• Home
  • About
    • Where has GhettoIFE gone?
    • For PR’s and Agencies (Changes and Corrections)
    • Privacy Policy
  • Snapshots
  • Trip Reports
  • Travel Plus…
    • … Technology
    • … Photography

Economy Class & Beyond

You are here: Home / Trips / Chicago and Hamburg 3 / TRIP REPORT: More Pleasure, More Business – The Cathay Pacific, American Airlines Lounges… and a five-hour delay

TRIP REPORT: More Pleasure, More Business – The Cathay Pacific, American Airlines Lounges… and a five-hour delay

23/04/2019 by Kevincm

The Cathay Pacific, American Airlines Lounges… and a five-hour delay
More Pleasure, More Business.

More Business More Pleasure header

In this divided trip report

Part One: The Pleasure

  • Part 1
  • Two o’clock in the morning. I love this time of day. Honestly.
  • The Cathay Pacific, American Airlines Lounges… and a five-hour delay
  • AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare International (Premium Economy)
  • Crowne Plaza O’Hare
  • A photographer’s paradise? The Central Camera Company
  • Hyatt Regency O’Hare
  • Airplane Art Extra: From the Balcony of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
  • Back to the Bunny, British Airways Lounge
  • BA294 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow (World Traveller Plus)
  • Wait. My Bag is Re-Flighted???
  • Part 2

Let’s lounge hop!

Time for the first lounge stop of the day – the  Cathay Pacific Lounge, Terminal 3. For those wondering, I’m using my British Airways Silver card to help me hop around.

a sign on a wall

I was welcomed, my boarding pass scanned, and admitted to the lounge. With that, I headed in.

a hallway with wood doors and a screen a sign on a wood surface

a hallway with a person walking a bar with stools and a man behind it

a bar with stools and a counter

My first stop – was of course – the noodle bar to order some Dim Sum and noodles

a counter with plates and bottles on it

Because after this morning’s travel experience, Momma needs noodles.

Thankfully, the Cathay Pacific lounge does what it does-  and does it well – so within 5 minutes I had my noodles and dim sum with me.

a group of bowls of soup and noodles
The tray – Dan dan noodles (Top left), Wonton Noodle (Top Right) and a Dim Sum selection (centre bottom)  

a close up of food
It might not be as cute as the little bun in a steamer – but it does the job.

Breakfast was served.

There were self-service items as well – which was of high quality – in the lounge.

a plate of bread sticks and rolls on a counter food in a pot a bowl of red sauce in a metal container a metal container with food in it a display of pastries on a table

The lounge itself was quiet first thing in the morning. Which is welcome to see.

a room with a long table and chairs a room with chairs and tables

I sat back and watched some of the traffic arrive in, whilst not caring about much in the world.

a large airplane on the runway
They see me tuggin’, they see me hatin’ – British Airways Airbus A380

a large airplane on the runway
Is this turning into an A380 parade?  – Thai Airways Airbus A380

a large airplane on a runway
Seemingly so – Qantas Airbus A380

a group of airplanes at an airport
The whales went to the gate in two by two, Hurrah, Hurrah!

an airplane on the runway
Delta Airbus A330-300

airplanes on the runway
Other aircraft do fly in seems – Delta Airbus A330 and Ethiopian Airbus A350-900

a large airplane on a runway
Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600

Until 7 am came. Normally, this is my cue to switch to American Airlines lounge to prepare for travel. However at 7 am on the dot, a delay was posted by the AA app – with 08:45 now posted to depart at midday the earliest.

delay
OH CRAP. Not a delay I wanted

With new swear words coming out of my mouth, I packed up my trash and headed to the American Airlines lounge to work out what the hell was going on.a hallway with plants in pots

Arriving at the lounge – it seemed the staff were well prepared. A maintenance issue with our plane was preventing it from going anywhere fast.

Whilst the app was offering changes, the ground staff recommended staying on the AA87.

a screenshot of a flight schedule
Well, that’s a bit of a p**ser.

Annoying, but what can you do.

 

Rather than wander back to the Cathay Pacific lounge, I decided to base myself in the AA Lounge in case there were any last minute changes posted.

a table with a vase of flowers on it  a view of airplanes on a runway a man sitting in a chair in a room with people sitting around

Sadly, those hoped last-minute changes got worse – so my body did the only thing it wanted to do – fall asleep.

a plane on the runway
Well, there’s a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330 doing it’s thing too.

The rest in the lounge was fitful – but I woke up around 10:30ish. Checking the delay, it started rolling – never a good sign

a tray of pastries and jams a buffet table with food on it  a food in a container a trays of food in a container a counter with a shelf with red cups and candy a refrigerator full of soda cans and bottles
Breakfast and general options

Eventually at 11:30 a declaration of a plane swap was made, with us due to pushing back at around 13:00 local time. By this time, the food had been switched over to the lunch option.

a menu and a group of spoons a trays of food in a buffet a tray of food in a container

Even a little prosecco couldn’t help the day.

a hand holding a bottle of wine a glass of champagne on a counter

It’s rude to take it out on the staff – it isn’t their fault – but thanks to this – I had lost a full day in Chicago. A 13:00 departure would be at best a 16:00 landing – and allowing or customs, 17:00 out.

And that being optimistic.

It didn’t help that what would be operating BA295 to Chicago would be a plane that I took a lot of pictures of before – G-BYGC. Or the plane in the BOAC Livery.

airplanes on a runway
Oh for giddy aunt’s sake. You cannot make this up.

At 12:20, the announcement for boarding for AA87 was finally made. I made my way out and headed to Gate 26.

a walkway in a terminal

Upon entering the gate lounge, I was directed for extra security. In other words – a full rifle through my bag. I wasn’t angry or anything – what else can one do at this stage of the game. It was easier to comply and have my bags searched.

With the search done quickly and helpfully, I was on my way – with the replacement plane at the gate accepting passengers

a plane on the tarmac

Heading to the departure gate, an American Airlines employee was busy giving out pamphlets. What did they contain

a group of people in a hallway

Oh yes – welcome to the joy of EC261/2004

a hand holding a white card

That would have to wait. I had a plane to catch.

NEXT: AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare


Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!

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 the European Frequent Flyer

Related

Filed Under: Chicago and Hamburg 3, Trip, Trip Reports, Trips

  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Mastodon
  • RSS
  • Threads

Recent Posts

  • Last Week at Economy Class and Beyond (24th May)
  • Cathay Pacific enables Apple’s Find My Share Item Location – for “those” occasions
  • Luxair selects Recaro’s R2 seat for Embraer E195-E2
  • Cathay Pacific to return to Adelaide for the winter
  • Aer Lingus to set off to Cancún, Mexico

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates daily and to hear what's going on with us!

Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 Economy Class & Beyond All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Economy Class & Beyond with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.