elbarto
Established Member
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- Nov 8, 2010
- Posts
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A few weeks ago, while planning a trip to the US, I decided to burn a few thousand QF points and fly LCY-JFK on BA. BA flys an all J A318 out of London City with a tech stop in Shannon Ireland to refuel and pre-clear US Customs and Immigration.
After counting down the days until till departure and putting up with the stress of my travel companion being worried about our tickets not being issued in time, it was finally departure day (with tickets being issued of course).
Upon arrival to London City, we checked in our baggage and after some confusion about where the person who checks in the JFK flights was, we were issued boarding passes, bags tagged and headed off to security. Apparently the other check in agents at LCY weren't trained to check in JFK flight, which perplexed my travel companion who is a former check in agent for BA. Our bags, including hand luggage were all tagged with a special Club World London City tag, like this on:
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
The point of the tag is to apparently identify you at security for priority screening. All it did for me was earn me additional screening (probably because I haven't been to the US since 1991). But at LCY, it seems unnecessary as in all my experience at LCY security is over and done with pretty quick.
After spending a bit of time watching the tarmac action we headed to gate 24 which is used solely by the two daily flights to JFK. The lounge wasn't quite ready as there had been a fire alarm earlier in the morning, but we were allowed in anyway as we didn't mind that it wasn't completely ready. The gate is set up like a mini BA lounge with 32 seats for 32 passengers, which is all the A318 will carry. There are a few snacks and drinks, but nothing as comprehensive as the BA lounges at LHR. A server came around and took orders for drinks and later on came around offering hot snacks.
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
My Coffee
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
Hot Snacks
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
G-EUNB which would take us across the Atlantic today
Eventually it was time to board. As there are no bridges at City, it was time for a quick dash across the tarmac and up the stairs. As there were only 29 passengers on our flight the boarding process was over and don with quickly.
After a rocket fast take off from LCY, we headed towards SNN where we would refuel and clear US Customs. The flight to SNN takes about 1 hour, and orders for lunch are taken and the first course of the lunch menu is served. The menu showed two options, but when the crew came to serve us, there second option wasn't offered or even mentioned.
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
Appetiser of Smoked Trout and Potato Salad.
The other option was a curried aubergine tart. In trip reports I had read prior to this trip, the absence of a second appetiser, despite listing it in the menu is a common thing.
The flight over to SNN was quite bumpy, it was a windy day in London so the seatbelt sign was left on for a long time. But landing into SNN was uneventfly and we quickly taxied into the stand where we disembarked along with all our belongings and told to follow the blue line to US customs. Upon reaching the entrance, which looks like this:
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
Passengers who have checked baggage are asked to wait while passengers who have hand luggage only and sent on for processing. After about a 10 minute wait those of us who had checked luggage are asked to head into the customs hall where we undergo a what seems like a half-coughd security check. Shoes and bags are scanned, but no going through the metal detector. What they're looking for, I'm not sure. Since there are so few passengers and we're processed in two groups the four officers on duty get through us in no time. After exiting the customs hall we go back out into a waiting area where there is a special BA styled lounge setup, which incidentally no one was using.
Pt 2 follows
After counting down the days until till departure and putting up with the stress of my travel companion being worried about our tickets not being issued in time, it was finally departure day (with tickets being issued of course).
Upon arrival to London City, we checked in our baggage and after some confusion about where the person who checks in the JFK flights was, we were issued boarding passes, bags tagged and headed off to security. Apparently the other check in agents at LCY weren't trained to check in JFK flight, which perplexed my travel companion who is a former check in agent for BA. Our bags, including hand luggage were all tagged with a special Club World London City tag, like this on:
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
The point of the tag is to apparently identify you at security for priority screening. All it did for me was earn me additional screening (probably because I haven't been to the US since 1991). But at LCY, it seems unnecessary as in all my experience at LCY security is over and done with pretty quick.
After spending a bit of time watching the tarmac action we headed to gate 24 which is used solely by the two daily flights to JFK. The lounge wasn't quite ready as there had been a fire alarm earlier in the morning, but we were allowed in anyway as we didn't mind that it wasn't completely ready. The gate is set up like a mini BA lounge with 32 seats for 32 passengers, which is all the A318 will carry. There are a few snacks and drinks, but nothing as comprehensive as the BA lounges at LHR. A server came around and took orders for drinks and later on came around offering hot snacks.
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
My Coffee
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
Hot Snacks
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
G-EUNB which would take us across the Atlantic today
Eventually it was time to board. As there are no bridges at City, it was time for a quick dash across the tarmac and up the stairs. As there were only 29 passengers on our flight the boarding process was over and don with quickly.
After a rocket fast take off from LCY, we headed towards SNN where we would refuel and clear US Customs. The flight to SNN takes about 1 hour, and orders for lunch are taken and the first course of the lunch menu is served. The menu showed two options, but when the crew came to serve us, there second option wasn't offered or even mentioned.
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
Appetiser of Smoked Trout and Potato Salad.
The other option was a curried aubergine tart. In trip reports I had read prior to this trip, the absence of a second appetiser, despite listing it in the menu is a common thing.
The flight over to SNN was quite bumpy, it was a windy day in London so the seatbelt sign was left on for a long time. But landing into SNN was uneventfly and we quickly taxied into the stand where we disembarked along with all our belongings and told to follow the blue line to US customs. Upon reaching the entrance, which looks like this:
Club World | London City by JonoFromCBR, on Flickr
Passengers who have checked baggage are asked to wait while passengers who have hand luggage only and sent on for processing. After about a 10 minute wait those of us who had checked luggage are asked to head into the customs hall where we undergo a what seems like a half-coughd security check. Shoes and bags are scanned, but no going through the metal detector. What they're looking for, I'm not sure. Since there are so few passengers and we're processed in two groups the four officers on duty get through us in no time. After exiting the customs hall we go back out into a waiting area where there is a special BA styled lounge setup, which incidentally no one was using.
Pt 2 follows
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