BABY: LCY till JFK med BA all biz A318

[Petrus]

Hej igen alla norrbaggar!

Rapporten är på Engelska, men det har inte hindrat er tidigare

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My previous reports:

BA First to NY

BA Club to Vancouver part 1

BA Club to Vancouver part 2



I shall try to keep the text brief and let the pictures tell the story.


For Mrs Petrus 30th birthday I gave her a trip. We had discussed going to NYC in December for all the fun this city offers
during this time of year. Also, Mrs Petrus had not been since February 2008. My last visit was a few months back. Dollar had tanked considerably during the autumn so shopping was high on the list.

A perfect opportunity to try BA's new flagship service from LCY to JFK. As we are currently ARN based this would mean
a schlepp across London from LHR to LCY. Not an issue as explained later.
Mrs Petrus had no idea we would fly on the BAby. She suspected New York was the destination.


Sector 1:
British Airways
ARN - LHR 09.10 AM
Club Europe
767-300

BA and OW have switched Terminals at ARN; from the horrid T2 (will become all LCC) to the new wing of T5.
Check-in was quick and the premium desk was empty. We headed for security and made use of the new "Premium" channel
for OW elites and J class PAX. They've arranged for a dedicated line to show your BP prior to security, however you still
use the same scanners as Y pax? Amazing...

After security we headed for the new Menzies Lounge at T5:



It's slighlty nicer interior wise however there's no Emerald/Gold section longer? Muppets.
Food/drinks offering is rubbish.



We boarded early for the 2.5 hour jump over the North Sea and sat in row 3.
We were held at ARN for a considerable time due to ATC restrictions.
This was a breakfast service so apparently no drinks trolley before the food trolley?
Regardless, English breakfast was served which went down without protest.
We had some Pommery to celebrate the start of our week long holiday. Finally some extended time together

Arrived a bit after schedule, and of course we had a busing gate. Behind the not completed C satellite!
So bus it was... not too bad however once we cleared immigration it became clear one bag had not made it from ARN.
I went down to the BA customer service desk and was told to go back to the belt since another load would arrive in 10 minutes.
The flight was less than half full so I had strong doubts about this. Obviously, there was no second load
Went back to the CS desk to confirm bag was MIA. Paperwork completed and off we went towards LCY.

I had pre-arranged with a group friends in London to have Sunday brunch at the Pigs Ear. We opted for a Cab from LHR.
That was a mistake: Traffic was terrible and the total ended at 72GBP.
While there I joked with a friend who did the CWLCY recently that Mrs Petrus and I are going to Ireland. Which in fact was the case. She was very confused.

Sector 2:
British Airways
LCY - SNN 4 PM
Club World
A318

Cab to Westminster, Jubilee to Canning Town, DLR (eer we hoped....bus replacement on sundays... grrr) for a 1 hour
pre-departure arrival at LCY. Nice touch with a dedicated valet desk before you enter. All very swish and personal.
Bags taken care of and we set off to security.


CWLCY check-in desks.


LCY check-in and arrivals area.


Walking towards the gate, view from the East bar. BAby seen last.


The lounge. It has exactly 32 seats. Flight was full and people had spread out so no seats.


Boarding seen from gate. Note the hats on BA crew. Unique for CWLCY


Boarding.


7J+7K. We opted for these seats based on previous comments. There was a total plonker in 7A.
As we reached our row, he had spread out his stuff in 7J. He reluctantly cleared his items,
pulled a silly/annoyed face and did not even apologise...
We where not expecting one, but still, show some courtesy.


Airborne towards Shannon for the Shuffle.

Menus where handed out and orders where taken for the lunch served after leaving Shannon.
An appetizer was also served on this short 1 hour hop:


Bubbly: Choice of Ayala and Monpole. Ayala it was.

Arrival to Shannon was smooth. All Pax are required to collect all their belongings before leaving the aircraft.
Hold luggage is also off-loaded for inspection.


All PAX with checked bags need to wait in a dedicated holding pen.
The rest continue to a security check and US Pre-clearance.



Once the formalities where completed we waited breifly in another CWLCY dedicated area for boarding.

End of Part 1