BA Club DUB-LHR-LAX-LHR-DUB with a 3yr Old
Sep 22, 2015, 2:08 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BA Silver, ICH Plat Amb
Posts: 198
BA Club World DUB-LHR-SAN-LAX-LHR-DUB with a 3yr Old
Background
After getting the flyertalk bug a few years ago, my family and I have enjoyed numerous holidays flying in Club and First to the West Coast USA using BA redemptions.
However I really struggled to find any availability for this years holiday, now our Son is 3 years old and needs his own seat. So for the first time I paid cash for Club World, which before flying Club on a redemption I would have never considered.
-
Club Europe
-
This was my first flight in the CE Cabin.
It was any early start with a departure time of 08:50.
It wasn’t the best start as we had stayed at the Crowne Plaza local to the Airport, and awoke to find there was no hot water, so the cold showers were at least refreshing.
We had booked a taxi for the short journey to the airport which was only 15Euro, in hindsight we should have just taken the free hopper bus which was sitting outside while we loaded taxi.
We arrived at the terminal about 06:45 to find the BA check-in very quiet.
We checked in all our bags through to including the car seat which we then had to take to oversized luggage. The agent also asked us to confirm we were flying under ‘ESTA’s which we were, this obviously wasn’t recorded as we had to perform a 2nd visa check upon arrival at .
Security at was very busy, but luckily the fast track line was efficient and with our all items (buggies etc) we were in the lounge within 10mins.
The lounge at is basic but comfortable, and more importantly its quiet compared to the rest of the terminal which seemed very busy for the early morning flights.
The lounge was rather busy, mainly with the earlier BA departure, but after that flight left it was deserted. Breakfast options were rather limited with only ceral, fruit a few pastries available.
Here a few pics.
From the windows you can’t see the runways themselves but you can watch the planes arrive on their final approach.
There was a kids playroom, which was more like a cupboard with a few left over toys.
We left for the gate before it was called. Even though it wasn’t that far we found T1 to be full of small stair cases which with buggy isn’t ideal. There are elevators next to each stairway but it takes time.
Boarding was promptly called at the gate. I can’t comment if priority boarding was applied as we boarded with pre-boarding due to having a small child.
The buggy was taken from us at the gate and were told it would be ready for collection at the Jetty upon our arrival at . You will see later it wasn’t quite like that.
We settled into our seats and waited for boarding to complete. It was a busy flight as Ireland were playing England in the Rugby at Twickenham later in the day. I couldn’t see how busy the main cabin was. CE was configured for 6 rows and only 3 seats were free.
My pet hate from Mr 1C
Take-off was on time and the crew quickly started the breakfasts.
Apologies for the very poor photo's!
Band 1 CE Breakfast.
I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and I really enjoyed the meal after an early start to the day. In particular the sausage was excellent.
The guy behind me asked for a comments form so he could record he felt the breakfast was excellent.
This was the Childs meal not a great choice for breakfast
I was later told it would appear the wrong special meals were loaded, and this should be for childs brunch meal. We were offered an adults meal as an alternative, but Ben was happy with what he had.
The service was performed quickly without feeling rushed and we were soon on an approach into . This is when the problems started!
We arrived 15mins early and were told our stand was still being used by another aircraft and it would be 10mins before they pushed back.
10mins came and went with no movement. At this point we were told how due to the immigration arrangements with flights from Ireland they are treated as domestic and there are only 4 gates which accept domestic flights directly to the T5A. Our gate was still blocked by another aircraft which was now declaring a technical fault.
We waited another 30mins before they finally gave up and parked on a remote stand and waited to be bussed to the gate. It was frustrating but the crew kept us up to date and apologised throughout the delay
Finally we deplaned to the waiting buses, and found our buggy waiting at the bottom of the aircraft stairs which we collected as we boarded the bus.
After a short drive to the our originally assigned gate we were directed to stairs up the jetty. We selected to use the lift as we now had the buggy. However when we exited the lift we found we couldn’t exit the lobby because the door was locked, we couldn’t go back down the lift as it was operating in a single direction so we were effectively stuck! We had to shout to other passengers we could see through the door to get some help. Finally a staff member arrived who simply responded that ‘it should be open’ before finally releasing us.
At this point I was expecting to have to make a decision whether to proceed through flight connections as directed, which can result in joining long queues through North Security, or follow signs to Baggage Reclaim (no need for immigration as is treated as Domestic) to Landside then through the normally quieter South security back to airside.
However the night before SWMBO declared she had left her purse in our car, which was parked local to and I was to be dispatched to retrieve it.
So we all proceeded landside where I jumped in a taxi to collect the purse, and SWMBO and Ben proceeded though South Security to await me in the South Galleries Lounge.
SWMBO was turned around from Security for a visa check which was quickly performed when she confirmed we were flying under a ESTA. Although I’m unsure why it was required when it had already been confirmed at.
Although T5 appeared very busy when I returned I passed through very quickly.
At 11:30 I was still on the M25 in a taxi returning to T5 and by 11:45 I was in the Lounge enjoying a beer. The time included my visa check and even a quick visit to the Omega watch pop-up stand on-route!
I did enjoy a bit of luck with Fast Track Security, as when my bags cleared the x-ray the belt failed and fast track was reduced to a single lane.
South Galleries was very busy, but I have only visited the lounge on a few occasions previous so I don’t have a feel if this was normal business. Most of my previous flights being in F (redemptions for leisure) with access, or Y (work) with no lounge access
SWMBO had found some good seats overlooking South Security, where you also have some good views of both main runways. We witnessed the fire engines being called out to an Etihad A380 landing. I’m not sure what the problem was, they appeared to stop on the runway briefly following landing before being escorted by the fire engines to the gate.
I needed a beer after the rush to retrieve the purse.
From this view point it was rather interesting to monitor the crowds passing through South Security. It certainly goes in waves within a few minutes it would go from nearly empty with less than 5 people waiting for each scanner, to long snaking lines then back to empty again.
Ben was a little restress so we went to explore the rest of the lounge and find the playroom.
The Playroom was rather sparse, but a major improvement on the facilities at .
There were only very few toys but there was a Xbox and PlayStation available which would be suitable for older kids, as a well as TV playing CBeebies.
I did like the wallpaper though!
As we arrived just before midday the staff were swapping over the food selection from Breakfast to Lunch. It was quite funny to see the ‘vultures’ circle as each new dish was brought out!
The presentation of the food was very poor, but the food itself was excellent.
I tried the Chilli, Chicken Curry and Vegetable Curry and all were very tasty.
There was limited selection for kids, but Ben enjoyed the Penne Pasta, demolitions 2 bowls of the stuff.
- Club World
We left the lounge when ‘Go to Gate’ was displayed on the screen.
By the time we reached our T5C Gate, boarding was well underway but the Priority Boarding lane was free and being well policed.
We asked if the crew if could store our buggy in the Cabin, which it was and they highlighted which cupboard they had stored it. They were concerned that depending on what door was used upon arrival at , they would be too busy to retrieve it, and we may have to retrieve it ourselves.
We settled into our seat. This was a 3 class 777-200. There were 48 seats in Club split across 2 cabins.
We were in the front larger cabin using the seats that had been pre-assigned to us 7 days before departure. We were assigned 3 of the middle 4 seats which worked very well with a child. As the middle 2 seats provides a nice private enclosed space without disturbing other passengers.
We enjoyed some champagne while boarding was completed.
The crew all appeared quite young, but were enthusiastic and professional, throughout the flight they were very proactive to our needs. It was only from writing this trip report I’ve taken the time to look back to the experience and appreciate how this crew made the flight enjoyable. It’s the little things that can’t be recorded in a manual or checklist, like interactions with the passengers and anticipate their needs.
Push back was delayed as landing and take-off runways were being swapped. This is very common at around 3pm after which it was a long taxi and wait before we finally took off an hour late.
It’s been a while since I’ve experienced the Club service so the following are just observations opposed to complaints.
Drinks were served within 45mins with the starter trays served within the hour. I did find the meal service to be quite a drawn out affair, with long waits between the arrival of the tray, to the arrival of the main course and finally the desert.
Menu
I was able to order both my 1st choice Starter and Main Course.
Sorry no picture of the Tiger Prawn Starter
Beef Main Course
A little bit tough, most probably because it was over cooked. However it was tasty and I did still enjoy it.
I just selected the ice cream for desert. This stuff was amazing.
The kids meal was the usual chicken goujons , mash potatoes and broccoli. Served with some fruit and chocolate. After eating so much pasta in the lounge he was already full and only picked at the fruit.
After the meal was finally cleared away I sat back and enjoyed some films. The IFE was not the best, with only a small screen and limited number of films and TV shows. I watched ‘Run all night’ with Liam Neeson which was Crime Drama in the usual mindless violence Liam Neeson genre.
This was followed by a few episodes of Family Guy and Blackadder.
After which I tried to get some sleep for a few hours although I only managed 90mins. By this time Ben was well asleep and slept for a good 5hrs.
He would have slept longer, but awoke with a small nose bleed. I was sitting next to him and felt slightly trapped in the middle seats as I was unable to quickly grab Ben and take him to the toilet. However a member of the crew was passing at the time and quickly passed a box of tissues to help clean up.
They also repeatedly returned to us to check if Ben was ok, and if we needed anything further.
After this little incident the 2nd meal service was started.
By this time I wasn’t that hungry and passed.
My partner passed on the starter but had the Vegetable tagine and was very complimentary about it.
Ben also received a 2nd meal of pasta with some more fruit and yogurt. As he had just awaken he only ate the fruit and only a few mouthfuls of the pasta.
With everyone around me eating, my appetite suddenly returned so I finished off the pasta from the kids meal. It was very good but the tastes were rather strong for a kids meal.
So overall the food was very enjoyable. If the steak hadn’t been so tough it would have been excellent.
With the 2nd meal service complete, the cabin was prepared for landing and after a very short approach we landed at .
Only 1 door was used to disembark, opposed to the 2 used for boarding at .
It was interesting to note that while we waiting for the jetty, the crew member who had stored our buggy had already retrieved it and brought it through the cabin to us, so we wouldn’t have to go against the flow of passengers to retrieve it ourselves.
We disembarked and said our thank you to the crew.
After a short walk we were in a very small immigration hall at with only 4 manned desks for both US and Non-US citzens. This was compounded when the Global Entry desk failed, resulting in passengers with Global Entry receipts have to join the regular line.
Although it’s a reasonable size airport I don’t believe it has many international flights, hence the small immigration hall.
We were towards the front in the line and quickly though immigration, but we had a 20-30min for luggage by which time most of the passengers had cleared immigration.
Finally we were on our way to start our holiday in a very warm San Diego.
So in conclusion a very enjoyable trip across the pond.
More to follow including our return on the A380 from .
After getting the flyertalk bug a few years ago, my family and I have enjoyed numerous holidays flying in Club and First to the West Coast USA using BA redemptions.
However I really struggled to find any availability for this years holiday, now our Son is 3 years old and needs his own seat. So for the first time I paid cash for Club World, which before flying Club on a redemption I would have never considered.
-
Club Europe
-
This was my first flight in the CE Cabin.
It was any early start with a departure time of 08:50.
It wasn’t the best start as we had stayed at the Crowne Plaza local to the Airport, and awoke to find there was no hot water, so the cold showers were at least refreshing.
We had booked a taxi for the short journey to the airport which was only 15Euro, in hindsight we should have just taken the free hopper bus which was sitting outside while we loaded taxi.
We arrived at the terminal about 06:45 to find the BA check-in very quiet.
We checked in all our bags through to including the car seat which we then had to take to oversized luggage. The agent also asked us to confirm we were flying under ‘ESTA’s which we were, this obviously wasn’t recorded as we had to perform a 2nd visa check upon arrival at .
Security at was very busy, but luckily the fast track line was efficient and with our all items (buggies etc) we were in the lounge within 10mins.
The lounge at is basic but comfortable, and more importantly its quiet compared to the rest of the terminal which seemed very busy for the early morning flights.
The lounge was rather busy, mainly with the earlier BA departure, but after that flight left it was deserted. Breakfast options were rather limited with only ceral, fruit a few pastries available.
Here a few pics.
From the windows you can’t see the runways themselves but you can watch the planes arrive on their final approach.
There was a kids playroom, which was more like a cupboard with a few left over toys.
We left for the gate before it was called. Even though it wasn’t that far we found T1 to be full of small stair cases which with buggy isn’t ideal. There are elevators next to each stairway but it takes time.
Boarding was promptly called at the gate. I can’t comment if priority boarding was applied as we boarded with pre-boarding due to having a small child.
The buggy was taken from us at the gate and were told it would be ready for collection at the Jetty upon our arrival at . You will see later it wasn’t quite like that.
We settled into our seats and waited for boarding to complete. It was a busy flight as Ireland were playing England in the Rugby at Twickenham later in the day. I couldn’t see how busy the main cabin was. CE was configured for 6 rows and only 3 seats were free.
My pet hate from Mr 1C
Take-off was on time and the crew quickly started the breakfasts.
Apologies for the very poor photo's!
Band 1 CE Breakfast.
I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and I really enjoyed the meal after an early start to the day. In particular the sausage was excellent.
The guy behind me asked for a comments form so he could record he felt the breakfast was excellent.
This was the Childs meal not a great choice for breakfast
I was later told it would appear the wrong special meals were loaded, and this should be for childs brunch meal. We were offered an adults meal as an alternative, but Ben was happy with what he had.
The service was performed quickly without feeling rushed and we were soon on an approach into . This is when the problems started!
We arrived 15mins early and were told our stand was still being used by another aircraft and it would be 10mins before they pushed back.
10mins came and went with no movement. At this point we were told how due to the immigration arrangements with flights from Ireland they are treated as domestic and there are only 4 gates which accept domestic flights directly to the T5A. Our gate was still blocked by another aircraft which was now declaring a technical fault.
We waited another 30mins before they finally gave up and parked on a remote stand and waited to be bussed to the gate. It was frustrating but the crew kept us up to date and apologised throughout the delay
Finally we deplaned to the waiting buses, and found our buggy waiting at the bottom of the aircraft stairs which we collected as we boarded the bus.
After a short drive to the our originally assigned gate we were directed to stairs up the jetty. We selected to use the lift as we now had the buggy. However when we exited the lift we found we couldn’t exit the lobby because the door was locked, we couldn’t go back down the lift as it was operating in a single direction so we were effectively stuck! We had to shout to other passengers we could see through the door to get some help. Finally a staff member arrived who simply responded that ‘it should be open’ before finally releasing us.
At this point I was expecting to have to make a decision whether to proceed through flight connections as directed, which can result in joining long queues through North Security, or follow signs to Baggage Reclaim (no need for immigration as is treated as Domestic) to Landside then through the normally quieter South security back to airside.
However the night before SWMBO declared she had left her purse in our car, which was parked local to and I was to be dispatched to retrieve it.
So we all proceeded landside where I jumped in a taxi to collect the purse, and SWMBO and Ben proceeded though South Security to await me in the South Galleries Lounge.
SWMBO was turned around from Security for a visa check which was quickly performed when she confirmed we were flying under a ESTA. Although I’m unsure why it was required when it had already been confirmed at.
Although T5 appeared very busy when I returned I passed through very quickly.
At 11:30 I was still on the M25 in a taxi returning to T5 and by 11:45 I was in the Lounge enjoying a beer. The time included my visa check and even a quick visit to the Omega watch pop-up stand on-route!
I did enjoy a bit of luck with Fast Track Security, as when my bags cleared the x-ray the belt failed and fast track was reduced to a single lane.
South Galleries was very busy, but I have only visited the lounge on a few occasions previous so I don’t have a feel if this was normal business. Most of my previous flights being in F (redemptions for leisure) with access, or Y (work) with no lounge access
SWMBO had found some good seats overlooking South Security, where you also have some good views of both main runways. We witnessed the fire engines being called out to an Etihad A380 landing. I’m not sure what the problem was, they appeared to stop on the runway briefly following landing before being escorted by the fire engines to the gate.
I needed a beer after the rush to retrieve the purse.
From this view point it was rather interesting to monitor the crowds passing through South Security. It certainly goes in waves within a few minutes it would go from nearly empty with less than 5 people waiting for each scanner, to long snaking lines then back to empty again.
Ben was a little restress so we went to explore the rest of the lounge and find the playroom.
The Playroom was rather sparse, but a major improvement on the facilities at .
There were only very few toys but there was a Xbox and PlayStation available which would be suitable for older kids, as a well as TV playing CBeebies.
I did like the wallpaper though!
As we arrived just before midday the staff were swapping over the food selection from Breakfast to Lunch. It was quite funny to see the ‘vultures’ circle as each new dish was brought out!
The presentation of the food was very poor, but the food itself was excellent.
I tried the Chilli, Chicken Curry and Vegetable Curry and all were very tasty.
There was limited selection for kids, but Ben enjoyed the Penne Pasta, demolitions 2 bowls of the stuff.
- Club World
We left the lounge when ‘Go to Gate’ was displayed on the screen.
By the time we reached our T5C Gate, boarding was well underway but the Priority Boarding lane was free and being well policed.
We asked if the crew if could store our buggy in the Cabin, which it was and they highlighted which cupboard they had stored it. They were concerned that depending on what door was used upon arrival at , they would be too busy to retrieve it, and we may have to retrieve it ourselves.
We settled into our seat. This was a 3 class 777-200. There were 48 seats in Club split across 2 cabins.
We were in the front larger cabin using the seats that had been pre-assigned to us 7 days before departure. We were assigned 3 of the middle 4 seats which worked very well with a child. As the middle 2 seats provides a nice private enclosed space without disturbing other passengers.
We enjoyed some champagne while boarding was completed.
The crew all appeared quite young, but were enthusiastic and professional, throughout the flight they were very proactive to our needs. It was only from writing this trip report I’ve taken the time to look back to the experience and appreciate how this crew made the flight enjoyable. It’s the little things that can’t be recorded in a manual or checklist, like interactions with the passengers and anticipate their needs.
Push back was delayed as landing and take-off runways were being swapped. This is very common at around 3pm after which it was a long taxi and wait before we finally took off an hour late.
It’s been a while since I’ve experienced the Club service so the following are just observations opposed to complaints.
Drinks were served within 45mins with the starter trays served within the hour. I did find the meal service to be quite a drawn out affair, with long waits between the arrival of the tray, to the arrival of the main course and finally the desert.
Menu
I was able to order both my 1st choice Starter and Main Course.
Sorry no picture of the Tiger Prawn Starter
Beef Main Course
A little bit tough, most probably because it was over cooked. However it was tasty and I did still enjoy it.
I just selected the ice cream for desert. This stuff was amazing.
The kids meal was the usual chicken goujons , mash potatoes and broccoli. Served with some fruit and chocolate. After eating so much pasta in the lounge he was already full and only picked at the fruit.
After the meal was finally cleared away I sat back and enjoyed some films. The IFE was not the best, with only a small screen and limited number of films and TV shows. I watched ‘Run all night’ with Liam Neeson which was Crime Drama in the usual mindless violence Liam Neeson genre.
This was followed by a few episodes of Family Guy and Blackadder.
After which I tried to get some sleep for a few hours although I only managed 90mins. By this time Ben was well asleep and slept for a good 5hrs.
He would have slept longer, but awoke with a small nose bleed. I was sitting next to him and felt slightly trapped in the middle seats as I was unable to quickly grab Ben and take him to the toilet. However a member of the crew was passing at the time and quickly passed a box of tissues to help clean up.
They also repeatedly returned to us to check if Ben was ok, and if we needed anything further.
After this little incident the 2nd meal service was started.
By this time I wasn’t that hungry and passed.
My partner passed on the starter but had the Vegetable tagine and was very complimentary about it.
Ben also received a 2nd meal of pasta with some more fruit and yogurt. As he had just awaken he only ate the fruit and only a few mouthfuls of the pasta.
With everyone around me eating, my appetite suddenly returned so I finished off the pasta from the kids meal. It was very good but the tastes were rather strong for a kids meal.
So overall the food was very enjoyable. If the steak hadn’t been so tough it would have been excellent.
With the 2nd meal service complete, the cabin was prepared for landing and after a very short approach we landed at .
Only 1 door was used to disembark, opposed to the 2 used for boarding at .
It was interesting to note that while we waiting for the jetty, the crew member who had stored our buggy had already retrieved it and brought it through the cabin to us, so we wouldn’t have to go against the flow of passengers to retrieve it ourselves.
We disembarked and said our thank you to the crew.
After a short walk we were in a very small immigration hall at with only 4 manned desks for both US and Non-US citzens. This was compounded when the Global Entry desk failed, resulting in passengers with Global Entry receipts have to join the regular line.
Although it’s a reasonable size airport I don’t believe it has many international flights, hence the small immigration hall.
We were towards the front in the line and quickly though immigration, but we had a 20-30min for luggage by which time most of the passengers had cleared immigration.
Finally we were on our way to start our holiday in a very warm San Diego.
So in conclusion a very enjoyable trip across the pond.
More to follow including our return on the A380 from .
Last edited by PantsFlyer; Sep 26, 2015 at 8:49 am
Sep 23, 2015, 11:35 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BA Silver, ICH Plat Amb
Posts: 198
Hotels and Adventures!
The main aim of the holiday was to keep our 3 year old son entertained while enjoying some good weather at the same time.
With that in mind we had travelled to San Diego to visit the local attractions such as Seaworld, Legoland, San Diego Safari Park etc. We did consider Florida but we wanted something a little more relaxed than the full on Theme park every day holiday.
Hyatt Regency Mission Bay.
Normally I stay in ICH Group hotels to try and take the advantage of the few perks that their Platinum membership level provides. However in the San Diego area with the exception of Indigo Hotel in the Gaslamp area there is a lack of quality hotels in the ICH Brand, hence a need to look further afield.
So for the first 5 days we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay.
Although the stay would fall across Labour Day weekend the rates were quite competitive.
After reading various reviews I selected a Tower Room as these are located in a slightly newer building and the rooms are finished to a higher standard, compared to the older Bay 1 and Bay 2 buildings.
However upon checking in after our long flight from Dublin, we were told our room had been double booked and we had been downgraded to the Bay 2 building. Not a great start!
We were told we would be moved to a Tower Building room the next day.
Too tired to argue, we went to our room to crash for the night.
The Bay 2 room wasn’t too bad. It was obviously an old building, but the rooms were clean but very basic, and reminded me of a glorified motel room.
More worryingly was some of the people staying in the same building. Most of our neighbours thought that having their mates in their room, or sitting on the open air lobby outside our room drinking beer until the early hours was perfectly acceptable.
Thankfully we were moved to the Tower Building in a better room the next day. As well as having the resort fee and parking charges waived for our complete stay, which was a welcome offer.
The public areas of the hotel were nice and well maintained.
The pool area was good for the kids with 3 different pools and water slides. It was full by 10am on the Sunday and Labour Day Monday, but fair play to the staff for ensuring towels were removed from unused sun beds.
Views of the pool from our Balcony.
The balcony also provided a nice place to sit and have breakfast either from room service or from the onsite bagel shop.
Busy pool on Labour Day
A few of the Hyatt from the Marina. The Tower building is clearly visable.
By the Tuesday the hotel was a lot quieter with the tourists replaced with conference attendees.
Other than the annoyance of having to swap rooms at the beginning of our stay it was an enjoyable stay and we would most probably return.
Hyatt Regency La Jolla
We then moved on to the La Jolla Hyatt Regency for another 6 nights.
It’s a little distance from the centre of La Jolla, it is nicely located on the I5 Freeway and you can be in the centre of La Jolla very quickly, although parking in La Jolla itself was never easy.
This was more of a business hotels, with even more conferences than Mission Bay, and at the weekends the Conferences were replaced with Weddings but neither disturbed us.
We booked a rate which included parking and breakfast. The breakfast restaurant was located in a foyer at the rear of the hotel, which felt and a little odd due to its openess. The breakfast was a good selection of hot and cold items and most importantly there was good quality proper hot tea available! They also changed the hot items each day to provide some variety.
There was also a nice pool area, but it was shared with the onsite fitness club, which meant half of the pool was separated into lanes for distance swimming.
The only photo I have, taken during the only rain we experienced during our stay.
We enjoyed our stay at both hotels and both had advantages and disadvantages. If I was only going to return to a single one, I would have selected the Hyatt at La Jolla. If we were returning to the area I would also like to try the Hyatt Grand Manchester located in the centre of the San Diego.
Here are some pics of our adventures during our stay.
Enjoying the planes at the Midway.
I thought the Midway would be a little boring for a 3 year old, but he loved it.
Sitting in the planes and helicopters, as well as exploring the ship itself.
Enjoying stupidly expensive ice cream. $20 for 3 x small cones, good job it tasted good.
Legoland at San Diego. A very enjoyable day out, with a good mix of small rides and displays.
This was at the Birch Scripps Aquarium. A small but more educational aquarium which has great views over La Jolla. Well worth the visit.
San Diego Safari Park. This was an excellent Safari park and far more enjoyable to see the animals in a more natural environment compared to the San Diego Zoo.
Enjoying a ‘light’ snack at one of the many brewery style restaurants. The beer wasn’t up to Adnams standard but better than the usual American domestic beers.
Intercontinental Century City Los Angeles
Prior to our return flight we wanted to stay nearer to . So we stayed at the IC Century City for the last 2 nights.
I had booked a junior Suite via BA, which was upgraded to a Premier Suite prior to arrival as a result of my IC Ambassador status.
View from the balcony
We had stayed at this hotel on 3 previous occasions and had enjoyed our previous stays.
This stay was to be no different.
The hotel has been recently going through a major refurbishment that is ‘almost’ complete. From speaking to the staff there are 3 floors that are still awaiting refurbishment which will be complete by the end of the year. However our suite was located on one of these 3 outstanding floors and was the older style. It was a good size with very usable space but was now showing its age with worn/damaged furniture and fixtures.
It would have been nice to stay in one of the refurbished rooms, but I do prefer to the extra space that the Premier Suites provide over the Junior Suite we had booked.
Again this hotel was busy with conferences on both days. This didn’t affect the public arears of the hotel i.e Lobby and Bar, but at the start of each day it made the Hotel driveway and valet area rather manic. With cars have to queue in the road awaiting space to enter the driveway.
It’s not a good first impression when arriving at the hotel, or while waiting for your car to be returned from valet. Noting the hotel car park is valet only. But if you like car/people watching its quite enjoyable to sit and watch people come and go.
The hotel is nicely located within 500 yards of the Century City Westfield Mall. Which houses some reasonable restaurants which provides options for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. It also had a good selection of high end shops if that’s your sort of thing.
So in conclusion another enjoyable stay, and I look forward to returning when the refurbishment is complete.
Watching departures from Santa Monica Pier during our stay in LA
The main aim of the holiday was to keep our 3 year old son entertained while enjoying some good weather at the same time.
With that in mind we had travelled to San Diego to visit the local attractions such as Seaworld, Legoland, San Diego Safari Park etc. We did consider Florida but we wanted something a little more relaxed than the full on Theme park every day holiday.
Hyatt Regency Mission Bay.
Normally I stay in ICH Group hotels to try and take the advantage of the few perks that their Platinum membership level provides. However in the San Diego area with the exception of Indigo Hotel in the Gaslamp area there is a lack of quality hotels in the ICH Brand, hence a need to look further afield.
So for the first 5 days we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay.
Although the stay would fall across Labour Day weekend the rates were quite competitive.
After reading various reviews I selected a Tower Room as these are located in a slightly newer building and the rooms are finished to a higher standard, compared to the older Bay 1 and Bay 2 buildings.
However upon checking in after our long flight from Dublin, we were told our room had been double booked and we had been downgraded to the Bay 2 building. Not a great start!
We were told we would be moved to a Tower Building room the next day.
Too tired to argue, we went to our room to crash for the night.
The Bay 2 room wasn’t too bad. It was obviously an old building, but the rooms were clean but very basic, and reminded me of a glorified motel room.
More worryingly was some of the people staying in the same building. Most of our neighbours thought that having their mates in their room, or sitting on the open air lobby outside our room drinking beer until the early hours was perfectly acceptable.
Thankfully we were moved to the Tower Building in a better room the next day. As well as having the resort fee and parking charges waived for our complete stay, which was a welcome offer.
The public areas of the hotel were nice and well maintained.
The pool area was good for the kids with 3 different pools and water slides. It was full by 10am on the Sunday and Labour Day Monday, but fair play to the staff for ensuring towels were removed from unused sun beds.
Views of the pool from our Balcony.
The balcony also provided a nice place to sit and have breakfast either from room service or from the onsite bagel shop.
Busy pool on Labour Day
A few of the Hyatt from the Marina. The Tower building is clearly visable.
By the Tuesday the hotel was a lot quieter with the tourists replaced with conference attendees.
Other than the annoyance of having to swap rooms at the beginning of our stay it was an enjoyable stay and we would most probably return.
Hyatt Regency La Jolla
We then moved on to the La Jolla Hyatt Regency for another 6 nights.
It’s a little distance from the centre of La Jolla, it is nicely located on the I5 Freeway and you can be in the centre of La Jolla very quickly, although parking in La Jolla itself was never easy.
This was more of a business hotels, with even more conferences than Mission Bay, and at the weekends the Conferences were replaced with Weddings but neither disturbed us.
We booked a rate which included parking and breakfast. The breakfast restaurant was located in a foyer at the rear of the hotel, which felt and a little odd due to its openess. The breakfast was a good selection of hot and cold items and most importantly there was good quality proper hot tea available! They also changed the hot items each day to provide some variety.
There was also a nice pool area, but it was shared with the onsite fitness club, which meant half of the pool was separated into lanes for distance swimming.
The only photo I have, taken during the only rain we experienced during our stay.
We enjoyed our stay at both hotels and both had advantages and disadvantages. If I was only going to return to a single one, I would have selected the Hyatt at La Jolla. If we were returning to the area I would also like to try the Hyatt Grand Manchester located in the centre of the San Diego.
Here are some pics of our adventures during our stay.
Enjoying the planes at the Midway.
I thought the Midway would be a little boring for a 3 year old, but he loved it.
Sitting in the planes and helicopters, as well as exploring the ship itself.
Enjoying stupidly expensive ice cream. $20 for 3 x small cones, good job it tasted good.
Legoland at San Diego. A very enjoyable day out, with a good mix of small rides and displays.
This was at the Birch Scripps Aquarium. A small but more educational aquarium which has great views over La Jolla. Well worth the visit.
San Diego Safari Park. This was an excellent Safari park and far more enjoyable to see the animals in a more natural environment compared to the San Diego Zoo.
Enjoying a ‘light’ snack at one of the many brewery style restaurants. The beer wasn’t up to Adnams standard but better than the usual American domestic beers.
Intercontinental Century City Los Angeles
Prior to our return flight we wanted to stay nearer to . So we stayed at the IC Century City for the last 2 nights.
I had booked a junior Suite via BA, which was upgraded to a Premier Suite prior to arrival as a result of my IC Ambassador status.
View from the balcony
We had stayed at this hotel on 3 previous occasions and had enjoyed our previous stays.
This stay was to be no different.
The hotel has been recently going through a major refurbishment that is ‘almost’ complete. From speaking to the staff there are 3 floors that are still awaiting refurbishment which will be complete by the end of the year. However our suite was located on one of these 3 outstanding floors and was the older style. It was a good size with very usable space but was now showing its age with worn/damaged furniture and fixtures.
It would have been nice to stay in one of the refurbished rooms, but I do prefer to the extra space that the Premier Suites provide over the Junior Suite we had booked.
Again this hotel was busy with conferences on both days. This didn’t affect the public arears of the hotel i.e Lobby and Bar, but at the start of each day it made the Hotel driveway and valet area rather manic. With cars have to queue in the road awaiting space to enter the driveway.
It’s not a good first impression when arriving at the hotel, or while waiting for your car to be returned from valet. Noting the hotel car park is valet only. But if you like car/people watching its quite enjoyable to sit and watch people come and go.
The hotel is nicely located within 500 yards of the Century City Westfield Mall. Which houses some reasonable restaurants which provides options for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. It also had a good selection of high end shops if that’s your sort of thing.
So in conclusion another enjoyable stay, and I look forward to returning when the refurbishment is complete.
Watching departures from Santa Monica Pier during our stay in LA
Last edited by PantsFlyer; Sep 24, 2015 at 12:50 pm
Sep 23, 2015, 11:36 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BA Silver, ICH Plat Amb
Posts: 198
LAX-LHR Club World A380
With a serious case of DYKWIA
After a great holiday it was time to start the long trip home.
We had a departure time of 15:30, and I was happy to get to the airport in plenty of time to avoid any worries with LA traffic.
We arrived at Avis just before midday and took the short hop on the shuttle bus to the TBIT terminal.
It appeared a very busy afternoon at LAX in the terminals we passed on the way. But the BA check in area was still quiet at midday as you would expect 3.5hrs before the first BA departure of the day.
There was no one in Club or First check in lines with only approx 20 people waiting in standard line.
Security was fairly busy but fast track was lots quieter. As we progressed through the empty tensa barrier maze we were asked to cut through the barrier to the front of the line. It appeared this was due to the fact we were travelling with a buggy. It was a fairly stress feel compared to my recent experience with the TSA in the US.
Its been about 5 years since I’ve departed though LAX and I thought the general departure lounge was very nice, open and bright. It did have the usual shopping mall feel that is so common in modern terminals these days
We proceeded to the new ‘Oneworld’ lounge and were warmly welcomed and advised that they would make a PA call when our flight was ready to board, as well as an estimated time of boarding.
The lounge was very busy when we arrived at 12:30 and the only seats available were near the fake fire place towards the bar area.
The lounge did start to clear approx 1pm when the Cathy Pacific HKG flight was called followed by an Air China flight to Beijing and by 13:15 it was deserted, before it slowly started to fill again with BA passengers.
I would note that most of the Lounge is quite dark and gloomy compared to the bright main departure lounge areas.
The Wifi had a good strong connection with decent speed, even when the lounge was full upon our arrival, but there was no mobile phone reception across the 3 networks we were using which was a bit painful.
The food was good but the selection was a little limited. I would put it on a par with the BA Galleries lounges at LHR. I enjoyed a large bowl of the butter chicken which was excellent. I had always thought butter chicken as a mild dish, but this version had some heat to it which made for a good flavour.
Alcoholic drinks are provided from a bar service which is not very good when the lounge was so busy and only a single bar tender was available. Also at busy times a lot of people were sat at the bar, which limited the areas you could stand to wait and be served.
Boarding commenced around 30mins before the planned departure time. Again we boarded when pre-boarded was called due to travelling with a small child.
As we proceeded through the gate we were asked to leave our buggy with the gate staff, when they realised we were flying club they let us take the buggy to the plane door and suggested they should be space in the cabin for the buggy to be stored.
However when we boarded the cabin crew wouldn't let it on the aircraft and took it back on the Jetty. They assured us that it would be ready for us on the Jetty upon our arrival in LHR. This was a little disappointing that they could find space for a buggy on a 777 on our outbound flight but not on the A380 for our return.
At this point I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to wait for a long time for it upon arrival at LHR and get stuck waiting for the transit trains or immigration.
The crew on the whole were older than the crew we had on our outbound flight. There were efficient and professional but the service was fairly matter of fact and almost stern at times. There was no interaction with the passengers. I’m not sure if this was due to the crew or just the sheer number of passengers they have to cater for making the service more regimented.
We settled into our seats on the lower deck in the first CW cabin behind First.
The seat looked and felt identical to that we had experienced on the 777-200 albeit with a different seat fabric. Again we had been pre-assigned 3 of the middle 4 seats.
Boarding was via 2 doors on the lower deck and 1 door for the upper deck.
All the WT passengers on the lower deck had to pass my seat, and although we were told the flight was completely full the boarding appeared to complete very quickly and the doors closed.
The IFE system on the A380 is a vast improvement, with a far larger screen and increased selection of programs. It also has a good route map system that had various viewing option, but it didn’t have any external camera’s which was a little disappointing.
The only other benefit with the A380 is some flashy mood lighting, which slowly brightens and darkens the cabin. I thought it would be a bit of a gimmick, but it does allow your eyes to slowly adjust as the cabin is brightened in the morning after a night flight.
Cockpit view on the Route Map
The speed of the bar and food service was similar to our outbound flight, so it was still a rather drawn out affair. For the early the departure this isn't too much of a problem because its still early in the day. I would hope for the later 9pm departure it would be a little quicker allowing passengers to get some rest early in the flight.
Here is the menu for our return flight
By the time my order was taken my 1st choice starter ‘Baby Tomatoes’ was already gone and I selected the Salmon.
The salmon was better than I had expected, and the salad was also very good.
I followed this with the Pasta, which was a little bland. It was very filling and after eating in the lounge I only managed to eat half of the dish.
The childs meal was very large for a 3 year old, and would even be large for an adult. Even the crew were slightly surprised by the size of it.
It started with 6 x small Cheese and Ham sandwiches, carrot sticks and a large bowl of grapes.
This was followed by the predicable Chicken Goujons, mash potatoes and broccoli. Ben eat most of the sandwiches and grapes but didn't really touch the hot food.
Following the meal service we all attempted to get some rest.
This wasn’t a problem for our son who slept for 5-6hrs.
I struggled to sleep and only managed to sleep for less than 1hr.
There was a young baby in the cabin which was crying at various points, but I was more disturbed by the nagging older women who sat in seat across the aisle from me.
OMG she was annoying and distrubing, and I appreciate the how the crew kept they nerve with her. If it was me I would have ended up throwing her in the luggage hold, before we even took off. Most of her requests would have been fairer enough in isolation, but her constant badgering of the poor crew, talking to them in such a condescending manner was embarrassing for everyone in her proximity.
Here are some of the highlights/lowlights.
•She made the crew put her bag in overhead locker saying that she needed wheelchair assistance and it would be ‘impossible’ for her to reach the overhead locked. However there must have been a miracle mid-flight because she was fine getting it up and down repeatedly during the flight.
•She demanded to know why all the other passenger had menu’s and she didn’t . It was explained to her she had ordered a special meal hence she couldn't order for the meal.
•Then she demanded 2 blankets. The crew had a quick search of the cabin but said the flight was full and everyone had a blanket with no spares. At which this women got most upset and finally a spare blanket from economy was found.
•When her meal arrived she pulled a face a demanded another low salt alternative without even tasting it. Cabin crew were getting quite annoyed by this point, but did return a few minutes later with some alternatives meals, all of which she refused. Instead she just sulked like a toddler and said she would write a letter of complaint instead.
•She started to watch some films using the IFE. During which she started to struggle using the touch screen, which I can understand as it doesn’t always respond especially if it catches your nail opposed to your finger.
In the end she got so frustrated she slammed the IFE screen shut with such force it caused the divider between the two seats to fall. As you could imagine the poor sod seating in the seat next to her was awoken with a jolt.
•Toward the end of the flight, she wanted to sit in First class to ensure she would be one of the first off the plane due to a tight connection. A connection which it later transpired was 2.5hrs
•Then just prior to landing she demanded medication for a stomach ache. The crew were quite stern with her by this point saying they were not able to provide medication as they can’t diagnose such issues. However she was later provided with rennes or something similar, which I can only presume was a members of crews personal items.
•The final straw was when the crew were preparing the cabin for landing. The floor around her seat was covered in her 2 blankets, 3 pillows and a selection of magazines etc. She point blankly refused to tidy it, or even attempt to clear these items. She complained of the same stomach ache and just ignored the crew. The crew eventually had to clear the items themselves.
Some of her complaints or requests for assistance may have been genuine. But the way she treated the crew initially meant she was not treated with much trust, hence their lack of compassion.
•It even continued when we were disembarking when she spoke with the crew as she exited the plane wanting to know where her wheelchair was. She wanted it at the door but they explained it would be at the top of the jetty. The whole time this argument continued she blocked the door so no one else could leave via door 2.
After a restless night it was time for some breakfast.
This is the first flight I have taken from the West Coast since the full breakfast has returned to the menu, replacing the previous soggy bacon rolls.
Here is the menu.
I selected the Traditional English Breakfast. It was good and rather filling. Although I preferred the breakfast on the short hop from DUB to LHR earlier in our trip.
The cabin was cleared and we were soon on approach into LHR well ahead of schedule. With some favourable tail winds the flight from LAX was only 9.5hrs.
The plane arrived at a T5C gate and we quickly disembarked from the front of the CW cabin.
As for your our buggy, we were told that it would arrive at the top of the jetty. We waited with a few other parents for our buggies. We had to wait until all the passengers and the crew of our flight had disembarked before the buggies finally arrived. This meant we were now at the back of the line of some 400 passengers trying to get the transit train and through immigration.
As expected the transit was completely rammed for the journey between the c gates and the main terminal. Normally if I arrive at a T5B gate I quite enjoy bypassing the transit and walk using the walk ways underneath the transit level, it gets the blood moving again after a long flight and is generally quicker than the transit. However from the T5C gates it’s a little too far, especially with the luggage we had in tow.
Luckily upon arrival at the immigration hall it wasn't too busy. The new additional e-gates were in operation and most people were being directed to them. The lines for these new gates were quite long and didn’t appear to be moving very quickly.
We had to go to the normal gates as our Son is only 3 years old. Only 2 posts were being manned for EU passports. The line was short and moving quickly, as such we were through far quicker than if we had joined the e-gate lines.
Finally down to baggage reclaim. Now I have found T5 to be very good for luggage in the past, but recently the wait times have increased in my experience. This flight continued the trend, maybe down to the use of an A380? I would say we had to wait a further 15mins for our luggage. In total from leaving the plane door, waiting for the buggy to claiming our luggage took 1hr 5mins. Which in my opinion is ‘ok’ but far from a premium experience I have enjoyed in the past.
While waiting for our luggage I was asked to compete a BAA survey on the use of the A380. In summary it asked if I enjoyed the A380 and would I pick flights in the future specifically to fly the A380. Reflecting on our experience I wouldn't be in a rush to fly the A380. In my opinion in CW the only minor difference is the improved IFE over the rest of the fleet. This benefit is outweighed with difficulties with dealing with the logistics of processing 470 passengers on the same flight.
We were not travelling onto DUB until the next day, so had a day in London. So prior to leaving the airport we stopped by the Arrival lounge so I could get a quick shower and we could get some food for our Son as he had slept through breakfast on the flight.
The refreshing shower was welcome, but the shower cubicle was in poor condition with trim coming away from the wall. It still had a very disturbing gurgle sounds coming from the drain system.
So in conclusion an enjoyable flight. Nothing outstanding either from the A380 or the crew but I’m still glad we paid for CW for a more relaxing flight. Even if it was disturbed who thought the crew were here personal servants!
With a serious case of DYKWIA
After a great holiday it was time to start the long trip home.
We had a departure time of 15:30, and I was happy to get to the airport in plenty of time to avoid any worries with LA traffic.
We arrived at Avis just before midday and took the short hop on the shuttle bus to the TBIT terminal.
It appeared a very busy afternoon at LAX in the terminals we passed on the way. But the BA check in area was still quiet at midday as you would expect 3.5hrs before the first BA departure of the day.
There was no one in Club or First check in lines with only approx 20 people waiting in standard line.
Security was fairly busy but fast track was lots quieter. As we progressed through the empty tensa barrier maze we were asked to cut through the barrier to the front of the line. It appeared this was due to the fact we were travelling with a buggy. It was a fairly stress feel compared to my recent experience with the TSA in the US.
Its been about 5 years since I’ve departed though LAX and I thought the general departure lounge was very nice, open and bright. It did have the usual shopping mall feel that is so common in modern terminals these days
We proceeded to the new ‘Oneworld’ lounge and were warmly welcomed and advised that they would make a PA call when our flight was ready to board, as well as an estimated time of boarding.
The lounge was very busy when we arrived at 12:30 and the only seats available were near the fake fire place towards the bar area.
The lounge did start to clear approx 1pm when the Cathy Pacific HKG flight was called followed by an Air China flight to Beijing and by 13:15 it was deserted, before it slowly started to fill again with BA passengers.
I would note that most of the Lounge is quite dark and gloomy compared to the bright main departure lounge areas.
The Wifi had a good strong connection with decent speed, even when the lounge was full upon our arrival, but there was no mobile phone reception across the 3 networks we were using which was a bit painful.
The food was good but the selection was a little limited. I would put it on a par with the BA Galleries lounges at LHR. I enjoyed a large bowl of the butter chicken which was excellent. I had always thought butter chicken as a mild dish, but this version had some heat to it which made for a good flavour.
Alcoholic drinks are provided from a bar service which is not very good when the lounge was so busy and only a single bar tender was available. Also at busy times a lot of people were sat at the bar, which limited the areas you could stand to wait and be served.
Boarding commenced around 30mins before the planned departure time. Again we boarded when pre-boarded was called due to travelling with a small child.
As we proceeded through the gate we were asked to leave our buggy with the gate staff, when they realised we were flying club they let us take the buggy to the plane door and suggested they should be space in the cabin for the buggy to be stored.
However when we boarded the cabin crew wouldn't let it on the aircraft and took it back on the Jetty. They assured us that it would be ready for us on the Jetty upon our arrival in LHR. This was a little disappointing that they could find space for a buggy on a 777 on our outbound flight but not on the A380 for our return.
At this point I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to wait for a long time for it upon arrival at LHR and get stuck waiting for the transit trains or immigration.
The crew on the whole were older than the crew we had on our outbound flight. There were efficient and professional but the service was fairly matter of fact and almost stern at times. There was no interaction with the passengers. I’m not sure if this was due to the crew or just the sheer number of passengers they have to cater for making the service more regimented.
We settled into our seats on the lower deck in the first CW cabin behind First.
The seat looked and felt identical to that we had experienced on the 777-200 albeit with a different seat fabric. Again we had been pre-assigned 3 of the middle 4 seats.
Boarding was via 2 doors on the lower deck and 1 door for the upper deck.
All the WT passengers on the lower deck had to pass my seat, and although we were told the flight was completely full the boarding appeared to complete very quickly and the doors closed.
The IFE system on the A380 is a vast improvement, with a far larger screen and increased selection of programs. It also has a good route map system that had various viewing option, but it didn’t have any external camera’s which was a little disappointing.
The only other benefit with the A380 is some flashy mood lighting, which slowly brightens and darkens the cabin. I thought it would be a bit of a gimmick, but it does allow your eyes to slowly adjust as the cabin is brightened in the morning after a night flight.
Cockpit view on the Route Map
The speed of the bar and food service was similar to our outbound flight, so it was still a rather drawn out affair. For the early the departure this isn't too much of a problem because its still early in the day. I would hope for the later 9pm departure it would be a little quicker allowing passengers to get some rest early in the flight.
Here is the menu for our return flight
By the time my order was taken my 1st choice starter ‘Baby Tomatoes’ was already gone and I selected the Salmon.
The salmon was better than I had expected, and the salad was also very good.
I followed this with the Pasta, which was a little bland. It was very filling and after eating in the lounge I only managed to eat half of the dish.
The childs meal was very large for a 3 year old, and would even be large for an adult. Even the crew were slightly surprised by the size of it.
It started with 6 x small Cheese and Ham sandwiches, carrot sticks and a large bowl of grapes.
This was followed by the predicable Chicken Goujons, mash potatoes and broccoli. Ben eat most of the sandwiches and grapes but didn't really touch the hot food.
Following the meal service we all attempted to get some rest.
This wasn’t a problem for our son who slept for 5-6hrs.
I struggled to sleep and only managed to sleep for less than 1hr.
There was a young baby in the cabin which was crying at various points, but I was more disturbed by the nagging older women who sat in seat across the aisle from me.
OMG she was annoying and distrubing, and I appreciate the how the crew kept they nerve with her. If it was me I would have ended up throwing her in the luggage hold, before we even took off. Most of her requests would have been fairer enough in isolation, but her constant badgering of the poor crew, talking to them in such a condescending manner was embarrassing for everyone in her proximity.
Here are some of the highlights/lowlights.
•She made the crew put her bag in overhead locker saying that she needed wheelchair assistance and it would be ‘impossible’ for her to reach the overhead locked. However there must have been a miracle mid-flight because she was fine getting it up and down repeatedly during the flight.
•She demanded to know why all the other passenger had menu’s and she didn’t . It was explained to her she had ordered a special meal hence she couldn't order for the meal.
•Then she demanded 2 blankets. The crew had a quick search of the cabin but said the flight was full and everyone had a blanket with no spares. At which this women got most upset and finally a spare blanket from economy was found.
•When her meal arrived she pulled a face a demanded another low salt alternative without even tasting it. Cabin crew were getting quite annoyed by this point, but did return a few minutes later with some alternatives meals, all of which she refused. Instead she just sulked like a toddler and said she would write a letter of complaint instead.
•She started to watch some films using the IFE. During which she started to struggle using the touch screen, which I can understand as it doesn’t always respond especially if it catches your nail opposed to your finger.
In the end she got so frustrated she slammed the IFE screen shut with such force it caused the divider between the two seats to fall. As you could imagine the poor sod seating in the seat next to her was awoken with a jolt.
•Toward the end of the flight, she wanted to sit in First class to ensure she would be one of the first off the plane due to a tight connection. A connection which it later transpired was 2.5hrs
•Then just prior to landing she demanded medication for a stomach ache. The crew were quite stern with her by this point saying they were not able to provide medication as they can’t diagnose such issues. However she was later provided with rennes or something similar, which I can only presume was a members of crews personal items.
•The final straw was when the crew were preparing the cabin for landing. The floor around her seat was covered in her 2 blankets, 3 pillows and a selection of magazines etc. She point blankly refused to tidy it, or even attempt to clear these items. She complained of the same stomach ache and just ignored the crew. The crew eventually had to clear the items themselves.
Some of her complaints or requests for assistance may have been genuine. But the way she treated the crew initially meant she was not treated with much trust, hence their lack of compassion.
•It even continued when we were disembarking when she spoke with the crew as she exited the plane wanting to know where her wheelchair was. She wanted it at the door but they explained it would be at the top of the jetty. The whole time this argument continued she blocked the door so no one else could leave via door 2.
After a restless night it was time for some breakfast.
This is the first flight I have taken from the West Coast since the full breakfast has returned to the menu, replacing the previous soggy bacon rolls.
Here is the menu.
I selected the Traditional English Breakfast. It was good and rather filling. Although I preferred the breakfast on the short hop from DUB to LHR earlier in our trip.
The cabin was cleared and we were soon on approach into LHR well ahead of schedule. With some favourable tail winds the flight from LAX was only 9.5hrs.
The plane arrived at a T5C gate and we quickly disembarked from the front of the CW cabin.
As for your our buggy, we were told that it would arrive at the top of the jetty. We waited with a few other parents for our buggies. We had to wait until all the passengers and the crew of our flight had disembarked before the buggies finally arrived. This meant we were now at the back of the line of some 400 passengers trying to get the transit train and through immigration.
As expected the transit was completely rammed for the journey between the c gates and the main terminal. Normally if I arrive at a T5B gate I quite enjoy bypassing the transit and walk using the walk ways underneath the transit level, it gets the blood moving again after a long flight and is generally quicker than the transit. However from the T5C gates it’s a little too far, especially with the luggage we had in tow.
Luckily upon arrival at the immigration hall it wasn't too busy. The new additional e-gates were in operation and most people were being directed to them. The lines for these new gates were quite long and didn’t appear to be moving very quickly.
We had to go to the normal gates as our Son is only 3 years old. Only 2 posts were being manned for EU passports. The line was short and moving quickly, as such we were through far quicker than if we had joined the e-gate lines.
Finally down to baggage reclaim. Now I have found T5 to be very good for luggage in the past, but recently the wait times have increased in my experience. This flight continued the trend, maybe down to the use of an A380? I would say we had to wait a further 15mins for our luggage. In total from leaving the plane door, waiting for the buggy to claiming our luggage took 1hr 5mins. Which in my opinion is ‘ok’ but far from a premium experience I have enjoyed in the past.
While waiting for our luggage I was asked to compete a BAA survey on the use of the A380. In summary it asked if I enjoyed the A380 and would I pick flights in the future specifically to fly the A380. Reflecting on our experience I wouldn't be in a rush to fly the A380. In my opinion in CW the only minor difference is the improved IFE over the rest of the fleet. This benefit is outweighed with difficulties with dealing with the logistics of processing 470 passengers on the same flight.
We were not travelling onto DUB until the next day, so had a day in London. So prior to leaving the airport we stopped by the Arrival lounge so I could get a quick shower and we could get some food for our Son as he had slept through breakfast on the flight.
The refreshing shower was welcome, but the shower cubicle was in poor condition with trim coming away from the wall. It still had a very disturbing gurgle sounds coming from the drain system.
So in conclusion an enjoyable flight. Nothing outstanding either from the A380 or the crew but I’m still glad we paid for CW for a more relaxing flight. Even if it was disturbed who thought the crew were here personal servants!
Last edited by PantsFlyer; Sep 24, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Sep 25, 2015, 11:00 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BA Silver, ICH Plat Amb
Posts: 198
We also visited the Karl Struss in La Jolla.
Jan 13, 2016, 5:15 pm
#8
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Just caught up with this TR. Thanks for sharing. The kids meals on BA were really good when we did DUB/LHR/LGW/MCO last summer. Too much food but gives plenty of choice. Although our daughter didn't actually eat or see the hot good as had already started on the other food and was feeling full.
