The Last Push! The Final 700 Tier Points to BA Gold!
AA24 San Francisco – New York JFK
Contents!
- Why do I do this to myself? (The introduction)
- Off to Birmingham Airport, Air France AF1656 to Paris CDG
- Ibis Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
- A Rushed Check in, AA Lounge
- AA45 Paris CDG to New York JFK
- A Delayed Transit, AA85 New York JFK to San Francisco International
- Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
- Intercontinental Mark Hopkins
- One Time Special – Around the Bay and Under the bridge
- Two Time Special – 3 and a half miles. Across the Golden Gate Bridge and back
- Escaping San Francisco to the Crowne Plaza
- Early Morning San Francisco Airport, AA24 San Francisco to New York JFK
- A Dash Across Manhattan and NJ, Newark Airport
- BA Galleries Lounge, EC8004 OpenSkies Newark Airport to Paris Orly West
- Paris. City of Dreams, Romance and Pickpockets?
- Eurostar 9013 Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras, Chiltern Railways London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill
- 700TP: Job Done
Arriving back at the airport, it was straight to check-in, where I checked my bag. The agent took one look at my ticket and queried if I really wanted to go via Newark. A few taps later, and she had found space on the JFK to Paris flight… Paris CDG – meaning it would be the AA flight. I declined (even though it would had been easier…) as I wanted that flat bed across the pond, and stuck with my OpenSkies itinerary.
A boarding pass was issued and a nice comment about the Pan American bag was made… and off I went to clear security. Even at 5amish in the morning, it was busy with the Team SFO opening extra lanes when needed. I was cleared quickly and headed to the lounge to wait the flight
Admirals Club
A beep of my boarding pass (with the BA Gold Credentials on it), and I was let into the lounge. There was only one priority at this time of the morning
Coffee! – Well espresso and lots of it!
I found a corner to work in and sat back whilst waiting for the flight. The lounge whilst not heaving, was quite busy as it was Monday morning and people were commuting all over from San Francisco to where they needed to be in the US that day
Meanwhile outside, a Virgin America Airbus A320 was photobombing the AA Lounge
Look at meee! I’m not American Airlines!
Food and beverage station
It was quite and relaxing enough – heck I Lost track of time. Thankfully, there was a call for Flight 24 to New York, at which point, the lounge emptied – me with it.
Through the terminal
Boarding was almost ready to commence when I got to the gate so there was time to grab a picture of the plane before getting down to the flying part of the day.
And also a first – my first AA plane with the new livery I’ve flown on.
Busy moments at the gate before boarding begins
A priority boarding and first class boarding call was made, and I headed down the jet bridge
AA24 San Francisco International to New York T8 JFK –
American Airlines Boeing 767-300ER with Winglets, New Colours
Seat 2A, First Class
210 Tier Points Earned, 2,572 miles flown, 2,572 +1,286+2,572 Avios Earned
I boarded the plane and was welcomed aboard. I took my seat at in the first row of business class – this time this 767-300ER featured the International cabin with wedige beds that I had on the way out from Paris. This time, the cabin was sold as a “First” Class cabin. Funny how American Airlines can re-designate a cabin type purely on the route…
Business/First Class Cabin loading
Seat controls
Bulkhead view
An interesting service happened whilst on the ground – pre-flight drinks. A nice touch.
The cabin again was full load in First – and judging by how many rollaboard were heading to the front of the plane – a full load in the back of the plane too.
On-time, our Boeing 767 pushed back, and the safety video played (Its starting to get to the point where I can memorise the faces and words that come out of each person’s mouth in that video. Bad sign methinks… although I used to be able to do the first minute of the old United 767 IPTE video off by heart)
AirBridge away!
As the airport was clear of any fog and such, with a clear ride up into the air forecasted, the pilot didn’t hang around. There was a wait whilst other traffic cleared allowing me to watch take off wars
After a short wait, the plane cleared the queue, turning onto the runway for a powerful take-offf out of San Francisco
With the colours so amazing, it was time to use the camera for what it was for:
With the flight scheduled for 6 hours, it seems the winds were with us, with 4 hours and 50 from pushback to landing
Menus were handed out for the service.
Whilst Mother Nature did her thing.
Food orders were taken, and Samsung Galaxy Tablets were handed out with Bose Headphones
Hot towels followed too
And yes, I was still watching Despicable Me 2
With Minion Phil at the front door.
Breakfast arrived with me going for the Omelette.
The breakfast offering wasn’t bad (compared to some economy class meals I’ve had Westbound or Eastbound), with the fruit fresh, and the omelette tasting of egg and its filling (and not burned). The chicken sausage was very much of a muchness and the biscuit… a very American thing (although I prefer my biscuits as chocolate digestives personally…)
The service was cleared down as the flight made its way across the United States of America, crossing off states quickly.
Time passed quickly on this flight as the cookies came around
And lots of clouds
As this flight was operated by an International 767-300ER, there was a downside of no GoGo internet connectivity – which annoyed a few people who were trying to connect in the air. The crew was proactive, checking for top ups as needed .
As I said, the flight was quick, as the plane begun its decent into the New York area. Our plane tracked past the cloud and past JFK, heading out for the Atlantic, for an approach over Rockerway Beach.
Cloud breaking – New York underneath
JFK near the cloud
Beginning final descent
That’s a cute plane in the clouds….
Gotta admit – I like this one.
Crossing Rockaway Beach
Landing was a typically a rather gentle affair, with our 767-300ER landing safely on the tarmac at JFK.
There was a bit of a delay of a taxi as the clock passed 3pm, but we were a full hour ahead of the nominated landing time, so I was feeling rather relaxed about the connection to Newark at that moment in time.
Overall: A reasonably competent service delivered well with a quick flight time. These things are good to me. The wedgie seat that AA have – I suppose I’ll never get on with it as finding a comfortable position in it for me was pretty hard. But for a daylight flight – not a bad choice at all.
Next: From JFK to EWR… Umm… Luggage belt… come on…
Want to keep up with me at GhettoIFE? Join me either by signing up for my newsletter, or follow me on Twitter @GhettoIFE for when there are posts to the blog!
