PigsCanFly

Hi there. I have my first first class experience from LHR to EWR in July. The flight is 7:10pm.

I’ll likely post many other questions in the forum, though I have looked through a lot of the other ‘first first’ posts and I understand that I should go in with right expectations. Seeing that this is an award flight I’ve kept them relatively low.

My particular question here is when should I check in? I’d have no issue with doing it late morning and savouring everything there is to offer but how long is too long??

E14 26C

Whenever is convenient for your travel plans is my answer, but I wouldn't personally spend over three and a half hours there.

DeathSlam

If your flight is 7pm I would say that a morning check in would be way too early.
Three hours is *loads* of time IMO.
Check in and security will be quicker than you're used to as well if the 'magic door' is back in action.

crazy8534

Perfect time to fly- have an early dinner and a drink in the CCR and a second one on the plane. Might be best to avoid lunch! I personally wouldn’t want to be arriving a long time before 4pm.

The crew and the CCR staff won’t care if you are on an award ticket you should be treated well anyway. I think sometimes the best way is just to tell them that it is your first time.

mikeyfly

Despite the marketing guff there's not much to the CCR. The booze is nice, the food alright, and the setting less so. I'd aim to be clear in the lounge maybe two hours. So arrive three before departure ?

noFODplease

It really depends what kind of 'lounger' you are. Enjoy a bite to eat and then usually get bored? 2 hours max. Wine tasting, aperitif, multi course lunch, an hour with the newspapers, some planespotting, some shopping in the terminal, and then cocktails? 4/5 hours easy. I am the latter.

Rubecula

Travelling First on a day flight I prefer to eat on the plane so, for me, a meal in the CCR is out of the question. I like the CCR so a coffee and a relaxing BA175 cocktail is fine to occupy an hour or so. Three hours would be maximum, even if this is a first visit to the CCR.

Swanhunter

If you have seen quite a few lounges - eg the OW lounges in T3 - 2 hours would be plenty of time to feel slightly underwhelmed 😉. If it’s a real first first then 3 hours or a bit more.

DreamingofFlying

I did my first first on this exact flight the BA181 two weeks ago. This was during the strikes so we were vigilant of potential security queues. We got into CCR at 4ish, had a glass of LPGS, 3 courses in a booth, and a quick cocktail and then boarding was called (A10 so had a few extra moments). Was the perfect amount of time for me personally.

PigsCanFly

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions!

Awesome. And how was the flight? Was it the 787-10?

Definitely the latter, like you! I think 4/5 hours will be the sweet spot for me.

Good to know. How many times have you flown first class?

DreamingofFlying

Flight was great, crew were lovely - very attentive and chatty. Sadly my AVOD didn't work for the flight despite it being the 781 (no spare seats), so had no choice but to drink most of the flight...I must admit I do wish my first first was slightly less um..blurry.

corporate-wage-slave

I don't actually think there is a perfect answer to this question, a lot is down to your personality.
a) Let me put the argument for approx 2 hours: that would be enough time to have an unrushed meal and a few drinks, without the risk of not having space for the onboard service. Occasionally one sees cases of people wolfing down everything on offer in CCR then keeling over in the First cabin until arrival time. For some people that's ideal though! If you do have a 2 hour visit then it's enough time to enjoy what's on offer and if you enjoy it then you have something for next time, whenever that is. And still have space for the onboard catering. If you're less keen then you're not watching the clock until your flight.
b) The other factor is that people tend not to consider the end to end time in terms of tiredness and what happens tomorrow. To NYC, with just a 5 hour change it's more managable, but one tactic would be to go to bed late the night before, have a bit of a lie-in on departure day, a low intensity time getting to the airport. This allows you not to be dead-on-arrival in the USA and potentially a mess the next day.

PigsCanFly

You bring up a very good point around end-to-end time. Because I actually have a flight out of La Guardia back home to Sarasota via Charlotte the next morning, and it's an 8am flight with a 1hr connection in Charlotte. It was the best award itinerary I could find but I'm already kind of dreading that. Landing at EWR, traversing across town to LGA, getting a few hours sleep in a cheap hotel and then waking up early to travel again will be a pain in the bum. I'm keeping an eye out on different itineraries and have already changed it twice (the first two were LGA at 6am and 7am via different AA hubs!). But I do want to try and keep the EWR flight as it's the 787-10 which I hear is pretty good.

FlightDetective

You would probably be good to get there early enough to experience everything. I'd be planning on taking a shower, eating early enough so that you'll be hungry again on the plane, time to sample the drinks and all the rest of it. If you're a 4-5 hours person, why not get there for a 1:30pm-ish three course late lunch, then kick back and relax with a drink or three, wander around shopping (if that's you're thing), head back to the lounge, shower, maybe a snack, then head off to board ready for dinner on the plane.

That's how I'd do it. I once had similar in Sydney for the Qantas F lounge and my flight was at 15:00 or something. I got there at 9:30am, had breakfast, had a 20 minute massage, chilled out, had lunch at about 1pm and then headed off to the plane an hour or so later. I find it quite relaxing to sit around a lounge, as long as I have a laptop or something to read.

corporate-wage-slave

I've stayed in the LGA Hampton precisely so I could walk from that hotel to LGA for early flights (it's under 10 minutes). There's a Marriott that's fractionally closer and easier to spot, but I've not stayed there. That way you can take the EWR train to Penn Station, the E to Jackson Heights, then the free and regular bus from there to LGA C terminal. Then walk a bit towards Terminal B, bear right up the bridge slope (there is a sidewalk) towards the Marriott / Hampton. A taxi won't save you much time. Because you will probably wake up at 5 am anyway (10am London time), the 8am start won't be too problematic.