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2022 US Trip – Day 25 (Chicago – American Airlines Flagship Lounge)
This was my second visit to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge, as I had visited on day 13 of my trip, and I was very excited to be back. I was one of the first to enter the lounge for the day and was given my special card to use to be allowed onto this luxury floor. I must warn my two loyal readers that there is quite a lot of mention of food in this post.

First it was time for a quick shower in one of their decadent bathrooms. I had to be smart for a decent lounge like this.

Then I got some pick and mix to go along with my welcome drink of a mimosa. What a time to be alive….

This was just what I needed after a week of excess in Las Vegas. I say excess, it was hardly the Hangover movie, but there we go.

This is pretty much the perfect breakfast for me.

I can still remember this plate of food, pure luxury. I didn’t sit far from the food. I was quite amused that a staff member went on for some time that the omelettes were coming soon as the chef was coming out to make them. She told everyone where they’d need to queue and explained it was best to get in first before the wait. I’m not really an omelette person so I focused on devouring capers and chorizo, but I thought that I’d watch the rush and the countdown for opening. Let’s just say that the rush wasn’t quite what the staff member expected. The chef came out, there was no-one there and they went back into the kitchen.

Note that the Americans can cook bacon, all crispy and the fat burnt off, which is the correct way of serving it as far as I’m concerned. My breakfast was all about the cold selection, but there was no shortage of choice here for those who wanted it.

I had seven hours in this lounge, so a lot of it was spent with my laptop whilst occasionally gazing out onto the tarmac.

And it wasn’t always raining.

The boardroom area.

One of the many quieter seating areas and I think this was the easiest lounge I’ve been to in terms of finding a plug to charge my devices at.

The cinema room.

I fell a bit asleep in the cinema room and a staff member came over when I was slightly awake, I initially thought to complain at me. Sleeping in lounges is a bit controversial, as is evident from the latest discussion about the matter on the BA forum of Flyertalk. However, she wasn’t complaining at all, she wanted to let me know that they had these sleeping areas if I would prefer that. I did.

After my little nap I thought I’d better check the beer selection in the lounge and there were around five craft beer options. This was certainly one of the better efforts that I’ve seen in any airport lounge and although I don’t really drink wine, there looked like an extensive range of those as well.

And then the cakes, as it was starting to get to lunchtime.

For anyone interested, they were delicious.

It’s important to stay hydrated.

And before I knew it, I was ready for lunch and the menus were switched to excite me.

The chicken and prawn dishes were very moreish.

Note the vegetables nearly covering my plate.

A post meal snack and beer.

I sat here pondering that I could happily live in this lounge for a couple of days, or, at a push, around ten months.

Not long before my flight, so I thought I’d better have a final snack.

I changed my mind and thought I’d better have another final snack. I don’t get to go to Flagship lounges very often.

I thought that this looked exciting, but it seems to just be a cargo aircraft.

With that, it was time to leave. It’s fair to say that I’d had a quite marvellous time. I was here on my silver status from BA that I got back in January 2019, with the flight I was about to take costing $9 and some Avios. I’m not sure that BA have made much on me to be honest. With regards to this lounge, it’s one of the finest going and American Airlines should be very proud of it.
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December 27, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 25 (Las Vegas Harry Reid to Chicago O’Hare with Spirit Airlines)
I’m really not sure there can be many other cities in the world where the departure gate is packed with these machines crammed in between the seating areas. I was just pleased though that my flight was going as scheduled as it would have caused problems with my itinerary if it had been cancelled or delayed, but all was going to plan. The boarding process was a bit muddled and something of a free for all, which I didn’t quite understand why as there was assigned seating and there’s no problem with getting space for bags in the overhead lockers due to how Spirit charge. I just hung back and waited for the rush to dissipate.

I didn’t pay to pick a seat, but I was randomly allocated a window seat and that suited me fine to have a last look at Las Vegas. I put my backpack in the seat in front of me and there were no issues with having sufficient space or the size of my bag being queried.

These aren’t very clear photos as the window was quite scuffed, but 100 years there was just about nothing here other than a desert floor and likely thousands of snakes prowling around. Today, it looks like this. After watching Las Vegas go by I then fell asleep for most of the flight as there’s not much else to look at in the dark.

This was the best photo that I could get of the aircraft at O’Hare airport after departing. It was another smooth flight, everything was on time, the crew were friendly and they were selling plenty of food and drink to passengers from what I could gather during the brief times that I was awake. For the price paid, I was suitably impressed with my first two flights with Spirit and I’d use them again if I’m back in the United States. I was also surprised and delighted that the arrivals gate was just a two minute walk to the American Airline Flagship lounge. As this was a red eye flight I was pleased not to have to navigate anything complex and it feel strange not having to go through the security process again at O’Hare due to how American airports work.
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December 27, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 25 (American Airlines – Chicago O’Hare to New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport in Main Cabin Extra)
After a pleasant several hour long visit to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge I was pleased to note that the gate area for the flight to New Orleans was spacious and comfortable. The flight was leaving on time and was expected to get into New Orleans at just after 19:00 and as a spoiler, I’m pleased to say that it did with no delays. It had been a relaxing day and I thought quite productive (not just in terms of eating through their menu), but I was getting quite tired by this point despite my little nap in the lounge.

I was able to get an emergency exit row seat, although was sitting in the middle, which I had picked as I realised that there’s something called Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines that had nearly entirely passed me by. These are the seats with extra legroom and also free drinks, and this is an upgrade that can be paid for, but which also comes free with the Silver status that I had with British Airways at the time (now gone I’m sad to report…..).

I boarded fairly early and put my bag into the overhead lockers, a process which is less time consuming than with British Airlines short-haul where it’s like watching a complex game of Jenga as bags are moved in and out. And there’s usually one passenger that tries to fit a bag into the overheads that simply cannot physically fit. It’s entertainment for a while watching the arrangement and seeing the exasperated, but yet ever so polite, looks of the cabin crew. Boarding on American Airlines was efficient and the crew were offering a positively upbeat welcome, it was all very agreeable.

Despite having read up on the arrangement, I still wasn’t entirely sure what I could get on Main Cabin Extra and I was disappointed when the lady seated to the left of me ordered a water. I was hoping to see if she got her drink for free, but as she asked for water then that told me nothing. I asked the crew member if I could get an alcoholic drink and he said that was what I had paid extra for and I most certainly could. I picked the Goose Island IPA which gave me fond memories of my brewery tour in Chicago and that came with a little biscuit snack as well. The lady to my left then said she hadn’t realised she got a free drink, which the man on my right then repeated, leading to a confused crew member as to why three of us had paid for this upgrade that we didn’t understand. In reality, I suspect that the other two just wanted an emergency exit row seat, whereas I was just getting the best free seat that I could.

That’s the best photo that I could get of the A319 aircraft after disembarking. The air bridges make it difficult to get photos, at least with budget airlines they make you walk to the airport terminal which gives an opportunity to take a photo of the aircraft.

And safely into New Orleans airport. I was only planning to be here for two evenings and just one full day because I wanted to visit the national World War II museum. I had missed it on my previous trips to New Orleans as I didn’t have time, but I was determined on this occasion to not just visit, but to make sure that I had sufficient time to see everything. This was my third and final American Airlines flight of this trip and all of them met or exceeded my expectations.
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December 25, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 17 (Chicago O’Hare to Las Vegas Harry Reid with Spirit Airlines)
This was the section of my trip that had been messed around a little and so my planned trip by train from Chicago to New Orleans had to be cancelled. That was because a strike was going to be called by staff from the company who own the rail track, meaning that Amtrak were making arrangements to cancel some of their services. They pro-actively cancelled the first train segment and when I asked them on-line they kindly offered to refund the other segments in the itinerary. I was staying at cities such as Carbondale and Jackson, but given the water problems that the latter city has had recently, perhaps that was for the best. That mean I had a gap of one week and after rooting around on-line for some destinations, the cheapest flight was a return from Chicago to Las Vegas with Spirit Airlines. I do like Las Vegas, tacky as it might be, so that’s where I was heading once again.

In the above photo the gate for another destination is still open. A few minutes after it closed a man and his wife (or I assume it was his wife) turned up and realised that their flight details weren’t on the screens. Another customer told them they had missed their flight, but the man wasn’t believing it. He went hunting for staff whilst the wife looked on rather annoyed at the whole arrangement. He wasn’t best pleased at the whole situation when he couldn’t find any staff at the shut gate, so he went through the secure doors, although was soon ushered out. He then made some demands about stopping the plane. They didn’t. His wife then went from annoyed to bloody furious, so there was some entertainment then for the assembled masses who were going to Las Vegas. They trooped off just as the Las Vegas flight was going to board, I had wondered for a moment whether he had deliberately missed his flight so he could go to Sin City instead, but seemingly not.

The boarding area isn’t quite as decadent and plush as American Airlines, but everything is functional and clearly signed. I had a cheap seat on the aircraft meaning that I was pretty much the last to board. I hadn’t paid for seat selection, but was pleased that I was given an aisle seat anyway, which is my preferred choice. Incidentally, there are strict limits on luggage and you’re only able to take a small bag on Spirit. However, like all these budget airlines, they seemed entirely happy with my backpack and I was content to put that under the seat in front of me.

Safely seated and ready for the off. Note that there was plenty of overhead space available, that’s a result of not allowing any large bags in the cabin without charging for them. It was a smooth boarding arrangement, but budget airlines do like to keep their turnaround times as minimal as posible.

As the safety card states, the aircraft was an Airbus A320. I fell asleep for a chunk of the flight as is my usual way, testament though to there being no disruption on board. The flight landed on time, the crew were friendly and the pilots made useful and appropriate announcements. Even with the horrendous exchange rate when I booked this flight, it was still only £50 each way which I thought was very reasonable for a late booking. There was a trolley which went down the aisle (not on its own, crew were pushing it) selling food and drink to customers and although the prices were a little expensive, they were selling a fair amount.

It’s always good to be back in Las Vegas. As an aside, I was initially concerned that Spirit were going to fly me to an airport I didn’t know, as instead of seeing McCarran Airport on the ticket as I was used to, it was Pat Reid Airport. This is a change since I last visited the city, they renamed the airport in December 2021 as McCarran had made anti-Semitic and racist statements whilst he was alive and it was thought things needed to be amended. Reid died at the age of 82 just a couple of weeks after the airport renaming, it must be a proud moment to know that you’ve had a major transportation hub named after you.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 17 (Chicago O’Hare : Flying With Spirit)
Most of my flights in the United States have been with American Airlines and note their clear and comprehensive screens.

I was flying Spirit and it was slightly tricky to even find their slightly less decadent screens. But more on this flight shortly…. Oh, the anticipation.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 13 (American Airlines’s Admirals Club at Charlotte Douglas Airport)
As previously mentioned, I was at Charlotte Airport with five hours until my flight whilst pondering whether the aircraft to Chicago would take-off given that Hurricane Ian was hitting the terminal. It was much weaker than when it was in Florida and South Carolina, but I was conscious early on that flights were starting to be cancelled and passengers were starting to leave the lounge to go home or make different plans.

Whatever happened, I intended to be well fed. That’s actually the story of my life I think, but there we go. This is the breakfast selection and I’d note here that the welcome at the entrance to the lounge was warm and friendly, it all felt an inviting location. I sat at a table with a power supply, so I had food, drink, electricity and wi-fi. What a time to be alive!

The hot food selection.

Bacon bits. Bloody delicious. I had a lot of these.

I was annoyed when the bacon bits ran out and the lunchtime selection was put out.

This is very American Airlines. Indeed, I’m delighted to hear that their lounge at Heathrow T3 has just reopened, as they have pick and mix there. Proper food.

I understand that I likely caused huge distress and concern by checking into Untappd with Miller Lite. However, this was the only beer that was free of charge, so not being made of money, I decided it would have to suffice. I felt a little sorry for the staff member behind the bar, she had to warn customer after customer that they’d have to pay for their choice. Many already knew, some didn’t care and some were disappointed or annoyed. This is the problem that American Airlines have, they have so many status passengers that they have to draw the line somewhere. However, more on this and how it impacts positively on those of us with BA status (although I’d add mine is about to run out at the end of 2022, but that’s another story).

Things were looking better outside, the rain was easing off.

I posted this in my previous post, but this was the state of the airport. My flight was still departing on time, the flight Gods were looking down on me positively. As for the lounge, I enjoyed my time there, with friendly staff, a clean environment and plenty of food. Maybe they could be more generous with their free alcohol offerings, but I wasn’t unhappy with what they offered and I can imagine there must be financial limitations on what they can do.

Apparently it’s possibly to buy a day pass for $59, which at the moment is about £50 and I think that’s a little excessive. However, the lounge was spacious with two separate wings, one each side of the main entrance. I got entrance with my BA status and my flight was already very cheap, so I left feeling that I had received very good value for the small amount that I had paid. Most of all, I was just pleased that my travel plans weren’t impacted as I didn’t have much slack in the rather fierce itinerary that I had given myself.
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November 30, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 13 (American Airlines – Charlotte to Chicago O’Hare)
After several hours in the lounge, I was pleased that my flight to Chicago O’Hare was taking off on time given the situation with Hurricane Ian. Incidentally, I paid £4.30 and 7,000 Avios points for this flight which I thought was very good value for money, the redemption on internal US flights is generous especially as I had so many Avios from previous trips with BA.

Here’s a photo of a corridor. OK, I’m running a little short of photos for this post. I can’t remember why I took this photo either.

My BA status meant that I was one of the first to board the aircraft. Wooooo. I’d add here, in case anyone thinks this is a bit decadent, that I managed to secure BA silver status back in January 2019 by a series of cheap flights to Malta, I’ve been living off that ever since…. I’m slightly sad to say it’ll end (temporarily) in December 2022.

Nice out.

I really enjoy internal US flights, as although it’s not as good as train travel with Amtrak, it’s quite relaxing to gaze out over the country.

The weather got better as we neared Chicago, but the pilot never turned off the seatbelt sign. The crew also remained seated and there was no service offered during the flight, the weather conditions just didn’t allow it.

We sat on the tarmac for around thirty minutes after landing at Chicago O’Hare and I looked longingly at the British Airways aircraft. I don’t know why as I didn’t want to get on it, it’s just reassuring in its own way. As a flight, all was comfortable with American Airlines and I was pleased that I had arrived into Chicago on time. What could possibly go wrong…. (more to be revealed in later posts)
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November 30, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 13 (Chicago – American Airlines Flagship Lounge)
Having safely arrived at Chicago O’Hare airport I remembered something that I had read on Flyertalk, which is that American Airlines allow access into their lounges to departing and arriving passengers. I’m not used to this set-up, not least as in most European airports they don’t allow departing and arriving passengers to mix at all. But, nothing ventured and nothing gained. Although that sentiment can be reversed to be nothing ventured, but still the potential to be refused and look an idiot.

Anyway, despite the potential downsides, I thought that I’d visit the lounge and see what they said, with a friendly and helpful man at the desk saying that I was absolutely allowed to enter and not just that, I could visit the floor with the Flagship Lounge. Very lovely. It’s also quite exciting as they then press the button on the elevator and then a staff member already waiting on the second floor takes the card and offers a formal introduction to the lounge.

I’m going to come back to this lounge again as I had a much longer visit later on during this trip, but since I liked it so much, there can be two posts. Here’s the dining menu which was rather decadent and I liked the attempt to use local suppliers where possible. I was quite impressed at how neatly the cutlery was arranged and even how posh the napkins were. I thought it was all a bit too decadent for me, but it’s important to embrace these things, especially when they’re free.

It’s all self-service as part of a buffet arrangement, here’s the cold selection.

And the hot selection.

This was a rather lovely welcome back to Chicago and not one that I had really expected. I had been carrying the champagne they gave me at reception around the lounge not really knowing why I had accepted it as I’m more of a beer person, but I wasn’t going to let it be wasted. I had found a bottle of Samuel Adams Octoberfest, a new beer to me, to complement my prawns, thin little carrots (I don’t know what the technical term is) and roast potatoes.

Being somewhat uncouth and primitive, I have a habit of eating food with my hands, not least because chicken strips, burgers and pizzas are all best consumed in that manner. The food here was suitably upmarket for that to be rather difficult, it’s quite hard to use my fingers to eat a ceviche in a couth manner. What with the surroundings being spotlessly clean, the ambience feeling inviting, the food and drink being plentiful and finding it necessary to use a knife and fork, this was the little treat that I needed.

I took the time to charge up my devices to face the wild outside that was Chicago and then a second beer before I thought that I really must go and find my hotel. And that proved to be more of an adventure than I had anticipated, much more of an adventure…..
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November 30, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (BA Flight from Heathrow to Dublin)

The sun shines through the terminal windows at T5 lighting up the delights of Gate A9, which was fortunately not the bus gate (which is A10). The boarding process was all orderly and no-one stood in front of the queueing area, which made things much easier for the staff. Although the flight is to Dublin, this is effectively a domestic flight for purposes of border security, the staff don’t need to check passports at the gate, it’s just a photo image they take and that’s an automated process.

I boarded early, but the flight transpired to be relatively busy. It’s aircraft G-EUOF, an Airbus A319 which British Airways have had since October 2001. They really get their money’s worth from these aircraft, it’s doing six flights today, from Geneva to Heathrow, from Heathrow to Dublin, from Dublin to Heathrow, from Heathrow to Madrid, from Madrid to Heathrow and from Heathrow to Amsterdam.

My exit row seat, with the middle seat not being filled on the flight. I fell asleep soon after boarding, fortunately waking just as they handed out the water and cereal bar (which are still in my bag) before having another little sleep. Very restful. This is the big advantage in British Airways over Ryanair or WizzAir, who bang and clank down the aisle trying to sell things. It’s not the fault of the hard-working crew at these airlines, just the model in which they have to work. It was the usual professionally operated flight, the pilots were reassuring and gave useful announcements, whilst the crew were endlessly polite and efficient.

Safely in Dublin, arriving around five minutes early.

There are only six Play aircraft, the relatively new budget airline which operates from Iceland.

The border control process at Dublin is easy for UK passport holders. They do no checks on the passport on their computers, they just check that it’s a UK passport and that the image looks like the passenger in front of them. I think I was at the desk for around three seconds, it was almost as good as being in Schengen, not that that’s looking likely for the UK in the next few decades.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (BA Galleries South Lounge Heathrow T5)

Liam’s impressive timing meant that I got to the airport at a perfect time, not too early (my usual style) and not too late (his usual style). I arrived at the Heathrow T5 BA lounge complex at 04:59, one minute before it opened. Very handy.

I was the first person into Galleries South lounge, that’s never happened before. I can’t claim it’s something that I should get a badge for, but it did let me get some photos without other passengers cluttering them up. This is the main food area in this photo where they were laying out breakfast.

One of the seating areas, this one is just behind where passengers enter the lounge. These lounges do sprawl and there are three of these Galleries Lounges for BA customers at T5, two in the main terminal and one at B Gates (plus the First Class Lounge and the Concorde Room, which are too decadent for me).

The seating area at the end of the lounge which overlooks south security, with the cinema room off to the right.

And my favourite seating area, high chairs and power points, very convenient for my laptop arrangement.

Another photo at the back of the lounge. You used to be able to overlook security until they put that sea of grey over the windows, which is understandable, but I did used to like watching it.

One of the coffee stations and sets of beer fridges, where I was pleased to see that Brewdog Jet Stream was available. I had a few espressos to wake me up, although I’m not sure that they worked that well.

The cinema room.

I only had one beer as it was a bit early. I was pleased to see that the lounge had burnt the bacon, which is good as that’s just how I like it. Those sausage patties are very moreish as well. The BA food offering has definitely improved recently at this lounge (and non burnt bacon was also available).

Some healthy eating. Along with some grapes.

Anyway, my three hours in the lounge was very productive, although I was a little sleepy. The lounge was starting to get very busy when I left, so I was pleased with my timing.

I’ve photographed this before, but it’s just an iconic image and so I thought I’d have another image of it.

September 18, 2022