Well, I'll throw my 2 cents into the ring and so here goes my recent Concorde/BA First experience thanks to Starwood/QF Points:
Thurs June 20:
I usually fly CO BF to Europe and was excited to try out BA's First Class. Unfortunately the preferred 747 out of JFK was unavailable for the Z reward, so I had to 'suffer' with the 777 from EWR. I got to the terminal early wanting to experience the full treatment at the BA Lounge. No problem in checking in (and no I did not have to show a QF or BA card, as some have been asked to do). I was given directions to the lounge and upon entering showed my ticket and was directed to the First area. It was (IMHO) very small, and dark--no windows. Lots of chairs, but not much room to move around. I left my carry-on there, had a glass of champagne and went to explore the Club lounge on the other side of the welcome desk. This area was much larger, brighter and except for the champagne--had the same beverages & food, along with lots of newspapers, magazines, tv's and a dinning area where you could order dinner prior to your flight. Needless to say, I spent most of my time in that area. Prior to boarding, I went back to collect my bags, have another champagne and a quick sandwich.
We boarded just about 10 minutes prior to takeoff--well after all the other passengers. The FC cabin was full, although earlier in the day when I checked I was told only 6 seats were taken. The others I assume went for upgrades from ClubWorld.
I was shown to my seat 3A and did the usual exploring around to see whats there. Along with a nice large blanket there was a down comforter for the chair/bed (although I saw that some did use that as a blanket)and a large feather pillow. My movie moniter was cracked and had definately seen better days, and it took awhile to figure out how to open the movie cartridge (no instructions, so I just kept hitting buttons on the remote). The attendent came by & I had a water (enough champagne for the time being), gave me the menu and the wonderfully soft pj's as well as the amenity kit. About half the cabin immediately changed and we suddenly all looked like 'comfy' siblings. Unlike CO's FC you could order anything from the menu in any order. I thus asked for the crab timbale, mushroom soup and .....a cheeseburger! (yes, don't groan too loudly). But its what I felt like having and how often do you get that on a plane! The FA then returned and mentioned the 'chef' wanted to know what I wanted with it, so I went whole hog (for me) and had bacon & onions on it with the requiste french fries.
The burger was very good, freshly made and actually too big for me to finish
I then settled in to watch 'Monsoon Weddng'--very funny and I highly recommend it. Dinner was served, wine was poured and I began to think...gee this is pretty nice as I started to drift off). --One thing though, the movie tape had not been rewound, and it took forever to do so before begining the movie. And as I'm used to CO coming around with the desert cart, I didn't order my desert with my meal and so almost missed it until I saw others eating it. (Also, the FA's didn't seem to come around and 'refresh' drinks, so I had to either get up and ask or call one over as they passed by if I wanted a refill.) I had the pear tart & ice cream. I did find it strange that they still use plastic for all silverware, but I guess it is easier to get rid of. I then took a quick walk aroung the rest of the plane (very very crowded in coach & Clubworld). Got back to my seat and quickly fell asleep. Woke up about 3 hours later, got to the wc and washed up before the 'lines began to form' and had a bite of breakfast-- the usual fruit plate, coffe, rolls & bisqits, nothing very special, before the announcement came on about our descent into LHR. It was raining and cold at 6:30 am, and we did have to take a bus to the terminal. Although I was transferring to a BA flight to TXL I wanted to use the lounge facilities in T4, so I did go through customs etc. The signs for the lounge were not very visible, and it took awhile to find it, but when I did I was able to take a nice shower, freshen up and have a hot breakfast in the Terrace lounge while watching the begining of the England vs Brazil match on the tv's there. A very large crowd had already claimed the best viewing seats, so I kind of just listened in from 'afar'. I didn't want to linger too long in T4 knowing the hike that awaited me to T1 -- and my 8:30 flight to TXL.
more to come....

[This message has been edited by mauld (edited 06-24-2002).]

Part II
June 21:
I was forced to make a run for my TXL flight from the Heathrow Express station, as my flight was in 40 minutes and my gate 56 was at the far far end of the terminal, so no shopping or viewing of the T1 BA club for me . The helpful terminal staff did make a number of announcements concerning the England-Brazil match that suddenly went 1-nil England, to the pleasant roar of the crowd. Then it was the usual massive group boarding, where all rows board at once in a mad dash for their seats. I was in 2D, a bulkhead aisle. Breakfast was served, nothing great and the captain then came on with the final score, to loud moans & distressed commentary from the passengers. The weather had turned sunny and the temp was in the mid 20's, so things were looking up. Upon arrival at Tegel I was very surprised at how small and accessible it was. After clearing customs you walk through a door and you're at the exit doors to the airport. (Similar to the old Midway airport). FT'er Paulusst met me at the arrivals gate with a big sign, and we proceed to walk 15 feet out the door to his waiting car at the curb What service...!!

Thanks for the report thus far. Out of idle curiosity, did you consider BA66 out of PHL (operated by a 744) or was that too far out of the way? Did you check for availability on that flight?

[This message has been edited by dsimon (edited 06-24-2002).]

Good to see you made it over. Curious that they did not offer the full pre-flight meal option at EWR. I agree BA's video system needs upgrading, and the VCRs are a pain to load and operate [clearly an intuative system]. Too bad you didn't have time for a massage in the Spa section of the T4 Arrivals lounge, but best to get to TXL and enjoy Berlin for a couple of days.

Take it your hamburger in flight was more satisfactory than the one you had at the AMS Sheraton...

Looking forward to the Concorde report.

My sister told me that the BA C and F lounges at JFK are very nice.

To Continue....
After meeting me at the airport, Paulusst had to briefly stop at his office to do a little work & pick up some friends who would be joining us in viewing the Germany vs US match. On the way we past a boisterous celebration going on at a local Brazilian restaurant (which continued on apparently throughout the day & night ) due to the earlier match vs the UK.
Along the route, Paulusst was kind enough to point out lots of interesting areas/ buildings etc of Berlin. We arrived at the Mercedez Center which was broadcasting the match on an enormous screen for a very large public viewing. As this was my first football match, it appeared very quick paced and exciting to me despite the outcome . After the game we drove back to my hotel, via scenic route, where I was able to see even more historic sites.
The Grand Hyatt was fine and as I was given a room with a Tiergarten view on the RC floor. We were all meeting up for dinner later, so I called Belle3388 who was also joining us -- but alas she had some travel problems & hadn't arrived as of yet. (I'm sure she will fill all of you in with the disasterous details).
Finally got through to Belle3388 & arranged to meet her at her hotel (Forum). I had gotten U bahn travel instructions from my hotel, so I set off to explore the Berlin tube system. Very easy and quick! I met Belle and as it had begun to rain, we grabbed a cab for the quick ride to the PanAsian restaurant where we met up with Paulusst & his friends. Dinner was great (if not a bit slow--part of the East Berlin experience, I later found out). Then we strolled around the old quarter before stopping for coffee at an outdoor cafe. Paulusst drove us back to our hotels and we made plans to meet the next night for dinner at a more traditional German restaurant.

Sat June 20:
Part III-
After a good nights sleep, I awoke at 6:45, grabbed a quick breakfast in the RC, and headed out to supposedly the S bahn to the Ostbanhof for a train to Poland. Problem was no one mentioned that the local S bahn station was closed for the summer!! As I was in a rush to catch a train, I opted for a cab. 11 Euros later I was purchasing my ticket for Frankfurt(Oder) which is just a bridge away from the Polish city of Stubice. (Since I'm of partial Polish extraction, and I was sooooo close to the border, I wanted to visit the 'fatherland' in person.) An hour later I was strolling the streets of F/O on my way to the border. No problem in crossing, although I did have to ask for a stamp in my passport. Both are small towns, although I found Stubice to be just slightly more quaint. Apparently the BIG attraction for Germans visiting this town is for the low prices on cigarettes and fruit!! Seems like the biggest industries were Tabac shoppes and fruit stands. I wandered around for awhile, but couldn't find a bank or ATM to change euros into zlotky's, so getting a bit hungary I headed back across the river. The border crossing took a slightly longer this time as so many Germans were bringing back bags & bags of purchases. Once back in F/O I strolled around for a while, then hurried over to the station for my train back to Berlin. Unfortunately, my return trip was delayed due to someone on the tracks mading 'physical contact' with an oncoming train (not mine). So all trains in both directions were delayed for more than an hour.
Back in Berlin:
I was to meet Belle for a tour of the city, so being delayed I went straight to Alexanderplatz and her hotel. The weather was hot & sunny so we opted for a 1 hour boat cruise along the Spree. The fact that the tour was in German (and we couldn't speak a word) did not detract from the beauty of the scenery and the occaisional well needed river breeze. We then walked to the tall TV tower and went up to the top for a drink & overview of the city from the revolving restaurant. After a bit of confusion regarding certain closed off tables supposedly being 'reserved' (another old East German/Communist holdover tradition) we enjoyed a relaxing tour of the city as it turned below us. We then parted to freshen up for the evenings dinner where we would be meeting up with Paulusst & friends.
more to come.....

[This message has been edited by mauld (edited 06-25-2002).]

continued part IV:

Unbeknownst to me the annual St Christophers St Parade was just winding down as I exited from the Pottsdamer Platz U-bahn stop! I wandered through the crowd enjoying all those enjoying themselves so happily and was able to continue hearing the music and revelry from my windows facing the street!
After resting up a bit, Paulusst & friends met me at the RC club for some pre dinner libations. (They really needed it after braving the street closings to get to my hotel due to the parade !). We then went across to the SONY Center to Lindemans, a german/austrian restaurant where Belle was awaiting us. Dinner was wonderful, sitting as we were outside on an upper terrace on this warm summer night. We were joined by a couple of other friends and proceed on to continue the nights festivities at some local night spots. We ended up the night somewhere past midnight, and as I got back to my room a fireworks light show was occuring-- just for my Berlin farewell
All in all it was a wonderful Berlin experience thanks to all those involved

Sunday June 23--Concorde Day
As I once again woke up early, I figured I'd use the city buses to get to the close in TXL airport. I was also able to get a closer look at the western part of Berlin which was quite a bit different from the east where I had been concentrating most of my time.
No problmes on the connecting BA flight to LHR, but I'm still confused as to why on the return we had to take a bus rather than the Heathrow express to get from T1 to T4???
The Concorde
I was anxious to have the full Concorde experience, so I passed by the duty free shoppes and headed over to the special Concorde Lounge. After checking in, I requested the special baggage tags and was told I could get those at the gate, I then left my baggage and began to explore the area. It was a bit crowded, with most of the seats taken already--I didn't notice any celebrities, but then again I'm not really good at that. There was a counter set up where you could order snacks, sandwiches etc prior to boarding, lots of beverages, magazines, newspapers etc. I took the requisite shot of the plane outside, then went out to the Duty Free for some shopping.
Perhaps I'm jaded, or expected too much--but I was not overly overwhelmed by the Lounge and offerings. They began boarding about 10:10 from the rear of the plane, and as my seat was 5D I waited till the end. There are 2 cabins, the front has 40 seats and in this case was pretty crowded with over 30 of those filled. My seatmate's seat was broken and kept sliding back (something I thought pretty strange at these prices), the FA said he could move when after we took off. Beverage orders were taken and menus handed out. As others have noted, it is very tight inside the cabins, with minimal overhead and underseat storage. I was also amazed at how small (and in my case scratched) the window was!
After take off, I asked if I could change my seat and walked back to the rear cabin. There I found out of the 60 seats only 12 were taken!! I settled into 11D/Bulkhead which seemed to have more legroom and a tray table that was larger due to its extension from the bulkhead. As I had both seats to myself I was able to put up the arm rest and had lots of room. I highly recommend these seats (llAB & CD) as you have an unobstructed view from 2 windows plus plenty of space to spread out.
The captain came on and explained how we were going to assend and what to expect. Orders were taken, wine & champagne poured and I marvelled at the pure pleasure of what I was experiencing. I chose the lobster risotto with Tattingers champagne (no Krug on this flight) and for desert had the berries & cream with a sherry. Coffee was then served, duty free sales were touted and we easily passed into Mach 2 leveling off at 57,500 ft. Others here have posted great pics and details on the technicals of the flight, suffice it to say it was wonderful.
The descent from over 57,000 ft down to 35,000 was pretty severe and was the only time you really felt the drastic move downward inside the cabin. We then continued down and soon were in sight of Long Island.
We landed smoothly and in something under 3 1/2 hours from takeoff. No problems getting through JFK as we were the only international arrival. I must add the staff on the plane were wonderful, and extremely helpful in taking pictures, answering questions and overall making each one of us (whether on a free ticket or a $13,000 one) feel most welcome.

Prior to taking this trip, I thought I'd do the Concorde only once just for the experience...but now it looks like my other 2 availble BA trips will also somehow include a supersonic flight

Good to hear you enjoyed your stay and flight back.

AFAIK Row 11 is not available for preassignment (as are rows 1-3), so you were lucky that no late VIP took it. As to doing it again: I already moved another batch of points to my QF account

Now you're hooked...

About the transfer from T1 to T4, BA likes to keep you airside with their transfer buses, so if you hadn't gone through Immigration and Customs to get airside when using the Arrivals Lounge, you'd have had a similar transfer between terminals on your trip over.

Sounds like a wonderful two days in Berlin as well, with friends and sites. Would have been great to have been at the taverns there during today's match against Korea! Welcome home.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dsimon:
Out of idle curiosity, did you consider BA66 out of PHL (operated by a 744) or was that too far out of the way? Did you check for availability on that flight?

[This message has been edited by dsimon (edited 06-24-2002).][/QUOTE

As I was traveling from work in NYC, EWR or JFK were the quicker choices. But I honestly hadn't even thought about PHL, although next time I will make sure to consider that option as well.

I'm lookig forward to my trip over in BA First (November28) and back, on the Concord (on Dec 1-my birthday) even more-Thanks, Mauld

Sounds like you all had a great time in Berlin!

Let me know if you are in Europe the weekend of July 12 or July 19, I am looking for some new destinations.

Rachel

Sorry, my next trip over will be July 25-28 when I will be staying in Brussels (Hyatt) and plan trips to Brugge, Gent & Antwerp.