Took my first PS flights to/from EWR. Overall, not impressed. Long post, but thought I would include all the details.
First flight (LAX->EWR) redeye was great. Good crew on a pmCO Intl 757. No choice in meal. It was a snack of Caprese Sandwich, served with Chicken Tortilla soup. Dessert was a small chocolate candy. Sandwich was blah, but the soup was good. Some type of muffin was offered pre-landing, but I didn't take one.
The plane had the loud, auto-announcement when the seat belt sign come on. It is something I loathe,especially on redeyes. When it came on, the Captain immediately got on the PA with a quick "seat belts" which seemed to over-ride the auto announcement. It got as far as "Ladies and Gent" then the quick "seat belts" from the Captain...then nothing. A good, customer-friendly work around to the stupid robo-PA. ^
FAs also allowed BF customers to depart first from the jetbridge at Door 2. ^
Good start to the trip. But then it went downhill.
Desk agent at EWR United Club took a LONG time to check me in. Poked and typed on her keyboard for about 2 minutes without saying a word. Eventually had to consult a colleague to figure out what to do. Appeared she knew PS flights got access, but couldn't figure out how to "log" it. No idea why I had to stand there while she figured it out? Not a big deal, but not exactly polished service. United Club was really packed, which surprised me a bit. It was nice having showers available, though. New breakfast food items were "bleh". Bar was not open.
Return to LAX was pretty bad. Again, it was a pmCO Intl 757. Had a 45 minute delay in takeoff due to mechanical. Poor communication, except from the FAs who noted "this didn't happen like this when it was Continental"
And yes, the rest of the flight was about what you would expect after a comment like that. Also interesting that when I asked for another PDB during the delay, it was served slyly and with a finger-to-lips "Ssshhh" so as to not get everyone asking. Overall, FAs doing a lot of socializing, not providing a lot of service.
Service didn't begin until 1hour, 15 minutes after takeoff, when drink was served. (no, it was not turbulent) A very short time later, the entire meal served all at once on the tray. So much for multi-course dining.
They had a new style menu. A single piece of thicker cardstock, printed on both sides. The "first course" was fresh fruit plate, yogurt, and bread basket. Breakfast entree was choice of 3 options. The standard cereal/banana, french toast suffle, or egg skillet with sausage. Basket distributed after everyone in BF had received their tray. No 2nd pass offered. (I will post the details and photos in the "Let's Eat" thread, if interested)
After waking up from a short nap (because the FAs were have a loud party in the galley
), I asked for some water as no bottles were distributed. (This was about 2 hours prior to landing). I asked about the bottles and I got an "Oh, right" and they got around to passing them out.
IFE was flaky. Had to be reset multiple times, and some apparently remained inop. Again, no communication. Everyone's TV just went to black and computer code without warning.
As you might have gathered, I was in row 1 (for the larger foot-well). I heard very interesting interactions among the FAs. In addition to the loud party mentioned earlier, apparently someone either mentioned or complained about the "all at one time" meal service. Much discussion and complaining, including references to "labor board" if anyone got disciplined for not providing correct service. It was bizarre.
{OP's self-admitted digression removed}
The menu indicated a pre-arrival cookie service. Nothing appeared until after the announcement to prepare the cabin for arrival. The FA made a mad dash to distribute poorly-baked cookies on a napkin. She started to offer beverages (in plastic cups
) but only made it to row 1 before stopping. After all the drama in the galley about the correct meal service, I guess it wasn't going to make a difference. Or maybe they were so engrossed with conversation, they forgot why they were actually on board an aircraft.
So there you have it. Wildly inconsistent. I wish I could be optimistic that things will get better (and things like the United Club check-in probably will), but I am left feeling bummed after the Newark experience.