When British Airways cancelled our 09:55 flight from Heathrow to JFK International Airport, New York, on July 27 2024, they gave us two options: a flight 10 minutes later with Oneworld partner AMERICAN AIRLINES, or another BA flight some 8 hours later.
From previous flights with American, we knew that despite the friendliness of the crew, the hospitality was not a patch on BA, but the prospect of having less time in New York made us go for the first option and fly with American.
The American Airlines app was great. It kept us updated throughout our time at Heathrow Airport, letting us know when our luggage was loaded on the airplane, which gate we were departing from and most intriguingly that our seats had changed from row 31 to row 18. At the gate, an agent confirmed that we had been upgraded from ‘Economy’ to ‘Premium Economy’ and jokingly said: “But only if you wanted!” as the flight was full.
We didn’t complain: we should have been sat, by choice, in a two-seater exit row with plenty of leg room (with the onus, under Federal Aviation Regulations, of verbally agreeing to operate the exit and help others in the event of an emergency) to being sat in a spacious middle row of four sets with an improved meal and drinks service.
Not long after the slightly late take-off, an early lunch was served at 11am. The drinks service was typical of American Airlines, with a reasonably good choice of wine, spirits and soft drinks.
The meal option was “chicken or vegetarian” - whatever that meant.
We were served:
🥗 Salad with L’Olivier balsamic vinaigrette
🐓 Chicken something (potatoes, onion, mushrooms, cream sauce)
🍰 White chocolate millionaire’s shortbread
🍞 Square Shaped Plain Bread roll with Irish butter
🧀 AG Table crackers with a portion of Laughing Cow cheese spread
The salad and main were tasty but the dessert was the highlight. We ditched the bread and crackers in an attempt to be less bloated. The salad was so crisp that when we bit into it, the vinaigrette dressing sprayed everywhere, resulting in a clean white t-shirt looking like a murder scene. How embarrassing. Thank goodness we weren’t on British Airways!
Our 777-300 jet whisked us at 567 mph over the Atlantic at 34,000 feet for some 3,500 miles. The outside temp was often -61.6°F. It was almost as cold on board, and the blankets came in handy.
At 3:42pm, when we were 80 minutes away from JFK, another meal was served:
🥗 A chilled couscous, chickpeas and hummus salad with a Villa Sereni extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing (eaten with great care, so no more stains)
🥖 Crosta & Mollica classic torinesi breadsticks
🍍 Melon, pineapple and fruit pieces
🍧 Lily O’Brien’s milk chocolate mousse with caramel sauce
Meals were served with crockery and stunted metal cutlery along with linen napkins, all part of the Premium Economy package. We wouldn’t have got this, sat manning the emergency exit!
The route took us east from Heathrow over the Republic of Ireland, then across the Atlantic pond to the northeast corner of Canada and then down the eastern seaboard. We even flew over Boston - our final destination after many miles travelling across New England!
For most of the flight the seat belt light was on and while the plane bobbed up and down and shook for a good while, the turbulence wasn’t uncomfortable.
We arrived at JFK at 5:06pm, some 50 minutes early. The 42 mph tailwind really must have helped!
🛫 Departure: 10:18am (BST)
🛬 Arrival: 5:06pm (BST) / 12:06pm (EST)
✈️ Flight length: 6hrs 48mins
Time from landing to:
🚶♂️ Deplaning: 14 mins
👮🏿♂️ Clearing immigration with Mobile Passport Control (MPC): 33 mins
🧳 Bags arriving at baggage claim: 48 mins
We then travelled from JFK to Manhattan in only 40 minutes and for only $10 each! Quite the bargain compared to a taxi costing $75 (for details, see separate blog >>>HERE).
We had arrived at New York City in comfort and our ‘Navigating New England’ vacation was off to a great start!
📌 AMERICAN AIRLINES, London Heathrow to JFK Int. Airport, New York
See all our American Airline photographs in a special album on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA
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