Trip report DEL-LHR United First May 24th

After getting off the plane and talking to the ground agent, he informed me that I didn't have to pay the airport tax. He remembered me from last time, and said that they stopped asking transit passengers for the tax. I had gotten rupees in Hong Kong just for this, and I was annoyed that I had now 230 rupees with me with no use at all. I was actually pretty annoyed at this and even asked if I can get my transit tax back from last time. =P I guess maybe somebody has been reading my trip reports and thought it was completely stupid for transit passengers to pay it. Anyhow, after being escorted to the Taj lounge, I found a spot with a desk and worked a bit and also did some ready. When I got there, it was quite empty, but before long, it was completely filled. I also took the time to count the waiters around, and counted at least 10 waiters not including the manager and the barman. That's pretty good - 10 passengers per waiter. I asked for a glass of ginger ale, and was given this orange fizzy stuff that didn't taste anything like ginger ale. I promptly sent it back and asked for coke. For the next half an hour, I had a little stomachache. Probably just psychological, but I had a feeling it had something to do with that orange stuff. I spent the next 2 hours reading, and at 02:30, the flight to London started boarding. By that time, the lounge was nearly empty and the rest of the airport was very quiet as well.

I headed to the gate and after the strict Indian security, re-boarded the same 747-400 that brought me in from Hong Kong. The plane was very hot inside, and I guess the few hours it was sitting at the gate, nobody bothered to turn on the air-conditioning. I got back in the same seat 4J, and waited for pushback while finishing the last few chapters of my book. The flight wasn't that full again, and there were only 7 passengers in F. However, the captain did come on the PA system and said it was very full back in Economy and people should use the space in front of them, blah blah blah. Flight time today was scheduled to be about 8 hours 15 minutes. Cruising altitude is going to be at 35,000 feet. Before takeoff, the purser came with the menus and also handed out headphones and the new amenity kits. The meal that was being served after takeoff was as follows:

To Begin
Roasted corn and yellow pepper soup
Selection of international cheeses with fresh fruit and crackers

Main Course
Tandoori chicken khurchan on a croissant
Carrot, celery and cucumber salad with mint chutney

Spinach, mushroom and cheese filled crêpe
Tomato herb sauce and caramelized carrots

Vegetable shawerma with chili coriander sauce
Carrot and sultana salad

Dessert
Assorted cookies

Wines
Same as the previous flight from HKG

The menu was actually pretty good, considering it's just a midnight snack sort of thing. Anyhow, as the plane was pushing back, I dozed off since I haven't slept much since I left my apartment this morning. When I fell asleep, my seat was in the regular upright position. But when I woke up 4 hours later, I found seat fully flat. Strange that I had actually converted the seat when I was half asleep and have no memory of doing that. I also found a huge bottle of 1 liter Vittel water next to me. I haven't seen these given out in ages, back to the time when they were advertising F class passengers get their own liter of water or something like that. Anyhow, after waking up, I stumbled my way into the galley and asked to have something to drink and also if they can make me anything to eat. The FA on duty there was very nice, but said she couldn't make anymore of the main courses for the first meal, but offered me some soup. It took her about 20 minutes to reheat the soup and during the time, I just stayed in the galley chatting with her. I got to look at the manifest, and saw that it was very detailed. I'm not sure if it's just the Indian manifests or if it's going to be standard, but on it, every single detail of the passengers were shown. Exactly where they were from if transiting, where they were heading to, what fare and upgrades each passenger was using, and also of course their status. It showed my connecting flight in London, and also my Cathay flight from Bangkok. I saw that there were only 2 1Ks on this flight, one of them myself, and it showed the other using a systemwide to upgrade. The other passengers were just premier and regular mileage plus. It also showed the premier passenger using miles to upgrade. I'm not really sure if the FAs should be given so much information, as I don't want to get lesser service if I'm using a systemwide sometime later. I'll see if my next flight has that as well.

After my having my soup, I worked some more on the computer. The time passed pretty slowly on this flight, probably due to the fact that I was quite hungry throughout and there wasn't really much I can find to eat. Also, the movies were the same as the ones on the Hong Kong flight, as they said the ground staff did not load the correct tapes for this flight. Also, by the time we cleared the Black sea, everyone seemed to be up and walking about the cabin, although the lights were still off. As I had nothing to do, I checked out the menu for the food they were serving before landing:

Prior to Arrival
Your selected entrée will be served with fresh fruit, fruit yogurts, breakfast breads and fruit preserves.

Omelette with sautéed mushrooms and onions
Grilled breast of chicken with home-style potatoes

Texas-style French toast with honey
Pan-seared pineapple

Aloo paratha chat with paneer burji
Mash potato and vegetable cake

I thought this actually sounded a lot better than some of the other prior to arrival meals. Probably due to the fact that this was an international flight, and they were already skimping on the first meal. So they probably felt bad and beefed up the second meal a little. I also decided to walk around the plane a bit, and found that Business class was very empty. I say there were about 6 people on the lower deck. Economy was pretty full though, and I think you could have counted the empty seats with the fingers on 2 hands. Also got my hands on a business class and I was disappointed that it was exactly the same as the First class menu except they didn't have the soup. I also got a Economy class menu which I have listed at the of this report. The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to think that the catering service in Delhi is rather weak. I mean on my last flights, practically all three classes ate the same thing, just served nicer up front. With this flight, the items in all three classes were the same again. I'm not sure if the food is catered from Hong Kong and London, or if they're refilled in Delhi, but I think United should make some changes to their menus.

I also found out how they make the hot towels, which is basically pour hot water over the towels. No wonder they aren't handed out that often in flight. It all depends on how much work the FAs want to do. Anyhow, I asked her to make me a few, which actually felt REALLY good. Some of the other passengers at this time were already asking for their breakfast, but I had decided to wait until an hour and a half away from London before I would ask for mine.

I then watched a bit of discovery channel, and after about an hour, the FA came around and asked if I wanted breakfast. I asked for the French toast, as I saw the gentleman across the aisle have it, and it didn't look so good. The breakfast came pretty quickly, but the presentation was pretty bad. Basically three pieces of bread soaked in honey and some random pieces of pineapple scattered around the plate. I thought the honey would come separately, and when I saw it on there already, I thought that the toast would be all soggy already. Luckily, it wasn't soggy at all, and I guess the FAs put it on before they bring it out. Tasted pretty good too, except that it might have been a little too sweet. After eating that, the fruit bowl and orange juice didn't taste like anything. By the time I was done, we were only an hour away from London, cruising at 39,000 feet over Germany.

I fell asleep again after that and I woke up to the announcement that we had to circle around Heathrow for about 15 minutes before we were given a landing slot. By the time we touched down, it was exactly 08:10, which was right on time. Unfortunately, we landed on one of the outer runways, and took 15 minutes to get to the gate. And again, only door 2 was used, even though there was a second bridge. Anyhow, I got off pretty quickly and headed to the transit desk, through security and to the RCC to wait for my last flight for today.

ECONOMY
Western Selection
Chicken filled with paprika cream sauce
Potato croquettes and creamed spinach

Carrot and sultana salad
Savarin with fresh fruit compote

Or

Indian Selection
Paneer Makhani with dry fruit pulao
Mushroom mutter masala

Mutton pepper fry with lemon chili rice
Carrots and beans poriyal

Carrot and sultana salad
Chenna payash

Prior to Arrival
Fruit appetizer with your choice of fruit yogurt, banana muffin and orange juice

Omelette with sautéed mushrooms and onions
Grilled breast of chicken with home-style potatoes

Aloo paratha chat with paneer burji
Mash potato and vegetable cake

Wines
Georges Duboeuf Merlot
Fortant de France Chadonnay