AA1632 and AA86 LAX-LHR via ORD 25 Oct 08
Posted: 27 Oct 2008, 11:04For the return I couldn't get the direct LAX-LHR flight on miles - coincidentally AA reduced their seasonal 2x daily to 1x daily on the same date, which may have explained the lack of availability. Hence it was to be a four hour flight AA1632 LAX-ORD then a short wait of 90 minutes in the schedule before the AA86 with 'service non stop' as they always announce, to Heathrow.
I dropped the no. 1 at T6 LAX where he was taking a Virgin America flight to SFO to see friends, then walked back to T4 to check in for the AA flights. I foresaw that I would have baggage weight trouble. Even in First Class on AA if your bags are over 50lbs then there is a surcharge. Even with the dollar value being so appalling I had managed some shopping, so with one back at 48lbs and one at 58lbs I had to chivvy up a $50 charge[n] which was irritating as I knew I was slightly over on departure too.
Expecting the Admirals Club (pre-trip research suggested that on internal AA First Class flights with an international leg in First the Admirals Club and not the Flagship Lounge was the rule) I was invited to the Flagship Lounge - cool, I had a couple of hours so the slight additional comfort and peace was welcome. At LAX the Flagship Lounge is above gate 43, tucked away with windows but poor views, and while spacious with a full bar service is not really that great. Basic fruit and pastries on offer for breakfast but that's that, no waiter service, no great amenities either. Having been through an unseemly number of airport lounges this year, the VS Heathrow clubhouse really is the best in the world.
The flight boarded on time, no announcements in the lounge but I headed out at a sensible time to find it mostly boarded and, to my surprise, someone sat in my seat [:0]. Two girls, who either had a late upgrade or had not preselected their seats, had decided to sit together and one of them in mine. Not only that but they had opened the pillow and blanket bags, spread their stuff around and seemed genuinely shocked when, after asking me if I minded, I said yes, I specifically wanted this seat. Minor moanings but the girl moved. I wanted the seat because a) I don't like anyone in front of me and b) I wanted to work on the flight and no reclining seat in front means more flexibility with the laptop. Actually I was pretty pissed off with their attitude and the crisps laying around and the general rudeness and presumptiveness, I bit my tongue but if they'd spoken up I would have verbally lashed them. Now I'm not a real bore, if they were a post-wedding couple, parents or elderly or another similar reason I would change, but they were just rude teenagers. Never happened to me before either.
As to the flight, it left smack on time, arrived 15 minutes early, was hideously uncomfortable with the oldest 757 First seats AA offers (nasty metal bar right under the coccyx), lunch was dull but plentiful, drinks flowed and as soon as I could, we were off and out into O'Hare.
With about 60 minutes to spare I headed off to find the ORD AA Flagship Lounge, what a disappointment this was - tucked at the end of the K wing of T3 it's small, cramped, ugly, lots of too-close-together chairs and a meagre buffet (sliced sausages as an hors' deuves anyone) and full - the ex smokers lounge offered a respite and although not used for a couple of years still had a slight smell to it which obviously kept others out. Again no boarding announcements but I headed to the close by gate K16 at a reasonable time to board the 777 for London and seat 1J. There's something nice about being in a seat '1' [:)].
A couple of predeparture drinks, again in plastic, a full cabin, immediate perception of disinterested FAs but an on time departure with no fuss and we're away. As before, the 777s climb very quickly compared to 346s. After 12 minutes we were over 20,000 feet heading up to the initial flight altitude of 35,000 feet.
I settled in to watch a string of Mad Men episodes, enjoyed the sherry for a change and accepted dinner as soon as it was offered. The menu was exactly the same at LHR-LAX so I opted for the chicken and pasta option (quite horrid actually), declined the cheese knowing how awful the offering was on the outbound but did relent and have ice cream slathered with maple syrup and chocolate sauce. Followed this with some herb tea, a couple of glasses of Cotes du Rhone and then put the seat down for sleep. I posted about the chair on the outbound, here's some addition in bed mode. AA provide a blanket and a pillow, the seat is fully electric and reclines flat with plenty of length. The arms do not go down however, which is a shame as they end up around your thighs and restruct width. No FA assistance is offered. By heck it was uncomfortable. Really hard, I couldn't get the lumbar support to reduce to nowt and ended up putting the bed into slightly recline mode to get comfortable while sleeping on my back. A hot cabin too so I was grateful for the air vents, however while they may cool, they do tend to dehyrdate you. As a day time flight chair, it's great, but as a bed, it's soooo uncomfortable.
I slept fitfully for about four hours, waking with a stiff back and neck and feeling worse than I did before attempting to sleep. I noticed several people eating the full breakfast offered, odd when dinner had only concluded four hours previously but hey, ORD is in middle America [}:)]. A couple of coffees, quick brush of the teeth, a 15 minute hold as it was pre-6 am as we descended over Buckinghamshire and we were down on the ground at ten after six in the morning.
No greeting or thank you from the FAs on disembarkation and it's into T3 and the outer piers that the American carriers use. Not frequenting these I can see how people rate LHR as godawful, gates 1-11 and the 30s+ are in the newer piers at T3, gates 13-21 are just miserable. IRIS (one machine out of two) operational and bags off reasonable quickly, with despite the connection, mine being no.4 and no. 9 on the belt [y]. No indicator boards working in the baggage hall though so lots and lots of people off the early morning big jets wandering around dazed!
Thankfully, my next flight to Sydney is back in Upper Class and boy am I looking forward to it. This flight, supposedly AA's flagship, was just crap in comparison. Mind you, if you went to LAX on Wednesday AA would charge you 3,700 for a flexible business class seat and 4,800 for flexible first, VS in comparison would charge over 7,000 for Upper Class [:0].
I've now been to LAX in business or first on Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, BA, Virgin and AA. If I had a choice, it would always be Virgin. If I could pick and choose it would be Virgin with ANZ's food and wine.