BA 178 JFK - LHR dep 0855 arr 2040
 

Has anyone taken this day flight in the last few months? What is the catering in F and CW - breakfast and lunch/tea/dinner?

What's CR at JFK like compared to T5? GF? Spa hours?

Contemplating this for the wk before Xmas. Any tips would be much appreciated - thanks!

Hundreds of thousands of people, I'd say... ;)

CW is brunch then a salad/snack before landing in the evening (or was, not sure if that's changed with the catering cutbacks).

Did a search for 'BA178' turn up nothing? I haven't tried again myself, but know for sure there are several threads on this - one of which I recall either starting myself or at least posting in along with a few others as I've done it a few times...never in F though.

It's a great flight for beating jetlag. I love the East Coast day flights.

It never used to be open for the morning flights. Then it was. Now I'm sure I read recently it's not again.

Terraces - old style Terraces, nothing exciting.

Flounge - old style Flounge, nothing exciting and downgraded drinks and food vs. LON. This is a continued problem IMHO. It's not a backwater outstation with a once-daily service, it's the second flagship station after Fortress LHR :td:

Also note: no spa for the 178 unless that's changed recently too.

Precision is such a tricky thing sometimes, isn't it? :p

Thanks for the reply tho, oh ever dependable guru :) ^

I took it a few months back in CW.

Not as good as I had expected.

I had stayed out at JFK at an airport hotel but I still felt a bit tired being up so early. Flounge as described above - Champagne and smoked salmon breakfast.

Food offering on board was nothing special - Brunch was a choice between full english breakfast and a salad type thing. I fancied neither - then fell asleep for most of the trip.

Woke up to find most of the day had gone and it didn't really cure my jet lag... couldn't sleep when I got home.

Try it though - Most people seem to like it....

I also prefer the east coast day flights.

I would not bother getting the the airport too early though as I have found it is a matter of going straight through security and to the departures area with no wait. Not sure about JFK but when I arrived 2 hours prior to departure at IAD they did not have the lounge open for another half hour or so.

Neither flight option is great, but I'll be contrarian and say I don't like the day flights. They shorten the day to the extent that I find getting to sleep in London on arrival a real challenge, leaving me tired and grouchy. I far prefer taking the latest departure ex JFK, going to sleep asap and managing to fit 5 hours in. Bit jaded the following day but then I sleep fine and all is well.

Don't recall the catering being especially memorable ex JFK. As G-BOAC notes, the F lounge is pretty poor.

I took this flight ten days ago. It was brunch (I liked the selection) for the first meal service. The strange thing was that they did not have anything from the menu for the second meal service (two types of cold salads I believe) - we were given sandwiches.

The 178 is a very popular flight and generally works well if looking to avoid jet lag BUT:

frankly to make it work you have to get up early and stay awake for the flight, it is a "short day" and if you can get back to London tired you will sleep well and wake up nice and early for work. I normally get home by 9-45 pretty much straight to bed and up at 6-00 feeling fine

Food offering in F more than adequate but it is full breakfast, smoked salmon salad, warm breads etc togeter with a Bistro offering of bacon rolls and a raviolli dish plus cheese and biscuits

The bar is open as normal throughout of course

The flight is rarely delayed

It is a waste of a day in many respects but for me it works

The spa at JFK is closed in the morning; IIRC, it opens at 4 pm.

I also don't like the day flight & I'm always surprised at the amount of people who do. I think I've been on every BA service ex JFK & find the 114 or 182 the easiest to deal with.

I've just been trying to book LHR-JFK on 10/23 & there doesn't appear to be any seats in F the entire day :confused: Am I completely missing something or is it just extremely busy that day? If any kind soul could have a look for me I'd be most appreciative. Thanks.

Yes, I've been on this flight and really enjoyed it. It's a total waste of a day though, but very relaxing. It did help me with jet lag and you can of course work on board.

Here's my trip report for the flight:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...747-400-a.html

Oh yes, the crucial point re jetlag is don't go to sleep on the flight of course! Like Mutu, I'd normally get home before 10pm, sync mails, etc. and then go to bed before midnight and sleep through to the next morning.

The day flight is what you make of it it - on some trips I've just relaxed and enjoyed it as a day off: watching IFE and being fed Champagne in 64K for 7 hours isn't exactly a hardship :D On others it's been very productive to have a clear run at getting lots of work done through the day - working whilst being fed Champagne in 64K for 7 hours isn't exactly a hardship :D :D

I tried that, and my body just rebelled thinking I was going to bed at 7pm. It is exactly the same problem I have every time I travel East. I guess different people are wired different ways.

I'd expect it to be very busy generally that day and probably the following day as well. It's the start of school half-term (=mid-term) holidays. NYC is an attractive destination at that time of year (nice autumn weather, shopping for Christmas, etc).

I always forget school holidays. There are plenty of seats the day before & the day after ... It's just the Fri that there is absolutely nothing the entire day. I need to be in London on the Thurs night & home in NYC on the Saturday morning so I can only really travel on the Fri. I was even willing to go to EWR :eek: