Viva Las BAcon! Another slice of BAcon
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
Well. That was a long trip report for a 6 day journey wasn’t it? Lots of different experiences, but lets try and put some one line things all together in this wrap-up post
Aer Lingus on the ground and in the air again showed itself as a very nice airline, keeping a simple product in the air, whilst choosing to be different on the ground. And it shows well.
The Bewleys Hotel… I’m sure is fine. It provided a crashpad for the night, but could be so much better. Least of all… three single beds in a room. Seriously?
British Airways Short Haul was pretty much as expected. The morning service was a lot better than the afternoon service, but acceptable for a short haul run.
Even if it was the same plane both ways.
Transiting Heathrow was scarily incredibly easy. Shuttle buses that actually met planes, timings to the second and it just flowing for once. Scary.
The British Airways First Class Lounge… well, its a nice place to relax. Easy to get reasonable quality food and reasonable WiFi. Not a bad spot at all.
British Airways Boeing 747 – well the planes are growing old, but the crews are as fresh as ever. Whilst the IFE is dated, the content wasn’t – a big plus or minus for any IFE system. That, and the catering was rather passable.
Chicago O’Hare – If I didn’t do One Stop Immigration, the whole thing would had been in the bin. So, thanks Chicago O’Hare for the quicker immigration option, however we need more agents at O’Hare.
American Airlines Domestic flights were a mixed bag – with some elite recognition, and some blankness. The planes were in a good state, and it seems that the older AA routes are thriving under the merger.
The MGM Grand – A nice experience, with the joy of Las Vegas queuing thrown in – a warm up for the next few days. The room was large by Vegas standards… even if there are a lot of optional charges if you’re not careful..
The Mandalay Bay – A stunning hotel, with good beds and good conference facilities. A shame it was a five mile hike to any of them…
The Luxor – I stand by my review. I rate this place lower than The Flamingo. In a word: AVOID.
American Airlines International service: I’ve said this once, I’ve said this a thousand times, and I’ll continue to repeat it A GREAT CREW CAN MAKE OR BREAK A FLIGHT. This was one of those times where the crew (and a crew member in particular) really paid attention to me, looked after me and actually made me feel like an elite flyer. A shame they could roster only old equipment on the flight.
And as for BAcon 2014 – I’ve taken away a lot of lessons from it, learning ideas (and you’re seeing some of the fruits of it when we switched from GhettoIFE to Economy Class and Beyond), but more importantly – it was a chance to catch up with those who blog, those who write, those who express opinions and to learn from each other.
And that’s probably the most important thing. Remembering you’re not alone when you’ve got an empty post and that others go through same thoughts as you.
Right, that’s it for this very long (and I honestly didn’t mean it to be this long) trip report.
You’ve got the rest week off from my travel writing ramblings, before I ramp it up again as I put up my text editor for another trip report… which takes me back to one of my favourite places in the world.
Yes, it’s the Chicago again.
Join me for Another Quick Chicago Trip with American Airlines and British Airways, with a lot more of the usual chaos of an Economy Class and Beyond trip report.
Until then – Thank you for reading!
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.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates!
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.
