New Aircraft, Old Friends
Autumn Adventures to Chicago with American Airlines and British Airways
Well, let’s go with a new trip report from the hand of your writer, looking at passenger experience, as well as hotels and a few other things on the way. Welcome to the start of this new trip report.
In this Trip Report:
- Well, this year has been a pile of toilet so far
- Take the National Express, when your life is a mess, it will make you smile
- Heathrow Terminal 3 Lounges
- AA087 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare – Main Cabin Extra
- Into the USA
- HOTEL: Holiday Inn Rosemont
- HOTEL Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Playing with the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Camera around Chicago
- Back to O’Hare Terminal 3
- American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow, World Traveller Plus
- Buses and Buses
- The way old friends do
Editors Introduction
Well, it’s been some time, friends and new readers alike, but welcome back to a good old-fashioned trip report. There’s a mixture of reasons (which are mostly in the first few paragraphs of this segment explaining everything). I’m back again now, this time looking at the joy of long-haul transatlantic travel and if see how how American Airlines and British Airways are doing… as my premium status with BA runs down.
For those of you who are new, it’s time to pay some attention to the passenger experience onboard, as well as things that catch my eye during my travels, be it making me smile, grimace, or just shake my head in frustration. For those of you who have been around and have missed long-haul shenanigans, there are plenty of those this trip (and mostly, front-loaded).
Onto the usual bit. Whilst I am using Grammarly a lot more than I should (dyslexia is a pig and gets me most days of the week, even when I pay attention), my usual detractors who moan about my spelling and grammar can read this press release I wrote a few years ago about this inconstancy and how I deal with it.
Let’s get on with the show.
Well, this year has been a pile of toilet so far
This year, my travel year has been mostly spent sitting in the bin. From big trips to Asia, sitting in the can (although I am trying to breathe life back into one of those projects), to European weekend trips ending up being postponed and cancelled at the last minute, the net result is that I haven’t managed to get away since Hamburg.
It’s to the point that I’ve had fun trying to get a day off, just to spend the day in bed. European people will be in some shock that I managed to take about six days leave so far, which, this late in the leave cycle… is worrying.
There are many reasons, but the biggest one involves a certain Megacorp and a Software refresh. Those who work in the IT Industry (especially those in the End-User Computing end of the world) will know what I’m talking about, as well as the waste it has generated.
As well as the time spent. All the time spent.
But Chicago brings friends, ears to bend, as well as a lot of photography.
Now, I’ll be honest at this point, I am more than keeping up with events in the city, as well as those in Washington, D.C., who wish to exercise their influence on the city. And as a tourist, I am more than nervous at the prospect of those agents from Washington, DC, could bring – as I tend to stray from the main tourist spots sometimes.
Let’s say travelling to the USA is not as simple as it was, and it being a “default holiday location” to visit has long been removed from my list.
To keep things simple, I need to 1) Milk my Oneworld Status for however long I can and 2) keep the route simple.
This is so I can plan my 2026 qualification programme with… I honestly don’t know who. That’s sitting in the bin currently (as I don’t consider giving £1,800 on a transatlantic business fare as “good value for money”, when I can get a lot better value going east in terms of distance and product).
So my plan for this trip is a here-and-back, unless a ticket gets interesting. Because I love interesting routes, that, and I might throw a premium economy treat on the way back (but not on the way out – taxes put paid to that).
Going through the booking engine at the beginning of September sales, it was the usual battle of Star Alliance vs Oneworld on the fare front to Chicago. That’s good to see – not for this trip, but for future trips. After all, one must be open to possibilities.
I delivered the oneworld side a little deeper – mainly, as I was juggling what was interesting vs what was easy. There were a couple of interesting tickets (one would have routed me through Dallas, another via Dublin and one via Madrid), but they weren’t speaking to me.
What spoke to me was a premium economy seat on the way back from Chicago. Whilst hanging around with friends is wonderful, having a bigger seat on the way home can be advantageous.
Thus, I settled on the 09:15 with American Airlines out of Heathrow Airport (as an early start is never a bad thing) and the 21:15 with British Airways on the way back from O’Hare.
The outbound
Simple enough, but this is what happens when there’s too much choice. Sometimes you have to be a little ruthless and decide what to do next in life.
The inbound
For hotels, I’m relying on some old fallbacks, as time matters on these trips. For my first night, I’ve opted for the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites on the Manhahime Road in Rosemont. Whilst not the cheapest property (and I can go cheap, believe me), it provides a reasonable base for a first day to do things.
For the rest of the trip, I’ll be at my usual home of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. There are many reasons, but laziness is one.
In terms of coaches, I initially booked a ticket with FlixBus to get me to Heathrow – and that was good, considering there were no other seats booked on it. However, I struggled to add extra luggage on, both pre-and post-booking. After a chat with a live agent, they advised that the belly of the coach had been sold out.
Considering there was only one other person booked, I found that hard to believe.
Thus, I hit the refund button (losing a £1 in the process, as well as the hard cash, which was now refunded to a credit note), and tucked my tail back to National Express. No, I wasn’t overly happy either. The one major change that they have made, thankfully, is that they’ve removed the Oxford stops from the Birmingham to Heathrow/Gatwick routes.
I could deal with that, even if we still have to stop at Birmingham Airport.
So there we go. A trip to the USA to see friends.
So let the Shenangians begin… and begin early.
Next:
Where the *expletive* is my *expletive* passport?
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