How to identify BA's mixed fleet cabin crew: they smile

You may remember the saga. First we were die hard British Airways haters. Then a flight to Vegas changed all that. It was our first experience of BA’s new mixed fleet (in operation for a year now) and boy, did it make a difference. We were entranced. Was it a one off? We prayed not.

Our return flight from Vegas had just as nice a crew (a full review on that another time). But we wanted to wait until we’d taken a couple more flights until we declared an official crush on the new mixed fleet. Now, though, since our trip to Budapest last weekend, we've seen enough to declare ourselves: British Airways appears to have transformed under the mixed fleet crews.

Staff are friendly, smiley. They give the impression of wanting to help you. They give the impression that they are happy to be on board, and that they actually like each other. They are as far away from the dour crew of old as Rick Perry was from knowing his government agencies. They are great. So because they’re great, we’ve got the lowdown on them. Here’s your mixed fleet 101. ]]> juliab 2012-01-27T15:17:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/18/15235/1152

You might remember our surprise (understatement: we nearly had a stroke with shock) when we flew British Airways from Heathrow to Vegas on Christmas Eve, and were confronted, instead of the usual sullen frowns and can’t-do mentality, by smiles, extra booze, cheery greetings and an atmosphere that didn’t send us screaming for the emergency exit handle.

Back then, we told you about the crew, and promised more on the flight later. Sorry about that&3151;it’s taken three weeks to process the shock of a pleasant BA flight. But anyways. Did the flight-our first longhaul in BA economy for a couple of years-live up to the crew? Let’s see. ]]> juliab 2012-01-19T10:06:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/4/13216/43306
A snow-covered part of the Grand Canyon

”Why are you flying to Albuquerque?” were the words on most people’s lips last week when we told them we were cutting short a trip to Vegas to hit New Mexico.

Why Albuquerque? Well, to start with, for the flight—one of the most spectacular ones we’ve ever been on.

From Las Vegas to Albuquerque we were looking south, and got a prime view of the snow-covered high desert, mountains and miniscule trees poking out of the snow. All very beautiful, except we heard the pilot announce that “on the left, you’ll see the Grand Canyon.”

So on the way back, we swapped sides to face north, and were greeted by snow-covered mountains, snow-covered plains…and then, yeah, the Grand Canyon. We flew pretty much all the way along the Grand Canyon—from 40,000 feet we picked out the famous South Rim, less famous North Rim and, we think, possibly the West Rim, too (though we didn’t see the Skywalk). ]]> juliab 2012-01-04T15:23:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/2/141650/1632
Comedy hats and smiles. Two things you don't normally expect to see British Airways staff wearing

When we told people last week we were flying British Airways from Las Vegas to London overnight on New Year’s Eve, they were aghast. Why weren’t we partying? Why were we flying alone? Why were we leaving Vegas on the best night to be in Vegas?

We told them they were wrong on several counts. First, NYE in Vegas is horrendo, period. Second, after the Christmas Eve mini party we experienced on our flight out, we suspected the return journey could actually be fun. Thirdly—since there are few things we enjoy less than forced festivity—the idea of spending NYE at 40,000ft watching crappy movies was highly appealing.

And fourth, we coolly assumed we’d fly past loads of fireworks and cross so many timezones that we’d witness the year turning about six times before we reached London.

So how was it? ]]> juliab 2012-01-02T17:03:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/28/132111/29

Oh hai Christmas flight attendants, you look fun! You also look like you're in the wrong uniform. That nail varnish, lipstick, smiley faces, santa hats indicative of a fun disposition...you belong on Virgin Atlantic, right?

Wrong, because, and you may need to sit down for this, we snapped this on our Christmas Eve flight from London-Heathrow to Las Vegas on British Airways. Yes, BA of the grouchy staff who fling inedible food at you and snap if you dare to ask for so much as an extra glass of water. But these British Airways FAs were different—oh so different. In fact, they were the highlight of the flight.]]> juliab 2011-12-28T15:35:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/27/16363/712

You may remember we told you a little while back about a rather underwhelming experience in Virgin Atlantic's economy class from London to Vegas. Luckily, we're pleased to report the food was much, much better.

First, a bit of background. This member of Jaunted is not a fan of airline food—even in business class. We were also seriously unimpressed with the meals consumed in premium economy a couple of years back, with the exception of a recent excellent Full English Breakfast. Alas, we still didn't have much hope for economy.

But what do you know...for economy, it was actually very decent.]]> juliab 2011-11-28T16:35:51-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/13/33950/4078

Every frequent flyer worth his or her salt has a history of how-I-got-my-upgrade stories. We've got another one to throw on the pile, but it's also a cautionary tale for the next time you think you can swing a comfy seat at the very last minute.

Picture this: it's morning in Las Vegas and after a few days of taking care of business in Sin City and enjoying the nightlife, we've not slept and are facing three flights over a span of 20 hours to reach Southeast Asia, all in Economy. On top of it, we've got to spend at least a solid three hours working on our laptop on the flights. What to do?

Using the check-in kiosk as Las Vegas-McCarran, United popped up a sweet offer: Upgrade to Business Class for an extra $619? We'd already upgraded to Economy Plus for one leg, and were impatient to check in, so we turned down the offer and zipped through security to the gate. By then, the upgrade was looking pretty good and since United hadn't asked for any miles in addition to the money, it became a serious option. It's not like we'd have many United MileagePlus miles to offer anyway; we're not huge United flyers in general (though we do love us some Star Alliance). ]]> JetSetCD 2011-09-13T08:35:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/