matthandy

Great report Kevincm! It's always fun to see how the BA LCY New York service stacks up.

I loved the photos, but unforunately some of them don't seem to be showing up. I think that there are some errors in the BB code markup.

Kevincm

Thanks AJLondon. Glad you enjoyed the report.

"Yellow Taxis" is one of my older bits of work, but I still like it. I did shoot a new version of it in NY on this trip, but I'm going to have to spend some hours tinkering in Photoshop with the image when I get 10 (or a lot longer ideally....).

Thanks matthandy. The CWLCY product is an interesting product in term of delivery and getting ones head around the thought of "Small Plane, Big Ocean" - more-so than the 757's that ply across the pond each day

I think there maybe problems with my Photo-host too (AWS is on the blink with them) - I'll try and get a new picture host over the next couple of days as it is rather... annoying (well that and you're pulling over 100 photos from one server... something is bound to go wrong... )

Kevincm

I've switched the photos from Photoblog (via Amazon Web Services) to Photobucket. Should be no more picture problems now!

nizolidas

nice photos! ^

I really have to try the CWLCY service one day. What a shame BA3 won't have the pre-clearance in Shannon anymore..

TWA4Me

Fascinating report! I am a native to Astoria / Long Island City and am pleased that your stay was fine. Many of us natives have been surprised by the development of the hotels in that section, as it was historically quite unsafe (say, from the 1960s through the late 1980s). That being said, your room rate was indeed quite modest by Manhattan standards. The proximity to public mass transit is excellent, indeed.

Swiss Tony

Note that as part of the sale you were able to take advantage of, BA left the 25% discount for kids and 90% discount for infants on the fares - normally neither are available from LCY.

IIRC, that was reversed part way through the sale but I suspect you got unlucky with that....

Great report though!

Kevincm

Thanks nizolidas.

It is really a notch above the CWLCY service - with the right crew it can feel a very personalised and privalge flight.

It's a shame about BA3 - hopefully it will only be for the Winter Season only and by the time summer comes, pre-clearance will continue.

That - or stick with BA1

What would be be a good intermediate step would be to have some sort of "express clearance" at JFK to clear passengers quickly.


Thanks TWA4Me. I actually like this sort of area as it feels more "real" than the bright lights of Times Square, with its own real character. To be honest, I didn't feel unsafe as anywhere else I travel - a sign the area is improving. The icing on the cake was the N and Q line access - if I felt unsafe, it was a 2 minute run to the hotel - and I didn't feel unsafe at any point.

The room rate was modest compared to over the river as you stated, and when an upgrade beanie is thrown at you.. it's rude to say no.

I hope I painted a positive picture of your area of NY... and I hope my picture did it justice

I seems to had struck soild pain on the outbound flight - and it seems parents took advantage of it - whilst I don't blame them, sticking kids on a business only flight seemed a bit bizarre.

I got my ticket a few days before the end of the sale, but by that point I suspect the damage was done.

I knew I should had stuck with 2K. Never mind

Glad you enjoyed the report Swiss Tony .

malkie

Exceptional TR - definitely my vote for the BA forum TR of the year when it rolls around

I've often fancied the CWLCY shuffle across the pond as the reports on the crew are always great, and the food looks a tad better than the standard CW affair.
However, I'm burning miles (um, avios) for returns in F, mostly for the CCR, and bigger bed upon return (I'm 6foot4, and don't fit into standard CW beds).

But I do fancy this service for something different.

nizolidas

True, but as the aircraft has to refuel westbound anyway it is not ideal...

origin

A really enjoyable trip report thanks.

Kevincm

... and that's the main reason why I took the service - it's something very different.

Food was a notch above some carriers (and a notch below... the gold standard is still Asiana for me) and the crews (especilley the outbound crew) made it special .

I'm 5ft9, and the bed suited me ok - I think 6ft+ should be fine. Remember it's a different bed product compared to the normal Ying/yang of Club World so there maybe different spacing and such - certainly the bed being flat is a lovely experience.

I'm still building my Avios battlepile - and the TP's and Bonuses on this route make it worth while (420TP return + 20466 Avios in total with Gold Bonuses). In Avios terms - 20k of Avios is �335 of value in there to start with.

What I do with this amount of Avios of course... is sitting in the pile with the rest that came over from BMI Diamond Club. That's an interesting "challenge" sitting there when I get the urge...

Glad you enjoyed malkie, although I do have a couple of corkers of TR's before the end of the year... in my traditional travel class

It'll drive traffic to the LHR services for a bit - it's not ideal in any sense, but you never know... maybe BA is working on something to speed people along...

Thanks origin, glad you enjoyed!

N830MH

Wow! What a fabulous TR!!!! I'm glad you had a great flight and enjoy for your stay. Hope you have a pleasant stay in NYC. More enjoyable TR. Keep it up the good work.

One more thing, I didn't think you allowed to taking a pictures inside the AirTrain. I'm sure they doesn't harassing you or they didn't threatened to get arrested. You can't taking a pictures inside the AirTrain at JFK. Just stay away from AirTrain employee. IF they ever harassed you. You have report it immediately.

Flight405

A nicely considered TR. I liked the Gin incident, the slippery plane steps (oh yes, we've heard that one before), and the kids keeping you on your toes. However I'M INSANELY jealous of your �6 fare to Brum. As an ex-Aylesburian I used to pay �5 (Smoke to Aylesbury), but alas no more.

Kevincm

Lucky, I was at the top carriage of the Airtrain and no employee in sight - so I was a bit lucky.

Glad you enjoyed the trip report N830MH.

Trust me Flight405, this trip was incident packed. Not that much fun... although nothing like a challenge in life.

Chiltern Railways have one hell of a good purpose - and their �6 on Intercity routes make train travel very reasonable still in what is ripoff UK train tickets is in full swing.

The Chiltern line has changed a bit since DB/Arriva has taken over (namely price rises) but it still one of the better ways to travel in the UK....

Glad you enjoyed Flight405

Me2E

Thanks Kevin. A very interesting and entertaining trip report and some great pictures too.