Kevincm

So what was this all for - apart for a damn good winter holiday (with Christmas and New Year this year, I was stuck at the console or behind a camera for most of it)?

This.



700 British Airways Tier Points, pushing me to a total of 1535 Tier Points for the year - 35 points over the required amount for retaining BA Gold for 2014/2015. A true challenge completed (which, unlike the BMI Gold card I used to have, I could had done in my sleep).


(alas, I'm back to Zero TP now!)

Let's look back at the products and try to sum up everything in a few sentences:



Air France were mostly ok for the short hop. Nothing overly important to report... other than a lack of safety cards on the plane (which is a worry in itself....). Although if you want cheap singles on some Air France routes, book your ticket via FlyBe...



Ibis Paris CDG did the job for a night's crash-pad. Yes, there are better options in the area, but it did what it needed to do on the tin at an acceptable cost. The size of that room though is the one remaining thought (and a distinct lack of Accor Hotel Points too!!!)...



American Airlines at CDG need to buck their ideas up. There was near enough total disorganisation at check in, unmanaged queues that shouldn’t have happened that was causing people to miss flights. Can do a LOT better here.



American Airlines in the air... continue prove exactly what I was trying to say on the San Juan Tier Point run. A lack of consistency in the air. There were a lot of variations in the sky even between these three services encountered. Still, whilst there were challenges in the air, the crews delivered their service reasonably. The IFE units are a great choice, with good content loaded on them... probably one of the few times I've used the AA given IFE in anger. And I'm so glad they're retiring those rattletrap 767-200ERs...



Hyatt San Francisco Airport was a much better Hyatt property than the Hyatt Regency O'Hare - although that's not saying much. The staff in the hotel were willing to help, friendly and provided a great room. All good things in my book, and not a bad property at all.



The Intercontinental Mark Hopkins (San Francisco) is a timeless property. Great customer service and a lovely room - combined with a great location. Just be prepared to invest in a Muni pass or a lot of spare change in taxi fares unless you like walking UP the Nob Hill....



The Crowne Plaza San Francisco was... pretty much what I thought it would be. A bland airport hotel (with apples that were going off in the Club Lounge). But at nearly the same prices as the Ibis Paris CDG, with a lot more room and Club Access (for what that was worth), it provided reasonable value for money.



OpenSkies is an oddball of a product - in a good way. I suppose the best description I have for it is "Club World Plus". There are elements of the BA Club World product (including the seat and the food), but there were signs of first class in the softer product (Slippers, Pyjamas and style of service), It's a BA product... but different (very much like the London City Club World service). It's one - if you find a good fare on it - I would encourage you to try.



Eurostar - Start to end, this is one organisation that can provide a lesson in High Quality Customer service. Every interaction was great and welcoming (from their Twitter Feed, to In-Person at Gare Du Nord, to the Buffet person). The service is dominant between London, Paris and Brussels - with a 2 hour 15 (or 2 hour 25 service in my case) centre to centre journey, it beats planes hands down on these routes.



San Francisco remains one of my favourite US Cities - a wonderfully relaxed place with plenty options for anyone. Recommended for what it is (even with annoying 10cent charges for bags!!!)

… and Paris? The less said about the place, the better (I'm still feeling the after-effects of this one... the joy of dealing with Credit Card companies post fraud).

And that wraps up The Last Push - thank you for joining for the ride.

Coming up shortly... Something very special... as I changed my mind after I booked my next trip to Chicago...

I get to play on a DC-10.

See you Sunday/Monday

Comments and thoughts welcome


My Previous Trip Reports

LHR-BRU-LHR ... or "How do you burn a �50 BMI voucher without too much pain?"
MAN-ORD on BMI (29/10 ... or Did Kevin Make it to ORD?)
Kevin goes for a little mileage run on UA - ORD/CHM/IAD/EWR/ORD
ORD-MAN in BMI Premium Economy (with Pictures)
Kevin’s American Adventure – MAN-ORD-SEA-ORD-MAN (4 flights, 2 weeks) in Y..
ORD - MAN in BMI Premium Economy: How hard can a PE product drop? (also random moans)
LHR-PHL-SEA, SEA-PHX-ORD, ORD-PHL-LHR - In Y, Come and be scared with US!
LHR-SFO-LHR - If you're going to San Francisco - SFO MegaDO Trip report
Gold Run - Mr Kevincm goes to Washington with EI and US
Long Haul Commuter Run - LHR-IAD-ORD and back with UA
Saying Goodbye to a Friend - Travelling for the wrong reasons - LHR-PHL with UA (Also on GhettoIFE.com - expanded)
The BA Y+/Y Class Long Haul Experience LHR-BKK/SIN-SYD and back on a bargain fare (Also on GhettoIFE.com -Expanded)
The Autumn Run - Mixing Business with Pleasure (C/F/Y adventures with UA and US) (Also on GhettoIFE.com -Expanded)
Long Way Home - The Spring Commute with UA and CO (Also on GhettoIFE.com - Expanded)
Atlanta or Bust (and Frankfurt too!) - (Also on GhettoIFE.com - Expanded)
Drinks in Belfast with the BMI Board with LCC’s - (Also on GhettoIFE.com - Expanded)
Kevin get’s a bit of Seoul - First and Business class with Asiana Airlines and Thai to Seoul and Hong Kong (Also on GhettoIFE.com - Expanded)
Mixed Classes and Infinite/Madness: The Autumn Run with United - LHR-ORD-LAS-LAX-SFO-DEN-LHR - Also on GhettoIFE.com - expanded
Gold Run 2: Blame Canada! It's Only A Mileage Run anyway! (To YVR with AC, CO, BD..) also on Also on GhettoIFE.com - expanded
Re-Creating a Photo - To New York with United, British Airways and BMI Baby (Also on GhettoIFE.com)
Going the Canadian Way: To Chicago with Air Canada (LHR-YYZ-ORD in Y) (also on GhettoIFE.com)
SEN for �129? SEN Status Match Run with Swiss and Helvetic. (also on GhettoIFE.com)
Multimodal Mayhem with Coaches, Ferries, Brussels Airlines and Air Canada (also on GhettoIFE.com)
A Smooch of Chicago and a Kiss of DC – with United – LHR-ORD-IAD-LHR (also on GhettoIFE.com)
Narrow Minds and Narrow Bodies - To Denver with the New United, Aer Lingus and FlyBe (also on GhettoIFE.com)
Farewell Miles to Japan, Hong Kong and Seoul with ANA, Thai and Asiana with ANA's new 787 (also on GhettoIFE.com)
A Last Star Fling? To Chicago with United and Air Canada – LHR-IAD-ORD, ORD-YYZ-LHR? Exclusive to GhettoIFE!
Creating a Photo: Back to New York with British Airways and the A318 in CWLCY (also on GhettoIFE)
Behind the Scenes at London City Airport (also on GhettoIFE)
Different Airlines - Same Routes. To Chicago With AA and BA featuring Hurricane Sandy (Also on GhettoIFE)
Oh for the LOVE of Avios! To Hong Kong with Swiss and BA (also with much more stuff on GhettoIFE)
Big Plane! Heavy Plane! Shorthaul A380s with British Airways in Club World

.... and a lot more of my writing on GhettoIFE Trip Reports

xenole

Enjoyable report Will be doing a few TP runs later in the year to retain Gold although not quite the same routings.

You should have hired a bike for the day from the piers in San Francisco and then cycled over the bridge, down to Sausalito / Tiburon and caught the ferry back (cost $30 or so for the day including the ferry).

Keeps you fit walking up Nob Hill

Good to see an open skies review as well as most people tend to avoid this on here. Wish I'd taken up that offer as it was a cracking deal price wise.

MNL

Always a joy to read your TR's. As a Brummie who escaped many moons ago I always enjoy your comments at the beginning and end of your post.
Keep them coming!

NoY

Hectic trip by the looks of it but very enjoyable to read!

Mrs NoY & I pretty much hit 1500TP each/year flying CX/MH metal - its flying the pesky four sectors on BA metal thats the chore, sorry, I mean the challenge

Joely

You say that the gold benefits are tangible benefit, so how much flying do you do in the rest of the year? It seems you have gone to a lot of effort for a slightly better lounge.

greg5

Great TR!

A very nice write-up of the AA '67 IFE. On the flight I was on, no one figured out that the tablets where designed to be folded into the back of the seat in front. My only disappointment with it was my favorite channel, the in-flight map, wasn't there.

Moomba

Enjoyable as ever kevincm.

Open skies really does look like it is a J+ product.

You are getting quite used to this life at the front now.

stu1985

Excellent report and some great pictures of San Francisco - my favourite city in the US.

themapelligroup

Beautiful report! Thanks for sharing.

Kevincm

If I could ride a bike, this would had been an option. Sadly... it's a case of walking. I swear this trip I've come out fitter than not

And that's why I used the cable car a lot

I'm not sure why. Yes, it's the old seat, but it 1) goes flat and 2) is a cracking product. Oh well. More seats for me

Thanks xenole.


Thanks MNL. I try to keep my trip reports realistic as opposed to some and semi-enjoyable.

Love from The Jewellery Quarter.

Believe it or not, this was a snails pace for me NoY (apart from the Paris bit). Still Very enjoyable though.

TP and Segments are a pain... but this is the price of loyalty..

Glad you enjoyed NoY.


I do a lot more in the year, but its done in Economy Class/Coach. It grant me the ability to take some very high amounts of luggage with me too (which is one hell of a money saver over a year).

The intangibles of course are the two long haul OpUp's I've had out of BA, the change management when I've done boneheaded things, etc.

Lounges aren't everything - I'm the first to acknowledge that.

Exactly my thought greg5 Sticking a moving map on those tablets could be a real challenge unless real WiFi and Internet connectivity is delivered on these flights. Still, for those in Business class, it's great. In Economy... it's rather painful.

And that's just the seats.

Thanks greg5

My thoughts exactly Moomba - if the seat was a bit more modern there would be a real winner. But yes - it's more J+ than J.

Don't worry. I'm in the back of the can on my next set of flights... my traditional home

Thanks Moomba

Thanks stu1985 - glad you enjoyed both the pics and the trip report.

Thanks themapelligroup. Glad you enjoyed

vecta

OMG Kevincm I absolutely LOVE it! How many times I've sat there and wondered how can I watch my iPad at eye level.

You sir, are a genius.

brg

Kevin
I read about this on your blog on Boardingarea.com
Thanks for all useful info

I have been slowly reading the TR forums as a lurker and the only quibble I have with this report is that when you put all your segments together soon after each other along with the photos at the beginning, without intervening comments from readers, the page takes a LONG time to load.

I personally like the ones where there is a heading post and links to the individual segments below with lots of reader comments in between.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures and commentary. Your posts always remind me of my UK days. Keep them coming.

courtster

Really enjoyed this trip report Kenvincm, now looking forward to my own Gold run in a few weeks using OpenSkies to the West Coast - Thanks IB!

DeadManFlying

Loved the trip report as usual full of detail and humour, thanks for posting

I also agree with xenole about going to Sausalito, even walking it is about the same distance as walking back across the bridge, and you could have had the pleasure of coming back on the ferry giving you lots of photo opportunities


DMF ( just seen still blue on profile so changed it to now show my exalted bronze status!


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A scorpion in Sweden?