mkjr

Given all these makeover shows etc. and flipping shows, you really have to wonder how they could not at least make some pretty cosmetic improvements in relatively short order at the CCR.

AtlFlyer123

Why do I need to give my Browns 16-0 prediction a rest also if I'm ever in the Concorde room I'm going to order the BA burger take a sample of beef and send it to a lab for analysis when I get the results of the test I'll send a copy to you and Mrs SFO

oneworld82

good to see you had a nice experience on BA F, for a change! I agree with you - 14 seats are WAY too many. Hopefully Alex Cruz agrees too!

Dieuwer

Did you visit any of the megalithic temples on the island?

blueferrari

Malta coast looks beautiful!
Air Malta, though, sounds like they're in a very problematic situation

and I'm quite surprise that you were flying BA (glad you had a nice flight as well)

SFO777

Thanks very much Eastbay1K. Hope you enjoy your flight but you are wise to board with low expectations. JWB is your friend.

No kidding. Apparently its been this way for years. Pretty shocking.

Thanks oneworld82. From what I've heard about Cruz, he may think that 14 seats is too few.

Thank you blueferrari. The Malta coast and especially Gozo is beautiful. BA wasn't my first choice but it made sense that day... with the morning Air Malta flight connecting to the afternoon BA departure giving us the only way to get home the same day. Plus we traveling with originally traveling with friends and BA had 4 award seats. Done.

jubbing

Really surprising - my one and only flight on LH F was probably the best flight attendant I have ever had in my life. Either she was really responsive to my requests and taking care of me, or she was trying to flirt. 50/50

offerendum

My experience with nearly every airline is, that you have great crews and not so good crews. At most airlines one of the options prevails.

jubbing

That's probably a fair observation - would like to really push that to the limit. It sucks when First Class crews aren't up to scratch though.

Genius1

Just catching up with this report as I missed it last month (thankfully due to travelling!). Thanks again for an enjoyable read, SFO777.

I think the Star Alliance F lounge at LAX looks like a fairly exclusive space if you want some peace and quiet, but the food offering does look weak. Nothing like what is available for oneworld pax.

The design of LH’s F cabins (and lounges for that matter) is very much to my taste, although the A346 cabin doesn’t seem to offer that much privacy. The catering and service on the LAX-MUC sector obviously wasn’t great, but would you say generally their inflight product is superior to the majority of international F products?

The Hassler looks nice in a classical way - the location is excellent. When I was last in Rome city a few years ago we stayed over the river, which actually made for a pleasant walk in each morning. The Vatican Museums look massively overcrowded, to the point of being unsafe in some of those narrower galleries. Did you see any of the Palatino when in Rome? That’s my favourite part of the city.

You say you used you PP cards to access the lounge in FCO, but surely you would’ve had access with an Air Malta business class ticket, even though you had been downgraded, at least as a courtesy? With one flight a day, it wouldn’t have been possible for you, but in the event of an airline using another airline’s aircraft to operate a flight I would request to go on a later flight if my time/schedule permitted - this is certainly possible on BA for instance when they substitute a Titan Airways aircraft during a strike. The flight seemed to allow enough amusement with the couple across the aisle, however! I loathe aircraft which are configured with no bulkhead in the front row.

Your room at the Corinthia in Malta does indeed look very dated. I assume you checked the location on the map and photos on TripAdvisor before booking? Malta itself looks beautiful. I’m curious why you often use a guide at your destinations? I think part of the beauty of travel is discovering things for yourself, but I guess it’s personal preference.

The Air Malta lounge looks pretty dated. The onboard experience looks fairly terrible, but at least the middle seat becomes a table which is always handy.

The T5 CCR is thankfully receiving some long-overdue new furniture soon - the Club and First lounge were refreshed last year. That is no excuse for why BA have let the CCR get to the state it’s currently in in some areas (mainly the fabric seat covers). What hasn’t been announced is any refurb of the washrooms, showers or cabanas (in any of the LHR BA lounges), which are all terrible. I still think the CCR has a relatively exclusive feel about it, but it’s far from being an excellent lounge or comparable to the likes of CX’s The Pier First Class in HKG or even the new CX lounges at LHR.

You might want to consider the Heathrow VIP service next time you’re at the airport. It would be interesting to get your take on that. http://www.heathrowvip.com

BA are meant to do Priority Boarding in order. On longhaul flights, this is First and oneworld Emerald, followed by Club and oneworld Sapphire, followed by oneworld Ruby, followed by everyone else by row. On shorthaul, the variation is that the first boarding group is Club and Emerald, followed by Sapphire, followed by Ruby, then non-priority by row. In practice, this rarely happens, and all priority pax are called at once, even on busy services where staggered boarding is most valuable.

I agree that 2AK are the best seats on BA’s 747. I see your 747 was one of the 18 in the fleet that has been refurbished down the back, with the latest Panasonic IFE system in all cabins. I’m glad you finally had a good BA F experience onboard! I think the main course curry probably was a Club World dish that the crew plated for you in the galley. The dessert is also a Club World menu option, as I had it on an LHR-EWR sector last month.

Thanks again for the report.

TheBOSman

Sadly these will be some of the last pictures ever taken of it, as the formation has collapsed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39207196

offerendum

Saw it a few minutes ago - sad. Glad I saw it as SFO777 did.

SFO777

Wow, I hadn't heard. What a shame. Thank you TheBOSman for alerting us.

Thanks very much Genius1 and for all of your comments. Aesthetically, I do like the LH cabin but not so sure on service anymore. Perhaps we've just had a strong of bad luck with cabin crews. Five years ago, I would have ranked LH #1 overall including ground service. Today, I'd rank them closer to the bottom of the top 10 with AF, GA, EY, EK, QR and LX ahead of them.

Air Malta had already reissued our ticket to reflect the downgrade. And since we have a family PP card and they both use the same lounge, no need to plead with the agent.

We just find it easier to hire a local who knows the ins and outs and how to jump the queue.

Thanks for the suggestion. I may try that next time.

I think the law of averages were on our side. Kudos to the crew for improvising on the curry dish.

darthlemsip

Hey SFO777 - stayed in the Corinthia Palace last weekend (as per previous post), and while the room was definitely quite tired, thought it was a good hotel - staff particularly were excellent. We ate in Rickshaw on our last night, which was really good, but was our only experience of eating there

However, can't agree that its location counts against it that much - was very easy to get anywhere we wanted on the island using local busses or the hotel operated shuttles, nothing was more than 10-15 mins away. Still, each to their own of course - if everyone agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place!

We went full tourist on this trip as we were only there for a few days - did a hop on, hop off sightseesing bus. Great fun, and we saw an awful lot, but did get an unexpectedly sunburnt head...

1P

Hi, SFO777

Just back from Rome.

Strike Da Luigi from your Rome list (had a really disappointing meal there this time) and instead go to the Hostaria Farnese, a family-run restaurant. Just the thing for lunch.

I, too, am sorry to hear the Azure Window has collapsed. I got some great photos of it. Glad you got to see it before it went.

The Hilton on Malta is not at all bad. We had a great stay there with points last year. Lots of nice eating places in the vicinity. Next time you're on Gozo, don't miss the Megalithic temples.

For me, Mdina is the place to stay (and to eat) in Malta, if possible. Just an amazing atmosphere in the town, by day and by night. Discovered it years ago and on my recent return was confirmed in this.

Your next trip now has to be Sicily. You will love it! I have lots of tips. And the people are so friendly.