My Trip To New York – Day 1

Last month I went on a short trip to New York. I had a lot of fun and did loads of things when I was out there. I’m going to be doing loads of posts about my trip, this is going to be the first one.

So, I took a morning flight out of Heathrow to New York JFK. I really do like morning flights to America, because when you get there you have the whole day to do things. It’s around good 8 hours from London, so if you leave around 11am you will get there about 2 in the afternoon (because of the 5 hour time difference).

I was up nice and early ready to get my flight. For this trip I was flying British Airways Club World out of Heathrow Terminal 5. I do love to fly BA long haul as the service is always excellent. Plus I highly recommend their Club World (Business) and First. The only way you should fly long haul.

Now, the great thing about Club World and First is the separate check in. The Economy line is always really long and you can cut your wait down dramatically by using the separate Club World and First desks. Only if you are flying Club World and First of course. Some frequent flyer memberships may let you check in here too. Did I even mention that we get a luggage allowance of 32kg.

After a fairly pleasant check in I was ready to go through security and have a good look around the terminal. Terminal 5 is excellent for that pre flight shopping and there is always a good choice of places to eat too.

As a Club World passenger I was able to use their Galleries Lounge which is a great place to hang out before you get your flight. BA has three different lounges for their Club World and First passengers. Although First do get all choice of three. Club passengers get to use the Galleries lounge, while if you travel First you get to use the First lounge and the Concorde Room.

It was the morning, so breakfast items were available from the buffet. Helping myself to some toast, croissants and juice I was all set to fly.

My flight was supposed to leave at 11.20am but when I got to the gate I found there was a delay on it due to there being a problem with the air con onboard. They did tell everyone that engineers were working on it and the best thing to do was to just wait around. A short while later we had another update and were told it could be around 2 hours to repair. For us passengers who were able to, it was time to go and wait in the lounge.

BA also has another lounge located right by the departure gate, open to both Club World and First passengers. As I just chilled out in the lounge it became clearer that we were going to be waiting a lot longer than 2 hours. The delay actually turned out to be 7 hours because the engineers couldn’t fix the problem and another plane would be coming.

Being delayed 7 hours isn’t great, but if you must get delayed a long time the lounge is definitely the place to be. There was food, drink, free wi-fi and nice comfy armchairs to pass the time in. There really is no better place to be delayed at, than the Galleries Lounge at Heathrow.

So after a nice wait in Heathrow we were finally able to board the 747 to JFK. Once onboard I found I was sitting in seat 18A. This nice window seat was going to be my home for the next 8 hours.

Seat 18A in Club World

I was offered a pre takeoff drink of water, juice or champagne. Sitting back in my nice comfy sleeper seat I just sipped on my champagne and began to relax. Long haul in Club World is heaven and it is so comfy you don’t notice the time. You actually want to spend as long as possible on the flight.

In Club World you also get a proper menu where you can choose what you would like to eat and drink. The bar is also complimentary.

The flight was nice and short which is probably due to the fact as I slept most of the way. After watching a movie and having something to eat, I changed the seat into a full flat bed and pulled my duvet around me. When I woke up there was only an hour until landing. 6 foot recline sure feels good.

We landed in New York around 9pm. Getting through passport control was quick and easy, although waiting for my luggage did take the longest. Even the taxi line wasn’t even that long and I was in a cab in around 10 minutes.

So, my hotel for 3 nights was the Holiday Inn Lower East Side located on Delancey Street in Manhattan. The hotel is in a really good location. The Subway is just up the street and there are many shops and places to eat nearby. There was a Burger King just across the street. 7 Eleven was a few doors down along with a Dunkin Donuts Baskin Robbins, McDonalds and other shops too.

I must have gotten to the hotel around 11pm. My room was really nice too. There was plenty of storage space along with an in room safe, free wi fi and most importantly air con. A must for the hot weather that was in July. My bed was super comfy and I always got a good night sleep.

After checking in and unpacking I just decided to go and get something to eat in Burger King. I also went to the 7 Eleven and got myself some snacks and drinks for the room. Even though New York is a 24 hour city, I was so tired I didn’t really feel like going far. All I wanted to do was go to sleep.

As I was so tired, as soon as I got back to the room I just went to bed so I could be all ready for a full day tomorrow.