OV9

Delphi wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:25 am

tim wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:17 am I've just been booked on business class BA to Miami in december. It's on an A380 so I hope it's decent, given the cost (to someone else lol)

A380 is a brilliant plane. So quiet and smooth. Flew to New Zealand in one with Emirates and it was excellent.

Word. I flew twice to west coast USA - once on A380 and once on 787. There is no comparison. A380 was _leagues_ ahead on every metric. Noise, comfort, smoothness. Such a shame they're not made anymore.

I used to go to Des Moines in Iowa a lot with work in the “better than Economy but not Business Class” class and would get upgraded quite regularly.

I always appreciated it more on the way home than on the way out. Board, dinner, couple of whiskey and cokes and the sleep.

Simon wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:09 am

Delphi wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:25 am

tim wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:17 am I've just been booked on business class BA to Miami in december. It's on an A380 so I hope it's decent, given the cost (to someone else lol)

A380 is a brilliant plane. So quiet and smooth. Flew to New Zealand in one with Emirates and it was excellent.

Word. I flew twice to west coast USA - once on A380 and once on 787. There is no comparison. A380 was _leagues_ ahead on every metric. Noise, comfort, smoothness. Such a shame they're not made anymore.

Yep they are great - in my limited experience they also land very very smoothly for some reason! Maybe that’s the pilot but I noted it on two separate legs so expect the plane is involved too…

Do pilots even land anymore? I thought it’s all automated apart from on windy days?

dinny_g wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:28 am I used to go to Des Moines in Iowa a lot with work in the “better than Economy but not Business Class” class and would get upgraded quite regularly.

I always appreciated it more on the way home than on the way out. Board, dinner, couple of whiskey and cokes and the sleep.

Wife's just booked to go there on business as it happens. Apparently her client's standard is for all international flights to be Business Class. The ticket price was And apparently the entire team normally goes every 3mo. So that's where everyone's money is going

dinny_g wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:32 am Boring old 777 for us...

I'm flying Emirates to Sri Lanka on Saturday and it's 777's all the way. People seem to be ditching the A380's which is a shame as they're such a cool thing!

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:13 am
Wife's just booked to go there on business as it happens.

It’s an odd place really. People seem genuinely shocked that someone’s actually gone there…

I was visiting Agricultural Finance companies - John Deere and Agri Credit.

What brings her there??

dinny_g wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:48 am

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:13 am
Wife's just booked to go there on business as it happens.

It’s an odd place really. People seem genuinely shocked that someone’s actually gone there…

I was visiting Agricultural Finance companies - John Deere and Agri Credit.

What brings her there??

As Bill Bryson famously opened with - "I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."

I probably can't say too much, but a client of her company's is a US bank...

No that's cool - I get it.

Last time I went to New York we booked through Delta (because we'd cancelled a trip to Costa Rica with Delta and got vouchers) but we flew on virgin plane anyway.

For me, the flight is going to be the crap bit of any holiday, so I just accept it and book the best route/times rather than worrying about which airline. And it's over in 8-9 hours so who cares.

We've gone with BA this time (as a package), which happened to be way cheaper than all the standard package holiday companies like TUI. The plane was ok, nothing special but had a decent infotainment system and they kept the meals coming.