I was in New York for 4 days so I decided I would stay on UK time to avoid any jet lag when returning to London. It meant getting up at 2am and working in the morning and then going down to breakfast at 6am but I like working unsociable hours! [|:)] I stayed in the Marriot on Third Avenue and the breakfast there is actually quite good. The rooms were also nice and so I would choose to go back.
Friday morning and I was ready to go. I met an American guy in the lift who had his flight cancelled from the previous days snow storm. He was heading off to the West Coast and going to La Guardia Airport. I had half expected the forecast to be wrong and wake up to snow but the weather was clear so I was not expecting any delays today.
I had asked the Hotel to arrange a car to take me to JFK a couple of days earlier. The driver was waiting in the Hotel Lobby at 4:50am. The roads were clear and I reached JFK Terminal 7 at 05:15. The BA desks are all along the left hand side as you enter the Terminal building. Two queues were in operation with three desks open. It was hard to know which zig-zag line to join. Queuing time was about 20 minutes for the bag drop. Most of the travellers looked like families on shopping holidays with lots of bags. I had checked in online the previous day and printed boarding passes but everyone was queuing at the bag drop so that didnt really save any time, but I was able to select my seat in advance.
There were two main security channels and one fast track. The queue extended back to the entrance of the terminal so I was glad I arrived at the early time I did. The security operation was reasonably fast moving. The channels were very narrow so it was hard to remove shoes and even more difficult to put them back on with people grabbing their bags over your head as you are bending down tying laces. At 6:00 I was at the gate and looking for food. I went against my usual healthy living regime and opted for a Bacon and Egg McMuffin. Outside it was still dark and frosty. I could see a BA 747 out of the window, this was to be flight BA178 departing at 08:45. I was to be flying on a 777 at 07:45.
Boarding was called at 07:25. I had selected seat 24A by the window and was pretty happy as there was nobody sitting next to me. We were offered a newspaper The Daily Mail. There are 40 seats in the WT+ cabin and today there were only 7 PAX. I heard the cabin crew mention that there were 71 PAX in WT. There looked to be about 10 in CW. They also said there were a couple of Golds back in WT. One guy was escorted from WT to WT+ to the seat behind me, I figure he was one of the Golds and was always addressed by his name. That didnt stop me pushing my seat back.[}:)]
I was pleased with the seat. Im 5ft 10 and had approx 40cm of free space in front of my knees with both seats in the upright position. This is more than the old VS PE. I have not tried the new VS PE yet.
The wings were de-iced with jets of pink fluid, this took 15 minutes. We pushed back at 08:00 behind a small queue and taxied slowly.
Once at altitude it was announced that breakfast would soon be served. Choices were The English Breakfast or omelette and potatoes. I opted for the English. The starter was ham and swiss cheese and a bread roll, followed by scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes. Then a fruit salad, a muffin, a chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate bar. I had tea and orange juice. The muffin was much better than the rubbish ones you get on VS. The food was quite nice, so I ate it all even after my Bacon and Egg McMuffin at the airport.
Service was good. The cabin crew were a bit more mature than the usual VS crew, which I liked (Im 30 so these are not the views of an old git.) There were no giggly girls hiding behind the curtain talking about whether Tracey is still going out with Wayne as was the case on my last VS flight.
A couple of hours into the flight and I noticed the First officer and two CC were kneeling on seats looking at the right wing. [:0] I asked what was going on and I was told they initially thought there might be a fuel leak but realised the fluid they saw was actually de-icing fluid. Apparently de-ice fluid is not normally pink and is usually blown off the wings after take off hence their concern at this stage of the flight.
I sat back and relaxed for the rest of my flight; alternating between reading, listening to my iPod and planning my next trip. Drinks were offered approximately every hour.
An hour before decent we were served a turkey roll, tea, coffee, and cookies. Decent and landing was smooth and there was a slight delay in getting to Terminal 4 as we had to wait for an aircraft to get airborne before we could cross the runway. Then another short delay while turning in to the cul-de-sac to our gate. The captain announced that these delays will be solved when BA move into T5 next year.
There was a short queue at immigration, I moved quickly to baggage reclaim, 5 minutes to find my bag and out of the airport. The car was waiting and the roads were clear.
Conclusion:
Pretty good for the price, and I would choose to fly the same again. Maybe Im not that fussed about the champagne, brandy and baileys, hot towels and stainless steel cutlery that VS PE offers over BA WT+ [?]. I will alternate between BA and VS and I will try the New VS PE in 2008 for comparison. My next trip is VS Upper in January. [y][y]
