BA001, LCY-JFK Trip Report (TR Newbie!)
Jul 22, 2010, 8:29 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: London, England
Programs: BA Exec Club, Virgin FC
Posts: 443
BA001, LCY-JFK Trip Report (TR Newbie!)
Hello All,
Welcome to my very first trip report. I have been wanting to do a TR for ages now, and I thought doing one about my recent trip on BA001 to JFK was an opportunity I can not miss! I tried to take as many pictures as I could!
I decided to go visit my brother who lives in New York, and really wanted to try the service from LCY, mainly to see how the pre-clearance worked at SNN and to sample the service. I was one of the few lucky ones who managed to get this flight as an MFU (I flew back on BA178 in WT+), before BA pulled the rug from under our feet, and not letting us do it anymore! boo hiss boo!!
BA001
LCY-SNN-JFK
G-EUNA
On the morning of the flight, I left myself plenty of time to get to London City from my area of South London, travelling there by train and DLR, which was pretty quick. I did not take advantage of the 20 minute check-in, as i am notoriously known by friends I like to be at an airport in good time!
Arriving at the terminal building, I used the Concierge service and had a nice chat with the guy there, about how excited I was, and he explained the in’s and out’s of the service, including what happens at the Shannon stop-over. He did tell me the aeroplane packed a punch when it took off from LCY!
Security was quick and painless, with the security guard saying he envied me and asked if I wanted to take a newfound friend on the flight with me. I laughed it off with him. Had a bit of a nosey around the small, but well equipped terminal building. As many of you might know, LCY is aimed primarily at business travellers, but has no formal business lounge. There are plenty of leather seats around the departure lounge, with many food and drink outlets, and free wifi.
I headed down to the dedicated ‘Gate 24’ lounge, which BA uses for it’s JFK services. As many have commented, it is a cosy little place, with exactly 32 seats. The gate staff are extremely friendly, and quickly restocked the drink and nibbles offerings. These aren’t what you expect in a BA Galleries/Terraces lounge, but considering most passengers will take advantage of the 20-minute check-in, I am not surprised.
My ride for the next 9.5 hours G-EUNA
I expected a plane full of business travellers, but the crowd were largely leisure users, counting roughly 21 of us on this flight (the crew later said there were 25 of us). A warm welcome was waiting for us at the aircraft door, and with doors closed, we departed LCY 10 minutes early. Quick safety demo by two of the crew and we headed to the runway. A very quick takeoff as we only had the fuel needed for the short hop to Shannon. A bit bumpy on the climb, I have yet to experience a smooth take-off from LCY!
My flight taking off - courtesy of a friend of mine who was by the Excel Centre taking pics...I was sat (waving but can't see) 5th window from the front! lol
As soon as the seatbelt signs were off, the crew sprung into action, and went about the cabin with the drinks trolley, and I treated myself to a Kir Royale! A small appetiser of smoked salmon and potato salad was also served. This was a very nice little introduction to the flight.
Small snack between LCY and SNN
Before we knew it, we decended into Shannon, with some winds, but was a nice pleasant flight.
On leaving the plane, staff at Shannon guided us to the pre-clearance area, and as I had hold luggage was asked to wait in a seating area before going to US Immigration. Once our hold luggage was processed, we were called through to security where it was laptops out and shoes off, but we could keep things in our pockets, belts on etc! After a quick frisk by staff (everyone has to do this), we then walked to the Immigration desks. 5 Officers, and no queue, was I in heaven!? I had a pleasant chat with the officer about my plans for my holiday, fingers scanned, picture of my bag shown to me and then on my way. As has been discussed here on FT, no I-94W forms needed at Shannon!
After the checks, went to the small seating area by the gate. All in all from plane to gate it took 15 minutes max. I am definitely doing this flight again! I wish all US Immigration was like that!
Welcomed back on board by the same cabin crew (but different flight crew), with a brief reminder of the safety procedure (but not gone through the full sequence again). Doors closed and departed 20 minutes early, with a quick taxi to the runway and away for the transatlantic crossing.
Trolley service quickly started, followed by the purser taking lunch orders. I had another glass of bubbles (plain old Lanson this time) with a bag of cashew nuts to go with them. The inflight screens were handed out by the purser soon after. The screen isn’t as big as what you get in NGCW, more like WT, but still viewable!
Lanson and Cashew nuts
Food service was great; I had the chicken to start (very rarely have red meat on flights), which was very tasty and moist. Vegetables were cooked well (not overcooked). Others have commented on how slow the service was, but I thought it was great, nice and relaxed and not rushed. The main courses were served individually by the Purser, which was nice. I chose the Eaton Mess for dessert, which was nice, but a bit different (pre-packaged) than other pictures I have seen from other trip-reports.
Meal Service
Dessert, not the best but very tasty
Now to the seat. I searched all over FT looking for tips on where to sit, and I even asked a friend (a fellow FT’er) who flew the service previously for his opinion too. I chose 2K but 1A/B were both open. I decided to stick with 2K as I heard the 1st row was prone to disturbances by the galley/Toilet. For what I could see from where I was sat, 1st row wasn’t disturbed at all. Many people have discussed the ‘missing window’ in the second row. Yes it is true there is a larger than normal gap between two windows, but it doesn’t harm the view out. You still get to see out of three windows! I don’t have much experience flying in Club World, but I must say I prefer this seat to the standard NGCW seat. This is mainly due to the fact that you can adjust everything in the seat. IIRC NGCW can only go in certain set positions. This seat you can choose a set position, but also change the back or legrest as you see fit. I am 6ft tall and had plenty of room to relax and chill out. However, if travelling alone there could be a lack of privacy, compared to NGCW. The seat next to me was free, so I had no issue, but I can see how it can be hard (climbing over legs etc) if someone is sat next to you. However, perfect seats if travelling as a two-some!
My seat, with the not so missing, missing window!
Plenty of Space!
After a bit of snoozing and watching some TV/Films, it was time for afternoon tea. This is served approx. 90 minutes before landing in JFK. It was a choice of sandwiches, or salt beef salad with scones, clotted cream and jam. This was in addition to a couple of cakes, with tea and coffee. I chose the salt beef salad, which was very tasty, whilst also being greedy and taking on the scones and cakes! I did see others have the sandwiches, and I must point out they weren’t wrapped in film!!
Afternoon tea - Salt beef, tasty but too much onion for me!
Landed at JFK 50 minutes early, and headed straight for the baggage reclaim. Unfortunately, the bags took a long time to come out, and even the Captain went to investigate where they were! But they eventually turned up!
My opinion on the flight? BA has an excellent product with the LCY flights and I think it is worth using. Whenever I fly to NY now I will try and use the LCY flights. Yes, the Shannon layover is an inconvenience, however the short queues for immigration and not dealing with the JFK immigration queue makes it worth the extra two hours! I like the CWLCY seat but it has it's pluses and minuses compared to NGCW. Obviously it is all down to personal preferences, but when flying to the US, give me CWLCY any day!
Welcome to my very first trip report. I have been wanting to do a TR for ages now, and I thought doing one about my recent trip on BA001 to JFK was an opportunity I can not miss! I tried to take as many pictures as I could!
I decided to go visit my brother who lives in New York, and really wanted to try the service from LCY, mainly to see how the pre-clearance worked at SNN and to sample the service. I was one of the few lucky ones who managed to get this flight as an MFU (I flew back on BA178 in WT+), before BA pulled the rug from under our feet, and not letting us do it anymore! boo hiss boo!!
BA001
LCY-SNN-JFK
G-EUNA
On the morning of the flight, I left myself plenty of time to get to London City from my area of South London, travelling there by train and DLR, which was pretty quick. I did not take advantage of the 20 minute check-in, as i am notoriously known by friends I like to be at an airport in good time!
Arriving at the terminal building, I used the Concierge service and had a nice chat with the guy there, about how excited I was, and he explained the in’s and out’s of the service, including what happens at the Shannon stop-over. He did tell me the aeroplane packed a punch when it took off from LCY!
Security was quick and painless, with the security guard saying he envied me and asked if I wanted to take a newfound friend on the flight with me. I laughed it off with him. Had a bit of a nosey around the small, but well equipped terminal building. As many of you might know, LCY is aimed primarily at business travellers, but has no formal business lounge. There are plenty of leather seats around the departure lounge, with many food and drink outlets, and free wifi.
I headed down to the dedicated ‘Gate 24’ lounge, which BA uses for it’s JFK services. As many have commented, it is a cosy little place, with exactly 32 seats. The gate staff are extremely friendly, and quickly restocked the drink and nibbles offerings. These aren’t what you expect in a BA Galleries/Terraces lounge, but considering most passengers will take advantage of the 20-minute check-in, I am not surprised.
My ride for the next 9.5 hours G-EUNA
I expected a plane full of business travellers, but the crowd were largely leisure users, counting roughly 21 of us on this flight (the crew later said there were 25 of us). A warm welcome was waiting for us at the aircraft door, and with doors closed, we departed LCY 10 minutes early. Quick safety demo by two of the crew and we headed to the runway. A very quick takeoff as we only had the fuel needed for the short hop to Shannon. A bit bumpy on the climb, I have yet to experience a smooth take-off from LCY!
My flight taking off - courtesy of a friend of mine who was by the Excel Centre taking pics...I was sat (waving but can't see) 5th window from the front! lol
As soon as the seatbelt signs were off, the crew sprung into action, and went about the cabin with the drinks trolley, and I treated myself to a Kir Royale! A small appetiser of smoked salmon and potato salad was also served. This was a very nice little introduction to the flight.
Small snack between LCY and SNN
Before we knew it, we decended into Shannon, with some winds, but was a nice pleasant flight.
On leaving the plane, staff at Shannon guided us to the pre-clearance area, and as I had hold luggage was asked to wait in a seating area before going to US Immigration. Once our hold luggage was processed, we were called through to security where it was laptops out and shoes off, but we could keep things in our pockets, belts on etc! After a quick frisk by staff (everyone has to do this), we then walked to the Immigration desks. 5 Officers, and no queue, was I in heaven!? I had a pleasant chat with the officer about my plans for my holiday, fingers scanned, picture of my bag shown to me and then on my way. As has been discussed here on FT, no I-94W forms needed at Shannon!
After the checks, went to the small seating area by the gate. All in all from plane to gate it took 15 minutes max. I am definitely doing this flight again! I wish all US Immigration was like that!
Welcomed back on board by the same cabin crew (but different flight crew), with a brief reminder of the safety procedure (but not gone through the full sequence again). Doors closed and departed 20 minutes early, with a quick taxi to the runway and away for the transatlantic crossing.
Trolley service quickly started, followed by the purser taking lunch orders. I had another glass of bubbles (plain old Lanson this time) with a bag of cashew nuts to go with them. The inflight screens were handed out by the purser soon after. The screen isn’t as big as what you get in NGCW, more like WT, but still viewable!
Lanson and Cashew nuts
Food service was great; I had the chicken to start (very rarely have red meat on flights), which was very tasty and moist. Vegetables were cooked well (not overcooked). Others have commented on how slow the service was, but I thought it was great, nice and relaxed and not rushed. The main courses were served individually by the Purser, which was nice. I chose the Eaton Mess for dessert, which was nice, but a bit different (pre-packaged) than other pictures I have seen from other trip-reports.
Meal Service
Dessert, not the best but very tasty
Now to the seat. I searched all over FT looking for tips on where to sit, and I even asked a friend (a fellow FT’er) who flew the service previously for his opinion too. I chose 2K but 1A/B were both open. I decided to stick with 2K as I heard the 1st row was prone to disturbances by the galley/Toilet. For what I could see from where I was sat, 1st row wasn’t disturbed at all. Many people have discussed the ‘missing window’ in the second row. Yes it is true there is a larger than normal gap between two windows, but it doesn’t harm the view out. You still get to see out of three windows! I don’t have much experience flying in Club World, but I must say I prefer this seat to the standard NGCW seat. This is mainly due to the fact that you can adjust everything in the seat. IIRC NGCW can only go in certain set positions. This seat you can choose a set position, but also change the back or legrest as you see fit. I am 6ft tall and had plenty of room to relax and chill out. However, if travelling alone there could be a lack of privacy, compared to NGCW. The seat next to me was free, so I had no issue, but I can see how it can be hard (climbing over legs etc) if someone is sat next to you. However, perfect seats if travelling as a two-some!
My seat, with the not so missing, missing window!
Plenty of Space!
After a bit of snoozing and watching some TV/Films, it was time for afternoon tea. This is served approx. 90 minutes before landing in JFK. It was a choice of sandwiches, or salt beef salad with scones, clotted cream and jam. This was in addition to a couple of cakes, with tea and coffee. I chose the salt beef salad, which was very tasty, whilst also being greedy and taking on the scones and cakes! I did see others have the sandwiches, and I must point out they weren’t wrapped in film!!
Afternoon tea - Salt beef, tasty but too much onion for me!
Landed at JFK 50 minutes early, and headed straight for the baggage reclaim. Unfortunately, the bags took a long time to come out, and even the Captain went to investigate where they were! But they eventually turned up!
My opinion on the flight? BA has an excellent product with the LCY flights and I think it is worth using. Whenever I fly to NY now I will try and use the LCY flights. Yes, the Shannon layover is an inconvenience, however the short queues for immigration and not dealing with the JFK immigration queue makes it worth the extra two hours! I like the CWLCY seat but it has it's pluses and minuses compared to NGCW. Obviously it is all down to personal preferences, but when flying to the US, give me CWLCY any day!
Jul 22, 2010, 8:35 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, USA
Posts: 523
Excellent TR, mate! I muzt say the only thing at variance w/my LCY experience LCY - AMS Avro RJ100 vv Feb. '09, is that the security staff was disgustingly rude to everybody, incl. a BA pilot directly in front of me in line. He shrugged it off, I took advantage of the half btls of champers (4 o'them to be exacty) during the short flight.
Jul 22, 2010, 8:49 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Ireland (some of the time)
Programs: BA Gold, EI Gold
Posts: 41
Great TR, very informative. What was your opinion of SNN in general? The passenger numbers are in serious decline there and i really do fear for its future. Its a very historic airport being the first real landfall from the US, I have a book somewhere at home about its history. There is a story about a Super Constellation crashing into the marshes sometime in the early 50s, 1954 I think and if I remember the story correctly it was a KLM flight. this particular flight was the last one and the airport staff all closed up and went home. The aircraft went down soon after take off and the one of the crew had to drag his way out of the marsh and walk a few miles back to the airport and rouse the night watchman! Unfortunatley there were twenty something fatalities on the flight, RIP.
Sounds like a good service from BA, I wonder will they attempt it to other east coast cities....I guess with the refuel in SNN the aircraft could go to Washington also
Sounds like a good service from BA, I wonder will they attempt it to other east coast cities....I guess with the refuel in SNN the aircraft could go to Washington also
Jul 22, 2010, 8:58 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: London, England
Programs: BA Exec Club, Virgin FC
Posts: 443
Great TR, very informative. What was your opinion of SNN in general? The passenger numbers are in serious decline there and i really do fear for its future. Its a very historic airport being the first real landfall from the US, I have a book somewhere at home about its history. There is a story about a Super Constellation crashing into the marshes sometime in the early 50s, 1954 I think and if I remember the story correctly it was a KLM flight. this particular flight was the last one and the airport staff all closed up and went home. The aircraft went down soon after take off and the one of the crew had to drag his way out of the marsh and walk a few miles back to the airport and rouse the night watchman! Unfortunatley there were twenty something fatalities on the flight, RIP.
Sounds like a good service from BA, I wonder will they attempt it to other east coast cities....I guess with the refuel in SNN the aircraft could go to Washington also
Sounds like a good service from BA, I wonder will they attempt it to other east coast cities....I guess with the refuel in SNN the aircraft could go to Washington also
Jul 23, 2010, 3:34 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: London, England
Programs: BA Exec Club, Virgin FC
Posts: 443
lol...well it's handy having a friend who is a keen photographer, who is into planes and that lives near LCY! Bit of a bummer you can't see me though waving...he said the A318 just won't take good pics like that! He took a pic of a Luxair E-Jet and you can see everyone inside that! lol
Jul 23, 2010, 4:14 am
#13
Join Date: May 2007
Location: London WC2/W1
Programs: BAEC Silver; Muccis du Monde des Peluches
Posts: 6,627
Notice in the so-called "Plenty of Space" picture how the magazine rack actually gets in the way of where your feet would be when you've got your feet up. or are lying down on your back. I found this really irritating, but the OP is only 6' so I can believe he didn't really notice. This isn't an issue in Row 1, where the rack is positioned differently. If I flew the service again then I'd choose Row 1, where (as you say) I don't really think there is any noticeable disturbance from the galley or lavatories, particularly if you're in a window seat.
Also I'm certain I got macadamia nuts, which are really a First Class type of nut, when I flew CWLCY. Having said that, on my last flight in F to JFK (four weeks ago to the hour), there were no nuts at all.
Also I'm certain I got macadamia nuts, which are really a First Class type of nut, when I flew CWLCY. Having said that, on my last flight in F to JFK (four weeks ago to the hour), there were no nuts at all.
Jul 23, 2010, 4:34 am
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,145
An interesting report ... I would be tempted to use it to IAD when its introduced, if I can get a decent connection. Sadly, as is usually the case, that's impossible. So it will continue to be overnight at T5 to catch the morning TATL from LHR.