A Passage to India with stops in Qatar, Sri Lanka and Scandinavia (AA, QR, UL in J)

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Sep 12, 2018, 12:33 pm

#16

swingaling

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Join Date: Apr 2017

Location: PVD, BOS

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Jaipur, India (Part 1)

Jaipur, India
Part One

After collecting me at the Oberoi, my dependable driver brought me to the first stop of the day, Hawa Mahal, where we'd be meeting the Jaipur guide. We linked up with the guide and he told me a small blurb about the Hawa Mahal. Apparently, it's just a facade and there's nothing behind it. So I grabbed some photos before moving on.

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal

Next stop was the Amer Palace. I was given the option to ride an elephant to the top, but I declined for ethical reasons. Those elephants are not treated well and should not be forced to carry fat tourists to the top of the hill. Accordingly, I didn't want to support a practice that results in animal cruelty. Especially to elephants.

So my driver drove us the back way up to the palace. Overall, the palace was beautiful and quite lovely to visit. Not a whole lot to say about it; the photos tell the story.

Amer Palace

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Monkey

Amer Palace
Goat

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Goat

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Elephant Slaves Carrying Fat Tourists

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Procession of Elephant Slaves Carrying Fat Tourists

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Going down for another trip back up

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Gold Leaf Ceiling

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
Mirrored Palace with Mirrors from Belgium

Amer Palace

Having seen the Palace, we soon headed down. The guide wanted to drive down, but I insisted on walking down the front of the palace. I wanted to see it from another angle and the guide was just being lazy. He went along with it, even though he didn't really want to.

Amer Palace
Sleepy Dog on Path Down

Amer Palace

Amer Palace
My guide is in the center of the frame checking his phone.

Amer Palace

Next stop was Jal Mahal. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to go inside or get any closer. So I just got a few photos on the way back into Jaipur proper.

Jal Mahal

Jal Mahal

My Ride
With my driver Mr. Satya in the front seat as usual.

Jal Mahal

Jaipur City Gate

No Entry? Ha!
Mopeds freely use this pedestrian passage, naturally

No Entry? Ha!

Next up was Jantar Mantar, which was the local observatory. There are some enormous sundials here. It was a quick visit, but I didn't find it all that interesting.

Jantar Mantar

Jantar Mantar

Last edited by swingaling; Sep 12, 2018 at 12:49 pm

Sep 12, 2018, 1:29 pm

#17

swingaling

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Jaipur, India (Part 2)

Jaipur, India
Part Two

After Jantar Mantar, we walked across the street to visit the City Palace. I decided to do the full tour, which included a visit inside the palace. The palace is still used as a private residence by the Maharajah, so a large portion of the building was off limits to tourists.

Inside the palace, there are ramps in place of stairs. My guide told me that the ramp was used because the former queen wore 15kg of jewelry and didn't want to have to walk up the stairs. So they built a ramp so she could be wheeled. He smoothly segued that topic by asking me how many kilos of jewelry my wife had. Zero kilos, naturally was my answer. Then he insisted that we should go shopping for jewelry for my wife after the palace. Really smooth. I declined that and all further suggestions of shopping.

City Palalce

City Palalce

Knowing that I had no intention of shopping, the guide gave up and departed at the City Palace. We then went to look for lunch.

Lunch was ok at best. Prices were in line with what I'd been paying on previous days, but the food was pretty tasteless. I also wasn't feeling 100% at that point, so I wasn't very hungry. This is the place the guide told the driver to take me. Big mistake. Never listen to the guide.

Lunch
Hertage Spice Multicuisine Restaurant
Don't go here for lunch

The formal itinerary was done for the day, but I wanted to see some elephants in person before I left. So my driver arranged for me to visit an facility that cares for elephants that were rescued from circuses, former pets, labor, etc. Some of the elephants are still scarred from their experiences and display atypical behavior. The elephant in the photo is 19 years old and she was born in Rajasthan. I was offered the option to ride her, but I declined. I ended up painting her side, then washing it off. And I also fed her a big plate of bananas, which she loved.

She would use her trunk to grab the bananas out of my hand. She also let me put the bananas in her mouth directly. It was a really cool experience. A bit expensive (by Indian standards), but totally worth it.

This was probably my favorite activity in India. When I told the wife (who is in love with elephants), she was very jealous. So now I'll have to take her to do something similar in the future. Either in India or Thailand, I'm guessing.

Elephant Encounter

Elephant Encounter

It was hard to take photos while feeding her bananas. Every time I'd pause to take a pic of her, she'd accost me for more bananas. Naturally, I obliged.

Elephant Encounter
I see those bananas! I want them! Give them to me!

Elephant Encounter
Eating Bananas. Yum!

Elephant Encounter

After this, we went directly to the airport, which was a ~30 minute drive away.

Sep 12, 2018, 1:49 pm

#18

swingaling

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Jet Airways Economy Class: Jaipur - Delhi

Jet Airways
Economy Class (Y)
Discounted Economy Class Fare
9W162: JAI-DEL (Jaipur to Delhi)
5 September 2018
ATR 72 (One Class Configuration)
VT-JCW
Seat 17D (moved to 18D)
Departure: 04:00PM
Arrival: 05:15PM

We arrived at the Jaipur airport around 3:00PM. I bid Mr. Satya farewell and thanked him for his excellent driving over the past few days. I also made sure to give him a sizable tip, as he really did a lot of work and with a great attitude the whole time. He would be making the long 6 hour drive back to Delhi without me. Though it's only a distance of 130 miles, the going is slow and I didn't relish the thought of a further 6 hours spent in the car. So I'd opted to fly back to Delhi.

The original plan had me on a 7:30PM flight with IndiGo. However, since I'd finished the tour early, I decided to buy a ticket on the 4PM flight with 9W. Luckily, walk up fares were only $50 USD, which was totally fine with me. I believe the lower fare buckets go for around $20. Despite the fact that I turned up an hour before the flight, the Jet Airways ticket counter was able to sell me a ticket without any issues. This was actually my first time buying an airline ticket so close to departure, so the experience was a bit strange.

Once ticketed, I went into the terminal and waited at my gate to board. My plan showed up at the airport 30 minutes later and it wasn't long before we were on the shuttle bus heading to the plane.

The flight was short and uneventful. Except that the fellow next to me in 17F had horrendous body odor. Every time he raise his arm, the stench would whack me in the face. It was enough to make me gag more than once. Once in the air, I found that 18D was empty, so I moved to that seat in order to avoid his stench. 18F was empty so I got two seats to myself. Worked out pretty well.

VT-JCW

VT-JCW

Legroom
Minimal legroom, but sufficient for a 30 minute flight

Free Meal
Veg or chicken options.

Free Meal
Got it out of morbid curiosity and had a couple bites. Not too bad.

VT-JCW
On the ground in Delhi

Once we got to DEL, I went to arrivals and ordered an Uber to my hotel. The plan was to have dinner and catch a few hours of sleep before my onward flight to CMB.

Sep 12, 2018, 2:00 pm

#19

swingaling

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Pullman New Delhi Aerocity

Pullman New Delhi Aerocity
Standard Twin Room (King unavailable)

I stayed at the Pullman because of its proximity to the airport and the price. The Andaz was right next door, but significantly more expensive. So I went with the Pullman this time. The hotel itself is perfectly fine. Quite new and everything worked well. No complaints at all.

I settled in, had a much needed bath, set out clothes for the next day, had some room service and went to bed by 9PM. I had to be up early, so I wanted to maximize my sleep in a real bed.

My flight to CMB departed at 5:10AM, so I needed to be at the airport around 3:00AM. Accordingly, I got up around 2:30AM and quickly checked out and caught an Uber back to the airport.

Room

Room

There's no wall between the bathroom and bedroom. Just a collapsing divider. I found that setup really strange. Fine for one person, but doesn't give much privacy if one is sharing the room.

Room

Room

View
Internal Courtyard

Dinner
Room service again. Got chicken biryani and naan and it was pretty good. My stomach still wasn't 100%, so I wanted something that wouldn't pose any problems.

Sep 12, 2018, 2:16 pm

#20

swingaling

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SriLankan Airlines Business Class: Delhi - Colombo

SriLankan Airlines
Business Class (J)
Discounted Business Class Fare
UL192: DEL-CMB (Delhi to Colombo)
6 September 2018
Airbus A320 (Two Class Configuration)
4R-MRE
Seat 2A
Departure: 05:10AM
Arrival: 08:45AM

This was my first time flying UL mainly because their route network isn't all that convenient for my travel patterns. The lack of an EXP bonus for AA is annoying but not a deal breaker. I wasn't sure what to expect, though I knew the seat was a recliner in a regional configuration. Similar to domestic first class in the US. One thing was certain: this would be the worst international business class flight on my trip. It was still better than my AA domestic first flights, though...

Anywho, it didn't take long to get a boarding pass and go through immigration and security. Since I had time to kill I visited a couple of lounges, but they were all pretty terrible. It's a pretty sad state of affairs that the lounge options are so poor in DEL, given how big an airport it is. I wandered the terminal a bit and made it to the gate just before they began to board.

For whatever reason, they began boarding with the rear rows of economy, but didn't call business class to board. I walked to the front and they let me on anyway.

UN 777
Never seen a UN 777 before

4R-MRE
My ride

The menu was decent for a short hop.

Menu

Menu

The Portuguese family occupying the entire first row all ordered the Spanish Omelette (shocker). So there were none left for anyone else in the cabin. Luckily, I didn't think the omelette was a good choice, so I got the vegetarian option instead. It was decent, if a bit bland.

Vegetarian Option
It would've been better if it had been spicy.

I really like the tea service on real silver.

Tea Service

Before long, we were in CMB.

Approaching CMB

Approaching CMB

Overall, a good flight. Nothing noteworthy, but service was good and the hard product was good enough for a short 3hr flight.

Sep 12, 2018, 7:44 pm

#21

swingaling

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Colombo, Sri Lanka (Part 1)

Colombo, Sri Lanka
Part One

I'd arranged a private half day tour of Colombo and the driver met me in at the airport to commence the tour. Overall, it was a pretty good tour and we covered a lot of ground despite the time limitation.

Not a whole lot to say. I'll let the photos do the talking. I learned a lot on the tour and I'll be returning to see other parts of the country.

Colombo

Colombo

Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya

St. Anthony’s Shrine

Colombo

Old Town Hall

Colombo

Cargill Building

Christian Reformed Church Wolfendaal

Jami Ul Alfar Mosque

Sep 12, 2018, 7:47 pm

#22

swingaling

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Colombo, Sri Lanka (Part 2)

Colombo, Sri Lanka
Part Two

Colombo tour continued.

We wrapped up the tour around 2PM and the guide dropped me off at my hotel, the newly built Shangri-La Hotel.

Colombo

Colombo

Former Parliament

Shangri-La Hotel

Galle Face Green

Colombo

Temple of Sri Kailawasanathan Swami Devasthanam Kovil

Colombo

Slave Island

Gangaramaya Temple

Ukrainian Fighter Jet

Colombo Town Hall

Buddha

Independence Hall

Buddha

National Museum

Doggo Nap Time

Sep 13, 2018, 9:52 am

#23

swingaling

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Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo

Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo
Premier Ocean View King

After the tour, the guide dropped me at the hotel. I'd already done mobile check-in using their app, so I only needed to retrieve my room key and I was soon in my room on the 14th floor. I chose an ocean view room so I'd have views of the sun setting over the Indian Ocean.

The room itself was quite nice. The hotel is only a year old, so everything was in excellent condition.

Room

Room

Complimentary Fruit Plate
Plus dried banana and papaya

Ocean View
As advertised

I was a bit tired by this point and not really in the mood to be overly active, so I went down to the pool and napped in the sun for an hour or two. After a quick swim, I went back to the room and relaxed for a while. I was pretty hungry since I'd missed lunch, but I decided to wait to have dinner at the buffet restaurant (which opens at 6:30PM). Sunset was around 6PM, so the timing was perfect for me to catch the sunset.

I was able to catch a few good shots of the sunset before heading down to dinner.

Sunset Views

Sunset Views

The restaurant was pretty empty when I showed up, but it quickly got very busy. Along with hotel guests, there were a sizable number of locals who showed up for dinner. They were all dressed for formally than I, as they were there for special occasions; I heard the "Happy Birthday" song recited a few times.

The buffet offerings were excellent. Quite a large selection that was on par with what I've come to expect at Shangri-La properties. Overall, it was very well done and everything I tried was tasty. They also had sweet lime juice, which was very good.

Lankan Chicken Soup and Bread
The soup and focaccia were delicious

Satay, Indonesian Beef Stew and a Lankan Noodle Dish

Dessert Buffet Station

Some Local Dessert Options

After dinner, I sampled a few different desserts. I didn't care for the first two Lankan desserts I tried, but the passion fruit creme was quite good. I went back for a Pani Pol crepe and it was delicious (no pic, sorry). Reminded me of pan de coco I'd had in Manila.

Walithalapa, Konda Kavum and Passion Fruit Creme

Once I'd finished dessert, I went back to my room. I had a 3AM flight, so I planned to leave the hotel by midnight. That gave me a few hours to catch a nap before I had to be up so I tried to make the most of it.

bitterproffit likes this.

Sep 13, 2018, 11:16 am

#24

swingaling

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Qatar Airways Business Class: Colombo - Doha

Qatar Airways
Business Class (J)
Discounted Business Class Fare
QR669: CMB-DOH (Colombo to Doha)
7 September 2018
Boeing 777-300ER (Two Class Configuration)
A7-BET
Seat 3A
Departure: 03:15AM
Arrival: 05:50AM

I woke up around 11:45PM, dressed and check out of the hotel. I ordered an Uber while waiting in the lobby and the driver showed up 5-10 minutes later.

The driver was fine until we got on the expressway. He wasn't speeding, but kept drifting out of his lane. I could see his eyes in the rear view mirror and saw him blinking longer and slower, a sign of him falling asleep. I had to yell at him several times because he nearly crashed into the median divider several times over the course of the ride. This is the second time this year I've had similar experiences with Uber drivers late at night. Last time it was coming home from BOS.

Miraculously, we arrived in one piece at the CMB departure area. In order to enter the terminal, security scanned my bag and gave me a (very) thorough pat down. Then there was a second security scan (sans pat down) in order to get to the check-in counters. I wasn't prepared for the scene at the QR check-in counters, though. It was a mad house, as you can see below. People checking in huge bags, surfboards, and lots of baggage was the norm. Screaming babies enhanced the ambiance.

Check-In Counters

Check-In Counters
View from above post-immigration

Luckily, QR has a dedicated business class lane (far left, not pictured), which was empty when I approached. I only needed to fetch my boarding passes, as I didn't have any checked luggage. Once I'd retrieved my BP, I made my way to immigration, past the hoardes of visibly unhappy economy passengers stuck in the check-in queues. The line at immigration was short, but moved slowly. Several people in front of me were entirely clueless as to the correct procedures to follow and were often sent away because they lacked proper documentation. Add in language barriers and it becomes a real mess.

When I got to the counter, the uncommonly friendly immigration officer had a lot of difficulty scanning my passport. Must have taken him a dozen tries to get it right. He then told me it was his first day on the job. Luckily, a colleague helped him and I was soon on the way to the lounge.

$16 Whopper Meal? Wow.

By default, QR sends its passengers to the Araliya Lounge, which is relatively close to our boarding gate. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a dump. Really old and dated furniture and lackluster food and bev offerings. I spent all of 5 minutes there before I left to find the Serendib Lounge, which belongs to SriLankan. It's their best lounge, though not a whole lot better than the Araliya Lounge. The main selling points are a larger space, better ambiance and newer furniture. The food offerings were slightly better, but pretty similar overall. Better than sitting at the gate, but not by much.

Araliya Business Class Lounge
Craptastic

Araliya Business Class Lounge
Ratty Old Furniture

Araliya Business Class Lounge
Weak Food & Bev Offerings. No one likes fruit cake!!!!

Apron View

Shortly after I arrived at the (somewhat) superior Serendib Lounge, our bird arrived.

Apron View from Serendib Lounge
A7-BET taxiing to the gate

After a time, I made my way to the gate to go through the third and final security checkpoint. A short 5 minute wait later we were allowed to board.

A7-BET
Ready to board

I really lucked out on this one. The plane has the new Qsuite and it was a brand new 77W. It had been delivered to QR less than one month prior and it showed. Everything was shiny and new.

Despite being the same seat as the A350-1000, the 77W had a few differences. First, the 77W has luggage bins over the center seats, but the A35G does not. Second, the overhead reading lights on the 77W are misaligned with the seat and can't be adjusted to point at the correct position; it was a bit annoying. Third, the 77W has the terrible Boeing lavatory occupied signs; they're hard to read and just a poor design. The Airbus has large, bright green/red lavatory signs that make it obvious when the lav is occupied. I really wish Boeing could follow Airbus on this.

Finally, the Boeing has a TERRIBLE IFE map system, despite being a new plane. The Airbus is very slick, but the 77W maps look like something out of the early 90s and lack the features of the A35G. A bit of a joke for a brand new plane to have such laughably outdated IFE systems.

Luckily, both planes have air nozzles at each seat, an excellent design choice that many 77Ws lack.

I quickly found my seat and the FAs came by with menus shortly thereafter.

Suite 3A
Yup, that's my only piece of luggage for the trip

Unsurprisingly, the forward cabin was only 25-30% full. Based on how many pax I saw in the boarding area, I'd estimate that the coach cabin was nearly full. It took quite a while for coach to board and then we were delayed for 10-15min while waiting for two stragglers to board. Welcome to Colombo.

Soon enough we were in the air and the FAs came by to take my breakfast order. I told her I'd like to eat 1 hour before landing and she told me she'd wake me at that time. I quickly went to sleep and woke up 3.5 hours later to have a quick breakfast before landing.

Menu
Breakfast flight

Arabic Appetizer
This was pretty good.

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry
See the ridiculously misaligned overhead light?

The chicken dish was pretty mediocre, so I left most of it.

Sunrise
Illuminating the fan blades

Sunrise over Arabian Peninsula (Oman)

Before long we were on the ground and in the terminal. Unlike my previous transit, this time there was a security check. It was pretty empty, so I breezed through and got on the APM to the central terminal area.

Automated People Mover

I stopped at the lounge and grabbed an espresso while waiting for my next flight. QR banks their flights, so the lounge was incredibly busy when I arrived.

Last edited by swingaling; Sep 13, 2018 at 11:22 am

Sep 13, 2018, 11:50 am

#25

swingaling

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Join Date: Apr 2017

Location: PVD, BOS

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Posts: 1,664

Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha - Copenhagen

Qatar Airways
Business Class (J)
Discounted Business Class Fare
QR159: DOH-CPH (Doha to Copenhagen)
7 September 2018
Boeing 787-8 (Two Class Configuration)
A7-BCQ
Seat 3K
Departure: 08:00AM
Arrival: 01:30PM

After a short rest in the lounge, I headed to the boarding gate. Unfortunately, we were at a remote stand for this flight. Boarding began with QR boarding coach pax only. Once that was complete, a separate bus arrived for business class pax. At the time, I found it a bit annoying that business class passengers were not permitted to board first. When I got to the plane, I realized why they did it this way.

A7-BCQ

Despite being hooked up to ground air, the interior of the plane was quite hot (at least 80F). It was easily 95F outside, and the ground air couldn't keep up with the cooling demand with the aircraft door (2L) open. From that perspective, it made total sense to minimize the amount of time J pax had to sit and stew in a hot plane.

Luckily the forward cabin was only 30-40% full, so boarding was over very quickly and we were on our way without delay.

Menu

My previous breakfast had been pretty bad, so I decided to go for a sure thing. I was much more satisfied this time around. The food was quite good overall. The service, as always, was impeccable.

Yogurt

Omelette

Afternoon Tea
Minus the tea

I spent most of the flight watching Netflix and relaxing (my usual). Before long we were landing at the dreary and much cooler CPH.

Last edited by swingaling; Sep 13, 2018 at 12:09 pm

Sep 13, 2018, 12:23 pm

#26

swingaling

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Join Date: Apr 2017

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Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark

Immigration was quick affair and I was in arrivals before I knew it. Unfortunately, I'd just realized that I had somehow lost my Verizon sim card so my phone wouldn't be of much use until I bought a new sim. After a quick stop for a sim from 7-11, I bought a metro ticket and headed into Copenhagen.

The photos pretty much speak for themselves, but I walked around Copenhagen for a few hours before the lack of sleep hit me. I eventually ended up at Copenhagen Central Station where I took a train to Malmo, Sweden to check-in to my hotel. I did find the Danish train system a bit confusing, specifically with regard to which train to take. My data plan hadn't been loaded on to my sim correctly, so I couldn't use the mobile app to check routes and trains. It all worked out because I finally found the info desk as the station. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Copenhagen Sights (roughly in order):

Nyhavn
Opera House
Amalienborg
Frederik's Church
Russian Orthodox Church
Designmuseum Denmark
St. Alban's Church
Gefion Fountain
The Little Mermaid
Kastellet
Jerusalemskirken
Rosenborg Castle
The Round Tower
City Hall Square
Tivoli Gardens

Copenhagen

Sep 13, 2018, 12:41 pm

#27

swingaling

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Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmo Live

Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmo Live
Standard Room

I chose this hotel because it was about 50% less expensive than a comparable hotel in Copenhagen and it was pretty convenient to get to/from there the airport. Malmo is a much smaller town than Copenhagen and there wasn't a whole lot going on. This hotel seemed to be a hot spot, though. There was a lot of activity in the lobby and a large event being hosted at the congress halls connected to the hotel.

My room had a view of the inner atrium area, which was also host to a cocktail party when I checked in. As a result, the noise level in my room was quite high. I tried to call the front desk to have them switch me to another room, but the phone just rang and no one ever picked up. Great service. So I decided to go out and grab a quick bite to eat for dinner before going to bed at a reasonable hour. I just hoped the room would be quieter upon my return.

Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmo Live

Room

View

Room

Hot Dog Stand
Very tasty hot dog for dinner

After getting a hot dog and some snacks from the nearby supermarket, I headed back to the hotel and was asleep in bed by 8PM. Luckily, the cocktail party was over and the room was quiet for the rest of my stay.

I got up around 7AM and headed down to the breakfast buffet since it was included in the room rate. The hotel put on a very nice breakfast buffet. Not as good as I'd experienced in Asia, but definitely better than the typical buffet one sees in Europe. I particularly liked the make your own waffle station, though they definitely get dinged for not having maple syrup.

After a quick bite to eat, I checked out and made the quick walk to the train station. The streets were deserted. It began down pouring right as I got to the station.

Malmo

Malmo

Sep 13, 2018, 1:53 pm

#28

swingaling

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British Airways Economy Class: Copenhagen - London

British Airways
Economy Class (Y)
Discounted Business Class Fare
BA813: CPH-LHR (Copenhagen to London)
8 September 2018
Airbus A319 (Two Class Configuration)
G-EUPG
Seat 8D
Departure: 10:50AM
Arrival: 11:55AM

Since I had a working sim card, I was able to buy a train ticket using the mobile app, which was an absolute breeze.

Malmo Train Platform

Bridge

A short time later I was in the airport and I quickly got my boarding pass from the check-in counter. Lots of fat Americans waiting in line at check-in being loud (cruise people, ugh).

Though I was on a business class ticket, this segment was in Economy because the lower fare buckets were sold out when I booked the ticket. I could've flown Business on the 7AM flight, but the difference wasn't worth getting up hours earlier and then having to hang around Heathrow for several additional hours waiting for my connection.

So I went with Economy instead. The difference between the two classes of service on a 2 hr flight is pretty minimal.

G-EUPG

G-EUPG

The flight itself was uneventful, but for the huge number of fat Americans who were incapable of locating the row numbers above the seats. They kept remarking that there were no seat numbers posted. I found it quite strange and pointed out the row numbers to numerous people who passed by. Cruise people.

The flight was over quickly and we were soon at LHR. Getting through the transit interrogation was a breeze and it wasn't long before I was in T3. It would be great if they had a train between the terminals for transit passengers, as I don't really care for the buses. Not as bad as the CDG bus transfer, but not hugely better.

Sep 13, 2018, 2:19 pm

#29

swingaling

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American Airlines First Class: London - New York

American Airlines
First Class (F)
Discounted Business Class Fare
AA105: LHR-JFK (London to New York)
8 September 2018
Boeing 777-300ER (Four Class Configuration)
N735AT
Seat 1J
Departure: 02:30PM
Arrival: 05:29PM

A few weeks prior to departure, I applied an SWU to this booking in order to upgrade this flight to First Class. I knew going in that AA's idea of F is a joke, but I had no better use for the SWU so I figured better to use it than let it expire.

I still had some time to kill in T3 and I knew that AA catering can be horrible. So I decided to grab lunch at the Cathay Pacific Lounge. They operate a First Class lounge at LHR and I could gain access with my ticket and/or my OWE status. I didn't snap a pic of the menu, but it's a different menu to what they have in HKG and the food quality was a lot better (thankfully).

Cathay First Lounge LHR

I went with a burger and it was quite good. I also tried a Cathay Delight drink and it really grossed me out for some reason. Just too thick and chunky. No thanks.

After the burger, I went to the Noodle Bar to see what was on the menu. I tried the chicken chop suey, but it was super bland and boring.

Cathay Business Lounge LHR

It was nearly time to board so I made my way to the plane. Our inbound plane had been delayed several hours at DFW, but we were set to depart with only a 20 minute delay.

AA F Menu

Pretty sad sack menu for First Class. I would have been better off bringing my own food, honestly.

Warm Nuts
Same as they serve in J

Tortilla
This was revolting. The pickled onions were the only edible thing on the plate.

Soup
Very rich (fatty) with no real flavor beyond the flavor of fattiness. Really bad.

Salad
The best dish in the whole meal. It's hard to mess up a salad, though.

Steak
Steak was well done (no thanks). The potatoes were undercooked and had a very fatty taste. The mushroom ketchup was terrible. Basically just a big plate of brown. Thoroughly unappetizing and really lacking in taste. Huge fail here.

Cake
Pretty good. But I originally wanted the sticky toffee pudding. AA only loaded 2 for the F cabin. Seriously? They can't even be bothered to load a few extra desserts for the F cabin. Really weak.

Thai Noodle Snack
This was not good. The beef looked scary and out of place and the salad was tasteless. And the few bites I ate gave me a stomach ache. The cookie was delicious and the fruit was fresh. That's the only thing that redeemed this at all.

Overall, service was pretty good (AA is very hit or miss), but the hard product (the seat) is just terrible. It's ridiculously open and lacks all privacy. There's almost no storage space, but the seat is huge. Just an enormous waste of space and a terrible product altogether. I honestly don't know why they even have it, as it's nothing like a true first class product. QR's Qsuite is a FAR better product even though it's only a lowly J product.

If I'd spent money on this seat, I'd be really angry about it. It was barely worth the SWU, frankly. The best part of the entire experience would be Flagship First Dining at JFK. It wouldn't be hard for AA to make a few changes to improve this product, but I doubt they will. Specifically, they need a new seat without that ridiculous swiveling chair. A suite, preferably.

/rant

Last edited by swingaling; Sep 15, 2018 at 10:21 am

Sep 13, 2018, 2:33 pm

#30

swingaling

Original Poster

Join Date: Apr 2017

Location: PVD, BOS

Programs: AA EXP

Posts: 1,664

American Airlines Business Class: New York - Boston

American Airlines
First Class (F)
Discounted Business Class Fare
AA1278: JFK-BOS (New York to Boston)
8 September 2018
Airbus A321T (Three Class Configuration)
N103NN
Seat 2A
Departure: 09:10PM
Arrival: 10:29PM

After arriving at JFK, I made my way to the Flagship Lounge. With a bit of cajoling (and persistence), I was granted entry to Flagship Dining. After a shower and a short rest, I went to the private dining room to have dinner. I was hoping it would be better than the terrible meal AA served on my flight.

Thankfully, the food was quite good. Pics are below.

Flagship Dining

Flagship Dining

Eventually, it was time for my flight, so I went to the gate and boarded. The plane was the 3 class bird with lie flat seats up front. Since I was flying paid J, I was seated in the F cabin. The seat was pretty nice, though there was a lot of vibrations in the seat when people walked by. Not ideal for sleeping.

Luckily mine was a 40 minute flight. It went by quickly and before long we were on the ground in BOS and I was curbside to catch a Lyft. My trip to India had officially ended.

Next up is Sweden, Norway, Qatar and New Zealand in two months time.

bitterproffit likes this.

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