Intercontinental Geneva
Is it a Queen or a Double Bed? The DoubleTree Westminster
The Hyatt Regency - The Churchill
After a great New Year's Eve in the Hyatt Regency - The Churchill we headed out around 6:30 a.m. to Heathrow for our 10:00 a.m. flight on American Airlines in First Class (The first time for both of us). We left the hotel and took a quick bus ride over to Paddington Station where we caught the
Heathrow Express train which takes about15-minutes from London to the airport.
From there we headed to the Flagship check-in area which is located outside of the main departures check in area. When you reach the end of the terminal you head outside and to the left to a smaller more intimate check in area where someone pre screens your passport and checks your luggage. We were two of three people in the check in area so it went very fast!
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| Entrance to Flagship Check In |
It was a short walk from there to the security area where we used a "fast pass" given to us at check in to reach what was supposed to be a faster security line. Instead we got behind a family of at least 20 travelers (half of them kids under 10) who must have stormed in right in front of us so we were slowed down for at least 20 minutes.
When we were finally through we headed to the airline lounge area which is located off of the main terminal area and down a side hallway. Just follow the signs to area "H" which contains the American Airlines Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge.
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| Flagship Lounge |
I wish I could give you a great review of the Flagship Lounge and all of its added amenities....but when we checked in the agent behind the desk didn't even look at our tickets and directed us to the Admirals Club section of the lounge. We didn't realize it until we were on our way out to catch our flight and saw first class passengers being directed into the Flagship Lounge which is right by the entrance to the lounge. I was so disappointed, but there was nothing we could do about it by then!
The Admirals Club section of the lounge was still very nice. It had a great selection of coffee, juices, soft drinks, wines and liquor (even at 9:00 am). They also had a selection of breakfast items including cereal, yoghurt and pastries including possibly the most delicious bacon, egg and cheese sandwich I have ever had.
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| Needed the Coffee That Day |
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| Snacks | |
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| AMAZING Bacon Sandwich |
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| Wine and Liquor Stations |
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| Seating Area |
After having our fill in the lounge we headed to the gate area, which at Heathrow meant a long 15 to 20 minute walk. Once at the gate we had our passport and tickets checked at least 3 times and some people were pulled aside for additional screening. When boarding was called we were the first two on board and we were warmly welcomed by the crew and directed to our seats, 2J and 3J along the right side of the plane. The cabin of this Boeing 777 is laid out in a 1-2-1 cabin in First Class. Each seat along the wall had a view out of three different windows, which was awesome! The Flight Services Manager came over and introduced himself and upon seeing how excited we were and seeing us snapping pictures, asked if we wanted a picture together. He was so kind and continued to check in on us for all of the flight. After our picture he showed us how the seat could pivot into three different positions, first was the takeoff and landing straight ahead, second was a diagonal alignment that connected you to the ottoman that would make a full lie-flat bed when put in to that position and finally you could turn the seat completely to the window where there is a small desk that you can use while you enjoy the view.
The ottoman had a pillow, duvet and blanket for relaxing and we were each offered a pair of AA's pajamas (which I had secretly been very excited about for the whole trip). They were bundled in an awesome draw string bag with the AA logo on them that will make them great to travel with in the future.
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| Seat 2J |
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| Ottoman, Duvet and Pillow |
We were then offered a welcome drink of champagne and any newspapers we wanted. By this point boarding was almost complete and while we thought we would be the only people in the cabin (as we were for the first 30 min) we were soon joined by a large crush of people who were moved up from business class and a few who had lagged from the lounge so First turned in full by the end. There were even two kids who got the bump up from business class and they treated it like it was old hat, I would have been bouncing off the walls as a kid! That's the other thing I noticed...everyone who moved up to first or came in from the lounge treated it as if they were just bored with first class. Many even refused a welcome drink, pajamas, amenity kit and a welcome from the crew saying they had been in this product many times. I think if I ever got to that point I would just not fly in First anymore. I get so excited every time I get on a plane, especially when not in coach, so maybe it was just because it was my first time in First Class...but come on...it's pretty cool!
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| Welcome Drink |
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| Pajamas!!!! |
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| Center Seat |
After our welcome drink we pushed back and took a long taxi to the runway and about 20 minutes later we were off and heading toward the coast. We were offered a set of noise canceling headphones and I quickly plugged mine in, turned on some classical music, swung my chair to the window and enjoyed the view for the first hour of the flight.
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| Almost to the English Coast |
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| View from the Seat Point to the Desk |
After a bit the menus for lunch were offered and I moved back to Kelsey's Ottoman which has a seat belt on it so that those traveling together can have a face to face dinner or lunch together. It was one of the coolest "lunch dates" we have ever been on.
American has really been pushing their wine program heavily and on this flight we were not just given the choice of one wine...but instead offered a flight of ALL of the wines that they had on offer. We of course said yes and loosened the belt buckles for the lunch.
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| Front Menu Cover |
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| Wine Program Description |
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| Main Meal Menu |
For lunch I went with a starter of grilled eggplant and goat cheese with a warm tomato relish and balsamic. After that was a sweet corn and butternut squash soup and a seasonal greens salad with balsamic pears, beets, almonds and blue cheese. For the main I went with the coriander lime chicken.
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| Light Meal Offerings Before Landing |
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| Champagne and White Wine |
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| Reds |
After we made our selections I had to snap a photo of the craziest place I have ever had lunch and the view of the Irish Coast.
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| Lunch With A View |
The lunch started with a selection of mixed nuts which was followed by an amuse bouche...which I sadly don't remember (sorry!).
It was then followed by the wine flight which was served on a metal tray with the wine name and logo beneath each of them. It was so cool to do an actual wine tasting in the sky and to try all of the wines before settling on one for lunch, we both settled on the champagne in the end.
After that came the eggplant and goat cheese starter which has to be my absolute favorite thing I have eaten on a plane (and maybe on the ground) ever. The eggplant was lightly grilled and had loads of flavor that was only enhanced with the salty and creamy goat cheese which was some of the best I have ever had. Seriously...they could have given me this for every course and I would have been in heaven.
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| This makes my mouth water just looking at it |
After that was the soup which was sweet but had a little bit of a bite to it.
Finally the coriander lime chicken came and it was also very good. The chicken was very moist and cooked very well. The seasoning was delicious and the rice and veggies helped to bring the dish together, I was very impressed.
Then came time for the dessert....
I love love love United and Ameircan for both having an ice cream dish on the menu. It's so cool to have some ice cream with amazing toppings.
After that I laid the seat back and took a quick nap and watched some movies until our light meal of pizza, salad and a cookie that was served about an hour before landing.
A bumpy landing into JFK and we made the long taxi to the gate area and we were going to have more than enough time to make our connection until the captain overshot the gate and we had to wait 30 minutes for someone to come out and push us back past the gate so we could pull in again. By this time we were about an hour until our flight so we ran off the plane where we were given a "transfer" sheet which would get us into a fast pass type line at Customs. We got into that line and we were one of the first so we thought we would be through in no time. Boy were we wrong...There was only one agent working the fast pass lane and the oneworld agent that was supposed to help move the fast pass customers through the line was busy chatting him up! I kid you not...she sat there for at least 10-15 minutes talking to the Customs guy and wondered why everyone in the line trying to make a connection was pissed off at her when she finally realized she should stop talking. After no question from Customs, picking up our bags and rechecking them we headed upstairs to go through security once again. By the time we made it through security there was only 30 minutes or so until our flight so we hurried over to the gate where they were already boarding and we took our seats for the short flight back to Washington National and after a long week...we were home.
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