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Ghost of LL

By Ghost of LL
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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15541

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11 hours ago, LABEVO said:

AA is terrible. United continues to decline but at least not AA.

BA and Lufthansa in same class. Turkish air 5+ years ago was great but now just ok. 

ANA/ JAL great.

China Eastern terrible. 

I think that is all the airlines that I have flown business or first. Agree with LL that 1st is not worth it but definitely it is for business. 

And here's the wild thing about AA--I love it for domestic Business.  Every FA I have on domestic Business on AA is top-notch.  It's better than Business on either DL or UA, in my experience.  And when you compare it with Business on intra-European flights (which is just coach where they block off the middle seat and give you free booze), it's faaaar superior.

Which is what makes it so shocking how bad it is in international First or Business.  From a service perspective, it's like a domestic Economy experience--have the time the FAs act as though they're offended when you ask for anything.  I've actually heard FA's in AA Business audibly sigh in response to a (reasonable) request.

BA is much better than that.  But BA is weird--they have two different sets of flight crews.  The older ones are actually employees.  They're much more polished.  The younger crews are some sort of contract arrangement that I don't fully understand.  They are less polished and more inconsistent.  They're often very energetic, but they just don't have a lot of experience and will fuck things up.  Generally, that's who you get on flights out of AUS.

But even with that inconsistency, I would fly BA 10 times out of 10 over AA.

I've never flown China Eastern, but I've heard the horror stories.

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15541

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1 minute ago, Ghost of LL said:

And here's the wild thing about AA--I love it for domestic Business.  Every FA I have on domestic Business on AA is top-notch.  It's better than Business on either DL or UA, in my experience.  And when you compare it with Business on intra-European flights (which is just coach where they block off the middle seat and give you free booze), it's faaaar superior.

Which is what makes it so shocking how bad it is in international First or Business.  From a service perspective, it's like a domestic Economy experience--have the time the FAs act as though they're offended when you ask for anything.  I've actually heard FA's in AA Business audibly sigh in response to a (reasonable) request.

BA is much better than that.  But BA is weird--they have two different sets of flight crews.  The older ones are actually employees.  They're much more polished.  The younger crews are some sort of contract arrangement that I don't fully understand.  They are less polished and more inconsistent.  They're often very energetic, but they just don't have a lot of experience and will fuck things up.  Generally, that's who you get on flights out of AUS.

But even with that inconsistency, I would fly BA 10 times out of 10 over AA.

I've never flown China Eastern, but I've heard the horror stories.

Check that--it's China Southern I've heard horror stories about, not China Eastern.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26028

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8 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

And here's the wild thing about AA--I love it for domestic Business.  Every FA I have on domestic Business on AA is top-notch.  It's better than Business on either DL or UA, in my experience.  And when you compare it with Business on intra-European flights (which is just coach where they block off the middle seat and give you free booze), it's faaaar superior.

Which is what makes it so shocking how bad it is in international First or Business.  From a service perspective, it's like a domestic Economy experience--have the time the FAs act as though they're offended when you ask for anything.  I've actually heard FA's in AA Business audibly sigh in response to a (reasonable) request.

BA is much better than that.  But BA is weird--they have two different sets of flight crews.  The older ones are actually employees.  They're much more polished.  The younger crews are some sort of contract arrangement that I don't fully understand.  They are less polished and more inconsistent.  They're often very energetic, but they just don't have a lot of experience and will fuck things up.  Generally, that's who you get on flights out of AUS.

But even with that inconsistency, I would fly BA 10 times out of 10 over AA.

I've never flown China Eastern, but I've heard the horror stories.

I suspect that it's high-seniority (older) FA's on the international flights.  They cherry-pick the better trips, and leave the bones for the younger ones.  The international flights pay better and have better layovers (pick one for a layover; Paris or Tulsa).  

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15541

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27 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

I suspect that it's high-seniority (older) FA's on the international flights.  They cherry-pick the better trips, and leave the bones for the younger ones.  The international flights pay better and have better layovers (pick one for a layover; Paris or Tulsa).  

I understand the concept of seniority and how trips are bid.  My point is that senior FAs should be better.  That's broadly the case on other airlines.  And at least up to a point where they get to be the Business FA on domestic flights, it works.

It's just weird that there's a breakdown when you get to international.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26028

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27 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Holy shit y'all.   I just priced a hypothetical trip LAX-CDG.   15 thousand fucking dollars.   I think I paid 3500 for 1st on AA for LAX-NRT, including the upgrade to 1st. 

Nah.  That was Milan.  NRT was a 4500 RT.  

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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13 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
9 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:
This is on my bucket list.  I just can't afford it just now.

Didn't you just spend 20k on airfare plus a 3 week safari?

I looked at where he stayed.  The airfare was the light end of that deal.

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millhouse

millhouse 2617

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I've done cx, jal, Sq, ba, and aa in J, and honestly, "best "depends a lot on the the seat cofiguration and the staff you have. I hate the step over or be stepped over on BA but with the right seat and nice cabin crew it can be pretty enjoyable. AA with herringbone is nice but the wrong service can (and usually does due to seniority) severely dampen it. When it comes to lounges though Cathay is hard to beat (wing cabana is unfucking real), but Qatar and the q-suites is next my list so who knows.

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15541

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9 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

we can only assume that GOLL Michael Avenatti'd the shit out of some big company, and indictments are forthcoming, right? 

As Stan Volchek would say, he's throwing around a lot of cash. 

Pursuant to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution, and on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to respond to this post inasmuch as my answer may tend to incriminate me.

But not really.

It was Mrs.LL's dream trip that we were supposed to do last year.  We didn't do it, and instead did something domestic that was really inexpensive.  So we basically had two years' worth of vacation money to spend on this trip.

8 hours ago, millhouse said:

I've done cx, jal, Sq, ba, and aa in J, and honestly, "best "depends a lot on the the seat cofiguration and the staff you have. I hate the step over or be stepped over on BA but with the right seat and nice cabin crew it can be pretty enjoyable. AA with herringbone is nice but the wrong service can (and usually does due to seniority) severely dampen it. When it comes to lounges though Cathay is hard to beat (wing cabana is unfucking real), but Qatar and the q-suites is next my list so who knows.

The new BA Business Class seats that they're installing on their A350s (which is the equipment that they fly out of Austin now that they've retired all their 747s) look really nice, and are a huge upgrade over the old configuration.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26028

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1 hour ago, Ghost of LL said:

Pursuant to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution, and on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to respond to this post inasmuch as my answer may tend to incriminate me.

But not really.

It was Mrs.LL's dream trip that we were supposed to do last year.  We didn't do it, and instead did something domestic that was really inexpensive.  So we basically had two years' worth of vacation money to spend on this trip.

The new BA Business Class seats that they're installing on their A350s (which is the equipment that they fly out of Austin now that they've retired all their 747s) look really nice, and are a huge upgrade over the old configuration.

Yeah, COVID fucked us out of our return to Italy last year, so we're doubling-up this year as well.  Doing the Dominican Republic in November.

 

 

So the AA seats in first, the herringbone ones. 

You've got the seat, and then the footrest seat that becomes part of the bed when the seat is moved into the bed position.  Well, that footrest thing is also a seat. 

On our LAX-NRT flight, there was a gay couple, and they informed the cabin crew that they would be taking their meals together at one table.   Me and the GF?  Fuck that shit...we were enjoying each being able to watch whatever we wanted and eat whatever we wanted.  We barely spoke to each other on the flight.  It was awesome. 

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Chopper

Chopper 17256

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14 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Can you?  I thought the rule was that you could only book it using AF points if you were an AF elite.

I didn't realize this but you are correct. Business is the highest cabin you can book on AF if you're not at least AF Gold. According to thepointsguy the easiest and least expensive way to achieve gold is through a mix of their co-branded credit card plus flying short-haul international flights within Europe. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/ultimate-guide-flying-blue/

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15541

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6 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

So the AA seats in first, the herringbone ones. 

You've got the seat, and then the footrest seat that becomes part of the bed when the seat is moved into the bed position.  Well, that footrest thing is also a seat. 

Yeah--it's the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond reverse-herringbone seats like on AA.  But BA has added a door for added privacy.

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The Ace of Aces

The Ace of Aces 5194

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On 7/8/2021 at 2:10 PM, Ghost of LL said:

This is on my bucket list.  I just can't afford it just now.

Got a good “deal” for $4300 two years ago and couldn’t pass it up. I’ve flown the Middle East first and it is so gaudy and fake it’s nauseating. AF/KLM have excellent first/business products. I love the KLM 787 out of Dulles - you wake up refreshed due to the better pressurization.  Pus the gin houses …

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Grimas

Grimas 671

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2 hours ago, The Ace of Aces said:

Got a good “deal” for $4300 two years ago and couldn’t pass it up. I’ve flown the Middle East first and it is so gaudy and fake it’s nauseating. AF/KLM have excellent first/business products. I love the KLM 787 out of Dulles - you wake up refreshed due to the better pressurization.  Pus the gin houses …

Wait, wut?  There was actual gin in those houses??? I've gotten dozens over the years and have always always just gone "yea, neat.  Whatever..." when I've gotten one...  :) I've probably got 3 sitting in my office drawers right now...

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The Ace of Aces

The Ace of Aces 5194

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9 minutes ago, Grimas said:

Wait, wut?  There was actual gin in those houses??? I've gotten dozens over the years and have always always just gone "yea, neat.  Whatever..." when I've gotten one...  :) I've probably got 3 sitting in my office drawers right now...

Yup! From the Bols distillery. 

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McCroskey

McCroskey 1505

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On 7/7/2021 at 3:24 PM, Gil Bang said:

I too fly AA everywhere.  I've been in first on 777, and business on 787.  I've never flown first or business on any other airline, so I have no basis for comparison other than yeah, it's a fuckload better than coach.   Actually, I thought first on the 777 was quite nice.  Really, really nice.  Flew LAX-NRT and enjoyed it immensely.  Only negative was the old queen flight attendant that thought I was drinking too much and balked at giving me another beer.  "you've already had 6"...yeah motherfucker, and I've been on this plane 6 fucking hours.  What's the problem?  

I had a motherfucker try that shit on me in Delta One back in April when I went from Atlanta to Vegas of all places...after four beers he takes on the tone like my wife "another one?"  

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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6 minutes ago, McCroskey said:

I had a motherfucker try that shit on me in Delta One back in April when I went from Atlanta to Vegas of all places...after four beers he takes on the tone like my wife "another one?"  

Only time I’ve ever been cut off in my life was on a plane.  Going to Vegas for a bachelor party, supposed to arrive at 8:00 on a Thursday night, ended up getting in around 1:00.  I certainly deserved it, but I deserved it a whole bunch of other times and it never happened.  Seems like they have a quick trigger on planes.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26028

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On 7/7/2021 at 3:43 PM, Ghost of LL said:

Mrs.LL got cut off on AA in business coming back from CDG, and she was pretty fucking ripshit (I don't blame her).  The FA was grilling her on where she was driving--nowhere; we're taking an Uber home (not that it's any of your fucking business).  We're both still pretty surly at AA about that.

Same fucking flight, the FAs auto-dimmed the 787 window shades so you couldn't see outside.  That really pissed me off, as we were flying over Greenland and I wanted to see the goddamned glaciers.  AA recently sent out a memo to its FAs telling them not to do that anymore.

Bottom line--AA has by far the worst FAs in the industry.  The "service" in their premium cabins is absolutely abysmal, and when compared to other international carriers, it's downright laughable.

First in the LH 747 is great because you can actually see forward owing to the curve of the nose.

That brings up a separate point--this was my first time flying the A350, and I think I have a new favorite plane.  The exterior cameras are an absolute game-changer.

They didn't get the memo.  Took off from LAX this morning, turned south, had a BEAUTIFUL view of Catalina, and before I could pull out my phone for a photo, the fucking windows dimmed and stayed dimmed until 20 mins before landing. 

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15541

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2 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

They didn't get the memo.  Took off from LAX this morning, turned south, had a BEAUTIFUL view of Catalina, and before I could pull out my phone for a photo, the fucking windows dimmed and stayed dimmed until 20 mins before landing. 

That's some fucking bullshit.  I would've pulled up that goddamned memo and then worn out the call button.

By the way--you should tweet that at AA.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26028

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1 hour ago, Ghost of LL said:

That's some fucking bullshit.  I would've pulled up that goddamned memo and then worn out the call button.

By the way--you should tweet that at AA.

Good idea.

 

Meanwhile, interesting deal today.   Flew AA-DFW on 787.  Our plane was turned for DFW-FCO.  Tomorrow, the same metal returns FCO-DFW, and then I ride it back to LAX.

I chatted with the FO as he came off.  He said it's rare for him to work such a short leg and then layover for 30  hours or so, only to have such a short flight back.  I'm in Ft. Worth for business, and the FO said that they layover near Sundance Square too. 

And, Premium Economy on the 787 is really comfortable.  I'm not sure I'd want to fly LAX-NRT there, but, free booze/service aside, I'd say that PE on the 787 is roomier than First on the 737/A320. I was in row 10L.  I prefer an aisle, but otherwise, a nice spot. 

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26028

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17 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Good idea.

 

Meanwhile, interesting deal today.   Flew AA-DFW on 787.  Our plane was turned for DFW-FCO.  Tomorrow, the same metal returns FCO-DFW, and then I ride it back to LAX.

I chatted with the FO as he came off.  He said it's rare for him to work such a short leg and then layover for 30  hours or so, only to have such a short flight back.  I'm in Ft. Worth for business, and the FO said that they layover near Sundance Square too. 

And, Premium Economy on the 787 is really comfortable.  I'm not sure I'd want to fly LAX-NRT there, but, free booze/service aside, I'd say that PE on the 787 is roomier than First on the 737/A320. I was in row 10L.  I prefer an aisle, but otherwise, a nice spot. 

too late to edit:  Flew AA LAX-DFW is how the bolded part should read. 

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45742

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On 7/9/2021 at 12:25 AM, millhouse said:

I've done cx, jal, Sq, ba, and aa in J, and honestly, "best "depends a lot on the the seat cofiguration and the staff you have. I hate the step over or be stepped over on BA but with the right seat and nice cabin crew it can be pretty enjoyable. AA with herringbone is nice but the wrong service can (and usually does due to seniority) severely dampen it. When it comes to lounges though Cathay is hard to beat (wing cabana is unfucking real), but Qatar and the q-suites is next my list so who knows.

Is this some kind of cyborg speak?

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BabaYaga

BabaYaga 15320

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On 7/6/2021 at 8:48 AM, Ghost of LL said:

I just got off a verrrry long flight from Johannesburg to Doha to Dallas on Qatar in their business class Q-Suite product, and was blown away.  

The hard product itself is great.  It is a very comfortable seat with a door, which accords great privacy.  The seat is just really well laid out with plenty of storage and is very comfortable.  It really feels like a first-class product.

The food was also very good, albeit a good business-class product and not First.  The service was a bit hit-and-miss, but on balance very good.  But still, it blows anything offered by any American airline out of the water.  It's so good that if I were traveling to southeastern Europe, I would consider flying Qatar and backtracking from Doha to (for example) Athens rather than flying BA through Heathrow.

But that's just my latest flight--who else is running good new premium cabins that are worth trying?

This was a few years back, but first class from HK to LAX on Cathay Pacific was fantastic.  I had a walled of  "pod" with a door.  Not completely enclosed, but close enough.  Started off with smoked salmon and caviar with champagne.  The main meal was a pretty damn good steak and wine.  

My own TV.  Chair was heated and has a massage function.  Got a pair of pajamas that look like something you'd see in a Kung Fu movie and the seats in the pod could be arranged to be laid flat so even someone as tall as me could lie down completely flat with the seatbelt on the outside of the comforter.  

 

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BabaYaga

BabaYaga 15320

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Recently flew Virgin Atlantic to London with the family.  They liked it.  Food was really good.  Kids had fun.  Just basic coach seats.  Big fan.  

Of course in the morning when we landed and arrived at Park Plaza where we were staying down near the Eye.....wearing sweats, hoodies, etc and everyone else in typical trendy European fare, I could feel their "welp, those as Americans" eyes on us.

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DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14351

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Recently flew Virgin Atlantic to London with the family.  They liked it.  Food was really good.  Kids had fun.  Just basic coach seats.  Big fan.  
Of course in the morning when we landed and arrived at Park Plaza where we were staying down near the Eye.....wearing sweats, hoodies, etc and everyone else in typical trendy European fare, I could feel their "welp, those as Americans" eyes on us.

Philistines.
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Chopper

Chopper 17256

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fyi - I think availability starts beginning in September and is One World and Star Alliance only at this point.

Quote

NotiFlyr does a great job tracking airfare deals, and just sent out a huge scoop: United Airlines and Lufthansa have a $1500 roundtrip fare in business class between the U.S. and Europe. This allows travel between much of the U.S. and most of the places you’ll go in Europe as long as you begin travel by the end of February.

You can fly out of cities including Albuquerque; Austin; Boston; Charleston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Pittsburgh; Portland; Raleigh; Richmond; San Francisco; Seattle; Washington DC – and many more.

And you can travel to places including Amsterdam; Athens; Barcelona; Berlin; Bilbao; Brussels; Copenhagen; Dubrovnik; Frankfurt; Geneva; Helsinki; Krakow; London; Madrid; Milan; Munich; Naples; Oslo; Paris; Riga; Rome; Vienna; Zagreb; Zurich – and many more.

What’s striking about this sale is it isn’t limited to other airline hubs to send a message. You can fly out of United hubs like Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. And you can fly into Lufthansa hubs like Frankfurt and Munich. Or you can travel between smaller cities in the U.S. and Europe, too.

Amazingly this is a 50 cent fare in each direction plus fuel surcharges and taxes. In fact, the ‘surcharges’ represent nearly the entire cost of the ticket.

Key details of fare basis PNA86SNC:

  • 28 day advance purchase
  • Saturday night stay required
  • 3 month maximum stay
  • Must begin travel by February 28, 2022
  • Tickets must be issued on or before July 14, 2021
  • No change fees, but tickets are non-refundable

While TAP Air Portugal may be the most generous offering 200% of flown miles on United P fares, Air Canada Aeroplan might be the best place to credit this fare with 150% of flown miles. Crediting a United-issued ticket to MileagePlus and you’ll only earn miles based on the price paid.

This fare is definitely another win for NotiFlyr which is probably the best airfare notification service and one that many folks find worth the cost (and they do not pay me to say so).

 

 

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