Hammertoad

Better late than never? You be the judge….

Due to a soon-to-be-gone exec’s decision, I was forced to fly BA on my most recent MCO-LGW flight. I normally fly AA; but have flown TW and UA this year on this trip.

Check in at the BA counter at MCO was very quick. I asked (per Merry’s suggestion) to have my record flagged as Suitable for Upgrade (SFU). Apparently I was not suitable, despite my suit, as I was darn near laughed at. Headed to the DL lounge (for some odd reason, that is the lounge BA use in MCO). Very nice. Very good service. No smoking area. So I left. Hey, I have my principles. Sat at the MCO bar until about 25 minutes prior to departure. As I’m 20-30 feet from the gate, I hear my name over the paging system. Apparently BA take on-time boarding seriously. Made my way up the stairs and was very very surprised and upset to note that at least 6 rows were empty and that there were 2 exit-row seats available. This despite the desk agent’s assurances that the flight was fully booked and there were no exit rows or empty rows available. Alas, I was not the only one to notice and was not quick enough to grab an empty row.

Pre-flight drink service was the deplorable water or OJ tray. Why bother. Once in the air, I was offered my choice of drink. Choosing scotch, I was flabbergasted and flummoxed to find that the best scotch available was Johnny Walker Black. Better than Red, but still not something I would even try to give a frat-house dog. This is a UK based carrier? The birthplace of Scotch Whisky? Very sad, indeed. Snacks were little plastic containers of bagel chips and some other nasty little snackie things. Where’s the warm nuts??! Only in first class… I then asked for my personal VCR player and list of movies. Sorry sir, only in first class. Yougottabeikiddinme! How do they expect to compete? Tried watching the movies & video selections on the pop-up screen, but the incessant announcements by the FA’s and pilot cutting out the sound made that an exercise in futility. I got out my book. Never could get quite ‘comfy’ in the cradle seats. Methinks they were modelled after a real baby’s cradle. I have never been so sore/cramped/tempted to do wind-sprints and pushups to limber up in a plane as I was 4 hours into this flight. Landed on-time into LGW; time to wait for my LGW-BRU flight. I did not partake of the arrivals service as it is provided by a hotel attached to LGW. One hell of a walk. It wasn’t that long to wait, anyway. I’m still amazed at the lack of directional signs at LGW. One truly nice thing, though, is that unlike when folks come to the US when you fly a connection through an EU country to an EU country you do not need to pick up your bags and go through customs until you get to your final destination. What a concept!! This is the first time I haven’t either flown direct to my destination from the US or spent at least 1 day on London before continuing.

BA flight from LGW-BRU was fairly unremarkable. Typical European Business Class with 2/3 across seats (middle seat left empty). What really bothered me was the armrests. Apparently some rocket-scientist decided that felt/suede arm rests would be a wonderful thing to have. Nobody apparently notified the ground service crew that washing said armrests with water would cause them to retain said water and soak to the elbows any arms that actually tried to use the arm rests for their intended purpose. I’ll be sending the cleaning bill to BA. Nice in-flight meal on this 45 minute journey. Bangers & eggs. Some other stuff that didn’t look familiar so I passed.

Smooth landing in BRU and off to the Sheraton Towers downtown. Almost immediately sent to the concierge (Towers) check in floor for check-in. Very nice and friendly experience. Amenity in room was a bottle of cheap French wine and a squeeze ball in the shape of a globe. Handy for getting the cats off of the kitchen table. (Just kidding, Catman!). Very nice room with almost-a-view. Most of the folks visiting NATO stay there, so I got to see lots of brass. Even after 4+ years military service, I’d never seen a female 2 Star before. Dang near saluted. John Major was scheduled for a book signing the week after I left. Too bad, I would’ve bought the book just to meet him.

In my quest for the OW bonus, I had scheduled a BRU-MAD side-trip for the Friday-Sunday. Unfortunately I did not heed the adage to always check your tickets. Got to the IB check-in and was informed I could not be accommodated on the flight as my ticket was booked for FEBRUARY 22, not November. I couldn’t believe it. AA (who ticketed) counter was deserted, so I trekked across the street to the Sheraton. Excellent room and check in at an unbelievable (weekend) rate of 4500 BEF. Next day went to the AA counter and they were most helpful and apologetic – even though it wasn’t’ the BRU office’s fault. Got on an afternoon flight to MAD. 757 with true (US style) business class. Unfortunately, since I paid for this leg ‘on my own’, I didn’t get to experience that service! Still, great service from IB. I passed on the meal, but if you like fish it looked pretty good. Gorgeous day for flying and the view of the country side (Spain, Belgium) was breath-taking.

Gotta love Spain! Hiked to baggage claim and couldn’t believe all the smokers puffing away waiting for their bags. Right there inside the terminal! What a country! When in Rome… Cashed in some Canadian bux I had left over for pesetas to get a cab to town. Stayed at the Palace – right across from El Prado. Wonderful hotel! All I can say is wow. For Europe, this place be the bee’s knee’s. I wandered around, checked out a few local joints. Tried really, really hard to find replicas of the burro and senorita dolls my folks brought back to me and my sisters in 1970, but not luck. Mostly Lladro shops. I’ll have to go again and look some more. What the heck. Wouldn’t we all spend big bucks/miles to go find a $2.00 souvenir that reminded us of our childhood?

Too soon, I had to leave. Booked on IB in business class. Same deal as BA – 2/3 seating; food looked great if you are a fish fan. Pretty short flight and landed at ORY with no troubles. Gotta love the Parisians as much as the Spaniards. No smoking signs all over the place; just pretend you can’t read. When in Rome… Quick cab ride to the hotel (Residence du Roy). I was greeted personally by the manager and shown to my room by her. She was falling all over herself. I’m thinking they don’t get much business. I soon found out why. No restaurant. The phone system was/is true PULSE dialling! Just try and check your voicemail. I finally was able to connect to the internet to check emails… at a whopping 2400b! Almost nostalgic reminding me of my days connecting to BBS systems.

A few lovely days in Paris. I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. I’m truly not a tourist. 1.5 hours in the Louvre was more than enough for me. How many pictures of angels can one look at, anyway? I did wonder, too, that if the Louvre were to check their storerooms they could probably match up arms, legs, torsos, and heads with all the broken statues in that place. Like I said, not a tourist. Also, even with all of my walking ( at least 9 hours worth) including both sides of the Champs Elysses, I saw nary a potion, notion or unguent. Not for lack of trying, because surely that was tops on my list. I did see the only piece of modern art I’ve ever appreciated and that was a paper-mache cow stuck in a tree (ala Tornado) on the Champs Elysses.

Off to London for the final leg on a QF code-share BA flight. CDG was like, how do I describe it? Terminal 1(?) was like Welcome to the Starship de Gaulle! Crazy tubes and 30 degree inclined walkways (with a few valleys) to get to the gate. Passport control was a joke. 4 stations. 3 ‘new guys’ checking every passport and ticket. One ‘old-timer’ waving everyone through that had something that looked like a passport in their hands. I finally made it over to the ‘right’ line. Nothing spectacular about the flight. More fish.

Took the Heathrow Express from LHR-Paddington. Then went in search of an ATM to get some pounds. Either I am blind, dumb or both or there is not a single ATM in that entire station. Likely I just missed it, but it seemed really strange. Took a cab to the hotel (Royal Garden, Kensington) and was charged a pound extra for using a credit card. Illegal in the states to do that, UK rules are different. Checked in to the RG and was greatly anticipating my promised suite (promise made because of a dismal sty there last year). Something got lost in the translation and I was put in the smallest room I’ve ever been in. Simon was conveniently ‘on holiday’ and no one else could help. So they said. I’ll know better next time.

Truly a lovely time in London. The weather was clear and bright and I took the opportunity to just ride around (tube zone pass) and get off wherever looked interesting. Neatest thing I saw were two Bobby’s apprehending a thug. STOP! Or I’ll have to yell STOP again!! MP fans will get it. The rest of you… well you’ll just have to be like the tourists looking at me like I was a madman as I was doubled over laughing on the sidewalk.

Too soon, had to fly home LGW-MCO. Took the Gatwick Express from Victoria and was very happy that I could now check my bag at Victoria. Trains are all non-smoking now, so be warned. (I was). No BA lounge close to the gate at LGW. Wandered around and looked at the duty free. Same stores as home so I passed. Flight home was packed to the walls. Nary an empty seat. I sat next to a pleasant woman who, except for her halitosis, would have been an excellent seat mate. As it was, I had to be sure to keep my head turned to the aisle so as not to breathe her exhaled air.

On-time arrival in MCO and my bag was one of the first out. Thinking I’m home free, I go trotting to the customs station. First time in my life that I’ve been stopped/searched by customs. They thought it was ‘funny’ that I declared $0.00 on my form after being in 4 countries. Truly, I bought not a thing. Smoked ‘em all before I got home. After customs was satisfied, I grabbed my bag and made for the escalator. Not so fast. I’m not sure whose rule it is, but checked bagged can’t be carried from the customs station and onto the train to the main terminal. So, I wound up waiting for another 30 minutes for my bag to come through. I ought to complain to somebody, but II don’t know where to start.

I’m sure lots of details have slipped my mind in the 2 weeks since my trip, but final conclusions were:

AA, TW and UA coach class is comparable to BA Club World.

I will never fly BA transatlantic again.

I will try very hard to fly IB when travelling in Europe

By forcing me to fly BA, my sr. management ‘cost’ me 35,000 miles (flight, bonuses). I promise to never do that to my employees.


If you’re wondering why I made no mention of food on BA transatlantic, it is because it was so pathetic and unappetizing that I sent it back. Some final notes: NO hot towels provided on the LGW-MCO leg on BA. ONE water bottle per passenger. Scotch was a single-malt Scotch Whisky so that kept me complacent through the flight. FA’s ‘killed’ the video 35 minutes before we started our descent to MCO. Constant haranguing via the PA system about the UNICEF donation envelopes almost made me flush all the coins I had kept (versus giving to pan-handlers with pets) just for that purpose.

Cheers,

‘toad

richard

Hey, 'toad, this is a GREAT trip report!

It is amazing how differences of opinion arise on the same flights. Many here LOVE BA and HATE AA. Many here hate IB. You had exactly opposite reactions. This could be different of course in coach, perhaps in F things are better on BA and that is why some rave about the wonderful BA service (in the sky, rarely on the ground apparently.)

One of my pet peeves is being pitched on donations, credit cards, etc. while ensconced on a seat in the air on a plane, like the UNICEF harangue you describe. I *resent* it. Does anyone else feel the same? Anyone ever complained about pitches in the sky?

I happen to like JW Black, it's not the worst. It ain't Laphroig but it isn't bad, is it?

This is a great trip report, wonderful, I really enjoyed it a lot.

johna

Hammertoad, you report Wasn't there just a bit of France in there as well .

And charging £1 for using a credit card isn't bad compared to Thailand - most places add 3%, unless you're using AmEx (5.5%)!

Richard, while I also resent being forced to listen to a sales pitch while captive, I make an exception on international flights for BA's Unicef pitch (on UA it's for Habitat for Humanity, and I'm sure others have it as well). They're not looking for big bucks (or whatever currency, which is exactly the point); it's a chance to get rid of the spare change that would otherwise get lost in our bureau drawers at home. Seems like a worthwhile idea, and those random pence or pesetas add up - I think on my October flight BA quoted something like £8million since 1991 or so. But I agree - one announcement should suffice; "constant haranguing" is obnoxious.

Hammertoad

johna - Yah. I saw Frahnce, too. Hard to tell which is which without the lines.

As for the credit card surcharge, 3% (even 5.5%) would have been fine. This was on a 6 GBP cab ride; so effective rate was 16.66%.

Cheers,

'toad

doc

Thanks Toad. Sorry to hear again of additional "Scotch" problems. Being kind of a single malt freak myself, I too am surprised at the choices here- or lack thereof!

Haven't taken AA International coch in a while now but I seem to recall that AA served Glennfidich or Glenlevit even in Transatlantic ECONOMY class. BA could and should do better!

Catman

Toad, if you ever go back to MY PARIS (THE SECOND GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD AFTER NYC

*Breeze through teh Louve. Pinpoint on the map what exhibits you MUST see and skip the rest.
*The more interesting museums are Pappendeaux (the modern one that looks like it's under construction) or my favorite, Museum D'Orsay. Great collection in an old rail station. Easier to navigate too.
*Have dinner at a French Bistro. Unlimited wine and I"m sure they serve Devars.

Hope to go back to Paris in 2000 and YELP! from the top of the Eifel (A new tradition I learned from a very very good Flyertalk bruddar!)

And while in LONDON: Rules restaurant, the oldest in London (which I think serves every kind of alcohol invented) and go play in the transit Museum (and get thrown out by the Bobbies at 5pm closing time... Mostly big boys who never grow up miss closing time!)