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I recently visited the Boeing museum of flight. Pretty cool. Outside across the street you can board I think a BA Concorde. I was suprised at how narrow and short the cabin was - kinda like a CR700. I was a bit taken back.



Did anyone fly on the concorde - did I miss something? I always pictured a very luxurious seating.

I flew it London - New York returning from a business trip, back in '86. The plane did indeed feel cramped, particularly if you had the window seat. However, pretty amazing time travel especially travelling east to west.

I really wanted to, but never got lucky enough :(

The entire Fish Family was able to fly it LON-NYC a few months before it went out of service, thanks to FT! While we were non-impressed with the flight itself, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Got s few neat souvenirs as well!

Robin

It's been about 6 years now since i flew on "the rocket" or as one of my English friends called it, "the needle". I had the same initial impression of how small the cabin felt. It wasn't quite as bad as a CRJ but not the kind of luxury one would expect for a ticket that cost 10 grand. Nonetheless, it was an experience that I'll never forget. A few of the details that I remember:

- Celebrities: Sat 2 rows in front of Kate Moss and her entourage. There were also several recognizable CEO's on the flight.

- LHR Arrival: Coming out of customs to a throng of paparazzi.

- The gifts: Every passenger received a blue and white Tiffany-like paper weight as well as some stationary from Smythson's to commemorate the journey.

- The Flight (!): Taking off was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. Needless to say the plane was quite noisy and the takeoff roll was a bit bumpy. After take-off, we made a sharp left turn out over the Atlantic and the Captain "hit the gas pedal". I was obviously grinning from ear-to-ear but what I really found interesting was that even the Concorde veterans seemed to be enjoying the thrill just the same. I was fortunate enough to be sitting in the bulk-head seat directly facing the display showing both our altitude and airspeed. Just before we broke the sound barrier, the Captain came over the PA to remind everyone about what was coming up. He said you might sense a slight vibration as we passed through Mach 1. As we passed Mach 1 (on our way to just under Mach 2), the cabin became remarkably quiet. We eventually leveled off around 65,000 feet (IIRC). Unfortunately, it was a bit too cloudy to really make out the curvature of the Earth. Still, looking down from that altitude was unreal. We started our descent well off-shore and glided (no flaps on the Concorde) to a nice easy touch-down at LHR.

Had the goal of doing, but doing on miles -- and so, for some time, I switched (as much as I could while remaining *A G) from flying *A to AF .....just as I reached enough miles, and I mean *just* (maybe 2 days after), AF Concorde service was canned ;(

Boy was I pissed......

For a while, I hoped that sir Branson was going to do something with the Concordes, but alas.....

Every time that I drive from home to CDG, I drive by a grounded concorde, standing there looking all sad and wrong -- that bird is ment to fly, and when it does, man is it beautiful. No other aircraft comes close.

At the Paris airshow just after the Concorde service was canned, I remember that there was a "funeral march" for the Concorde: one was being taxied across the tarmac at Le Bourget Airport, and everybody just silently followed with bowed heads. I had heard no mentions of this nor seen it on the program, so it seemed spontaneous - but it likely wasn't, at least not by the organizers.


Sighs, 'xcuse me while I go whipe my eyes....

Flyertalk posts dissuaded me from flying the Concorde. I opted to splurge my miles for a First Class ticket from the USA to Australia via Europe and Asia for 150,000 miles. As I recall, the Concorde was 125,000 miles for NYC-LON. I thoroughly enjoyed my 70 hours of First Class travel and First Class lounges in London, Singapore, and Sydney and I felt that was a much better use of miles than a 4-hour trans-Atlantic flight.

The seats were about WT+ pitch and a 2-2 configuration.
The had to take your coats and hats off you before you boarded the plane and these were handed back to you when you got off the plane - and definitely only one piece of hand luggage. The windows were small and toilets were cramped - and all this for paying 10% more than first class fares. Having said that by the time you were finishing your coffee, the plane had started its decent. Hardly time for duty free sales (but they did squeeze that bit in)

Unsurprisingly, most business pax who were not desperate for time did not fly Concorde.

It was Air Miles in those days (i.e. pre BA days) but I flew Concorde there and FIRST back for the cost of the taxes which were cheaper in those days. Definitely enjoyed the FIRST flight more. The Concorde flight was to say - been there, done that and got the T-shirt . Glad I did. A few months they announced the termination of services and all awards seats stopped.

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Yeah that bathroon looked small.

I am envious of those that got to fly it.

How was the catering service?

I was lucky enough to fly it when BA announced the Concorde's retirement. BA put on a special deal when it was announced, otherwise I could never afford it.

It was essentially a tourist attraction by that time, but still worth it if you like flying. The whole lounge experience, the flight, etc, was memorable. I even managed to score the elusive seat 1A.

I still have the boarding pass and certificate stored somewhere. There're also many trip reports on FT that you can read.

Oh, iwebslinger, that is the very Concorde on which we flew. We were so excited when they brought it to Seattle--we even went out to Boeing Field and watched it land.

Last Christmas we attended a special party at the Museum of Flight, which included a tour of the Concorde. We took our kids to show them how cool it was. We were all so disappointed. :( An empty Concorde is now where near as interesting as a Concorde full of people and wonderful food.

Our tickets cost us a total of 100,000 AMEX points which we traded in for 250,000 Qantas miles, which we traded for two BA 1st class Concorde tickets. What a deal! :D

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That is so cool.

I literally was on the phone within minutes of hearing the announcement and ended up being one of the last to be able to book an award ticket via Delta Skymiles. Two days later, I was having what to date was the most memorable travel experience in my life flying the AF Concorde, JFK-CDG. ^

Me too! october 2003 (I would have to go and look up the exact date) JFK-LHR (return was in BA F). Best 125k QF points EVER! I ended up using the flight for a weekend in London for a friend's birthday.

Flew the Concorde on two occasions; both AF. JFK/CDG and CDG/JFK both in the mid-late 1980's.
Unforgettable and completely wonderful. Experiences I will always cherish.