BA114 JFK-LHR 19 JUL 13 (CLUB WORLD)
Posted: 20 Sep 2013, 13:58Take note, dear reader, no “encouragement” was required by our very own HoneyLamb on this one, and I’m really not sure whether that is a good thing, or a bad thing. Nor am I sure whether I have yet registered on the royal radar of such matters!
How can I compare myself with the literary art of the TR when written by Hl and MDVIPOND – so I won’t even bother trying!
For those that are new to these fora, or have somehow missed these little gems, I can only urge you to read the TRs posted by both of these fine people. Full of details, fact and whit, they are spell-binding reading. Froim mdviponds escapades to BGI and MCO, to HoneyLambs various adventures in south America and asia, you have not lived, until you have partaken of that feast of descriptive prose.
So, prevarication over, I shall proceed
Oh yes, just one more thing – I see that the current trend is to include multiple photographs of various aspects of the journey in question, and I will apologise straight away that I am not able to do so. Some may know exactly why this aspect is problematic, others will wonder. And I will leave it at that
This particular sector was the last in a trip that commenced 11 days prior. Routing from London to Detroit via Chicago, we has spent 10 days visiting with friends who actually live in a little town called Tiffin in deepest Ohio.
As part of this trip, we had also spent some time up in Sandusky – a small town perched on the shore of Lake Erie. The town’s main commerce comes from boaters who typically dock their pride and joys at the marina, and arrive for holidays/weekends. The other big attraction near the town is the Cedar Point theme park – which is actually truly spectacular.
Just a brief tangent here – for those that enjoy theme parks, and roller-coasters in particular, Cedar Point is fantastic. They have just opened a new attraction “Gate Keeper” which is a really smooth and exhilarating ride. I can also highly recommend Millennium Force for those that like raw speed. This is before I mention Maverick, Raptor and the exceptionally brutal Dragster ride. Really folks, if you have never visited, and love coasters, GO – you will not regret it.
Oh, and I happen to know the owner of a really great restaurant in Sandusky who would be glad to feed and water you afterwards (these are the guys we were visiting!)
The plan had been to take an AA flight over to New York a couple of days before our scheduled return flight – however, we got so settled in that this never came to pass.
Eventually, I booked us on a United flight from Cleveland arriving Newark, and a transfer from Newark to JFK for this BA flight home.
Not too much to say about any of that, other than the transfer.
I ended up booking my transfer with Fast Lane Group, and we were met by the owner (not sure if I can mention his name here?). He is a really nice guy, with loads of interesting stories – I can highly recommend Fastlane for airport transfers and others within the NY area http://www.fastlane-group.com
So, got to JFK in good time, checked in and off to the lounge.
Although busy, the lounge at JFK is pretty good, and one of the best parts is the separate dining area. We all went through there and had a really great meal. I can’t remember all the choices, but I had the stir-fry that was actually being made fresh right in front of you as you ordered, it was delicious.
Off to the gate and on-board quickly (being greeted by name, for those to whom it matters).
I had pre-selected seats, and it was with great pleasure I once again headed upstairs on a 747 (a lot of my flights over the last couple of years have been on 777’s).
Now, the upstairs CW cabin is absolutely fantastic, and I realised just how much I miss flying in the bubble with VS PE – mind you, that isn’t a patch on the Club World seat up there – brilliant.
The cabin crew on this flight were more in keeping with the stereotype oft quoted (characterless, no interaction….), but were highly efficient and got the job done. Unusual, a lot of the CC I’ve had recently with BA have actually been very chatty and friendly, so this crew were a little bit of a surprise, but none-the-less, got the job done.
Don’t remember much about the meal, was very tired. I do remember eating about half of it, then deciding to bed down…..next thing I knew, breakfast was being served around me, and there was just time to visit the bathroom, grab a bacon roll and two cups of coffee and we were landing.
One thing I’ve noticed on BA is that they are not so hard and fast about when they stop serving coffee etc. I frequently get a refill of coffee after we’ve started our decent, and it never seems a problem unlike other airlines.
This is really important to me, as I want my sleep time, but don’t function without a good top-up of coffee on waking!
Really, all in all, a functional flight, but being on the upper club world deck was really great, quiet as anything.
On coming into land, things were going quite as normal, until quite near to landing, at which point the engines increased power, nose levelled and pointed upwards, and we went around for another little while.
Pilot announces that we broke off the approach due to a technical indication, they were running checklists and would be back to us.
Good to his word, he was back after about 15 minutes saying they had sorted out the issue and we were just starting our second attempt for a normal landing.
What I liked, was the matter of fact way it was dealt with, there would be some who would imagine all sorts of things, but I think this was handled very well, and some passengers may not even have noticed.
And thus, we landed without issue, zipped through immigration, bags waiting and off home.
So, this flight now re-qualifies me as BA AG, and I continue to be highly satisfied with the BA offering and the benefits I get for myself and the family.
Highlights were the lounge at JFK and the CW cabin in the bubble.
Hope you enjoyed reading!
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