Interesting TR, thanks.

Looking forward to the next part.

No, it is the same pre-clearance service offered to all trans Atlantic services from Shannon, but there aren't many of them and none at the time of BA1. There is a dedicated waiting area after immigration. Sorry about the glitches you had, you must be very adaptable to cope with some of the comments you get. Thanks for the story so far, I do this trip every few weeks and it's interesting to see it through a very different perspective.

And yes it is technically a Gatwick service from a crew perspective.

The LGW cabin crew all stay overnight at a nearby hotel then it's a short taxi ride in the morning to LCY.

I am intrigued by the extraneous full stops. Is it a secret code?

/snip

I knew all of that but perhaps I was being too concise in my earlier post :)

no, it's the Notes app on iOS, trying to be "helpful" :rolleyes: :)

Have just looked the CWLCY pages on the BA website and they have had a makeover.

Previously there was a lot more info on how the stop at SNN worked (including about a reserved area) but it's all been 'enhanced and improved' so all it says now is

And no mention of Gate 24 at LCY but it's comforting to know that you have once onboard !

SNN - JFK

Take-off
Once we were all back in our seats. The new captain made his introduction and let us know that the flight time would be 7 hours 20 mins (??) due to weather conditions. Then push back and take-off. Now, I’ve flown out of LCY several times and hadn't given the short runway much thought. With the two take-offs within a couple of hours I certainly noticed the Shannon take-off with the longer runway was less jarring. As I can't use my phone or iPad I tend to knit during take-off to keep my hands busy and this time I didn’t have to drop the needles to clutch my head every so often.

Amenities and IFE
One in the air, CC were up and serving. One CC brought the iPads, another CC followed two paces behind with amenity kits. I was pleased that the cabin was just the right temperature (I'm always cold) but other pax were telling the purser it was too warm and he said he'd sort it! Rats. Lucky I had my layers though.

Dining
Then the drinks came. I moved on to bucks fizz, (that's Tattinger with Sunpride orange juice) plus a glass of water. The purser told me there were some main courses left if I'd like to switch. I chose the lemon chicken.

First, the came salad. I went to pick up my fork and dropped it on the tray. The silverware was freezing cold and I have nerve problems with my hands and feet. (Yes, it's really fun to be me sometimes!) I could only guess that the salads trays are fully laid out and then refrigerated in the carts ready to be served quickly.

For a split second I thought of asking CC to run the silverware under a hot tap or something. I couldn't face having to explain e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g or risk looking like a diva without the explanation (British people problems?). Instead, I manoeuvred my tray table out of the way and got my handknit gloves out of my bag. :o

My salad was just much a bed of green leaves. I noticed my neighbour's salad had some reds salads as well as croutons. Admittedly, is has been a long time since high school agriculture but I'm quite sure there's no lactose in red salad leaves. The dressing was rapeseed with balsamic, really nice. I used some of the dressing for dipping the warm rosemary bread, rather than spreading on the low-fat sunflower stuff. During the salad course drinks were topped up.

When the chicken arrived, I realised my mistake. Silly GadgetGal had assumed that chicken was *seasoned* with lemon and garlic. But no, it was seasoned with lemon and covered in garlic gloop! My solution was to cut the chicken open and eat the middle. The chicken itself was nice, the stuffing a little rich. I could only manage a little bit. The leeks, shielded by the chicken, didn't get covered in gloop so I ate them. However, the carrots were drowned so I left them on the plate. Next time I'll stick to the special meal.

Drinks were again topped up during the main, (I switched to champagne) and the bread basked came round twice again. One of the CC brought me some real butter. She'd had to wait until others were served because no extras are loaded. Despite only eating half the meal, I was full.

Dessert came a bit later. The others had choice between cheesecake and a cheese plate. Mine was fresh strawberries served in a raspberry coulis. Nice and refreshing after the main course. It was quite big and I only had about half. The trays were taken away and then came Lindt chocolate (dark chocolate with orange was divine) and bottled water.

IFE
Once the trays were taken away I reclined my seat to get a conformable position. This magic comfortable position was difficult to find. Not the upright position, not the famed Z-position and 'flat' was too flat. In the end, I had the back slightly reclined and the footrest all the way out with my knees bent. I'd unpacked my travel tempur-pedic this time so I had some relief. Now I could settle back and watch a movie and do some more knitting. There was enough on the iPad to choose from that I didn't use my own iPad. I watched a film and a documentary and about 30 minutes of another film before the iPads were collected.


Club kitchen
About halfway through the movie I got up and wandered to the toilet and galley. there were crisps, fruit, chocolate and drinks. I was curious, rather than hungry, though I did snag another lindt bar and ask for a cup of tea. The purser murmured “we'll be feeding you again later you know" Did he just imply I was greedy?! :eek::D

I fell asleep for a short while and woke to find all three windows had the blinds down. Later I asked my neighbour of he minded the blinds going up and he said “not at all”. I wonder if one of CC put them down to darken the cabin.

Afternoon Tea.
Yeah, I'd been looking forward to this one. This was my opportunity to pick a side on the great afternoon tea debate. But I didn't get any sandwiches. I suppose lactose-free bread or fillings don't exist. Instead I got some rice salad. It *looked* nice but I didn't taste a bite of it because it had tiny pieces of mango mixed into it. Renegade West African that I am, I hate mango. I sent it back apologetically.

I was offered the small cakes though. A tiny black forest cake about 2x1 cm in size and one mini macaroon about 2.5 cm diameter. The size you normally buy in 2s or 3s. I only had a bite of each anyway, they were far too sweet. The warm scones were nice. There's a choice of plain or fruit scones I chose plain. I should have left it plain too, but I forgot that Tiptree jam is waaaay to sweet. No matter, I took one for the team and finished it.

Landing
After the tea trays were collected, iPads were taken away and the on air connection cut out without warning. Yes, we were pre-warned at take-off but even still, an announcement or flashing mobile phone signal would be great. I missed out on sending my 245254th text from an aeroplane! the captain reminded us that were were landing as domestic passengers therefore we could go straight to baggage reclaim and exit. The descent took forever. I can't tell you how long because I don't wear a watch but it looked like we were circling for quite a while.

Eventually we landed 2.20 local time, 30 minutes after the scheduled arrival. On the way out, the purser was at the door to say bye to everyone and said to me he was sorry about the delay at SNN. On the way out I was met with the wheelchair. There was some confusion about where the bags should go because there is no screen that lists the arrivals and carousel numbers. None of screens above each carousel had BA001 on them and none of the ground staff knew either. Eventually, the bags came out but the correct flight number or origin was never displayed on screen; it said “Dallas” and somewhere else the whole time! No wonder everyone was pacing around trying to find their suitcases. All in all it took 30 minutes from the plane to a yellow cab. I suppose it could have been faster, but still not too shabby.

TLDR summary:

I found the CWLCY service quite relaxing; BA aircraft and ground staff were great, airport ground staff not so much.

Looking back the LCY-SNN leg feels like a short haul flight with a long-haul connection from SNN-JFK. I only relaxed properly after SNN.

I’d take row 1 again on G-EUNB for that extra room to get in and out of the window seat; proximity to the lavatory wasn’t a bother.

CWLCY seats are big and firm but they aren’t that supportive. If you have back issues, bring a good pillow

Despite my gripes catering wasn’t bad but I think I’ll stick to special meals so there are no surprises.

By the way, if you sat in a window in Row 1, you sat next to me!:):):)

does your surname begin with B?

I've always been quite lucky with bags, that by the time I walk from the plane it's only been a few minutes wait, and always seems to be the second carousel.

On this flight again in a few weeks, with a friend that's always flown in Economy, so will be interesting to see what he thinks. Though I've always managed to have an empty seat next to me. Be a bit rude of me to ask him to sit elsewhere so I have room for the ipad, my bag, and my lunch? ;)

Just jumping into this trip report for a LCY-JFK related question.
If one has an onward domestic journey (same PNR&ticket) with AA/US from JFK, do you have to pick up your luggage and re-check it in separately?

Nope, the bags are transferred automatically, no need to collect and re-check, a real benefit of BA1.

On my TP run i got
"You're doing this for fun?"
Yes
*stamp goes in passport"

Presumed that he thought me to daft to be a risk to the US