TRIP REPORT: The Other Shoe Drops. Was it Worth it? Springtime Transatlantic Adventures

Spring Transatlantic Adventures
AA90 The Other Shoe Drops. Was it Worth it?

In this Adventure

One of the questions I ask myself after each trip is, “Was it worth it?”. Well, before I get to that, there’s the case of missing Avios.

Getting blood from a stone (or multiple complaints to British Airways)

As I had paid out for a World Traveller Plus upgrade, I was looking forward to a nice pile of Avios, along with some extra tier points. I gave it the required three days before logging tickets to get this done.

When it couldn’t be done online, I rang the Silver Line for help, who took details. A few days later, I got a response saying, “As I was given a complimentary upgrade, I was not entitled to bonus points”.

Funny that. I don’t consider paying £314 to upgrade to World Traveller Plus a complimentary upgrade.

Again, I took the phones, with receipts armed if needed. It was escalated back up, and eventually, I checked my Club Account.

Wow. At least the Avios, thanks. But any tier points in either the old or new scheme? None at all.

A wonderful way to inspire loyalty.

As I’ve said multiple times about British Airways, it loves to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, be it on the ground or through its customer service processes.

And it’s not good enough any more, now I’ve become much more open to offers from other airlines.

As for other worths.

Worth can be defined in many ways. The thing that makes these trips worth it is spending time with friends. But I look at the downsides and ponder a lot these days.

Travel to the USA has become… less welcoming than before. That’s the nicest way I can put it.

We all have seen the stories of deeper questioning when entering the USA, people held and deported, as well as various different government advice when travelling there.

It’s more than enough to make a visitor think twice and consider, “Am I going to be welcomed when travelling?”.

For me, it factors into future travel plans. Whilst I’ll probably pop over twice a year to see friends (for that’s the main reason I’d go to the USA now), beyond that (be it a segment, XP or Tier Point run), for now, I’ll think more than twice.

Thankfully, there are other destinations in the world, other than North America.

The Wrap-Up

Let us wrap this trip report up with some lovely single-line comments and pictures.

FlixBus

An excellent value way of getting from Birmingham to Heathrow. I do worry about the passenger numbers, though.

Heathrow

Both Terminal 5 and Terminal 3 were their usual selves, with security reasonably fast through Fast Track security, with reasonably quick luggage delivery at Terminal 3.

British Airways Lounges

The breakfast service remains as it always does. That’s no bad thing, but it could do with a little spicing up. Otherwise, the Terminal 5B Lounge is a tranquil place compared to the North and South Lounges. It’s a shame that Hethrow plays the “we won’t announce the gate until it’s far too late” to take advantage of it if you’re travelling long haul.

British Airways BA295 in World Traveller Plus

Distinctly average… and compared to the American Airlines product across the pond, sub-par.

Oh yes. And British Airways…. CLEAN YOUR AIRCRAFT.

The avid Hotel, Des Plaines

More than passable for an overnight stop. Just watch the calories in those breakfast biscuits…

The Hyatt Regency O’Hare

Step-by-step improvements seem to be paying off for this property.

American Airlines Flagship Lounge

It’s still one of the nicer lounges that I’ve explored at Chicago O’Hare. Whilst not as large as the Greenwich lounge at JFK, it seems to have managed the footfall a lot better.

American Airlines AA90 in Main Cabin Extra

Again, Distinctly Average appears to be the name of the game, but the cuts are little cuts in the economy cabin… and I suspect more to come.

And Chicago…

The people make a city. To me, it was friendly as always, with four seasons in a few days. Never change Chicago.

Next up:

I’m going to be different and do things out of order, as I fancy a break from travel writing, but want to write something a little more technical. And we’re talking about one of the things that can drive a person mad – data storage.

Join me on my new NAS adventure, as I get to grips with data storage with my UGreen NAS.

And there’s more than a story.. trust me.

For those who want more flying trip reports, you’ve got a couple of weeks or so before I launch my Hamburg trip report.

This writer needs a small change of pace between trip reports.

Until then, thank you for joining me.

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Spring Transatlantic Adventures AA90 The Other Shoe Drops. Was it Worth it?