JohnRain

Maybe that's a question of perspective, but I think that yellow suede is pretty extravagant...

Thanks for your offer to help offerendum, but who says I don't already own the corresponding car and jacket?


Thank you very much for your kind wishes and funny comment, Madone59! Loafers with socks isn't going to happen indeed.


I usually only wear loafers when it's warm and sunny, which means no socks for me, offerendum!


You're focusing on the wrong part of the picture Bretteee , but thanks for pointing that out!
The passenger sitting in 1K was indeed north of 100 kilos and wrapped herself completely in the blanket as soon as she was in her seat (and for the entire flight).


You've been watching too many episodes of CSI, offerendum!

offerendum

Good! I´m excited for the next report

To be honest I never saw one so far

Bretteee

LOL please don't misunderstand me. Your wife is very attractive but it's difficult to ignore the "background."

SFO777

Great minds must think alike.
The only thing missing from 1K is the morgue toe tag.

Mr. Strong

Enjoying your TR so far.

Ok, because your footwear garners attention on your TRs, when I saw the pic of your loafers, the sartorialist in me - yes, sartorialist not erotic movie producer - thought Maison Corthay but then I thought bespoke Berluti - Andy model, but not 100% sure, seemed too easy given that you appreciate the Un Jour briefcase. Am I right? Do I win a spare LH duckie? Or am I completely wrong?

JohnRain

You should be, offerendum! Although it might be password-protected...


Haha, no problem at all, Bretteee...


LOL SFO777... Indeed.


Sartorialist...very nice choice of words, Mr. Strong!
The loafer could indeed be from Maison Corthay but I'm partial to Berluti.
Which means that yes, you're right indeed, even about the model as it's an Andy (although not bespoke), but you won't get a spare LH duckie just yet because as you said yourself it was too easy!

Update: the next installment will be online later today.

offerendum

Now I´m even more excited

grandgourmand

"When I first wore those shoes, a good friend of mine asked me whether I had ambitions to become an erotic movie producer."

Grow a mustache and wear those shoes and you might be seen as actor instead of producer.

Entertaining TR, once again. Look forward to the rest of it.

JohnRain

LOL offerendum, and I'm officially in trouble!


Well, I guess in that case it's a good thing that my beard growth is about as strong as german coffee.
Thanks for your comment grandgourmand!

offerendum

That´s life

JohnRain

Indeed, offerendum...

JohnRain

Ever since the first Centurion Lounge in the US opened at DFW in 2013 I've been intrigued by the concept and wanted to visit. I was thus pretty excited to finally being able to do so.
The lounge is located in concourse D and easy to find as it's pretty big.




The sign outside the lounge looks promising.




The plant wall is pretty cool.










The vintage decor works pretty well.







The food spread is reasonably nice and consists of a salad bar and a few Tex-Mex options.




The snack I had was tasty.




I guess that for most guests the highlight of the lounge is the serviced bar, which comes with a nice selection of made to order cocktails. I didn't indulge though.



The lounge also has a spa section and a few shower rooms, but both were busy during my entire stay. And this is exactly the problem with this lounge: it's BUSY. You have to wait to check in, you have to look hard for an empty table and spa treatments are booked up to three hours in advance. If nobody had told me that this lounge was designed by Amex I would have guessed it, as it comes with the brand's typical "overpromise and underdeliver" characteristic. Seriously, how can a lounge be called "The Centurion" and be open for Platinum cardholders as well? I mean, there's a reason why we FT'ers are crazy for points, miles and the like and it's called exclusivity. Have you ever tried to enter a FCL in FRA/MUC or the FCT in FRA with your SEN card? I didn't think so. This lounge is so typical of Amex in general and the whole Centurion thing in particular it's comical: great concept, poor execution. The only "perk" you get as a Centurion cardholder is that in theory a few tables are reserved for you (I say in theory because nobody came to verify if I really have a Cent card.) And apparently you're also entitled to a few fancy cocktails that Plats have to pay for. Big deal. How about having a partitioned off seating area, a reserved shower room or extra spa slots? As long as that's not the case the lounge should be renamed "The Platinum".

I left the lounge disappointed and took the Skylink to the AA Terminal. This was going to be my first ever AA flight and I was looking forward to it. No, really.

The arrival was scheduled for 6:44PM. Not 45 or 40 but 44. Nevermind that soon enough an announcement came through, informing us that the plane would be 30 minutes late. I'll never understand why the departure and arrival times in the US are precise to the minute instead of being rounded up or down like in Europe (and the rest of the world).




My seat was surprisingly nice, comfortable and in perfect condition.




The legroom on the other hand was average at best.




DFW really is AA territory.




A glance at the Skylink train that connects all terminals.




Glad I didn't have to fly this.




And off we go.




This is all I got to see from Dallas. Next time I'll plan a proper stopover.




The inflight entertainment options were fine for such a short flight.




I love Virgin Marys and always look forward to ordering this particular brand, but this time I had the bad idea of looking at the list of ingredients. Sugar and high fructose corn syrup in a tomato juice, seriously?
So long, Mr & Mrs T.




Dinner was served and it was better than expected. Well, my expectations were pretty low to begin with.




Somewhere over New Mexico. Or was it Arizona?




Approaching LA and its signature smog layer.




Gotta love those roads. The german in me thinks if only there was no speed limit.




I don't know what it is about the LAX Theme Building, but everytime I see it I get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside and excitement takes over. I guess I just love LA.



Conclusion: I had high expectations of the Centurion lounge and was disappointed and I had low expectations of AA F and was positively surprised (well, sort of). I'm all confused now.
Up Next: The Montage Beverly Hills

CGRA

You flew on a new AA plane )
The lounge was less busy few years ago but it's still better than a regular AC (at least for the food where AC has no free food).

offerendum

As an European such a Business product impress us😉 Most highways would be a place for records without speed limits😎

SFO777

Tell us how you really feel.
Good point about the name though. But since I no longer have the Centurion card, just the cheaper Platinum, I don't mind.

Yeah, then again those Airbus bulkhead seats are not my first choice. Come to think of it, anything AA is not my first choice.
Although it does beat that phony Euro economy seat "Business Class".