weasel

My return to London on AA was not as nice as my outward journey four days earlier )see previous trip report AA105) because I had to travel in Y and dd not get upgraded . The worst thing about the journey was driving to the airport in all the torrential rain. Check-in was smooth an incident free, but I was disappointed with the Admiral's Club. I am simply not used to paying for alcoholic beverages in an airline lounge . Nevertheless, its nicer than the gate area which was frankly horrible (gate 48A). I hope they get the new terinal built soon. The aircraft was a 777 and I had seat 30F (a bulkhead row), so had tons of leg room anyway, but looking around me, it was clear that there was more leg room for all. I had a family with 2 young cildren sitting net to me and all I could haer was "Mommy!" every few second. Great I thought there goes my chance of any rest tonight, espcially when we'd taken off and were informed that there were no headphones in economy. Apparently somebody had forgotten to restock them. There were only two choices of meal, Steak & potatoes or Chicken with Pasta. I chose the chicken, but did not really like the cheese sauce on the pasta - oh well, c'est la vie. The service was good but sower than most UK carriers (perhaps fewer cabin staff?) and the seat was as comfortable as any seat in Y can be. The children to my left soon quitened down, or maybe the 4 quarter-bottles of wine I'd consumed deaded my hearing and I soon settled down for a couple of hours slumber, waking briefly only to refuse breakfast (I was looking forward to a full English breakfast at home). Once in LHR, I notices that the baggage service was noticably quicker than at JFK and I was only 30 minutes from leaving the plane to waiting at the bus-stop.

I can't help comparing AA to VS (previous corporate choice) and find that VS win "hands down" with their "ground services" i.e. lounges etc and probably have the edge for travellers in J, but its a close call in-flight for passengers in Y, except for the entertainment system (VS wins again); but I often don't even switch mine on, preferring a good book.

Will I travel with AA again? Of course, I have no choice; AA is now our corporate standard

Am I unhappy travelling with AA? I am upset that I now must build up a new FF status and have lost a lot of the perks I was used to with VS, but the actual flying bit is fine

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Chris Elvin

SkyMike

IS row 31 the Exit row ?

Wouldnt seats 31 A,B or 31 H,J been better ?

Thanx

Uli

eco with no entertainment system must be a nightmare.
best you can do if you have no headphones available and a small child next to you: take a sleeping pill. i usually sleep fine in airplance without any chemical help but in case some worst case like this happens to me I always carry one emergency sleeping pill.

jongar

weasel, you can always go around the policy - just find a flight on expedia that is cheaper than the routedeal ad tracey will book it for you

Jon

LordMitford

I can relate to the breakfast as a Brit now living in the US.

Everytime I fly back to the UK (usually UA in Y from the West Coast, 11 hrs of boredom) the first thing I do after landing is go to the Garfunkels right outside customs and have a full breakfast with all the necessary grease and collesterol loaded components.

Only downside is that is a smoking area so I am always reminded of how many people on the UK smoke compared to the US, and how much I appreciate California's draconian anti-smoking laws.

Mark......

JohnG

31 ab+hj are the exit row seats, however the two end seats of the bulkhead roow (30 c+f) are also very good for legroom. Avoid the 3 seats between these two though

Bretteee

The legroom on AA is wonderful compared to VS which in Y is practically non-exiostant.