BA0117 LHR-JFK 24 October 2009 (WT+)
Posted: 25 Oct 2009, 22:23Fast forward to the day before and online check-in at T -24 hours. Managed to move to 28J which is on its own at the front of the WT+ cabin meaning extra legroom due to being next to the exit. After printing off my boarding pass, I received a text from BA informing me that check-in was now open a nice touch but too late this time round.
Arrived at Terminal 5 at around 6.30am for the 8.55am departure. I managed to pick the bag drop line where the group in front had a problem with checking in but the staff very quickly diverted us to an alternative bag drop desk where everything went smoothly even with the slight delay, I was finished in under 5 minutes which in my book is pretty good going. After coffee with my parents, I headed for security just before 7.30, leaving the departures level looking like this.
Queues werent too bad but it was the full laptops out/shoes off affair which took a bit of time, especially as the person in front of me, a kid of no more than 14 was having a bit of trouble understanding that he needed to take out his laptop. He then managed to set the alarm off and so got a very thorough frisking in full view of everyone poor guy.
Headed straight for Giraffe for breakfast which was very nice indeed.
However, the team leader seemed to have gotten out of the wrong side of bed this morning as she was shouting at the staff, causing the girl serving me to get the hump. The bill was just tossed onto my table and when I indicated that I wanted to pay by card, she very bluntly told me I would have to wait. Cant believe that it was any busier than any other Saturday morning so not entirely sure of the cause of the friction between the staff, but as a result, I declined to leave a tip.
By the time I managed to pay, the flight was already showing as boarding so made my way to the shuttle train to reach the B gates and walked straight onto the plane to my seat with no need to wait or queue at all. Only realised after that for some reason I didnt manage to take a picture of my seat, but only of my legroom.
At our intended departure time, the captain announced that it was a full flight and that we were just waiting upon one remaining passenger. However, 15 minutes later, he announced that the passenger had failed to turn up and so their bags were being unloaded, necessitating a further delay. Finally, we got underway at 9.15, taking off just after 9.35. Drinks were soon brought round followed by the main meal comprising either lamb cutlet brunch or chicken pasta, with me opting for the former, accompanied by a cold roll, a Rachels organic yoghurt and a white chocolate mousse.
It was all perfectly edible albeit slightly difficult to eat given the confines of the dish, although it would have been nice if the roll had been warmed through. The AVOD worked without a hitch, and while I dont think it has the range of programming that V:Port offers, I didnt have any complaints. Managed to watch Angels and Demons which I didnt think was as bad as the critics made out (but then I quite liked the Da Vinci Code) and Curb Your Enthusiasm featuring Steve Coogan. I found that most of the menu screens had the flight time remaining which I thought was a nice feature. However, I couldnt work out how to play a CD and watch the map at the same time, something you can do on V:Port, ICE and KrisWorld (if memory serves me correctly). After the food had been cleared up, the crew dimmed the light and closed the shutters for the WT+ cabin, but not for the WT cabin which I found a bit odd. A further drinks round of water or juice was offered about an hour after brunch.
Fast forward to about an hour before landing and the lights came on, shutters raised and the snack box offered. This consisted of half a cream cheese and cucumber sandwich and half a honey and mustard chicken one again perfectly edible even if the chicken was a bit on the dry side.
We had a smooth descent into JFK and landed at 11:40am, 20 minutes late. While taxiing to the gate, one of the passengers in Club got up and began sorting her stuff she was rightly asked to sit back down by the cabin crew, although she only heeded after three requests. Managed to deplane by about noon to be greeted by only three open immigration desks for all non-US citizens which meant a bit of standing around for 15-20 minutes. However, the US-citizen desks had very quickly cleared all their passengers and we were redirected to those. Had a very chatty officer who tried to persuade me to come and work in America which I probably will think about at some point in the future. The upshot of the delay at immigration was that my bag was already waiting for me on the carousel and I was on the AirTrain towards Jamaica station by 12.30.
So, this was my first experience of Terminal 5 and BA and it was a good one. The whole journey from Departures to flight to Arrivals went without any major problems. Bagging the individual seat at the front of the WT+ cabin was a real bonus and the cabin crew were professional and courteous at all times. I wasnt expecting top-class food and while not surprisingly the food wasnt the best, it certainly wasnt the worse. Will be returning from Newark in a month so well see how that compares.
Jonathan
