Time for a two-for-one snapshot - involving British Airways. With the service identical between Heathrow - Hamburg - Heathrow, I'd thought I would lump them together, with the differing experiences on the ground. The Heathrow Experience: Terminal 5 remains a reasonable hub to go through. Not bad, but not excellent. At least security wasn't 10 miles long. I swear sometimes … [Read more...]

Time for a hotel snapshot which I know a lot of you have been looking forward to.. the IBIS Budget in St Pauli. Location: It's near St Pauli U-Bahn Station over the road from the Hamburg DOM. Pretty easy to reach via the Hamburg S-Bahn and U-Bahn. About 20 minutes walk from The Messe (or a 5 minute train ride if you have energy, 10 minutes and a change if you're a lazy person … [Read more...]

Time for another snapshot, this time looking at British Airways old World Traveller Plus product between Boston and Heathrow aboard BA202: Transit and Security Of course, there's no connection between the AA concourse and the International terminal - meaning you have to leave security, take the bus, and re-clear security. This is all well and good... except for the 30 … [Read more...]

Time for an aviation snapshot as we take to the air with American Airlines AA1205 between Chicago O'Hare and Boston Logan. Check in: Handled quickly enough, with bags tagged to Heathrow.  However, only the first boarding pass out of two could be generated. Lemme guess - Emotional Support Animal. Security: With more time in hand than usual, I went for a full pat down … [Read more...]

Time for another Snapshot, this time at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. Check-in: Check-in was handled efficiently, and I was allocated a high room in the main block. For those unfamiliar with this property, there is the main building and the "Executive Wing". I prefer the main block simply because after catching up with friends at 2am... a hike to the Executive wing isn't … [Read more...]

It's time for another Snapshot - and it's featuring one of my regular hotels in Chicago - The Crowne Plaza O'Hare. Yes, it's a regular propety stop for me, mainly becasue - it's reasonablly well priced, and convient to where I need to go next (yes, the Hyatt Regency O'Hare). And getting the Hyatt Regency on the rates I use can be a "challenge". So, the outside. It's a file … [Read more...]

Time for another Snapshot - this time, looking at American Airlines AA87 between London Heathrow T3 and Chicago O'Hare Transit and Security Clearance: Sadly, changing planes at Heathrow can never be a simple task - whilst it is a matter of following the signs and boarding the shuttle bus - there re a couple of complications - namely the American Airlines security and … [Read more...]

Lets start this trip how its meant to go - with a snapshot - looking a British Airways UK Domestic flight between Manchester Airport and London Heathrow T5. (For those of you know are unfamiliar with how I do reviews these days, please see this post - explains it a lot better) Boarding: A bit of a mess if we're honest - with no defined queues. Had to push through for … [Read more...]