KeaneJohn

BA173 LHR-JFK 25 September 1125/1355 actual 1222/1415


Stayed at the Sofitel the night before for a pretty unimpressive stay. Worried about oversleeping and wanting to meet a couple of FTers headed across to Terminal 5 at 6.50am. Checked in and bags tagged to CUN and both boarding cards issued within a couple of minutes.

North Security actally quite fast and through shortly after 7am. Meandered to the lounge and actually wanted to do a bit of shopping. Stopped off at the Spa and was offered a facial at 8am or 10am. Opted for the former. Didn't get to catch up with the FTers as their plans had changed so headed to the lounge for breakfast.

Shortly before 8am returned to the spa and asked to fill in my questionaire. Taken to a treatment area and sat in a chair. Got a very relaxing firm chair massage and facial. There was another passenger kicking off and she had been in the lounge earlier too. It turns out that she asked the shower attendant to put her down for a spa treatment before the Elemis staff arrived and when she returned there was no space. A BA manager managed to get her an appointment but she was still ranting (hankering for an upgrade I think) so she missed out on that spa treatment too i thanked my therapist and gave her a £5 tip.

The lounge angel advised that my flight would be going from C61 so I decided to head over to the B lounge.

Caught up on emails and a call with my parents before heading over to the C gates arriving just after 10.35am when priority boarding was just coming to an end. 3 people scanning BPs, one agent calling people joining the priority queue, boarding how it should be done IMO. When my BP scanned it went red, the agent was tapping away, I thought ooohh is this IT and she pointed out to her colleague my seat number which was written on a scrap of paper and then she gave me back my boarding pass. I asked if there was a problem and told there wasn't so I got a beep but not THE beep.

Welcome drink offered and menus and amenity kits distributed.

In the captain's welcome he advised us that the Purser was retiring and this was her last trip after 35 years of flying.

At 1140 Captain advised there was a passenger reconciliation issue and would update us shortly. The hold underneath us was then opened and a can removed and a bag unloaded. We pushed back just before 12noon and were airborne within 25 minutes.

Cabin crew came round for drinks and I got a look as I didnt have my tray up and I fumbled to put it up as this was my first time in Club World since 2001.

After that a different member of crew took dinner orders acknowledging my lamb pre-order.

Starters served which was tasty, less so the salad. Main course arrived and didn't look as impressive as it sounded but was very tasty.

For pudding I opted for sticky toffee pudding and asked if there was any cheese left over I wouldn't mind some. Nobody came back to me so say this wasn't possible. I

I watched a couple of films and stretched my legs. Had a chat with the CSD/M about changes and BOB whilst I grabbed something from the Club Kitchen.

Afternoon tea was served and I wasn't offered a choice and the tea had already been placed before I could say anything. It was tasty enough though the sandwiches were a little dry.

40 minutes to landing given and crew started preparing for arrival. I had bought a couple of Starbucks gift cards to give to the crew as a thank you but didn't feel that the service was that great or special so didn't give them.

Arrived at 1415 and whilst waiting to disembark spoke to the retiring member of crew who was holding us back whilst F disembarked. She said she would miss it but things were changing and not necessarily for the best and she wanted to spend some more time with her grandchildren so it made sense. I wished her well as did most of the F cabin.

On entering the arrivals hall, people on flights to PHX, BWI and CUN were asked to make themselves known to a OW agent in a purple jacket. I promptly did and was taken to another agent with a handful of orange express connection wallets. Was then taken to the front of the queue for kiosks and then once I had my slip to the front of the line for immigration. A wait of about 20 mins for bags to come across and again the OW agent who was hovering took me to the front of the queue to go through customs.

On exiting, turned left and took my bag to the interline re-check desk. Repacked a bit putting some purchased liquids in before dropping it off and heading for the airtrain station. On arrival at Terminal 8 headed towards security agent saw the orange folder and called me foreward but BP issued in London by BA didnt work so AA agent called over and I was taken through some tensa barriers, given a new BP and back to the front of the queue.

Interestingly we simply put all bags on the belt, no liquids or laptops out and no shoes or belts off and just walked through. By now it was just after 3.15 so an hour from plane to airside although it didn't seem that long.


AA1434 LHR-JFK 25 September 1610/1907 actual 1930/2208

After a quick security check headed over to the C gates. My flight was leaving from C34 so thought I would pop into the Admirals Lounge for a quick drink and go to the loo. Lounge angel said flight would be boarding anytime and I said I had 5 or 10 minutes didn't I and she said not really so i grabbed a bottle of water, gave away my other drinks slip and headed for the toilet. There was a queue so I headed to the gate. Whilst walking along the concouse heard a fincal call for the flight but still needed to deal with call of nature. A few minutes later at 1545 AA was paging myself and 1 other passenger for immediate boarding so I walked a bit quicker to an empty gate. I asked if my transfer bag had made it and was told it had.

On boarding I was flustered, and asked if I could have some water. One of the FAs asked where I was sititng and I showed her my BP... oh Business Class she said, we can do better than water. Take a seat and I will be down shortly.

I stowed my luggage and sat down in 6F The FA brought me some water and asked if I would like anything else. I asked if it was a possible for a G&T, of course she said.

Shorlty after the captain announced that the aircraft had suffered a birdstrke and they were checking what damage if any was done and clearing the aircraft for departure. He said he would give us an update in 30 minutes.
.
The FA came around with hot towels and nuts and acknowledged pre-ordered food. At 5.10pm captan said they were still checking but offered the chance for passengers to abandon their travels if they wanted to.

Crew did a beverage and snack run in coach and kept offering refills in business. Captain came through the cabin answering questions at 5.30pm and confirmd that if we did need to get another aircraft this was their first duty so they would not run out of hours.

At 5.45pm passengers were offered the chance to deplane to buy food in the terminal if they wanted to but they had to take all their belongings with them.

At 6.15pm we were all told to disembark and be back at 7pm as they needed us off the aircraft do to some tests. I headed back to the Admirals Club and the agent was surprised to see me back and checked her screen and said poor you and gave me 3 drinks coupons.

Lounge was quite busy as the B lounge was closed for refurbishment and the wave of European TATLS were starting to depart.

I noticed that our flight now had a departure time of 8pm and a new gate so I thought that they did need to do an aircraft swap. Just after 7pm however there was an announcement to say boarding at the OLD gate would take place at 7.20pm.

We reboarded and beverages were offered I elected for a diet coke at this stage. We pushed back at 7.30pm.

Business Class had shrunk from 6 to 3 passengers and after take off, the FA looking after us asked if we wanted dinner now and all 3 of us did.

I had the chicken which was very tasty. She asked me if I wanted another or the lasagne due to the passengers that disembarked and I tried the lasagne which was also good.

She brought me one of the best ice cream sundaes you could have imagined

When she came to clear my tray I had a nice chat with the FA about my poor experiences on AA back in the 90s and she advised me that there were a few industrial relations issues going on and she even told me the periods which were spot on. I said to her that my perceptions were changing and citing this flight even with a 3+ hour delay we had been kept informed, looked after and given options. I said the welcome was the warmest I had ever on a flight. She was pleased to hear that and advised that the final alignments of LUS AND LAA practises were happening which was hard work.

I had purchased a couple of London fridge magnets and keyrings (2 die dangling with 6 London attractions on each) at T5. I said there was one for each of the crew but wanted the Business Class crew to chose first. They were delighted by such a simple gesture but I said this was one of my best flight experiences and thats with a delay the length of the flight after travelling for 18 hours.

We arrived on stand at 2207 and I was first off the aircraft, said my goodbyes and thank yous and made my way to immigration. There were 3 agents working and only a couple of passengers had passed me so I was through in no time. Waited for the bags to come off and after about 20 minutes all bags had been delivered and mine along with 2 other passengers wasn't there. There were 2 AA Baggage Claim agents to deal with 3 of us. Another lady also from London on the BA173 but her bag hadn't made it to JFK. She was in tears as she was only in Cancun for a week. The agent took my baggage tag and advised my bag was in New York and would follow on the first flight the following day. She asked us to call a number to get any essential purchases pre-authorised. Fortunately, I had 3 days of clothes in my hand luggage and my hotel had toiletries.

I was given a case reference and told I could track in online. Interestingly on the world tracer there was no update but on AAs track my bag it was confirmed that it was loaded on the first flight to CUN the following day, and showed it being delivered to the belt about 5 minutes later I had a phone call from AA baggage services at CUN to say it had cleared customs and was with a courier en route for my hotel. It arrived within 90 minutes.

To summarise a very lacklustre experience from BA, it did what it said on the tin, nothing more, nothing less though I did have the added bonus of a spa treatment.

In contrast the AA experience however was one of the best flights ever despite it being delayed by over 3 hours and having my luggage mishandled. The key to this is crew that cared, updates, looking after your passenger and the prompt and efficient way that they dealt with the mishandled baggage.

I have an AA 001 ticket for my mini TP run to MIA in Nov flying the BA001 to JFK and BA208 from MIA. I called AA and asked if they would switch my BA flight to an AA one from MIA to LHR as I was so impressed by the last flight. The agent that answered said strictly speaking there should be a EUR 300 change fee but she could see I had several flight schedule changes on that booking and it was an unusual request to switch to AA after a flight delay and mishandled baggage so she would refer this. She came back to me and confirmed as a one time exception they would do this. She asked me if I wanted to join AAdvantage and I declined.

Who knows maybe I will be joining the Uncle T AA appreciation society.

TravellerFrequently

Many thanks for your maiden detailed TR.

CatchThePigeon

Thanks for the informative TR. A pity your beep wasn't THE beep. Yet another nod to AA over BA from a regular BA customer.

sondra_finchley

Nice report - really surprised to see that AA went so far out of their way given how many issues you had on this itinerary! Like you I remember the "bad old days" of the 90s and have avoided ever since, though I had a really excellent flight on them to Paris in 2002 when they were trying that more legroom thing. Shocking how many years it can take to change perceptions!

Like you, my partner recently flew (Y even)! a split itinerary of LHR-ORD on AA and the reverse on BA. Apprehensive at first about flying AA, he raved about how comfortable the plane was (he upgraded himself at the airport for more legroom) and the overall service and had a great flight. Let's just say he didn't have similar things to say about BA on the return.

T8191

^

So far I've had more delays/rescheduling with AA than I ever had with BA, but as you noted they do seem to handle them rather well. Perhaps they get more practice?

Overall your experiences are a fair echo of mine, albeit on different routes. "Come on in, the wAAter's lovely"

KeaneJohn

The reschedules on AA was a delay to MAD-JFK on LCY-MAD-JFK so rebooked to the BA001 LCY-JFK which to be fair works to my advantage and the other was the cancellation of a JFK-MIA sector on Thansgiving meaning flights 3 hours earlier or 4 hours later with nothing in between and no other re-route possible which is a bit of a PITA but not the end of the world. In both cases, no questions asked given carte blanch for a reroute on any reasonable route and indeed a refund for the cancelled MIA flight.

I think the US DOT have rules about lengthy gate delays hence their care programme. When I went back to the Admirals lounge I asked if they gave our meal vouchers for a delay of 4 hours as I was contemplating eating then sleeping on the flight and was told that they no longer did that and provided sandwiches, fruit and crips at the gate for delayed flights. The lounge angel offered to get me some but I declined. Obviously in the case of delays at BA the lounge offering is slightly better in this respect.

I do wonder what the beep was for as they had specifically written my seat number down.

Charlie26r

Great TR John!!

N1120A

As much as I like the photo-heavy novels some write, I also really enjoy these short, essentials reports. Absolutely lovely report and pretty spot on as to my experience on both carriers. I find that BA's long haul service, either with Mixed or Worldwide, can be a bit uninspired in J. Meanwhile, I find AA service on the AA side of the airline to be really quite good in the air.