Verdict
Overall, I enjoyed excellent and friendly service, tasty onboard-food and nice views on the world down below on these 2 great trips. BA, IB and AA (well, despite the check-in agents) were really good in terms of service and also UA wasn't much behind. On all flights the seat next to me was free, or I was in premium economy or US domestic First which, together with the use of 9 business class lounges, made for a comfortable experience.
I also lost my bags, failed my first attempt to fly standby and am now battling with BA executive club to get a missing 40 tier points for the ORD-DFW flight. AA credited it as Y/Y despite the ticket being booked in code P. But that didn't ruin the fun.
On my 10 flights described in this report I only encountered one queue at security. That was in LHR T2 going to BCN on a busy Saturday at the start of half term--it was horrendous, but we bypassed it because of a VIP, my baby son.
Best flight out of the 10: ORD-DFW in First, followed by ORD-LHR because of the bulkhead seat in WTP and the fact that I slept for the first time on an overnight in economy.
Best lounge: gate1 lounge at LHR T4 closely followed by Sala Formentor in PMI and A23 lounge in DFW
Best thing looking back: being back at home again to see my little son.
And the MD-80s? They feel like old airplanes compared to the NG737 and A32S that mostly plough Europe's skies these days, but all flights were actually quite comfortable with a bit more legroom than you get in Y on most of the newer planes.
Flying can still be fun. I'll be off again to YYZ in a couple of weeks. Yipee!