Dallas-Fort Worth to London Heathrow (DFW-LHR) on American Airlines 777-300ER in business
When I checked in at terminal D the check in area was very quiet. The agent was very chatty and my check in took maybe 20 minutes as a consequence. I was in no hurry and there was no one else being held up. I got another 3 boarding passes, which saves me some hassle with transfer desk for my next airline likely not being open in London when I arrive. I noticed the second flight my pre-selected window seat had been shifted to an inner seat. I asked if I could switch back but was told the cabin was full with only one other seat not selected by other passengers, and that was also an inner seat.
Security was slow - again only one line was being used and while there were not many passengers some had five or six bins worth of stuff! On entry to the admirals club I obtained some extra premium drink chits after pointing out how long it was until boarding - you can't expect a thirsty kiwi flyer to get by on just a couple of chits
I caught up on some stuff and the time went by very quickly - boarding was called when I thought I still had over an hour until boarding. Our gate was very nearby.
The flight was totally full. I had selected the rear window seat in the forward business cabin. This was a good choice as the inner seats are quite a bit further forward meaning this seat is extremely private despite not being a suite.
The seat is fairly decent and comfy. 1-2-1 with window seats angled towards the window. Not as enclosing as the 787 I flew yesterday. Lies fully flat. Decent legroom. The headset socket is hidden in the cubby hole which has a door, and there is a much more visible power point that looks kinda like the headset socket. Noise cancelling headphones and menu were already at the seat. No water bottle, and indeed there wasn't one handed out in flight either - which may be the first time I've flown mediumhaul or longhaul in a premium cabin and not received a water bottle.
Pre-departure drinks a choice of water, orange juice, or champagne. We pushed back on time. After take off another drink and some nuts before meal service (and more drinks of course).
I saw a couple of movies. I wanted to get 5 or so hours sleep on this 8 hour flight, but only managed a couple of hours, if that. I blame the storms late the previous night which meant I slept in much later than I normally would and was therefore not at all tired until late in the flight.
Somewhere in the middle of the flight they ran out of the drink I was having. I swear I didn't have that much so either very little was catered or it was a highly popular choice, or both
breakfast was served about 90 minutes before landing. For the first time I can recall we had no circling over southern England, just flying past the airport with 180 degree turn over the London Eye before final approach for landing.