Part 5 ……………. Reflections.

Overall, it was new and interesting, which is what foreign travel should be. Whilst the inspiration of the trip was to meet up with old friends, it also gave us the chance to see two dramatically different States of that massive country called the USA, And, as an aside, it was also interesting to compare a specific social parameter … what the people are like at the customer interface. I mean the register clerks in stores, or the hotel cleaners, or the servers in eating places. Ignore the middle class and the rich [not that we met any of the latter, and they’re universal]. It’s the ordinary, and usually ignored, people that give you a feel for a State, or even a country. I won’t elaborate in detail, but that perspective tells you quite a lot about what folks are like, wherever you go ... and everyone we encountered seemed friendlier than those on the East Coast.

Stobart. Despite the annoying/complicated/expensive baggage arrangements with EI, and the lack of TPs, we were actually well pleased with our Stobart experience. The CC were all charming, the seating acceptable for a couple of hours, and we had no complaints at all. Ah, if only they operated JER-DUB all year round, instead of just in the Summer season.

AA. I’m definitely getting very comfortable, in every sense, with flying AA instead of BA. Apart from a couple of minor hiccups, our 8 sectors were pretty much on time to the minute. Boarding was well managed, with little evidence [that we saw] of people trying their luck. We had absolutely no issues with the FAs: OK, slightly different to BA in their approach, but some of them were really excellent. Food was perfectly acceptable, and occasionally very good. The downside was the F seats on the A319/A321 ... after an hour or two I found them quite uncomfortable ... lack of thigh support? The AA app is excellent: user-friendly and logical, and the baggage-tracking facility is a great comfort when doing multiple connections. And I liked aa.com, with the ability to PYOBP for ALL pax and sectors with just one click [and with an Ad-free option]. And I like their BPs, with the nice bold DYKWIA overprint about PRIORITY and TSA PRE

PHX/AZ. A mega-city of sprawling suburbs, without any real charm factor - but then we happen to like US suburbia! The weather was predictably lovely and warm, our hosts were lovely [and thanks for use of your pool!] and we are looking forward to a longer visit to expand our exploration of the area.

ANC/AK. Hmmm … AK is great if you are into hunting, shooting, fishing, cycling or hiking. Some wonderful scenery, of course. We enjoyed a lucky spell of excellent weather, and with excellent company and caring hosts we got to see a lot more than if we’d tried to do it as independent travellers.

Avios/TPs. AA TPs/Avios credited within a day or two, so no complaints there. We even got 137 Avios for the return Stobart leg, although I had to ask BAEC [on the Gold line] why we weren’t credited for the outbound - it appears that for some unknown reason, we had been booked as A outbound [non-earning] and W inbound [earning]! Double-dipping with HHons, and the BA “Quadruple Avios” deal, will give us ~10,400, and there’s another 741 from the Avis/BA car rental. A further 38,640 accrued from the flights, and 820 TPs to start this membership year’s Gold renewal. That will do nicely.

Long multi-sector routings. The ex-DUB was an desirable aspect on cost grounds, and realistically that just meant adding CLT as the only ‘extra’ stop on the way. The night-stop at DUB outbound was essential for connection purposes, but I now wonder whether doing the entire 30-hour run home from ANC was the best idea. Perhaps break the journey? But then we really wanted to get the travelling done as quickly as possible. It was hard going, but we coped OK, even as 'older people'


Whew … that was longer than I had expected … I hope you enjoyed it!
Next trip is with BA, JER-UK-IAD, so not nearly as complex or interesting [hopefully].