Originally Posted by
G-CIVC
The QF lounge is indeed wonderful and makes flying out of LAX a very pleasurable experience. The only letdown is the extremely stringent lounge dragons who have denied me access multiple times but this will now become moot as I turn 21
21? OMG, that seems so long ago.
Great report so far, SFO777 as always! Looks like you had a good flight with AA in F. Food looks good and glad you had a nice flight with them after your last JFK-LAX flight. My wife and I are planning on going to London later this year - it's been a while since I've been, and she's never been. Getting excited for this trip after seeing your pics. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you
757. Indeed, much better than JFK-LAX. It's like 2 different airlines.
Originally Posted by
When I Travel The World
Excellent report so far
looking forward to the rest. That AA lounge is awful compared to the CX F lounge.
Thanks
When I Travel The World. Even for a temporary lounge, it's pretty gross.
Originally Posted by
oneworld82
I am glad you were impressed by AA First Class catering - I had the same, great experience ex-LHR in November - not mentioning the great Philipponat Clois de Bois champagne!
Thanks
oneworld82. The problem with AA is the inconsistency. If it wasn't for the free ticket, I would never had chosen AA based on the garbage that they serve even on premium transcons. And would I trust them to be consistent and not pull the plug on what I experienced.
Originally Posted by
Annalisa12
So MrsSFO pooh poohed a trip to London. So noted! Would of been a great time to go to London. She could of brought Prince Phillip a present and wished him all the very best after "retiring". Another great report. Thanks.
Thank you
Annalisa12. I never even thought to suggest that.
Originally Posted by
TheBOSman
Agreed. Tough to do better. It also has my vote.
The QF F lounge food is better than AA will ever put out, and that's not really a major shot at AA
. Heck, it is probably better than almost any airline's current F food
. It's a low single digit number if any are better for sure...
Very low single digit. LOL. Thanks
TheBOSman.
Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
But you knew that before you even went in. I suppose you just wanted (1) photos for drama's sake; (2) the jealous masses who were waiting in the AC to only wish they had AA F lounge access, and (3) to hear a million tiny violins play for the lawsuit-worthy trauma you suffered by even having to look at the AA Buffay.
Yet somehow, I have a feeling that you will almost have enjoyed your flight to LHR, even if the AA Caviar Service isn't quite to your liking.
Always the wise guy
Eastbay1K. But you definitely nailed it on #1. I did indeed want to document how bad it was.
Originally Posted by
xenole
I had much the same as you in the QF lounge.
Wasn't keen on the raw fish - prefer the salt and pepper squid.
The Korean dish was ok. Meat was a little bit crunchy and not enough spiciness. The kimchi was cold or is it supposed to be like that?
The cake was nice although my mango slices were hard and I prefer them really really soft. The champagne really does help things along though
There are a few nice items in the AA Flagship lounge but no idea how long some of them have been left out for. Handy drinks fridge and prefer the mochas from the AA machine than what QF do.
Thanks very much
xenole. Crispy pork belly does tend to be crunchy.
Agree on wondering how long some of those dishes in the AA Flagship Buffet had been sitting out.
Originally Posted by
nequine
Yikes at how awful that AA lounge is!
The fact that this is best they could be for a temporary lounge tells you a lot about AA.
Originally Posted by
offerendum
At the beginning I thought: Hey, they improoved! But then I saw the lounge.....
LOL. I knew you would like those pics.
Originally Posted by
brewdog11
Couldn't resist reading ahead on the blog. As always, great photos and attention to detail! All I can say about the onboard F&B is "WOW!" It seems like you got the almost-nonexistent double-rainbow unicorn of great catering and great service.
I flew AA F from LHR-DFW earlier in the year and was similarly impressed. The FL at LHR has improved and the onboard catering seemed significantly better. I had a pork belly dish which was spectacular, and the rest of the meal was great. No LPGS, but drinkable champagne nonetheless.
The chintzy pre-arrival "meal," on the other hand, was an embarrassment (I bet you could find it with the other Great Value products in the frozen section at Walmart).
Service was good, but no offers for turndown service. Perhaps it is because it was a day flight, but I've yet to see this consistently offered (or, rather, offered at all).
As an aside, I LOL'd at the side shots of ole boy in 2D. Great TR!
Thank you
brewdog11. The flight was excellent but AA is so inconsistent that I'm not sure I would go out of my way to fly them again.
Originally Posted by
jc94
Compared to most of the Air Canada MLL (as in, all of them in NA) that looks excellent.
LOL. That's a scary thought.
Originally Posted by
jmj9905
I too read ahead. Great TR as usual. I was blown away by the F menu. I haven't flown AA Int. F since Jan. 2015. I flew ord/pvg and the food was horrible. Hard to believe they will keep up this level of catering.
Thank you
jmj9905. Yep, I'm not convinced that they'll keep it up either.
Originally Posted by
Fraser
Looks really decent. Honestly, I'd give a pass to AA for the temporary lounge. Yes, it's s**t but it's temporary, no?
The F&B on AA looks really rather decent, I had no idea they served LPGS in F! I know that on some routes AA and BA have harmonized their product offerings in premium cabins. For a while on transatlantics BA were doing the made to order sundaes in F. I've also had the dessert wine listed on QF in First.
Pro Tip:
Star Alliance Golds get free FC upgrades on the Heathrow Express. Just buy a standard class ticket and show your *G card when seated in F onboard...also you mentioned £32 return, that's actually the one way fare for FC. It's supposed to be £55 return.
http://heathrowt2.staralliance.com/offers
https://www.heathrowexpress.com/tick...s/prices-fares
Whilst you lauded it the HEX actually gets a fair amount of stick in the UK, primarily over the cost relative to the distance/time. When compared to a car service/taxi it's not bad, but it takes you to Paddington which isn't handy for a lot of London and compared to other train services, which admittedly are less convenient (Tube/Heathrow Connect) it's several multiples more expensive.
Thanks
Fraser. You are correct on the Heathrow Express price being £55 return. And thanks for the free *G upgrade tip. Next time. Indeed, the LAX FL is temporary but they could have come up with a much better plan and solution. Even for a temporary lounge, it was a disgrace.