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#931610 by tontybear
21 Jan 2017, 11:56
catsilversword wrote:Has anyone done this flight with BA and, if so, what did you think of it?

Thanks in advance!


Yes 3 times.

It's excellent! Small cabin, personal service, much better seat than normal BA CW, some of the best BA cabin crew as well.

Only 'fail' is the iPad for IFE but you can't have everything!

I'm sure I've done at least one TR for it.
#931611 by catsilversword
21 Jan 2017, 12:05
Thanks Tonty! I did see that an ipad is used for IFE, but that's something I can live with.

Is it a small cabin for all the flights, or just for the LCY - Shannon leg?
#931612 by gumshoe
21 Jan 2017, 12:31
It's the same aircraft all the way but it doesn't have the range to fly to JFK non-stop so it has to refuel at SNN, where you deplane, pre-clear US customs & immigration and re-board.

When you get to JFK you're treated as a domestic passenger.
#931636 by RLF
21 Jan 2017, 20:07
I thought the issue was that the runway at London City is too short for a fully laden A318 to take off?

It does the return non stop.
#931638 by tontybear
21 Jan 2017, 20:41
RLF wrote:I thought the issue was that the runway at London City is too short for a fully laden A318 to take off?

It does the return non stop.


Yes the A318 that BA use has modified fuel tanks that would allow it to do LCY-JFK in one hop but because of the length of the LCY runway and the (very) steep take off (and landing) angle it isn't allowed to with full tanks. Hence the stop off at SNN where pre-clearance happens at the same time as the fuel top up and the flight deck crew swap over.
#931853 by catsilversword
25 Jan 2017, 11:41
I'm very tempted to book this route - it all sounds very civilised! Oddly enough though, I'm wondering what to do while there - the plan would be to spend 2 - 3 weeks US - side, but most or maybe all of that time not in NYC. Any thoughts or suggestions for where to go please????

What a numpty I am ;)
#931854 by gumshoe
25 Jan 2017, 11:47
In three weeks you could cover quite a bit of the US! Explore New England maybe, or even drive or take Amtrak coast to coast. The Zephyr from Chicago to (nearly) San Francisco is an amazing train ride.
#931857 by catsilversword
25 Jan 2017, 12:04
Interesting that you mention the train - it's something that's milling round my head. We've previously done NYC to Washington one way and Boston the other, but so far no further than that. So far....
#931860 by gumshoe
25 Jan 2017, 12:15
The long cross-country routes are a whole different ball game to the east coast commuter routes. Sleeper cars, lounge cars, dining cars, observation cars and guaranteed to meet interesting people. Got to be done!
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