TRIP REPORT: Surprise, Surprise! Transatlantic surprises with American Airlines and British Airways

Surprise, Surprise!
Transatlantic surprises with American Airlines and British Airways

It’s time for a new adventure from the pen of Economy Class and Beyond – with more than a few surprises on the way. Settle in, we’re going to have an adventure – even if it might be a there-and-back trip to Chicago. 

Come on in. 

In this surprise-laden adventure…

• We all know the drill by now… don’t we?
• The early morning road to nowhere (and Heathrow Terminal 3 first thing in the morning, with an equipment change shock)
• Morning Lounging at the Cathay Pacific and American Airlines Lounges
• AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare – Main Cabin Extra
• Into the USA and The Crowne Plaza O’Hare
• Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Airplane Art Special from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Various nibbles around Chicago
• An Instagram Trap? Coffee at Brü
• Chicago Classics: Giordano’s Deep Dish Pizza
• Enjoying a Chicago River tour… in the rain
• Back to O’Hare and the British Airways lounge
• BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow – Club World (Club Suites)
• Racing across Heathrow… but where’s the coach?
• To onward surprises

Editors Introduction

Enough of the premium flights and big seats – well, almost. Welcome back to our Spring stocktake on how the travel experience is in both Economy and Premium Economy with two oneworld carriers.

I’ve been semi-constant with this sort of review (save for a period when the USA was closed to the world), so it is always a good marker to see what state the passenger experience is in and how it has evolved… or degraded.

That has happened more than once during my travels.

Originally, this trip report was titled “Those same old places, Sweet Home Chicago”. But several things happened on the way during the trip to force a change.

We’ll be sticking to the recent layout change (with a teaser in the header) for… annoying reasons, but deep down, this trip report is a mixture of Kevin and the comedy that is me travelling.

You all know the drill by now – But I put this in, and then everyone promptly ignores it. Whilst I am using Grammarly a lot more than I should (dyslexia is a pig and gets me most days of the week), my usual detractors will moan about my spelling and grammar. You can read this press release I wrote a few years ago about this inconsistency and how I deal with it.

On with the show!

We all know the drill by now… don’t we?

Springtime means… no, not a musical number, but it’s time for me to head to the US Midwest to catch up with my friends.

And whilst I love to hide under my duvet after a crappy week in the office, seeing my friends in Chicago is a good enough excuse to get my backside into first gear and get out travelling.

It’s also the reason why I travel with so much – as I have enough Cadburys and Hotel Chocolat goodies to give away.

You can’t tell the time of year I travel… can’t you? 

What else I bring back, is of course, besides the point.

For me, shopping for these flights starts around December, when I begin monitoring prices on this route. Ideally, I prefer a cheap enough service, but as usual, when it is viable, I’ll always pay for an upgrade -with extra comfort never being a bad thing

And especially in these revenue-fare times. Because, as I proved with the Avios programme, revenue fares are only good for one set of organisations when booking tickets – the airlines.

However, if it’s possible to get a few extra tier points, I am never one to argue that.

With time also being a limitation for… reasons, I limited myself to a back-and-forth trip, without diversions. Thus, this will be a boring back and forth, one segment each way.

For the outbound, I prefer the early flight – or as early as possible, as I like to maximise my time when travelling. On the way back, honestly – a late flight is fine.

For the outbound, that means AA87 – which is a 09:15 departure. It is not as early as I like (give me the 07:45 every time), but it gives me flexibility getting to the airport. As for the return, the cheapest flight with World Traveller Plus was selected – that was the 22:15 from O’Hare back to London aboard BA296.

Outbound – the prices were pretty constant across all classes 

Inbound – there was more than a little fluctuation in these prices. 

As for the price. It’s still up from last year – although not as much as I was paying in Economy Class last October.

Good enough.

Next on the menu were the hotels. I’m not going deep into the reasons – but yes, it’s the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and the Crowne Plaza O’Hare, as usual.

To be blunt, the rates I get at those hotels are hard to beat.

On top of that, they are properties that just work well for me in this case, without the need to overthink too much – especially late at 1 or 2 in the morning.

Finally adding the final connections, I’ve got National Express to provide the lift between Birmingham and Heathrow Airport. Whilst I’d love to get there the night before – time is never on my side. And besides – Heathrow prices rival Dublin for hotels.

Even if National Express will add an extra £10 per way to carry an extra bag, which bumps the fare from £40 to £60.

Although with the upsells that National Express offers, they do as well as airlines…

With the prep done, there’s only one thing to do – head to the supermarket and earn some Avios on shopping

But if I thought I’d have what I booked and pre-assigned, surprises await.

At least two.

Next:

We’re on the road to nowhere… come on inside…

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