6:55 am came quite early. I wondered back through security and was looking at the airport map and it looked like there was a lounge near the C gates, but it turned out to be an unattended airberlin lounge (scan yourself in with BP/oneworld elite card) and there didn't seem to be anything Priority Pass accessible post security, though I didn't search every corner of the terminal. I wish I had just gone to the Jet Lounge which is after BP check and pre-security.
Niki, Vienna - Zurich (HB 8150)
If you're like me, you've never heard of Niki. Some Googling revealed that it's an airberlin affiliated LCC. This morning's flight seemed to be a typical business shuttle, judging by the stampede when oneworld elites were called to board. The flight had self boarding gates, so just scan your BP and head on down. The equipment was a single class Embraer 190, and similar to Southwest, all the seats are "leather". Not a ton of personal space, but it was adequate for a flight that was barely over an hour long. All the crew were in a relaxed uniform of blue jeans and a black jacket/shirt.
There was a quick snack service of a muffin and beverages, after which I promptly fell asleep. No complaints here at all on a short hop. Amazing though, more service on 1 hr flight on a LCC than you get on a 3 hr UA flight.
The Panorama Lounge
I had slightly over an hour to connect to my next flight, so I went through another efficient passport control and took the tram over to the international departure terminal. I went up to the lounge where it was quite busy. There was a full bar, even at 8 something am, as well as a bit of a food selection. They had croissants, mini sandwiches, but the food selection was pretty paltry, IMO.
I had a diet coke, a bit of food, and snapped a few pictures.
A festive ZRH:
An airberlin bird taking off:
AA 65, ZRH - JFK
Getting on this flight was a challenge. From my gate, I was directed to the adjacent gate to go through security questions for transfer passengers. I answered arcane questions about "who packed my bags" and "if I had any repairs done to my electronics recently", had a new BP printed, and went back to my seat.
When I went to board the plane, the GA sent me back to the security gate. When I asked why, they said I needed to answer the questions. I said I did. They asked, "where's your sticker?" "What sticker?" Ok. Fine. Back to the other gate. Begin arcane question sequence again. I tell the guy I already answered these questions and point out the guy, he calls him over and the conversation goes like this.
Security boss man: "Did you ask Mr. Krazykanuck the security questions?"
Security non-boss man: "Why of course I did!"
Boss man: "Where's his sticker?"
Non-boss: "We couldn't find them when Mr. Krazykanuck was cleared. So then we went to look for them, and forgot about the early people."
Krazykanuck: *shaking head/rolling eyes*
Boss man: *scribbles on sticker and puts on passport*
Ok. Finally on the plane. What a pain. Loads in Economy were even lower here than on the flight over the Atlantic, probably 40-50%. Thankfully the chatty German guys behind me moved seats, and the guy in front hopped across the aisle. I had my little zone of 6 seats all to myself!
The hard product
At first I was happy to see this on AA metal, but that quickly turned to disappointment when I realized this plane didn't have any decent amenities. No in seat/on demand IFE. Just overhead TVs which showed three movies I'd never heard of. No power plugs anywhere to charge my dying phone and iPad, and what felt more cramped than the US plane.
The service and food
All of the servers were professional. The food felt nearly the same as the US flight, though I opted for the pasta this time. It was adequate and edible, but nothing special. Free beer and wine, but the beer selection was terrible, just Budweiser, Heineken, and Amstel Light. I had an Amstel light with my lunch and took a nap.
About 2-3 hours later, just as I was waking up from my nap they were coming down the aisle passing out... ICE CREAM! A little ice cream cup? In coach? I was suddenly happy clutching a new beer and my vanilla ice cream while cuddled in my blanket, like any big kid would. Following this it was nap time again, seeing as how there was nothing else to do.
An hour out of JFK, the service was back with a little snack of some pizza bread and a bit of dessert. Both things were reasonably tasty. We were on the ground and off the plane in no time.
Transfer between JFK and LGA
The itinerary was supposed to drop me back at LGA via PHL. It seemed that AA/US cancelled my original flight from ZRH-PHL, so I was re-booked to JFK. A bit of an inconvenience but not the end of the world. It took a bit over an hour to get between airports via public transit, which I wanted to use to finish up my Metrocard that would be expiring in a couple months.
I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in the Amex Lounge, starting to write the first couple parts of this trip report while eating and drinking deliciousness. My flight home was delayed by about 40 minutes, but I went down at the regular time and was through Precheck immediately.
UA 1259, LGA-IAH
This flight was remarkably like the outbound flight, except swap fighting couple for lovey dovey couple. To be honest, I preferred fighting couple. Obnoxiously happy couples like this annoy me, I assume mostly because I'm single. They kept making out at random times during the flight, while the guy was playing a game on his iphone so intently he was moving so much in his seat he was shaking the whole row. Only 3 hours until home...only three hours until home...
While I showed restraint in not yelling at Mr. Happy couple, we had two passes of the drink cart and I napped some more. We landed at IAH just a few minutes late and the trip came to a quiet and uneventful end.