Jamier45

Upon arriving at JFK I got the air train to federal circle and from there the shuttle bus for the hotel was already waiting. Climbed aboard and was whisked swiftly to the hotel. Total journey time was about 15mins from disembarkation to hotel!

I was greeted with a warm smile and greeting. As soon as I gave my surname there was a nice little 'Ah Mr Jamier45 we've been expecting. As a platinum member we thank you for your loyalty and have upgraded you, is that ok?'

Off I went to my room to get a shower and arrange to meet my friends in New York. The room was huge! Massive double bed, lots of floor area and a huge bathroom. The TV on the wall was probably 46-50". The fresh cold bottle of water in the room was great fully received as I could feel fully the effects now of 7 hours drinking tattinger on the plane!

It was agreed with my friends we would meet at 845pm at grand central station which gave me plenty of time to nap etc. in the end I only managed a 45 minute kip after checking in and face timing mummy Jamier45 for an age!

About 730pm I headed off in the hotel shuttle to federal circle to get the air train to Jamaica and the subway from there into the city. I managed to get to Roosevelt ave and after that it all went downhill. I got the wrong train in the opposite direction and after about 20 minutes thought this isn't right so hopped off and onto one going the other way, eventually managing to arrive into grand central at about 930pm.

From there we went out and had lots of drinks and plenty of dancing. I completely lost track of time and gave myself a fright when my alarms to wake me up to head off to the airport started going off on my phone. Cue a quick goodbye to my friends and hailed the first yellow cab I could find. I didn't want to leave NYC and had I known how the rest of my trip was going to be I would have just tried to get AA to allow me to miss my Hawaii flights and just return as normal from New York.

Alas I got back and hurriedly changed my clothes which I had already set out expecting to struggle out of bed (lots of people on this forum know about my mishap in Jersey). Straight downstairs and the receptionist had held the airport shuttle for me due to me being platinum as I ran past them on the way in and told them my room I'd be checking out of in about 3 minutes.

I was dropped off at Terminal 8 and proceeded through security which was painless! And headed for the flagship. When I arrived they scanned my boarding pass and a nice lady escorted me into the flagship and showed me around. To my delight and surprise they had English bacon!!!! A nice hearty breakfast was had followed by copious amounts of water as I had only stopped drinking about 45 minutes before hand (again many ppl on here know about my experiences of IDB) the time went past quickly so I headed off to the gate to find I was one of the last people to board. Welcomed back on board and offered a PDB so asked for water. Shortly after takeoff we were served breakfast and I ordered a Heineken. In the end I only had about 2 sips of it and must have passed out as I woke up to us arriving into PHX.

Next up PHX-LIH and a not such invigorating experience.

Jamier45

PHX-LIH

We arrived a few minutes behind schedule into PHX and arrived at gate a20 my next gate was b23. I didn't realise the time till the lady next to me said what time is your next flight? When I told her she said well you had better hurry. Boarding was due to start at 0928 and we were just taxiing onto stand at approximately 0920. I left the aircraft about 0922 and then realised just how far b23 is from the a gates so I decided to get a jog on. Boarding was almost complete as I got there and only another 4 or 5 ppl boarded after me.

Another PDB was offered and again I asked for water. After departure the food was served quite quickly and after devouring that and another glass of water I out my noise cancelling headphones on, put some music on and then I was out for the count again till about 40 minutes from LIH so again can't really comment on the service onboard.

Arriving in LIH it was hot! I managed to nose about and found the phones for the hotel shuttle and it promptly arrived 10 minutes later. Quickly checked into the hotel and off to my room I went. The room was nice enough for what I'd paid and I went exploring. That's when it hit me how dead it seemed. Everyone was either in couples or families. I went back to my room and had a 2 hour snooze.

After that I went to the bar area and ordered 2 small pizzas and a few beers but just couldn't get into the mood and was back in my room and in bed for 1030pm.

The next morning I woke at 7am and after faffing about for a bit headed down to get breakfast. It was going to be $22 for a basic breakfast so I got the free hotel shuttle to the shopping centre and found a nice sports bar where I got a breakfast for $12 and 2 pints of Stella $9/each. This set me up for the day and I was in a much more positive mood.

I headed to the pool bar after checking out of my room and leaving luggage with bell services. There I drank and drank a bit more as again everyone was in couples or families. A bit of food and a walk along the beach helped me chill out. The 8 and a bit hours dragged out for what seemed an age and I can honestly say I was very bored.

Thankfully 8:30pm came around and I headed off to get the shuttle bus back to the airport. Checkin and security was nice and efficient and I was through with about 20 minutes to kill till boarding commenced. This time I was the first person onto the aircraft, I had a few cups of water before putting my headphones off, reclining my seat and being woken gently by the CC to tell me we were about to land in PHX. After disembarkation I headed off to the lounge just by gate A20 which was the gate for my flight to JFK.

Next will be PHX-JFK my mood goes from ok to bad and JFK-LHR but for now it's time to board my CPH-LHR flight.

Speedbird876

Oooh, a nice cliff-hanger

What will happen on PHX-JFK??

Nice report and it's interesting about visiting Hawaii as a single traveller.

Looking forward to the next installment.

chris1979

I thought the live TR had missed it's flight and wasn't happening until I found it in the TR forum.....

young Jamier45 was 30/40 mins and kept on saying "why is everyone in a suit".... lol.


I can also confirm he's alive. He crashed at Chez Nous last night and I've heard the low-down. sounds like a fun trip despite staying in a honeymoon and retirment couple resort in LIH.

Despite being the 'tough man' that he is, he wasn't a fan of the rushhour tube to Bank this morning. Hopefully he'll make it to his flight safely having left him in the City this morning.....

jcm9000

That is LIH, couples and retirement r us. I was bored enough that i had a few flying lessons to pass the time on both visits there. There are some alright bars down near the marriott, but i know one just closed up (the feral pig where i spent most of my first trip) otherwise most places cater to the older upmarket crowd with the odd adventure type that wants to hike/camp on the na pali coastline. I still like the island since im used to laid back living in gcm, but party central it is not.

KARFA

Did you have to hold his hand so he wouldn't get lost?

chris1979

haha.

he's not made out to be a Londoner in rush hour tube traffic (and it was a surprisingly empty tube we got).

He also said that there were more people walking around us (emerging from Bank tube station) than live in Lossie....

KARFA

Did you teach him how to shoulder barge tourists who mistakenly stand on the left on the escalators? It's the only way they will learn you know

BLHD

We need an Italy Do/Gathering to teach him that trick!

chris1979

he was standing on the left hand side (with his big army bag over his shoulders)!

we do try to avoid taking escalators and take stairs where possible. this physique doesnt come from nowhere, young man.....

OttoMH

Good luck on the GGL quest, Jamier45!

I agree on the LCY-JFK - one of the best flights I have ever taken. They ran out of Brut Champagne by St. Johns and there was only 7 of us on board.

travelwithross

So you flew all the way to LIH, to sleep and drink Stella?
You could have at least drank some local cocktails or beers... or did some local touristy things. At least when I spent 24 hours in OGG i did some proper tourist spots, toured the island and ate a fantastic meal at somewhere famous on the island. Albeit I was lucky to bump into Filthy Monkey but I still had the tour trips and dinner planned regardless.

What a waste.

Jamier45

Cheers mate, looking forward to my next trip a lot more!

Jamier45

PHX-JFK and JFK-LHR!

I had a small bite to eat in the lounge (very limited selection anyway) due to sleeping through my breakfast on the LIH-PHX flight. As soon as it was time for boarding I left the lounge and walked about 15 yards to the gate, preboarding has just started.

I got settled in and had another water with ice. As I got into my seat and looked at the lady sitting next to me I realised it was the same lady I had been sat next to on the previous JFK-PHX. We had a little chat about how her trip to flagstaff was and that I'd just made my connection a few days previously!

Shortly after we took off and more drinks were served breakfast arrived. It was a kind of omelette with peppers which was really nice. This time I managed to stay away for most of the flight and had pre-ordered the inflight wifi with gogo. It was fast enough for me to use FT and others messaging platforms. Whilst I was furiously tapping away and getting some rather unwanted and unexpected news via whatsapp I believe the FA could see my mood going downhill from the happy normal self I am (for people who have met me previously) to an almost visibly upset mood. After that he was really good in giving me some space and not asking me if I wanted anything for a good hour or so whilst continuing to serve people round me.

After about 3 and a half hours and feeling myself getting quite worked up I took the decision to turn my phone off, put my favourite band The Saw Doctors on and put my headphones on to calm down and relax a bit. Suffice to say it had put me in a foul mood but I was determined not to send it the FA way so at the end of the flight said thank you and left the aircraft quickly.

Straight across to JFK T7 I was trying to keep out of peoples ways as any little thing was starting to make me get quite worked up so I checked in and headed straight to the lounge. Needing to relax I went down and had a shower, brushed my teeth and chilled out. This had relaxed me quite a bit and I was ready to be a cheerful (almost) passenger again.

I headed off for pre flight dining and enjoyed a kind of chicken salad and then meatballs with pasta and a tomato based sauce. Poured myself a glass of Tattinger but after only a sip I just didn't fancy it and certainly wasn't in the frame of mind to be getting a little tipsy so thought it better to leave the alcohol well alone as we all know how alcohol can have a massive impact on how we act.

A lot of the reason my mood had deteoriated had been spoken about and discussed which made me feel much much better and massively lifted me out of the almost slump I'd put myself into. It's amazing how much someone can bring you around with a few good lines (I'd even got to laughing and smiling again as we prepared for takeoff and I had to turn my phone off for the short hop over the pond.)

I headed down to gate 4 for boarding and had already changed into my joggers and leeds shirt so I could sleep the whole way back and relax. Something that makes me laugh is I had my boarding pass checked at the gate as I boarded the aircraft and as I tried to go up the stairs to the upper deck and when I got upstairs, the 2 gentlemen in front of me only had theirs checked at the gate and as we got onboard, maybe I just don't look like someone who travels J.

The menu's and PDB were handed out (the menu was on a piece of A4 due to a late aircraft change) I told the crew I had already eaten so wouldn't be eating on the flight and took a drink of water. When asked what I would like for breakfast I again said I would just like to be woken just before landing and have a fruit smoothie as I was intending to eat in the lounge, the CC member then said 'Ah Mr Jamier45, the perfect passenger for a night flight' which did make me smile Shortly after takeoff I put my seat back, headphones on and settled down, just before I nodded off the CC brought me a bottle of water incase I woke up thirsty and I was going straight to sleep.

About 20-25 minutes out of LHR I was gently woken and handed a smoothie which I greatfully accepted. We held for about 5-10 minutes and touched down and arrived at the gate a few minutes early. Off I went and got the transfer bus to T3 for my flight to HEL.

Next up HEL-CPH and CPH-LHR.

jcm9000

A connected world can be a dangerous world, right decision to stay aff the booze; i know what it does to me when im not in an at least average mood.

How did you find the flight from hawaii?

Rx, no sure i could have been bothered doing anything else after that trip (well, another flying lesson prior to the flight back to the mainland...), and LIH, really not much to do other than drive or walk about with maybe a boat trip along the coast. Drinking appeals a lot on LIH! I went to OGG for work, few drinks onboard, landed, taxi to hotel, got hammered as it was my birthday, woke up, chewed some advils, worked for 2.5 days, afternoon of third day taxi to airport and back to dfw and on. How was ogg? Erm. Even without work a wasted trip? Nah, i got to fly over the pacific.