V-Flyer

First trip report so be kind!

Myself and my gf were off to Chicago for a few days, used miles to pay for tickets and availaility for Boston wasn't available when we were able to go, so Chicago was second choice. Neither of us had been before. I checked in the day before, and selected some seats down the back, as the seat allocation map for the front part of economy looked pretty full, and we were looking for some extra seats to spread out on. Got 59 H&K.

Traffic was fine on a bank holiday, so got to Heathrow in plent of time, parked my car and got to the terminal about 8am. The check in area wasn't very busy, and only waited about 3 mins for a desk to trop bags to become available. It's been about 2 years since I've been through Heathrow, so first look at the new check in area, was very surprised with the amount of self check kiosks, not a problem for me, but there were a few older passengers looking a bit bewildered. Headed upstairs to the bar (The Three Bells?) for some breakfast (slightly disappointed there's no Burger King there any more).

Headed down to security about 9, short queue, got through in about 5 mins, with a free pat down [:D] Checked for a gate, which hadn't yet been assigned, so went for a pint[:w] Gate 19 was assigned not long after, so grabbed a few essentials and went to the gate about 10. No queue for the gate area, straight in, grabbed a newspaper and went and sat opposite the window where Maiden Tokyo was waiting for us. Not been on a 343 before. The waiting area looked pretty quiet, which I had expected. We were soon called for boarding, we were one of the first groups as we were done the back, but by the time we'd reached the door they were calling for all other passengers. Friendly greeting at the lane door and directed to our seats, always dislike the way you have to walk through UC and PE to get down the back, my other half commented on the UC seats, she's not travelled long haul for several years and din't realise what the seats were now like.

Took our seats, there were quite a few people dotted around everywhere, so the chance of a middle 4 seats for a sleep later were looking doubtful, didin't bother me though as I can never sleep anyway. I watched the cargo being loaded out the window (yes, boring I know) and we were soon ready to go. wWaited for push back for a while, as there were a lot of other movements going on outside, including waiting about 10 mins for a SAS MD80 which took ages to get moving. Pushed back dead on the dot of 11-15, and headed to 09R. Saw about 15 planes in the queue, so knew we'd be in for a short wait as usual. Captain introduced himself and said there would be about 10 mins to wait, told us the route we would be taking after takeoff, a flight time of 7:45 and that the waether on arrival shoud be pretty good. Soon took off on a long roll, and a very slow climb. quite a few sharp left turns and then a northern route towards manchester. We had an announcement saying there were only 92 on board, and we were free to move around as we wished within out own cabins, and we should return to seats for landing.

Seat belt lights soon off, and first drinks service was started. I asked for 2 cans of beer which wasn't a problem for the FA, got a dirty look from the passenger on my left on the other side of the aisle, never mind. Meal service soon after, usual choice of chicken or beef. Can't remember what the beef option was, but overheard from further forward it was chicken with mushrooms. I hardly ever eat plan food, and had filled up for breakfast previously so was going to got 2 chicken meals so my other half could have both, and I would have the rolls and crackers. When it got to us, the choice had changed to barbeque chicken, so requested 2. These actually came in ceramic dishes, and not the standard economy plastic trays, so I am guessing these may have been UC meals? They actually looked very nice, so I did actually have mine. And very nice it was. The salad was a bit manky so I left that, and dessert was a GU choc and orange pot, which was also very nice. A couple of tea and coffee rounds and then meals were soon cleared away.

Started to have a fiddle with the IFE, and neither of our screens seemed to be working correctly, and were selecting things at random. I soon realised that the controls were controlling the opposite screens! We swapped seats so I could dangle the other controller to her seat, and got her to put the skymap on for me. First pair of headphones only worked in one ear, and the second kept on needing the plug to be wobbled in the port every now and then. I was playing on my PSP and then listened to my ipod, not to really fussed about watching any films.

There were a couple of juice and water runs, then a very melted choc ice, the vanilla filling almost dripped out of the wrapper! Sandwiches and a cookie about an hour or so from Chicago, which were quite nice. Otherwise an uneventful flight, a small bit of minor turbulence.

Captain announced we would get in on time, weather and temp was looking good. He also said he liked flying into ORD as you never knew which runway you would be heading for, as there are so many. It was actually 28 as we landed with the international terminal on the right. Got down just about on time, straight to the gate and was off the plane in about 10 mins. A very short line for immigration, I actually had a reasonably friendly officer, who I had a chat about the new full fingerprint scanners with. My other half had a minor grilling from her officer, as she was on a new passport, and not been to the USA for about 7 years.
Bags out in about 5 mins, out the door in less than half an hour. [y]

Was pleasently surprised with the 343, I thought it would look a little dated inside and probably be a bit tatty, but it looked in pretty good shape. No significant rattles. Overall a good flight, good service and no complaints.

Now the return journey, where do I start [:$] I guess it doesn't get to go in this section as the flight was cancelled and got put onto AA eventually [:I]

Great first trip report, and good to see another positive review of Economy. [y]

Thanks,
Sarah

Ah, The Three Bells -- had a Captain's Breakfast once there with friends unable to enter the CH.

Great TR! Thanks for posting!

GJ