BOS-JFK-ATH
Jul 5, 2000 | 2:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Syracuse, Boston, Athens
Posts: 999
BOS-JFK-ATH
I have been following trip reports for some time now, so I decided to post one as well.
July 3, 2000.
BOS-JFK, AA, coach
I usually fly BOS-LHR non-stop, but I booked my tickets rather late this time, and the AA evening flight to London had run out of the cheaper fares. I had to take a connecting flight through JFK to be able to connect with BA's noon flight to Athens the next day.
I asked the check in agent to check my luggage all the way to Athens, wich she did, although the LHR-ATH sector was on a separate ticket. My American Eagle flight was supposed to leave at 5:10 pm. The plane did not arrive at the gate till 5:30, and we departed at 5:45. There were 5 free seats, on the Saab 340 30-seat plane. I had seat 3A, the first, single seat, on the left side. The flight was uneventful, with our very talkative flight attendant making long announcements on every possible occasion. He was fun. A summer thunderstorm in the JFK area forced us to circle over Long Island, east of JFK, for about 30 mins, till we got permission to land. On the ground now, the thunderstorm had caused delays in the flight program, which ment we had to wait for another 40 mins before being assigned a gate/parking spot. The time passed relatively fast, chatting with the neighboring passengers and the flight attendant. I was not worried for the delays, since my next flight was scheduled for 9:10pm.
A quick walk to my departing gate, on the other side of AA terminal. We left the gate on time. Coach on the A-300 was about 2/3 full. I had seat 27A, a window seat on the left side. Newspapers were offered. The choice, as far as I managed to see, was NYT, WSJ and FT. The captain announced that due to the thunderstorm there was a backlog of planes waiting to take off: there were about 50 (!) ahead of us. In the end, we spent 1h20m on the ground, before taking off. Flight time was 6:25, due to the favorable tail winds. The flight path was somewhat south of the great circle: south coast of Long Island, just south of Martha's Vineyard, off Halifax, NS, south of Newfoundland crossing over to Cornwall, over Porthsmouth and Exeter, Southampton and then North to Heathrow. Flight lever was 290, climbing later to 310 and finally to 330. On overnight flights I turn the individual video screen to the fliight path information channel; I prefer not to watch any movie (choice of 4), in order to maximize my sleeping time. While waiting for dinner, I played Tetris and Hang Man (choice of 8 games). Hot towels were distributed and then the bar/beverage service began.
Dinner followed a little bit later. For those interested, the choice was between chicken and beef. In my experience beef is better in most flights, so I chose that. It was indeed decent. It was served with peas, some type of potato cake, salad, cheese and crackers and an apple sweet. Bar service again during the meal, tea/coffee after. I had both seats for myself (A-300 is configured 2-4-2), so I had raised the armed rest for more comfort. I stretched myself over the whole space and went to sleep. I woke up 3 hrs later, just in time for breakfast. I noticed that some passengers had not put down the window shades, which disrupted the darkness of the cabin. I remember that when I used to fly BA, the attendands were much stricter: any shade up during sleep time, would prompt an immediate rebuke : ).
Breakfast consisted of a hot blueberry muffin, Minute Maid O.J., Dannon strawberry yoghurt, a piece of butter, a banana and tea/coffee. Bar service followed again. London was overcast and we landed from the West, breaking through the cloud layer just 300 ft over the runway. There was no jetway abailable, so we were bused to the terminal.
July 4, 2000.
LHR-ATH, BA, Club Europe
AA uses terminal 3, while BA flights to Athens use Terminal 4. I took the connecting bus, through the tunnel, and arrived at the BA connection center of terminal 4 at 11, my flight departing at 11:55. The agent could not give me a seat assignment, because the flight was oversold. She told my I'd get one at the gate itself. I arrived at the gate during boarding time. I was referred to the supervisor there, who wrote on my seat-less boarding pass 4F, an "involuntary upgrade" to Club Europe (that's BA's business club in Europe), for the B-767 flight. We left the gate on time, but, as the captain said, we were given a take off slot which required us to wait on the ground for about 20 mins. Flight time was 3:10, and our cruising level was 370.
BA's Club Europe section has the same pitch as economy, but the armrests of the middle seat in the center section (767s are 2-3-2) are moved inwards, expanding the width of the other seats, and rendering the middle seat useless. In effect the configuration becomes 2-2-2. Newspapers were offered. I didn't pay much attention, but my eye caught FT, Evening Standard and Telegraph. A menu was distributed, printed in both English and Greek, and bar/beverage service followed. (One of the flight attendants spoke greek as well, so all the announcements were made in both languages). I know that many of you like to see menus, so here I copy:
I chose the canapes, which were quite good, and the chicken curry. It was very hot, as it should, and very good.
The warm bread rolls were offered several times during the meal, but they were not that fresh. Otherwise a fine meal. More bar service followed. The inflight entertainment in BA's 767 is shown through video monitors that hang at regular intervals over the aisle. I should mention here that Athens, together with Larnace, Moscow and Istanbul, are "long haul" European services for BA, so that a full movie is shown. I did not watch it, as I was reading for most of the flight.
We landed in Athens airport from the north, an interesting landing, for those who know, since it involves a rather tight right turn at low lever, just before the runway. Most afternoon/evening flights land from the north in Athens, while morning and night flights land from the south, due to the usual pattern of winds in the area.
My return flight is in three weeks. Ill probably post a report for that one too.
------------------
"Ex Uno Plures"
July 3, 2000.
BOS-JFK, AA, coach
I usually fly BOS-LHR non-stop, but I booked my tickets rather late this time, and the AA evening flight to London had run out of the cheaper fares. I had to take a connecting flight through JFK to be able to connect with BA's noon flight to Athens the next day.
I asked the check in agent to check my luggage all the way to Athens, wich she did, although the LHR-ATH sector was on a separate ticket. My American Eagle flight was supposed to leave at 5:10 pm. The plane did not arrive at the gate till 5:30, and we departed at 5:45. There were 5 free seats, on the Saab 340 30-seat plane. I had seat 3A, the first, single seat, on the left side. The flight was uneventful, with our very talkative flight attendant making long announcements on every possible occasion. He was fun. A summer thunderstorm in the JFK area forced us to circle over Long Island, east of JFK, for about 30 mins, till we got permission to land. On the ground now, the thunderstorm had caused delays in the flight program, which ment we had to wait for another 40 mins before being assigned a gate/parking spot. The time passed relatively fast, chatting with the neighboring passengers and the flight attendant. I was not worried for the delays, since my next flight was scheduled for 9:10pm.
A quick walk to my departing gate, on the other side of AA terminal. We left the gate on time. Coach on the A-300 was about 2/3 full. I had seat 27A, a window seat on the left side. Newspapers were offered. The choice, as far as I managed to see, was NYT, WSJ and FT. The captain announced that due to the thunderstorm there was a backlog of planes waiting to take off: there were about 50 (!) ahead of us. In the end, we spent 1h20m on the ground, before taking off. Flight time was 6:25, due to the favorable tail winds. The flight path was somewhat south of the great circle: south coast of Long Island, just south of Martha's Vineyard, off Halifax, NS, south of Newfoundland crossing over to Cornwall, over Porthsmouth and Exeter, Southampton and then North to Heathrow. Flight lever was 290, climbing later to 310 and finally to 330. On overnight flights I turn the individual video screen to the fliight path information channel; I prefer not to watch any movie (choice of 4), in order to maximize my sleeping time. While waiting for dinner, I played Tetris and Hang Man (choice of 8 games). Hot towels were distributed and then the bar/beverage service began.
Dinner followed a little bit later. For those interested, the choice was between chicken and beef. In my experience beef is better in most flights, so I chose that. It was indeed decent. It was served with peas, some type of potato cake, salad, cheese and crackers and an apple sweet. Bar service again during the meal, tea/coffee after. I had both seats for myself (A-300 is configured 2-4-2), so I had raised the armed rest for more comfort. I stretched myself over the whole space and went to sleep. I woke up 3 hrs later, just in time for breakfast. I noticed that some passengers had not put down the window shades, which disrupted the darkness of the cabin. I remember that when I used to fly BA, the attendands were much stricter: any shade up during sleep time, would prompt an immediate rebuke : ).
Breakfast consisted of a hot blueberry muffin, Minute Maid O.J., Dannon strawberry yoghurt, a piece of butter, a banana and tea/coffee. Bar service followed again. London was overcast and we landed from the West, breaking through the cloud layer just 300 ft over the runway. There was no jetway abailable, so we were bused to the terminal.
July 4, 2000.
LHR-ATH, BA, Club Europe
AA uses terminal 3, while BA flights to Athens use Terminal 4. I took the connecting bus, through the tunnel, and arrived at the BA connection center of terminal 4 at 11, my flight departing at 11:55. The agent could not give me a seat assignment, because the flight was oversold. She told my I'd get one at the gate itself. I arrived at the gate during boarding time. I was referred to the supervisor there, who wrote on my seat-less boarding pass 4F, an "involuntary upgrade" to Club Europe (that's BA's business club in Europe), for the B-767 flight. We left the gate on time, but, as the captain said, we were given a take off slot which required us to wait on the ground for about 20 mins. Flight time was 3:10, and our cruising level was 370.
BA's Club Europe section has the same pitch as economy, but the armrests of the middle seat in the center section (767s are 2-3-2) are moved inwards, expanding the width of the other seats, and rendering the middle seat useless. In effect the configuration becomes 2-2-2. Newspapers were offered. I didn't pay much attention, but my eye caught FT, Evening Standard and Telegraph. A menu was distributed, printed in both English and Greek, and bar/beverage service followed. (One of the flight attendants spoke greek as well, so all the announcements were made in both languages). I know that many of you like to see menus, so here I copy:
- A selection of canapes featuring smoked salmon, duck parfait and goat's cheese.
OR - A salad of broad beans and fresh peas with Feta cheese
- - A Goan style chicken curry with coconut milk and chilli
OR - Seared salmon with basil butter, new potatoes and seasonal vegetables
OR - Penne pasta with green olive salsa and garlic foccacia
- - Lime mousse
- Dunbarrah and Adrahan cheeses from Ireland
- A selection of warm bread rolls
- Coffee or Tea
I chose the canapes, which were quite good, and the chicken curry. It was very hot, as it should, and very good.
The warm bread rolls were offered several times during the meal, but they were not that fresh. Otherwise a fine meal. More bar service followed. The inflight entertainment in BA's 767 is shown through video monitors that hang at regular intervals over the aisle. I should mention here that Athens, together with Larnace, Moscow and Istanbul, are "long haul" European services for BA, so that a full movie is shown. I did not watch it, as I was reading for most of the flight.
We landed in Athens airport from the north, an interesting landing, for those who know, since it involves a rather tight right turn at low lever, just before the runway. Most afternoon/evening flights land from the north in Athens, while morning and night flights land from the south, due to the usual pattern of winds in the area.
My return flight is in three weeks. Ill probably post a report for that one too.
------------------
"Ex Uno Plures"
Jul 5, 2000 | 3:39 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,987
Excellent report!
I enjoy the LHR-ATH menu very much. It is amazing that BA serves so much food in J class during this three hour flight. This menu makes all the US transcontinental flights look bad.
Thanks for all the details!
Carfield
I enjoy the LHR-ATH menu very much. It is amazing that BA serves so much food in J class during this three hour flight. This menu makes all the US transcontinental flights look bad.
Thanks for all the details!
Carfield