Viva Las BAcon! AA89 Dallas Fort Worth to London Heathrow
Trip Report Index (it’s long):
- Viva Las BACon! The second spin of the roulette wheel
- Heading to Birmingham Airport, EI277 Birmingham Airport – Dublin Airport
- HOTEL: Bewleys Hotel, Dublin Airport
- The DAA Lounge, Dublin Airport
- BA831 Dublin Airport – London Heathrow Terminal 1
- An Easy Heathrow Transit and the British Airways Galleries First Lounge
- BA295 London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Chicago O’Hare International
- Tick Tock, Tick Tock – an express connection in Chicago
- AA55 Chicago O’Hare International T3 to Las Vegas McCarran International
- HOTEL: MGM Grand
- HOTEL: Mandalay Bay and BAcon
- One Time Exception: The High Roller
- HOTEL: Luxor
- One Time Exception: A Nighttime walk down an every changing strip
- Back to McCarran Airport, The American Express Centurion Lounge
- AA1239 Las Vegas McCarran International – Dallas Fort Worth
- A quick rush across Dallas Fort Worth
- AA78 Dallas Fort Worth – London Heathrow Terminal 3
- Transit again, The British Airways Terminal 1 Domestic Lounge
- BA831 London Heathrow Terminal 1 – Dublin Airport
- Irish Transit, The Aer Lingus Gold Circle Lounge
- EI276 Dublin Airport to Birmingham Airport
- Another lovely slice of BAcon
Boarding the plane, I noticed on thing straight away. No posh suites. Old style beds…. no Main Cabin Extra seating. Yes, I had been downgraded from a 777-300ER to a 777-200ER.
And boom went my plan for a comfortable nights sleep.
The technical term for this I believe is “Wonderful…”
As expected, the plane packed out with not a single seat free in Economy that night.
Nope. Still not any good.
There was a short delay, but soon pushback was approved with our fully laden 777-200ER.
Almost time to go!
A long way to go tonight…
777 style bins and overheads.
Soon the safety video played, and we were going.
Bye bye DFW!
Beware of Kangaroos.
A long olde taxi begun, taking us to some end of the Dallas Fort Worth complex, before our engines spooled up for the upcoming transatlantic journey.
Our plane begun the climbout over a clear Dallas night
The IFE aboard sadly, whilst it had been re-skinned with an updated interface and slightly updated software – it was still the same underneath, running on a loop system
Although I love the new announcements that AA put on their planes.
So, there was only one thing for it:
Yup. It’s back. A GhettoIFE system. This blog maybe re-named Economy Class and Beyond, but we’ve got GhettoIFE at heart still. Find out about GhettoIFE systems here.
Service begun promptly, but before the carts rolled out, a lovely Dallas based cabin lead introduced herself (who was working in the economy cabin), welcomed me aboard and thanking for flying American Airlines as an Executive Platinum. She also informed me that all cocktails would be complimentary.
Now, either someone has bumped up the knowledge at AA HQ about me.. or the crews are actually looking at the passenger lists on their devices, reading them and realising premium passengers do sit in the back of the plane, and greeting them as such formally.
And its a great initiative to see.
Drinks rolled on, and as such, I had my usual international drink:
Vodka, Cola and a “Gourmet Snack Mix”.
Drinks, Drinks Everywhere…
Dinner followed thereafter, delivered on a meal tray. So what do we have on the tray?
Tray.
Chicken in a semi-spicy sauce, mashed potato, and beans
Leaf salad, with Tomatoes and Cheese
Projectile.
Well, this isn’t the worst tray I’ve had across the pond in some time. Not the best, but there was a reasonable quantity, and it seemed to taste of its constituent components. There were sparks of creativity (for example, the grating of cheese on the tomatoes – makes a different to the presentation of the meal tray. The meal wasn’t overcooked or over-soggy, so some positives there. The outbound meal on BA was certainly better, but this isn’t that bad for an US catered meal.
Clear down was done quickly, and the flight attendant kindly brought me an extra bottle of water – as I was going through the small bottle like no-ones business.
Eventually, the cabin went into darkness, and people were reclining seats all over. I closed my eyes and rested as best I could.
I woke up as the cabin lights came up, and breakfast was being served. I was expecting this to be not impressive… as my expectation were met appropriately.
Well, I was right to adjust my expectations. The pastry was a bit sorry for itself, the yogurt remained sealed (regular readers will know of my “love” of the bacterial fermentation of milk product). At the least the coffee was hot, and the orange juice was cold. Small things I suppose.
breakfast commenced Ireland, but soon enough, we had crossed the Irish sea, making landfall over Liverpool, with a track south towards London.
Landfall.
Lots of clouds… it’s going to be a bumpy landing…
With the cleardown down of breakfast, I made I point of thanking the cabin crew who looked after me – and she was a very happy flight attendant.
The best sort in my book.
With that, the cabin was readied for arrival, seats coming back into the upright position, blinds being opened and people slowly waking up.
Soon enough the plane was in a stack, and beginning its decent into the London area, with the twists and turns that occur – along with a bit of bumpy cloud
London below.
Eventually, our plane lined up for arrival, touching down on 27R, bringing me back to the United Kingdom’s fair shores.
A short taxi around Heathrow, and soon the plane was parked up at Terminal 3. With that done, it was the usual mass scramble to exit of the plane, and me joining in the melé too
Overall: Yes, it was a disappointed I didn’t get to try out American Airlines latest equipment. But on the plus side – I had something better, a great crew who were customer focused. Now great crew with a new plane… that I want to see from American Airlines…
Next: I might be back in the United Kingdom, but there’s more lounges and flight to review as I begin a long set stuff home. I’ve still got to get back to Dublin, and onto Birmingham Airport. So next up, The British Airways Domestic and Ireland Lounge.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – The new name for GhettoIFE (and a lot more pronounceable). Expect in-depth coverage, analysis, route news as well as humour and madness as I only know how.
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Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.
