. It looked like he had 35 mins to reach the c gates, in my mind he had little to no hope. He was told that bags had to be screened in order when he raised the issue.
Some 15 minutes after my bag first rolled into oblivion it was time for it to be opened up. However Mr. Bag 4 had bigger priorities than me so I asked if his could be done first, finally the staff member relented and assured him that 25 minutes was perfectly enough time to make the c gates, it clearly isn’t especially when a zip on the bag was yet to be touched. After a quick scan of his liquor bottles he was clear to leave. In my opinion this defeats the point of the sealed liquids bag that they had arrived in.
We are now 20 minutes into the wait and my bag is next for treatment. Sure that I had no offending objects I left it to be searched and then asked why it had been elected. I was told the contents were "bunched together!” Well blow me, that is generally what happens in a bag, if it is not packed full and this one wasn’t then gravity tends to pull the remaining contents down, as yet I don’t have a gravity defying bag, sometimes I wish I did so that it was lighter.
Luckily I had 90 minute before departure and along with the two NCL lounges, KLM Crown lounges and Galleries North I don’t feel the need to spend excess time in these locations when I know I will be looked after on the flight. On my way past the security management stand I made a quick point to mention that while I find security of the upmost importance, the staff in the fast track belt obviously feel their conversations and lack of work to be more important. I doubt it made any difference but its the thought that counts.
Route LHR-JFK
Flight Number 173
Departure 1120 (Actual 1152)
Arrival 1355 (Actual 1345)
Seat 63B (Club World)
Aircraft 747
Back into the lounge and I was onto the balcony which is my preferred area as long as I am not in need of a socket to charge a multitude of electrical devices. I didn’t have too long to wait until it was time to relocate to the B gates.
Boarding was delayed for an unspecified reason so I ended up exploring Sunglasses Hut an bought someone a present. Once boarding started it became a scrum for both queues, people were everywhere, it was like First and Club World seats were first come, first served. I was happy to wait it out a little until it became clear I was only amongst chancers and I made my way forward with the correct credentials.
Once on board and onto the upper deck it became an oasis away from the masses. Champagne was served, bags stowed and the only disappointments was to see the configuration had changed from the new Super Hi J to Mid J which meant no new Panasonic IFE system. Instead I had to make do with a 6 inch screen, similar to something Marty McFly would have used. The original plan was to watch Hateful Eight but with this resolution I would rather leave it for a better time.
Eventually we pushed back and made our way to the end on the runway for the long roll, I always forget this due to doing so many intra-EU flights on 737’s, 320’ and the like. It turns out the runway is long enough for a 747 to take off even if T5 feels alarmingly close when when the wheels are still on tarmac.
Once in the air it was time to continue the TR writing, edit photos and wait for lunch. I will make it clear at the start that the two female crew on this flight were easily the best I have had in Club World. We had two bar runs before a starter was served and then another two before I had finished my main course. My preference is to start with a lager or two and then move onto wine at some point during the meal. At one point I still had a glass of lager and an untouched glass of wine when the trolley rolled past again. I politely declined another drink before having a stern word with myself. I have had mixed experiences with service in Club World so it was nice for it to be faultless for once.
Menu for today's flight.
By the time the starter came out I put away the laptop and started watching a film as I always find it easier to watch a film, preferably one which I don’t need 100% focus due to the constant interruptions during the lunch service. For this purpose I chose Joy with Jennifer Lawrence and bradley Cooper, a film which I had liked the trailer for and I was happy to miss a few parts.
Starter options were limited but I went with this pea concoction. Stlye over substance.
On my last CW flight I went with the fish, I didn’t regret it this time either. Very nice.
Finished with ice cream as I was stuffed and a green tea.
As the lunch service finished a had moved into a more relaxed pose due to the alcohol served but mainly due to the early wake up call. For this I all blame the alarm even though I am regularly awake earlier for work. At some point I feel asleep only for moments later for a phone to ring in the film and wake me suddenly. I felt like I jumped out of my seat. With that I decided it was best to pause the film, fully recline the seat and take a few hours rest.
I was pleased to get a few hours sleep hoping it would prolong my night in New York. I don’t generally suffer too much jet lag on east coast US flights, often managing to get to at least 11pm. Not long after I woke they were serving the second meal, of which I didn’t really need but took as I felt obliged.
Well over my daily limit of meat and cheese today! I didn’t bother with the cakes.
I often see people moaning about the lack of meals in Club World and the Club Kitchen selection on BA but I struggle to see how anyone would want anything in between courses, even on my SFO trip I didn’t feel the need but each to their own. I un-paused Joy to continue watching, in the end I got to the end of the film within the last 10 minutes of the flight, the crew finely left it to the last minute before closing my screen. Overall a very good film.
As my first upper deck experience I was very impressed, no doubt the small cabin of 20 seats makes a massive difference. The ambiance, lack of foot traffic and space makes it a great environment. The interactions from the crew allow them to do a great job however I still believe that I had two great crew members also. I am sure the experience could be diminished if the crew didn’t care. Overall I am sure this is what BA used to be like on every flight before cabin density, crew reductions and general cost cutting took effect.
Having flown into JFK several times before I knew getting off quick was going to be important to avoid the immigration queues. As soon as the seat belt sign was switched off myself and a few others made our way down the stairs to be in the first group off. Thank god I did, just as I made my way to the end of the queue the hordes from the Cathay flight were descending in the other direction. In the end I had roughly a 30 minute wait which I find perfectly acceptable for admittance to any country, especially the US. After a quick chat about my frequency of visits in 2016 I made my way to the carousel to pick up my case and join the next queue. Deciding there were too any people off the Cathay flight, with cardboard boxes and various cases I rejoined the opposite queue and was through in no time and into a yellow cab.
The cab trip took around 1 hour to reach mid town, I had chosen the Refinery hotel due to location and TripAdvisor ratings. Once at reception I realised that check in was not going to as easily as it should be. It was claimed that my reservation had been cancelled, strange as it was still showing in the Hotels.com app and I had no intention of cancelling it. I did worry that perhaps I may have cancelled an incorrect reservation, sometimes I will book and then rebook closer to the time if the price drops. However I double checked and for this reservation it had remained untouched since booking on the 8th August 2015! Before I travelled I had noticed that the hotel was sold out so whosever mistake it was it could leave us without a hotel. After around 20 minutes I was told that they had two rooms, I never found out what the issue was but my guess would be something to do with their reservation system and perhaps an hotel fault. It was never said but I think my reservation was found and to save face they implied that they were doing me a favour and happy to help me out. Several other details were wrong but it was sorted and I had a key to the room. Any further issues would be seen on check out if the price was wrong.
Nice sized room.
Bathroom was small but adequate.
Desk area ideal for writing trip reports, if only I had a spare minute.
Certainly enough mini bar options.
After a quick unpack and change of clothes I was out into Manhattan with the first objective of finding a cold beer.
A beautiful Friday evening meant it was an ideal opportunity for a stroll around Central Park, after spending a total close to 10 hours inside a metal tube the fresh air and sun on my back was very welcome. So many people obviously had the same idea as me, their confines being school, collage or offices.
Eating his nuts.
Not sure what the hell this was..
After a good walk around the lake area, the mall and Strawberry Fields I grabbed a taxi from about the mid point of central park. This however was not before I managed to start talking to one of the several crazy people, funny how all of these have cousins in the UK. Last time I was in New York I was still a bit green on travel, for that trip it was Virgin Atlantic in economy, how times have changed. On that trip I found a great pizza place just off times square. With that great memory and after searching google maps for the street I headed there in a cab.
Advert for the musical we will see tomorrow night.
Much to my surprise I found the restaurant and they had a table ready immediately, at 2030 on a Friday night I was expecting a wait.
A Peroni and calzone were ordered.
The calzone was stuffed but unfortunately still cold in the middle, you can have it stuffed but it clearly wouldn’t cook in the same time the dough did. It was sent back and returned hot so I still enjoyed it and I was pleased I made the trip. When in the US I feel you can be drawn into the typical restaurant so it’s good to stay away from that where possible.
A brief walk through Times Square which is full of characters and reminded me not to come back. I headed back to the hotel around 11pm to get ready for the first full day content that I had stayed awake long enough to sleep through until at least 4am.
A long day but I was pleased to be back in NYC.
So here we are, after a good nights sleep I woke just before 6am for a shower, check out and walk to the terminal. At this time in the morning the terminal was just waking up and felt empty, the warm up to the main business later in the day. There was no queue at the Club Europe / Priority check in desk so after collecting the boarding passes and saying goodbye to my case it was through fast track and into the lounge. Note that fast track is only available for BA Club Europe passengers and not BAEC members.
It was my first time in the lounge but it was more than suitable for the short 30 minute wait, although the coffee left much to the imagination. Once boarding was announced I made my way down through passport control and caught the end of priority boarding.
Route OSL-LHR
Flight Number 761
Departure 0755 (Actual 0808)
Arrival 0920 (Actual 0915)
Seat 3D (Club Europe)
Aircraft 319
Once into 3D it was clear the only benefit of Club Europe was the more substantial breakfast and extra drinks run. Even with the middle seat blocked it did not make up for the lack of legroom. I found the table useful for a drink but in general I didn’t find it massively beneficial. Give me an extra couple of inches of legroom any day!
There was no bar service before the meal, instead both were offered together. I decided upon the continental breakfast although there was no choice given until I asked for the choices, slightly poor by the crew in my opinion. Following protocol and so that I could understand the whole Monopole and Castleneu debate on the BA forum I went with champagne, plus it was my birthday so it deserved a small personal celebration.
We were soon coming into land and I was looking forward to more comfortable surroundings in the lounge and Club World. Arriving at gate A21 and very quick walk through the connections centre until I arrived at security. As is too often the case the staff working security at T5 were busier chatting between theirselves than doing any security processing. With my belongings in 2 trays and my bag separate I made my way through the scanner to find my bag has taken the roll of shame for secondary screening.
My first thought was had I left anything in their that shouldn’t be between Oslo and Heathrow. When travelling with work I do occasionally leave a water bottle in my laptop bag but I was sure there was nothing in there. My bag was 3 of 4 for processing when I first went through. The first bag was being searched, I used ‘searched’ as a very loose term, contents were being moved and rescanned in between conversations, laughter and general messing around. That case was then left empty with it contents strewn across the desk with the lady trying to round up her belongings and squeeze them back in, several liquids lighter. At this point the lady doing the checks decided she must take a break so was relieved by a colleague. All that talking had obviously worn her out.
Bag 2 was next onto the table, this time a bottle of aftershave was the culprit. It is just a shame this did not reduce the time taken to process it. By this time the owner of bag 4 was rather agitated that he was going to miss his flight. It looked like he had 35 mins to reach the c gates, in my mind he had little to no hope. He was told that bags had to be screened in order when he raised the issue.
Some 15 minutes after my bag first rolled into oblivion it was time for it to be opened up. However Mr. Bag 4 had bigger priorities than me so I asked if his could be done first, finally the staff member relented and assured him that 25 minutes was perfectly enough time to make the c gates, it clearly isn’t especially when a zip on the bag was yet to be touched. After a quick scan of his liquor bottles he was clear to leave. In my opinion this defeats the point of the sealed liquids bag that they had arrived in.
We are now 20 minutes into the wait and my bag is next for treatment. Sure that I had no offending objects I left it to be searched and then asked why it had been elected. I was told the contents were "bunched together!” Well blow me, that is generally what happens in a bag, if it is not packed full and this one wasn’t then gravity tends to pull the remaining contents down, as yet I don’t have a gravity defying bag, sometimes I wish I did so that it was lighter.
Luckily I had 90 minute before departure and along with the two NCL lounges, KLM Crown lounges and Galleries North I don’t feel the need to spend excess time in these locations when I know I will be looked after on the flight. On my way past the security management stand I made a quick point to mention that while I find security of the upmost importance, the staff in the fast track belt obviously feel their conversations and lack of work to be more important. I doubt it made any difference but its the thought that counts.
Route LHR-JFK
Flight Number 173
Departure 1120 (Actual 1152)
Arrival 1355 (Actual 1345)
Seat 63B (Club World)
Aircraft 747
Back into the lounge and I was onto the balcony which is my preferred area as long as I am not in need of a socket to charge a multitude of electrical devices. I didn’t have too long to wait until it was time to relocate to the B gates.
Boarding was delayed for an unspecified reason so I ended up exploring Sunglasses Hut an bought someone a present. Once boarding started it became a scrum for both queues, people were everywhere, it was like First and Club World seats were first come, first served. I was happy to wait it out a little until it became clear I was only amongst chancers and I made my way forward with the correct credentials.
Once on board and onto the upper deck it became an oasis away from the masses. Champagne was served, bags stowed and the only disappointments was to see the configuration had changed from the new Super Hi J to Mid J which meant no new Panasonic IFE system. Instead I had to make do with a 6 inch screen, similar to something Marty McFly would have used. The original plan was to watch Hateful Eight but with this resolution I would rather leave it for a better time.
Eventually we pushed back and made our way to the end on the runway for the long roll, I always forget this due to doing so many intra-EU flights on 737’s, 320’ and the like. It turns out the runway is long enough for a 747 to take off even if T5 feels alarmingly close when when the wheels are still on tarmac.
Once in the air it was time to continue the TR writing, edit photos and wait for lunch. I will make it clear at the start that the two female crew on this flight were easily the best I have had in Club World. We had two bar runs before a starter was served and then another two before I had finished my main course. My preference is to start with a lager or two and then move onto wine at some point during the meal. At one point I still had a glass of lager and an untouched glass of wine when the trolley rolled past again. I politely declined another drink before having a stern word with myself. I have had mixed experiences with service in Club World so it was nice for it to be faultless for once.
Menu for today's flight.
By the time the starter came out I put away the laptop and started watching a film as I always find it easier to watch a film, preferably one which I don’t need 100% focus due to the constant interruptions during the lunch service. For this purpose I chose Joy with Jennifer Lawrence and bradley Cooper, a film which I had liked the trailer for and I was happy to miss a few parts.
Starter options were limited but I went with this pea concoction. Stlye over substance.
On my last CW flight I went with the fish, I didn’t regret it this time either. Very nice.
Finished with ice cream as I was stuffed and a green tea.
As the lunch service finished a had moved into a more relaxed pose due to the alcohol served but mainly due to the early wake up call. For this I all blame the alarm even though I am regularly awake earlier for work. At some point I feel asleep only for moments later for a phone to ring in the film and wake me suddenly. I felt like I jumped out of my seat. With that I decided it was best to pause the film, fully recline the seat and take a few hours rest.
I was pleased to get a few hours sleep hoping it would prolong my night in New York. I don’t generally suffer too much jet lag on east coast US flights, often managing to get to at least 11pm. Not long after I woke they were serving the second meal, of which I didn’t really need but took as I felt obliged.
Well over my daily limit of meat and cheese today! I didn’t bother with the cakes.
I often see people moaning about the lack of meals in Club World and the Club Kitchen selection on BA but I struggle to see how anyone would want anything in between courses, even on my SFO trip I didn’t feel the need but each to their own. I un-paused Joy to continue watching, in the end I got to the end of the film within the last 10 minutes of the flight, the crew finely left it to the last minute before closing my screen. Overall a very good film.
As my first upper deck experience I was very impressed, no doubt the small cabin of 20 seats makes a massive difference. The ambiance, lack of foot traffic and space makes it a great environment. The interactions from the crew allow them to do a great job however I still believe that I had two great crew members also. I am sure the experience could be diminished if the crew didn’t care. Overall I am sure this is what BA used to be like on every flight before cabin density, crew reductions and general cost cutting took effect.
Having flown into JFK several times before I knew getting off quick was going to be important to avoid the immigration queues. As soon as the seat belt sign was switched off myself and a few others made our way down the stairs to be in the first group off. Thank god I did, just as I made my way to the end of the queue the hordes from the Cathay flight were descending in the other direction. In the end I had roughly a 30 minute wait which I find perfectly acceptable for admittance to any country, especially the US. After a quick chat about my frequency of visits in 2016 I made my way to the carousel to pick up my case and join the next queue. Deciding there were too any people off the Cathay flight, with cardboard boxes and various cases I rejoined the opposite queue and was through in no time and into a yellow cab.
The cab trip took around 1 hour to reach mid town, I had chosen the Refinery hotel due to location and TripAdvisor ratings. Once at reception I realised that check in was not going to as easily as it should be. It was claimed that my reservation had been cancelled, strange as it was still showing in the Hotels.com app and I had no intention of cancelling it. I did worry that perhaps I may have cancelled an incorrect reservation, sometimes I will book and then rebook closer to the time if the price drops. However I double checked and for this reservation it had remained untouched since booking on the 8th August 2015! Before I travelled I had noticed that the hotel was sold out so whosever mistake it was it could leave us without a hotel. After around 20 minutes I was told that they had two rooms, I never found out what the issue was but my guess would be something to do with their reservation system and perhaps an hotel fault. It was never said but I think my reservation was found and to save face they implied that they were doing me a favour and happy to help me out. Several other details were wrong but it was sorted and I had a key to the room. Any further issues would be seen on check out if the price was wrong.
Nice sized room.
Bathroom was small but adequate.
Desk area ideal for writing trip reports, if only I had a spare minute.
Certainly enough mini bar options.
After a quick unpack and change of clothes I was out into Manhattan with the first objective of finding a cold beer.
A beautiful Friday evening meant it was an ideal opportunity for a stroll around Central Park, after spending a total close to 10 hours inside a metal tube the fresh air and sun on my back was very welcome. So many people obviously had the same idea as me, their confines being school, collage or offices.
Eating his nuts.
Not sure what the hell this was..
After a good walk around the lake area, the mall and Strawberry Fields I grabbed a taxi from about the mid point of central park. This however was not before I managed to start talking to one of the several crazy people, funny how all of these have cousins in the UK. Last time I was in New York I was still a bit green on travel, for that trip it was Virgin Atlantic in economy, how times have changed. On that trip I found a great pizza place just off times square. With that great memory and after searching google maps for the street I headed there in a cab.
Advert for the musical we will see tomorrow night.
Much to my surprise I found the restaurant and they had a table ready immediately, at 2030 on a Friday night I was expecting a wait.
A Peroni and calzone were ordered.
The calzone was stuffed but unfortunately still cold in the middle, you can have it stuffed but it clearly wouldn’t cook in the same time the dough did. It was sent back and returned hot so I still enjoyed it and I was pleased I made the trip. When in the US I feel you can be drawn into the typical restaurant so it’s good to stay away from that where possible.
A brief walk through Times Square which is full of characters and reminded me not to come back. I headed back to the hotel around 11pm to get ready for the first full day content that I had stayed awake long enough to sleep through until at least 4am.
A long day but I was pleased to be back in NYC.