I started the day off with a ride from midtown Manhattan to JFK airport, and I chose Uber, given the fact that calling a taxi was just slightly less expensive and the additional comfort of not feeling pressured to give a good tip. Unfortunately, traffic was hideous out of the city, and the driver suggested using the local roads instead. Good thing I took his advice, or else I would have missed my flight.



To speak the truth, I’ve never flown out of JFK, I don’t know why, but usually I use Newark. I arrived at Terminal 7 with 25 minutes left before check in closes. Since I had already checked in online the night before, not much time was needed before I was issued my boarding passes for both the JFK-NRT and the NRT-HKG leg. Luckily, this time, my bags were checked all the way through, so I did not need to collect my bags in Narita.




Security was also very quick, and just 15 minutes after arrival, I was already graciously welcomed into the British Airways Terrace Lounge. This was a new lounge for me to visit, and situating in one of BA’s most important destinations, New York, I had modestly high expectations. Instead, I found myself feeling underwhelmed. The décor was tiring and the lounge huge and busy.




Regular food was almost non-existent, aside from some chips and M&M’s at the self-serve area. The only redeeming feature was the alcohol and beverage selection, which featured a variety of beer and wine selection, along with champagne. However, the cabernet sauvignon I chose was pretty nasty and so I only took a few sips. The champagne on the other hand was quite good. Interestingly, I saw a sign at the lounge entrance that offered instant noodles to ANA passengers. Really?





The couple sitting adjacent to me was quite interesting. I believe they do not realize that the lounge is a public space and not their own bedroom at home, because they were constantly, let’s just put it this way, displaying publicly signs of affection.

I did not stay put for very long. After sending out a few last minute emails, I decided to head out to the gate and just board early if the opportunity presented itself. There was no such opportunity. The gate area was already hustling and bustling. There were more than 8 people in the first class line, defying the actual size of the cabin, and the business class line was so long that it could be mistaken as the economy class one.



I took a seat and waited for the business class line to get shorter, before joining the queue.