tjeuk

Hi All

hcuk94 and I thought we’d attempt a trip report. We are off to Vegas, and while hcuk94’s various flights start Monday 22nd, we head off to Dublin Tues 23rd PM for a night in the airport HIX to start with an early morning DUB-LHR Weds AM. This is of course one of the BA sale fares (on a mix of BA/AA metal) and makes the whole thing feel like reasonable value, especially when I’ve paid more for WT+ to LAS ex LHR in the past.

The full itinerary is as follows:

LCY-GLA-LHR (Tom joins here Tues PM) DUB-LHR-JFK-LAX-LAS (few days in Vegas, some steak and cocktails, some magicians, a Global Entry interview plus a mini ‘do’) LAX-JFK-LHR-DUB-LHR (Tom leaves proceedings at this point) GLA-LCY.

with highlights being upper deck on the JFK legs, and of course, the mini ‘do’ at NYNY’s ‘9 Fine Irishmen’ 3pm on the Thursday (all welcome!). This also has the side effect of giving me silver and topping hcuk94 back up to Gold, and also netting us a bunch of Avios on the way.

We’ll flesh out with some posts below and attempt to fill in along the way, hoping that we end up with some lounge time.

Part 1 - LCY-GLA-LHR-DUB - HC
Part 2 - DUB-JFK-LAX-LAS - HC
Part 3 - The FT ‘do’ - TJE
Part 4 - LAS-LAX-JFK-LHR - TJE
Part 5 - DUB-LHR - HC
Part 6 - GLA-LCY HC

hcuk94

Morning all! Kicking things off with Part 1, covering LCY-GLA-LHR-DUB. This is my first TR, so bear with me and let me know what you think!

Now you might be wondering why, in addition to an already ridiculous itinerary, I decided to pop to Glasgow either end. This is actually a work trip for me - it wasn’t planned originally, but I’m in Glasgow quite frequently for work so, long after we’d booked Vegas, I was asked if I could be in Glasgow 22nd-23rd, and 30th-31st August, so foolishly, I said yes.

Now this does have one key benefit to me - I live in East Anglia so I can cleverly craft my itinerary to start and finish in LCY, which means a short train ride home vs the long schlep from LHR - I fear I might be clinging on to the only positive I can find here! It does make the trip a bit more interesting though, and who knows how unfunctional I’ll be by the time I return to work on the 30th!

Sunday 21st August 2016
So we start on a lazy Sunday afternoon as I slowly pack my bags for the trip. I’m in Glasgow regularly enough that I keep a wardrobe up there, stuffed in a bankers box in our comms room (I work in IT) - or left with whichever hotel I was last in for washing - so it’s just my things for Vegas which I need to pack, which makes life a lot easier. I travel with either a Red Oxx Air Boss or a Rimowa Topas Cabin - usually it’s the Air Boss for shorthaul as I like to carry a bag over my shoulder, and it squishes easily into small overheads (it can go in lengthways on an E170), but today it’s the Topas, plus a laptop bag which will have my liquids, laptop, iPad etc for ease of access. I’ve also taken a fold-up hold-all inside the Topas which, if I do some shopping, I will check in on the way back.

My first flight is actually Monday 22nd August, but since I’m on the first flight out of LCY to GLA, I thought I’d take the opportunity to sample the new InterContinental London O2 the night before - a short tube ride from Stratford where my train stops, and a short DLR ride to LCY in the morning. InterContinentals are not my normal calibre of hotel, especially for a work trip! However, on non-event nights the IC O2 is very good value, and at £165 incl breakfast and VAT this time around, it is cheaper than all of our central London corporate rates (including a Holiday Inn!), so as you can imagine I snapped it up.

I arrive at the IC at 18:30, having wandered around the O2 complex following a series of very temporary-looking signs to the hotel. A warm welcome from the staff and a Spire Ambassador upgrade to a marginally better room (luxury hotels have so many room classes I often can’t tell the difference anyway). The room is a decent size, nice furnishings, a huge bed, and excellent views over Canary Wharf. I approve. ^
Rio Olympics themed macaroons in the room along with a plate of fruit and some water - a nice touch.




After settling in I take a walk to explore the various food offerings, and end up opting for the ‘Market Brasserie’ which is, well, brasserie style food. The other options were a fine dining restaurant and a bar menu. I do have a £25 dinner allowance on company billback, but I think you’d be very hard pushed to get dinner for £25 in this hotel! I therefore treat it as a decent discount on buying a nice meal for myself. Not fussed about a starter - straight onto mains and I opt for a Sirloin steak with French fries, courgettes, vine tomatoes and sautéed spinach - plus a glass of Côte du Rhone. The steak was very very good - I’m not usually a fan of hotel restaurants as a rule but this was stunning; nice and rare as I asked for it, yet very tender and easy to cut. I opted for trifle for dessert.



Top marks for service here - attentive enough to top up the drinks, take my plate etc at the right time, but almost without me noticing it and without them hovering around watching for you to finish. I also asked for a glass of Pedro Ximenez with dessert, but they had none, however she said she’d try and get it in before my next stay on September 1st.

Dinner finished and back up to my room, which in my absence has been turned down - curtains closed, bath and shower mats on floor, slippers by the bed and lighting adjusted into ‘night’ mode.



Not feeling like going to bed just yet, I thought I’d sample the sky bar on the 18th floor. So I grabbed my laptop and headed up in the lift. Sat down and was given complimentary water and salt & pepper crispy things. Ordered an Espresso Martini - this was very very good. Ordered another subsequently...



11pm and back down to bed, I pressed the ‘do not disturb’ button on the touchscreen panel, and filled in the in-room breakfast card. There was a slight flaw here in that the breakfast card has a loop to hang on the doorknob, but the doorknob is too large! I used the corkscrew's knife attachment to saw the side of the loop so I could hang it. I imagine most normal people just leave it on the floor. I settled into bed, and what a bed it was - one of the comfiest hotel beds I have been in! Unfortunately that didn’t change the fact I was still bouncing off the walls from the espresso I’d just had, and couldn’t get off to sleep until 2am…

Monday 22nd August 2016
6am and the grating sound of my phone’s alarm stirs me. I gradually come to and run a bath. The bathroom had an extension speaker from the TV, and the TV had a Spotify app so I logged onto Spotify and shuffled some music. One bath later and it’s 06:30 - I had ordered breakfast for 06:30-06:45 so tried out the InterContinental Dressing Gown. I did try the slippers that they had kindly left by the bed, but unfortunately they are not designed for size 11 feet!

Breakfast turned up at 06:40 - now I frequently order breakfast to the room in hotels, so I’m used to it turning up on a little tray. Not here, however. Here it turned up on an entire table, which they proceeded to ceremoniously wheel into my room and leave by the window for me to eat at - very nice touch. I was also expecting the Eggs Benedict to be a BA-style singular ‘Egg Benedict’, so was pleased to see they gave me two.



I finished breakfast and started to gather my belongings for the off. Left around 07:30 and headed downstairs to check out. Post-checkout a quick walk round to North Greenwich tube and it’s one stop on the Jubilee followed by a Docklands train to LCY.

This morning I’m on BA8722 from LCY to GLA, at 08:55, landing 10:15, UK Domestic, 1C.

Upon arriving at LCY I am reminded why I don’t tend to use it in the Monday morning peak! Security queues were backed up to the ticket barriers. However, I have nothing but compliments for the staff, who were quite clearly doing everything they could to keep it moving, whilst remaining cheerful and helpful at all times. Spent maybe 5-10 mins queueing but was through security in seconds as the checks are clearly a little less stringent when they need to keep it moving. Once through security I milled around on the eastern pier for a bit - I find the main departure lounge gets very busy and also stuffy, so I usually head off to the western pier to cool off and find a quiet seat, but with the western pier currently a building site I headed the other way instead.
I had only been sat down for 5 mins or so when boarding commenced, so I got up and headed for the gate. Once on board I settled in to 1C. Today it’s an E170 - I prefer the E190 as there is no row 1 on the right hand side, so 2CD have a *lot* of leg room. I have availed of the priority boarding at LCY, not because I want any extra time on the plane, but because I’m conscious of the luggage space I need! Thankfully my bags end up just above my head so it paid to get there in good time.



The ‘theoretical seating’ that BA now have with the introduction of FLY was very obvious on this flight. It was quite a busy flight, including lots of people up front, but I noted that me and the other golds that had been in the priority queue all had a spare seat next to us - and given I was in row 1, I was impressed by this. The E170 seating configuration is 2x2, so I had my own little corner at the front. A very positive enhancement, credit where it’s due BA.



We were up and away in no time after a very short taxi. I love taking off from LCY, shooting up over Canary Wharf at a very steep angle, and the taxi out over East London. Some nice views of Stratford today.



Soon the seatbelt sign was switched off and I grabbed my laptop to start writing this TR. The crew came through with the BA Domestic Full English breakfast. Opinion is divided on this breakfast - I love it, but I know many who can’t stand the sight or smell of it! I also maintain it is an excellent offer for an hour-long domestic flight, whilst 2-3 hour Economy BA flights to Europe get a mini filled croissant.
I gave it a miss today anyway as I’d eaten breakfast at the hotel. I opted for a coffee and an Orange Juice, neither of which were worth photographing, I’m sure you can imagine what they look like!
It didn’t seem like long at all before the seatbelt signs came back on and we were landing into a grey and rainy Glasgow.



I was first off and made my way off to the airport bus. 20 minutes later I alighted in the city centre, and made my way round the corner to tonight’s bed: Hotel Indigo Glasgow.
Given it was just before 11am, the Hotel Indigo had no rooms ready yet, but they took my bags and told me to pop back in an hour or so.
I sauntered off and went about my tasks for the afternoon - a couple of meetings, a couple of IT things to fix and most importantly - a hair cut.
Once I’d got those out the way I headed back to the Hotel Indigo - at 15:00, and successfully checked in. I was upgraded to a deluxe room on the top floor.
Despite what the weather looks like above, Glasgow is quite muggy at the moment, so the staff had closed the curtains and put the AC on which was much appreciated! I also had a decently-stocked complimentary minibar.



I worked for a couple of hours from the hotel room, then headed out to meet a couple of colleagues for a few drinks at Glasgow’s Horseshoe Bar, whose claim to fame is the longest bar in Europe, which snakes around the entire pub in a sort of circle.



After one too many beers we went on to Charcoals, one of our favourite Indian restaurants in Glasgow, and ordered a little bit too much food for 3 people - especially when they bring you complimentary extra side dishes here!



Ridiculous amounts of food later, we headed back to the Hotel Indigo and after a quick drink in the bar, retired to bed.

Tuesday 23rd August 2016
I awoke at 4am, far too early than I’d like but I couldn’t drift back off after that so answered a few emails. Not much was happening outside my hotel room at this time of night!



At 8am I met back with my colleagues for breakfast in the Hotel Indigo. I opted for smoked salmon & scrambled eggs.



A couple more meetings today, nothing too exciting - got these out the way fairly promptly and at lunchtime met up with a friend at The Admiral on Waterloo Street. Very good food here, I had a Pulled Pork Ciabatta sandwich with jalapeños and fries. My friend had a Cajun Chicken Salad.



Once done, I popped back to the office, grabbed my belongings and got ready to leave for my next flight - work finished for the week and it’s off to Vegas I go!

BA1489 from GLA to LHR, at 15:30, landing 16:50, UK Domestic, 1D.

I arrived at Glasgow airport and proceeded to partake of my usual routine - off the bus and up the hidden stairs that take you straight to fast track security, zip through with a secret handshake from the security attendant of ‘I see you know what you’re doing!’ *wink* and it’s off to the lounge I go. I didn’t leave much time for the airport so I had a quick beer and made my merry way to the gate - again, I wanted to board fairly promptly as it can be difficult to get space for wheely cases, in actual fact it turned out nobody had twigged the priority lane so I stood there for 5 mins then boarded first.

I sauntered down the airbridge not expecting much, but to my utter delight was greeted with a midhaul A321! And of course I had myself booked into row 1, so my seat number had stayed the same and I had the luxury of a CW seat for an hour long flight. I do kind of wish I’d got a ‘throne’ seat, but I can’t complain as in 2 years of shuttling between Glasgow I have never had anything more than the standard domestic fleet - a shorthaul 767 is about as exciting as it gets.



Boarding flew by as I got myself settled down and played around with my seat area - I expected no IFE, and indeed there was none, but I didn’t realise they are also not licenced to use at-seat power - not that I needed it anyway. We pushed back and were on our way. At least we were - until we got almost to the runway and the ground crew called us back due to a ‘loading issue’. So we made our way back to stand…

The cautious planner in me immediately opened Skyscanner on my phone and looked for direct flights from Glasgow to Dublin. Thankfully they were not needed as the pilot announced that the ground crew had got the trim wrong and loaded the bags incorrectly for that aircraft and the relevant weight balancing. After 20 mins or so of reshuffling, and a little fuel top-up, we closed the doors once again. All good this time and we were on our way - just under an hour behind schedule.

I intended to do some more TR writing on this flight as I had done the previous day. No such luck, I put my seat into ‘Lounge’ position and pressed the massage button - yes, a massage button! Most exciting.
I certainly don't remember a massage button in any other CW cabins I've tried. Anyway, the trolley was soon on its way and I opted for a G&T plus the Forest Feast Thai nuts, which I *love*.



I lay back and sipped my G&T whilst bits of seat moved around against my back. The flight went fairly quickly and I was just about to drift off to sleep in the excellent seat when 10 mins to landing was announced. I stirred myself to life and tidied up as needed. No time made up for the delay, but I’m not fussed, there’s still 3.5 hours til the next flight…

BA0826 from LHR to DUB, dep 21:35, landing 22:55, Euro Traveller, 8CD.

Having disembarked, I made my merry way up the airbridge and through flight connections - I did not realise how easy connecting *from* a domestic is - I didn’t expect passport control but I still assumed I’d be going through security again - but it deposited me right outside the T5 Wetherspoon. Perfect. ^

To the south lounges! At this point I rescue Tom Elliott from the GC lounge and guest him into the flounge. It’s his first flounge experience but since he’s used to all kinds of lounges I let him explore for himself rather than giving him the guided tour that I offered my parents.

The Dublin flight is not until 21:35 so plenty of time to relax here. I’ve got a cold so I opt for some chilli and a can of Tribute, followed by cheese and Jude’s ice cream, which is a little mushy today - I think someone left the freezer door open.



I also said a quick hello to the lamphorses.



I think Señor Cruz has a new anti ex-EU scheme in the form of meddling with flights to Dublin, at least that’s the way it seemed. We were busy relaxing and not doing much when TripIt notified us to a departure delay - we looked and it was about 20 mins or so delayed. No major hardship as long as it didn’t get any later. Over the final hour in the lounge they played around with the departure time quite a bit, at one point it was 20 mins late, then 10 mins late, then 20 again, then 15. There was also a distinct lack of gate number on the screens, and this was at T-30 mins to our original departure time. I was a little uneasy! We were on the last flight of the night but could in theory do the first flight out in the morning and a back to back if needed, but we’d both rather not!

Eventually a gate appeared on screen and we headed on our merry way. All seemed fine and we boarded the plane, got seated and ready to go…. when the pilot announced there was water leaking out of a hatch and we would need an engineer to check… my heart skipped a few beats again but thankfully the engineer came and went and decided we were good to fly.

All a bit hair-raising though, shows how easily things can go wrong but thankfully it was all fine for us.

Theoretical seating was at work again on this flight. We’d both gone for aisle seats so neither of us got a middle seat but we could still chat. Tom Elliott was sat in 8C, with a couple next to him. I on the other hand had put myself into 8D, and FLY kindly gave me an empty middle seat next to me, for what I call 'fake club europe'. All very good seating wise with BA this week ^

The service was fairly standard Band 1 ET - crisps, biscuits or Thai mix plus a drink from the bar. We both opted for a G&T and some more of the Forest Feast Thai mix. A little later they came along with the rubbish trolley, when the excellent member of crew (don’t recall title) quietly offered us another G&T each. We of course accepted and he returned not long after with a "special delivery for 8C and D”. He brought us some more Forest Feast too

After landing in Dublin we ran across the car park and *just* made the last complimentary shuttle bus to our hotel of the night, the Holiday Inn Express Dublin Airport.



A reasonable stop for the night, if just to catch up on sleep. I was out like a light. Tomorrow, a day of many many flights awaits...

hcuk94

LAS TR P2

Wednesday 23rd August 2016

6am and it’s time to wake up - I think the alarm wakes me in my deepest sleep cycle as I’m really struggling to wake up this morning! We head downstairs to the breakfast room - I expect we’ll eat a ridiculous amount of plane meals over the next day or so, so we weren’t too fussed about this, but I got myself a coffee to bring me vaguely into the world of being human again and we headed outside for the hotel shuttle bus back to the airport.

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BA833 from DUB to LHR, at 08:45, landing 10:15, Club Europe, 1AC.

Due to the BA app being a bit ropey for more complex itineraries, and also because I like collecting souvenirs, we headed to check in to grab some paper boarding passes. I’m sure they used to be able to do this, but today they said they got an error when they tried to print the AA BPs and that we should pick them up at JFK. We thought we’d try again once we’re in LHR but no major hardship either way.

At fast track we handed over our boarding passes but this confused matters and she asked if I had a BA gold card. I started to fumble around deep in my wallet for the physical card, which rarely sees the light of day, and just as I was finding it she seemed to have read something and waved us through.

Security was fairly painless and we were soon in the ‘DAA Executive Lounge’ which is a reasonable offer in my opinion - not a huge deal food wise but a pleasant, clean lounge with plenty of power sockets and room.



I was surprised to see UK sockets in Dublin! I’ve never been to Ireland except for ex-EUs, but I’d just assumed they would use European sockets.

Soon enough boarding was called and we were on our way.



At the gate it took us a second to find the sort-of-priority-lane, especially as general boarding were already queueing. The boarding process was a lot more organised than I remember for BA at DUB previously though, so that’s a positive.

On board we settled into 1AC in Club Europe. All on time this morning so after a fairly swift boarding process we’re off.

CE breakfast on board consisted of the hot breakfast plus a croissant and fruit plate. I’m guessing the caterer is different for this route compared to the UK domestic breakfast I’m used to. They were similar but this breakfast had a cheese omelette instead of scrambled egg (which was rather nice actually).



We thought we were going to be early but unfortunately there was a hold coming into LHR, so we ended up bang on time, which gave us 1 hour 5 minutes to connect.

Through passport control and fast track connections security, which in my experience has never proven to be particularly fast, though wasn’t too bad today, and we’re out in A gates at 10:35ish.

JFK flights leave from B gates so we head down to the T5 walkway to make our way to satellite B. As many BA FlyerTalkers do, I prefer the walkway as it’s just as quick if not quicker than the train for B gates, and it’s nice and cool, quiet and a good opportunity to stretch legs.



We popped up in satellite B and dived very quickly into the lounge to use the facilities and organise our belongings. I also tried to get them to print the AA boarding passes, but FLY would not let them.

We then head back down and straight to gate B35, which by now has started boarding. Priority queue moving nice and quickly so we’re on board in minutes.



We’re in 62AB today, Tom in the aisle and me by the window. We opted for these since 62A was the only window seat left available with direct access.

Time for a quick pre-takeoff glass of bubbly



We settle down and soon enough we’re on our merry way. Here’s today’s menu:



Once airborne, we settle down and watch some TV. I’m impressed with the AVOD offering on BA today, great selection of films and TV - probably the best I’ve seen on a plane. I’ve not yet got round to watching the Night Manager, so I kick this off on the AVOD.

Service commences and I start with a Kir Royale and the Club World nuts:



Then it’s time for starter, and a salad. I am a bit confused by this concept - I’d assumed that the salad was meant to go with the main, and just came on the tray so they only needed to pass the main to you, but after we’d finished starter they started asking if they could take the salad, so seemingly it was meant to be at the same time as, or just after the starter.



Then onto main… Herefordshire Beef for me.



And finally dessert, the raspberry & lemon sponge.



After lunch I watched a bit more TV, then settled down into lie flat mode for a nap for a couple of hours. I was surprised how dark the cabin got, given this was a day flight - but I’m not complaining, it was nice to get some rest.



I woke up an hour or two later and helped myself to a coffee, orange juice and some lemon melts from the club kitchen.

I tried out the music selection on the AVOD - surprisingly good - and relaxed a little more. I am a big fan of BA’s 747 upper deck, and I like the Club World seats, although today mine was a little ropey with the occasional loud clicking or grinding noise when I tried to adjust it - but it adjusted fine despite that so I’ve no complaints.

Afternoon tea was soon served:



And not long after we were on our way towards ground. A smooth landing in JFK and belongings gathered to continue the journey, we head off with a goodbye from the crew.

We march straight off to immigration - for me this will be the first time I use my US Global Entry membership, so things should be very smooth. For Tom it’s the last time entering before he has Global Entry, so a hardship he can live with I’m sure.

We split at the immigration queues - I queue for a while but soon realise things aren’t too well organised here, and I am in fact queuing behind a load of repeat ESTA passengers, so squeeze my way through the crowds to the empty bank of Global Entry kiosks. The kiosk scans my passport, takes my fingerprints and my photo, and gives me a receipt. I then show the receipt to an agent as I leave. Couldn’t be easier - the only slightly sentimental downside is that nobody stamps your passport any more with GE!

We’ve not caught JFK at the best of times so Tom has an hour and a half queuing for immigration. I go and stand outside in the taxi area at T7 to enjoy the sunshine.



Once Tom’s out we head for T8 on the AirTrain to check in for the American flights. T8 is, unfortunately, utter chaos, and not realising that there are priority lanes the other side of the hall, we fend our way through thousands of passengers queuing to check in. We go to one smaller queue which we think might be priority although the screen just says ‘main’, and this is not moving at all. We are eventually grunted at by a JFK official who tells all in the queue that this is the unaccompanied minors and assistance queue, which none of the people in our queue knew as all the signs just say ‘main’. It got to the point where we had to virtually beg an agent who was busy doing something else to help us, as our flight was in less than an hour and all we needed to do was print boarding passes (the self service machine did not work for us). She helped us and finally we were on our way through security (which is the point at which we saw the empty priority lanes the other side of the hall….). I was disappointed with AA for the airport experience prior to this flight.



Where I wasn’t disappointed with AA however, was the flight itself.

AA133 from JFK to LAX, at 17:00 landing 20:15, Business, 6DF.

We had a fantastic lady looking after us in J, who chatted to us on and off throughout the flight, brought us more drinks constantly and delivered such good service I think we were both seriously impressed by AA. Our BA crew had been perfectly good and pleasant, but this FA really went above and beyond and was a credit to AA - and I walked off the plane with a hug and an unopened bottle of Malbec

I was also impressed with AA’s food offering, which seems better than BA’s on this flight.



Service started with warmed nuts, and a couple of different reds for me to try, courtesy of our FA.




Starter was the Char Siu Duck, and I followed this with the Mac & Cheese, which was very good ^



Finally it was time for the famous AA ice cream sundae - there appears to be a secret sundae code phrase on AA of “which topping do you recommend?”, which is greeted with the fantastic option of “I can do you all of them mixed together” - and today’s flight was no exception.



After dessert it was much of the same - I settled down and watched TV for a while. AA’s IFE offering isn’t as good for me as BA’s, so I opt for some downloaded TV shows on my iPad instead. I did have a nap for an hour or two and was awoken by the arrival of AA milk & cookies - yum.

The rest of the flight was really just me relaxing and enjoying myself, which I won’t bore you with too much :-)

As I mentioned, with the exception of the check in process I was very impressed with AA this time around. They have significantly upped their game since my last flights with them in January and October, whilst BA constantly race in the opposite direction.



We had a couple of hours to kill in the FlAAgship lounge, which I was also impressed with. I’ve only done AAdmirals Club before, which is not up to the standard of BA’s J lounges, but the FlAAgship was on par with BA’s Flounges.



Finally it was time for the last flight of the outbound trip, AA354 from LAX to LAS, at 22:39 landing 23:50, First, 3EF.

By this point we were of course well and truly shattered, and I didn’t get much chance to even think about reporting as we clambered on board and fell asleep almost instantaneously. I do remember waking up and one point and being offered drinks, but I declined and fell asleep again.

Soon we were landing into LAS, and I woke from my slumber a little bit to take a blurry photo of the strip:



After landing, a little zombified we headed through LAS and found the Uber pickup point, and off to the Signature at the MGM Grand we went.

We checked in and had a little wander, and by about 2am it was time for bed. I was shattered.

tjeuk

So…

The tough 3rd act. My co-author’s writing and photography efforts really do eclipse mine, and I have a tough ac to follow - so please forgive me for what you are about to read.

This section was originally just for the ‘do’ - however I figured it worth dropping in some detail on what else we got up to.

hcuk94 left us in part 2 just after we’d arrived at our hotel. I’m sure everyone has their own preferences on hotels, but in Vegas, I do feel like I’ve found a gem in the Signature at MGM - hence dragging hcuk94 there.

This is my 3rd stay, and I have another booked for October. It’s far enough removed from the ‘crazy’ (non gambling and non smoking) - and yet you have MGM right on your doorstep (5 min walk through an air conditioned walkway equipped with moving walkways) should you wish.

Wednesday

We checked in reasonably late (for us, having been awake for some 30ish hours… 1am or so isn’t overly late for where we were), dumped bags in room and went for a quick walk around. I absolutely love Vegas, I can’t wait to go back in October, so we went for a brief walk to show the sights. A quick dash through reception, the walkway to MGM, across the casino floor, and through to New York New York to see the bar selected for the ‘mini-do’. A drink, a few spins of a slot machine or two, and a slow walk back to the hotel. A very long day of travel, but very happy to have arrived!

Thursday

Up reasonably early, we headed down to the lobby, and across to the MGM Grand for the 'Grand Buffet'. This is by no means the best buffet in town, however it’s largely fine, convenient, and given that we both had comp’d free breakfast buffet, the price was right.



Suitably refuelled, we headed to the MGM Monorail station for a run up and down the strip to see some of the sights. We made our way up to SLS, and back again to head through Harrahs to the Forum Shops at Caesars (including a quick ride on the clever escalators that go round corners), through Caesars, out front then over to Bellagio.

We stopped in at reception (for the glass ceiling), the conservatory and headed out for the tram to Citycentre/Aria/Monte Carlo. We alighted at Monte Carlo, had a look around then headed out for the strip, and to Walgreens (for sunscreen - the joys of HBO) and the Hard Rock Cafe. Some ridiculous cocktails in souvenir glasses and some gift shopping later, it was time to head back to the hotel room via MGM to change and get back to Nine Fine Irishmen at NYNY.

The ‘mini-do’

As arranged here we had a makeshift mini-do organised at 3pm at Nine Fine Irishmen. We picked thi place as it’s reasonably accessible, it has reasonable beer, and no crazy dress code or stupidly expensive food. The ‘do’ were promising, and we had a fair few people sign up. We arrived 10 mins or so early, and found ourselves a reasonably visible table outside. We'd failed to find somewhere to print flags, so my FT luggage tags had to do. We were somewhat apprehensive and wondering if we’d be sat there alone, but then, Timbuku and Alex arrived, shortly followed by everyone else. Here’s a list of handles for those who came along with photo (left to right):



hcuk94 (my co-author)
Tom Elliott (me!)
Alex (Timbuku’s friend - not on FT)
Timbuku
TeamStorm
johnaalex
Geordie405

We had a great mix of people, I’m not sure if revealing or representative of your standard FTer, but everyone was IT related in some way, with some being in Vegas for a conference, or recently having moved to Vegas for work. The hours flew by, and 4 hours later (after many, many beers, we had to clear our own table to make room for food!) with conversation in full swing, hcuk94 and I had to bail, we had tickets for a show but were sad to leave. I’m assured that the remaining guys had some excellent prime rib in our absence! Thanks to everyone for coming, we hope a good time had by all, and rather hope our paths may cross again sometime!

We headed off for our show (The Australian Beegees) at Excalibur, where they put on a good show. We then grabbed an Uber, and headed downtown, stopping off on the way for this photo of the Plaza, aka, BIFF's from BTTF.



We headed over the street to the Golden Nugget - home of one of my favourite restaurants - Vic and Anthony’s Steakhouse. If you like steak, and find yourself downtown, you really should visit.




We both opted for the steak tartare, followed by the fillet (yes, that’s right, steak followed by more steak). The steak tartare comes served on a slab of rock salt, and is amazing, highly recommended.



After food, beers and an early start (and 22k steps for the day, says my iPhone) we were about done for the night, and so hailed a second Uber back to the signature. We had a reasonably early start in the morning, as I had my Global Entry interview scheduled at LAS.

Friday

Up reasonably early for my GE interview (due to remaining jet lag, we were up anyway) - we summoned an uber, and got back to McCarran in good time. Dropped by Starbucks and headed for the Global Entry Customs Office. Waited a few minutes, I was invited in, I presented my passport and driving licence and all was done in a matter of minutes. The uber journey to the airport took longer. I wandered out, met up with hcuk94 once more, summoned another uber and headed back to the hotel. We headed to Delights (Signature at MGM, tower 2) where I discovered that they’ve stopped doing my favourite breakfast item - horror! They previously offered a baked lemon and raspberry/blueberry pancake with syrup and cream… it was amazing. Sadly, long gone from the menu, I had to make do with regular pancakes with blueberries.



After that we headed back to the MGM, span a few slots, then back to the room to change for the pool. I need to say at this point that I do rather enjoy the free-pour bars here… and the pool bar was no exception. A couple of ridiculous souvenir cocktails later, and a few hours spent in the sun, shade, pool and jacuzzi we were rather more worse, and in need of some food.



We had booked perhaps not the best restaurant on the strip food wise (though they still do a pretty good steak!), but the best view. We headed out to the monorail station at MGM to the end of the line by SLS. It’s then a short walk (through a slightly dubious area… but no dramas) over to Stratosphere, with the rotating ‘Top Of The World”. Takes about 1h30 to do a full rotation, and you get a pretty good view of the strip, downtown, etc. After a very nice meal, we had a walk back through SLS to the monorail, and back to MGM, and to our room to collapse.



Saturday

Up early again (Jetlag!), We headed off to Wynn for perhaps the best breakfast buffet on the strip. A little steep at $38, but the offering is awesome and well worth it. Monorail again, a walk through Harrahs and up the strip to Wynn. After a short queue, we paid and were seated quickly. 3 plates of buffet food that would put lots of a la carte breakfasts to shame later… very full we wandered off for a look around the Casino, then back off up the strip via Treasure Island, Mirage, and others to our hotel. We spent a few more hours relaxing by the pool, they had a band playing which was nice. On return to our hotel room, we have a view directly over Wet Republic.



MGM’s day club/pool. Looked like utter carnage - I don’t see the attraction but it seems popular! A quick shower, then we headed off via MGM to have a quick look around NYNY, Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay before summoning another uber to head over to Rio for Penn and Teller.




I must confess to being quite the fan, and went equipped with his latest book, and a sharpie for signing. I’d seen the show before 2 years ago, but they do mix it up somewhat and change bits out. Great show anyway, with a brilliant finale (I won’t give it away). We dashed out after, to be front of the queue for signings and photos.




This being our final night, we summoned another Uber to head back to Bellagio. I have a soft spot for “Cafe Bellagio” - simple food done really well. They offer decent views of either the pool, or conservatory. Should you find yourself nearby, I’d recommend dropping in. I’m sure it used to operate 24/7, however these days it seems to close at 1am (not a problem for us, we were there just before midnight). I had the omelette, and hcuk94 had span bol, and was very happy with his choice of dessert.





We had an early flight in the morning, so we headed out the front of Bellagio, across the strip and through the miracle mile shops to our hotel. Time for bed!

tjeuk

Hi All

Apologies for the delay in getting this out - work, life, family weddings, etc all get in the way somewhat.

So, last update we’d just seen Penn and Teller, quick dinner at Cafe Bellagio, then back to the hotel. We managed a few hours sleep, but had to be up and out early as our flight out of McCarran was 6:03am - eek. We set an inappropriately early alarm, and were up in plenty of time. Showered and changed, we headed down to the lobby for check out. As this is Vegas, you can imagine that most people were just headed back to their hotels, the lobby was busy as ever, and lots of people having a good time. We checked out, and summoned another Uber.

As were were HBO, with liquid restrictions etc, I had emailed ahead before our trip to check with the concierge as to whether they would hold onto a bag for me until my return visit in October. Much to my surprise, as they could see that I had a future reservation, they agreed. Very useful, and certainly something I’ll consider in future, although I feel it best to leave nothing of great value just in case. We had inevitably picked up some sunscreen, a few souvenirs and so on that weren’t going to fit in our small luggage, therefore with use of hcuk94’s CWS inspired flat pack holdall, we stashed all that we could not carry home, stashed it with the concierge and jumped in our ride to the airport. The ride was uneventful, and served as a reminder of just how 24/7 this city is - lots of people out and about, I really do love it.

Airport - we found a very helpful AA lady who promptly managed to check us in (all 4 BPs) all the way back to Dublin. Zipped through security for the nth time, with both of us having this down to a reasonably fine art by now with everything that needs to be removed easily accessible for the scanners. Lounge provision is reasonably light LAS at the best of times (sadly not an Amex Plat holder at the moment, so no Centurion Lounge) and TheClub@LAS was closed until shortly before our flight boarded. We made do with a quick trip to Starbucks, and taking our seats near the gate.

AA boarding, efficient as ever (take note BA) - we settled into our seats for the short hop to LAX. We disembarked, and made our way to the Flagship Admirals Lounge (thanks to hcuk94’s BA Gold status - I’m a silver plebeian). Reasonable layover here, therefore we made the most of the breakfast offerings, charged devices and sync’d suitable content for the next couple of legs to iPads. When the time came, we made our way down to our gate, where I bumped into a friend/colleague from the industry I work in. Not sure if he reads here or not, but it would seem that it is a very small world, and I was quite surprised. We headed for the front row of business, drank our boarding drinks and settled into the 6 hour transcontinental flight. (Very fond of AAs transcontinental 321Ts offering business class to rival transatlantic offerings from BA. My first time on this service, but will be doing it again for sure). Service was good, sadly I’ve lost a couple of photos, however suffice to say that the sundae was the highlight, and didn’t fail to impress.

The usual welcome nuts.


Wine Menu.


Food Menu (pasta and sundae for me):


We landed at JFK slightly delayed, and had to clear security at T8 to make our way over to T7 for our BA inbound flight. The transfer this time around was a far more easy affair, even with the slight delay. We were slightly anxious, but need not have worried as we had plenty of time for the BA lounge at T7, where we were greeted by a very cheery lounge attendant. Aside from some loud “look at me” types in the lounge who seemed to feel the need for everyone present to know how important they were, the lounge was fine. We opted not to go for the pre-sleeper food service, having been plied with plenty of food on previous flights. We headed off for our inbound BA service to LHR, were greeted on board in a very British style with jokes and a class of bubbles. These guys were a great crew, and shortly after take off we were presented with a variety of options for food, with us opting to complete the breakfast request card, and make the most of getting some sleep. 5ish hours later, breakfast delivered as ordered, shortly before landing at Heathrow.

Landed, followed connections and soon back in the lounge, where we booked in for showers. Much needed after 3 flights (2 more to go!). Showers seem to get a fair bit of criticism at T5, but I found them entirely reasonable and exactly what was needed. Refreshed, we grabbed a quick photo on the way out



and headed off for our Dublin flight.

hcuk94

Picking up where Tom left off.. we headed out of the lounge and off to our gate.

Nothing too exciting here, but a CE hop to Dublin on the lunch service was our next flight.

Meal was a chicken salad, which I thought reasonable for the short flight over to DUB.



My favourite part was the dessert.

Landed in DUB and did a run around the airport - for some reason flight connections was closed but we could arrive and depart again fairly quickly so no major inconvenience.

After a quick break back in the DAA lounge, we went back to board again, and I was pleased to see BA had put on a special welcome to celebrate me renewing my Goldness:



Back to London in Euro Traveller, and it’s gin o’clock.



We landed in London and it was time to say our goodbyes as I headed on my merry way to flight connections. Tom trotted off home to sleep for a week. I had one more flight to go…

A relaxing hour in the flounge, and I managed to nab my favourite spot on the terrace, with a view.



Soon it was time to head off for my Glasgow flight. An unusually quiet flight compared to normal, and I had the entire of row 1 port side to myself.



Had it not been row 1 I could have put the armrests up and lay flat...

We landed in Glasgow and I was beginning to tire by this point! Time for the shuttle bus back into the city centre once again.

I checked back in to the Hotel Indigo and was greeted with my usual room again.



In the spirit of wishing I was still in Vegas, I opted for a steak at the hotel restaurant:



No colleagues up with me this week, so a quiet evening for once...

After dinner I headed back up to my room and got ready for bed. Tucked up by 22:00, I purposefully didn’t set an alarm as had no need for an early start the next morning. Time to catch up on sleep...

hcuk94

Reserved - Part 6

stu1985

Remember - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and also gets posted in the TR forum

hcuk94

Especially what happens at the Vegas mini-do

tjeuk

Hello all from galleries club south. Enjoying a hot chocolate awaiting hcuk94 who'll guest me (a lowly HNL silver) to the flounge later on. He's en route from GLA, after an equipment change (he was rather enjoying lay flat on domestic) and a return to the gate to adjust the loading for trim. ETA 6pm or so

tjeuk

Morning all.

A few too many G&Ts on last night's LHR-DUB, a night in the airport HIX and back to the DAA lounge at DUB awaiting our 845 to LHR. Shortish connection at LHR, and onwards to JFK, next update likely from there. hcuk94 is busy keyboard bashing, I assume his first update will be shortly

hcuk94

The first part of the TR is now up! A little later than I'd hoped due to a struggle to find fast enough internet to upload the photos, but live now nonetheless.

Enjoy...

BA5E

Have subscribed chaps, and very much looking forward to the read, and carrying ons in LAS

hcuk94

Part 2 is now live

tjeuk

Just put up part 3 - more writing to do