shgroamer

Hey everyone, this is my first trip report, hopefully you enjoy it or it brings some sort of value to you. Any feedback is welcome!

I will post these in separate posts. Also, this was back in June, I'm just finally getting the time to invest in this.

Trip with all legs is as follows (and how I booked them):

June 3
DFW-IAD (AA, F, S-80)
IAD-AUH (EY, F, B787-9)

This was an AAdvantage mile redemption. I originally booked J for June 2, but there was an equipment change (and I wanted to fly on the Dreamliner). There was last minute F award availability the next day on the 789, so I went for it. Had to get to AUH or DXB to position for the one-way I booked below.


June 8
DXB-LHR (BA, F, B747)
LHR-DFW (BA, F, B777-3ER)-->Diverted to Iceland, back to LHR. Story to follow

As seen in the Mileage run discussion, there were $1400-1600 fully refundable fares in F between DXB and AUS (I positioned for a connection at DFW). Jumped on it, but it was late in the deal so I didn't want to miss out/wasn't as creative as others (I tried to go through LAX on the 380 but wasn't able to switch).

June 9
LHR-DFW (BA, F, B777-3ER)

*Note this is my first TR on here, I had picture snafus in my first post--it gets better the further along the trip goes.

Thanks in advance for reading.

MarylandFlyer244

Can't go wrong with some good ole fashion B787 F! Looking forward to it!

shgroamer

As previously mentioned, this leg through AUH was an awards redemption to position for my return flight. In the process, I was lucky to fly in Etihad's new first class suite aboard their 787-900 from IAD-AUH. Suffice it to say, I wish the flight was 10 hours longer.

But first, domestic AA F on a good ole mad dog. You're all familiar, so I won't linger here.


And the chilled beef & salad (and linens!), which was nice and light pre-Etihad lounge.


Landed at IAD with plenty of time to spare, I think it was a 4-6 hour layover to be exact. I was totally ok with that considering Etihad built a lounge at IAD for their once daily flight, and although small, it's pretty nice.

I got to the lounge and they were cleaning up after a recently departed Saudia (they let their premium passengers use it) flight. For awhile, I was the only passenger there. I explored and found the shower suites--I hadn't planned on showering in the lounge, but hey, why not. It was probably the best shower I've had in an airport...Definitely beats the suites in the Concorde lounge at LHR.

The food was pretty good. They had various light options in the salad bar area. There is also a full service menu which offers several options. I ended up with a lentil soup (that was fantastic) and a shrimp dish. Pics are below. Moved back to the couch area and finished off with some turkish coffee and dates. A little later, we were given the option to board and having spent quite awhile in the lounge (and drinking a decent amount), I opted to board the plane right away.

Entrance to the EY lounge at IAD


Shower suite in EY lounge


Lounge has direct access to the plane. The beautiful Dreamliner was parked at the gate


Some items I had from the salad bar


Menu


Shrimp dish


Post dinner


Dining area


Lounge area



With regards to the lounge food, I would eat something lighter as the food on the plane (in F) was actually very good. Just my opinion.

shgroamer

And on to the fun stuff...I hopped on the plane right when they opened boarding (most people did not flinch when they opened it up). I was done with the lounge, which had gotten quite crowded closer to flight time and figured a suite would be a nice change.

Boarding was directly from lounge to plane on a separate jet bridge than Y. I was seated in 2K (forward facing window seat, note the first row of seats in F are rear facing). The flight attendant escorted me to my seat and introduced me to who would be working up front. I was instantly offered some champagne which was Bollinger La Grande 2005, and it was refilled twice prior to take off.

I went straight to change into the provided pijamas which were pretty good quality. Then continued to settle in as all 8 seats in F filled up. J looked full as well and I honestly would like to try EY's new J on this or their 380 at some point...I've heard in many cases the difference in price isn't really worth it and if that's the case, that's a very very nice J product.

My seat


Forward facing


Let the fun begin (continue)


In-seat bar (arm rest)


Noise-cancelling headsets


I probably had too much champagne, oh well


Mood lighting


Prior to take-off, the in-flight chef introduced himself and offered to take my order and asked when I would like to eat. EY F (and J, I believe) offers on-demand meals rather than the structured post take-off meal and pre-landing meal. Many people opted to go straight to sleep, but after several drinks, it's obviously a great decision to order a 5+ course meal.

Menus below, I forgot to take a picture of another page of entrees which offered even more variety to the ridiculous menu.









I ended up ordering a soup (I forgot which, and the page of the menu isn't in my photo album), a caprese and greens-type salad, and the US Ribeye. All followed by some vanilla ice cream. There were a bunch of different wines and several glasses of Johnnie Blue in there, which made for a fantastic sleep after dinner.

I'm sure you want to know about the beef @ 39,000 ft. Well, surprisingly it was better than many steaks I've had at OK steakhouses on the ground. Obviously, it was a bit overcooked to my liking (medium well to well done would describe it, I think), but I think it was a good piece of meat, which helps. As far as airplane food goes, this probably takes the cake for me, although I may try something not steak-related next time I fly them. The customization with the sides/sauce is an awesome thing too, because you don't end up with a piece of meat drowning in some sauce you don't care for.

Pictures below:

Nuts, olives, dried fruit chips


Let's eat


Amuse-bouche & some bread


Soup


Salad


Lemon Sorbet palate cleanser


Steak


Vanilla ice cream


I got up to use the lavatory and came back to my bed being made and a refill of scotch, along with a bottle of water (how did they know I'd need that ). Temperature was a little warm and you don't have a lot of manual control over that in the suite...I'm sure the alcohol played a part.

Overall, I slept a solid 4-5 hours or so, woke up to a little sunrise somewhere over northern Europe. Keep in mind if you're flying east, you want to be on the right side of the plane on these 787's as you can't fully shut the shades, just dim them. Didn't bother me much, as I was on the right side. I was in and out of sleep/watching some live TV and then Game of Thrones (entertainment selection is fantastic, by the way). Later, I decided to have the Etihad steak sandwich (everyone recommends it). It was pretty good, but if I could do it over, that's way too much steak in one flight for me. Might've gone with a regular breakfast or cheese.

Fully flat bed


Upon return to bed


Massage controls




Can't get over the 787 wings...only wish is that F was over the wing!


IFE Controls/flight map screen


Thrones!


That wing flex over the Gulf sun


Etihad steak sandwich ^


Fresh fruit plate


One more view of the seat


Doors closed


Suite


Audi A6/Etihad chauffeur service to drive me to Dubai



This flight overall was very comfortable. I ate way too much (I'm not used to eating that unhealthy on a regular basis) but when we landed I still felt very refreshed. We landed at dusk UAE time, and I utilized the chauffeur service which took me all the way to Dubai. Felt great, and ended up being out with some friends until about 3am. I'm sure some of this can be attributed to the great conditions on the Dreamliner as well as the comfort of F.

If you have any questions or think I may have forgotten something, please let me know...I have plenty of pics. It has been awhile since this trip and I've taken many others since. Feel free to pick my brain if you're flying this product any time soon!

I'll work on the BA F return trip report, flight diversion to Reykjavik and all, tomorrow!

andy2016

Thanks for the report. I'll be flying it in the opposite direction in a couple of months. Going to avoid steak on the flight like I do on all. I figure even if they do it decent (which is unlikely) it's simply no where near as good as from a good restaurant on the ground. Window shades only dimming seems like a huge mistake and pretty annoying.

shgroamer

The steak is very edible unlike most in flight catering but I think you're making the right decision by avoiding it. In context of steak in the sky, it's good, but there are plenty of better options especially on EY's menu (I wish I had a photo of the other page). If I could do it over I would probably try something else.

The shades (or lack thereof) seem to be a recurring negative theme on the dreamliners, however I haven't had any personal issues with them, particularly when sleeping on this flight. They require some patience when using them though as the dimming feature is a bit slow. I've only personally been on the 787 in this instance and another time on AA's new 787. The flight attendant actually complained to me about them there.

shgroamer

Early morning June 8 (late night June 9), I arrived to DXB and went to the check in desk. As I checked in, I was introduced to a personal assistant (I don't know the official term) who would escort me through passport control/security (through the crew entry) and catch a ride on a golf cart for that long walk in Terminal 1.

After doing some duty free shopping (love the shopping at DXB, although T3 is 100x better), I headed over to the lounge, which was a considerable distance from our departing gate. The BA lounge was pretty packed, but still comfortable. After grabbing a drink, and with 20 minutes until boarding, I decided to walk over to the gate, as I'd be spending plenty of time in the F lounge at LHR.

Once reaching the gate, we were almost instantly called to board, F and the long line of BA/OW elites.

I love the feel of BA F cabins. Very sleek and a great atmosphere, one of the main things I was impressed with. Although the front of the 744 is pretty crammed with the amount of seats BA puts in there, there's something awesome about being in the nose of the Queen of the Skies.

Apologies, cabin lighting was tough to deal with between mood lighting and it being the middle of the night.

BA F seat


Space in the seat area is fine, but a little crammed to be a truly competitive F product with AF and LH. Space wise, it's comparable to AA's 77W J product, maybe a little better.


TV flips open, has to be stowed for takeoff/taxi and landing/taxi. Love the shades/window situation--each seat has 2, and associated mood lighting, there are electronic controls to open/close.


The seat controls are very intuitive, probably my favorite of lie flat products I've used, just controlled by a circular knob.

Champs- Laurent-Perrier. Not bad


Menu














I know, I'm weird, but I loved the ambience of this cabin at night--I've definitely seen better F products, but this was a really cool feature. Pictured below is a glass of Johnnie Blue and some mixed nuts.



Meal service was offered whenever we wanted, there were dinner options and for later, breakfast options. I don't know why but I decided to have dinner service at 2AM, and skipped breakfast in anticipation of having it in the BA F lounge.

Started with the Amuse-Bouche (can't recall what it was)


Next, Arabic Mezze. It was meh...should've had it on EY, but a lot of my family is Lebanese, so I'm picky with that stuff. Wouldn't order again.


Also, tried the raved about pea soup, which was very good.


And for the main, went with the Salmon & Sweet potato salad. Didn't finish it, as I was getting full at this point, but it was alright if you want a "lighter" option.


Felt like having a bit of cheese to finish, nothing special here.


After this, I actually got some solid sleep, about 3 hours or so (the flight isn't terribly long, 7-8 hours). Giving PJ's on a Mid-haul flight like this was nice...I wasn't expecting it. Overall, I would say it's a solid product if you're BA/OW loyal, but it's really tough to beat the products EY and EK are putting out there on this route (obviously out of AUH for EY). However, it does just fine if you're like me and don't insist on a shower/Krug on a 7 hour redeye (Blue Label minimum though ). Additionally, crew was fantastic, one of the best BA crews I have encountered, despite a packed cabin.

Here are a few shots I snagged upon arrival. LHR (T5) is truly an avgeek paradise, and no matter how many times I've been, I go nuts with the pictures. I always say I hope one day it's a frequent hub of mine, but then I start dealing with logistics of the terminals and get grounded by its abundant design flaws and massive crowds. Still, one of my favorite airports to fly to/from (bracing for internet thrown tomatoes).

Queen of the skies


Upon arrival



I'll work on BA F lounge (Concorde room) and the adventures of that night (an unexpected stop in Iceland and subsequent return to London) entries over the weekend. Thanks again for reading.

bhamsan01

Enjoying the photos. Can't wait to read the rest!

AvidFlyer1990

Nice TR man! And good job on taking advantage of that Mistake Fare. I'm no OW loyalist, but that fare was hard to pass up. I wish I had pulled the trigger when I still had the chance.
So, if I may ask, how many EQMs/EQPs/RDMs did you earn on this trip? I bet this trip was a God send to help requalify for ExP!

Thunderroad

Great TR and photos. Thanks for sharing them.

shgroamer

Thanks! Glad to know people are enjoying. I'll post more tonight.

Thanks! I'm definitely glad I did it. I think some people snagged things on Swiss, EK, and more with that deal. I could be wrong but I thought I remembered that, majority was definitely OW though.

It actually wasn't as many EQP/EQM's as you'd think, since it was only the return flights. I'll take a look at the #'s tonight. Interestingly enough, I actually tried to claim miles for the diverted flight (nothing was logged for that) and I think BA messed up and put the EQM's in my BA account for the whole trip, essentially I got all my AAdvantage miles and also got BA credit (but still, nothing for the diverted flight). Since I haven't claimed anything else in BA this year, I have it in front of me... 420 tier points (that makes me Bronze, I guess..not sure what that entails at BA) and 16,300 avios.

shgroamer

All- I just spent a solid 2-3 hours (lost track of time) drafting this next entry and I lost it upon submitting. Incredibly pissed off at the moment as I thought it was a very solid post (and the best/most interesting part of the trip). I hope in all my rage I muster up the energy and patience to re-draft (this time in Word first) this weekend at some point.

My apologies.....so frustrating on my end.

shgroamer

Time to revisit this...working on the next post now, but using Word first this time

louislitt

Yeah that has happened to me in the past, I closed the lid on my laptop overnight and when I went to submit the following morning it wouldn't submit and I couldn't recover

I use notes normally, alas that was the one time that I didn't

Anyways that aside enjoyed the TR so far, interesting to see what the 787-9 is like.

Hope you get back into the groove when re-writing. Intrigued to hear about the divert.

Kind Regards LL

shgroamer

Thanks! Love the username by the way. Next season can't come soon enough!


Posting now