During my trip home to New York with British Airways after an excellent run of luck, I was once again bracing for airport chaos.
There was a short flight from London to New York JFK that I was able to take. I knew I needed a more realistic plan when travelers were experiencing airport chaos. It is possible to get a 65-minute connection at Heathrow. I pleaded my case to British Airways via a direct message on the social networking site, and after a few days, received a reply that confirmed a new set of flights with a five-hour-plus connection time and no fee to change.
I was flagged for the secondary security screening selection because I changed flights so close to my travel date. The British Airways website kept telling me that I was assigned SSSS because of a COVID-19 document check issue but without any documents to check, this designation just led to unnecessary angst as I was also unable to select seats for my journey.
The scene at the airport was disorganized and chaotic. The people were standing in lines with no idea what they were standing for.
I was handled in the Club Europe line in minutes after finding my way over to the correct counter.
I couldn't find the back of the security line with my boarding pass. I traced the line back to its beginning. The entire process at the airport was worse than it needed to be.
Standard security took hours, but Fast Track security only took 15 minutes.
I stopped at the airport lounge for a coffee and snack after I got through security.
The lounge has a good view of the aircraft ramp. The small gate hold room that non-Schengen flights get crammed into is something else.
All passengers made it through security in time for the flight because boarding began right on time.
The flight to London was operated by a two year old plane.
The middle seats were empty in the configuration. The seat was comfortable for less than two hours.
The power was not turned on until I asked the crew at the cruise to do so, just like my previous flight on Iberia. I don't know why IAG airlines don't have an "activate the outlets" procedure in place. People shouldn't have to flip the switch on flights.
Unlike my experience on Iberia, this meal was very disappointing. A piece of cheese was accompanied by some bread and side dishes.
Economy passengers looked to have a nice selection of buy on board items available in the.air portal, all of which could be ordered and purchased directly on their phones.
The hybrid S-band satellite/air-to-ground European Aviation Network was offered, but I once again passed because of the high prices. I changed the portal to reflect the cost in US dollars for thebrowse and stream pass.
British Airways is a tad on the high side of the spectrum when it comes to their wi-fi prices.
I decided to spend my time away from the terminal because of the lengthy wait for my flight to JFK. I looked at the situation in the immigration hall and noticed that the e-gates were working quickly. I got into the arrivals hall quickly.
The decision turned out to be the right one after I heard that the transfer security queue was over an hour.
The first leg of my journey home was as good as it gets these days, but only due to British Airways allowing me to change my flights to a more realistic connection. Fast Track access included in Club Europe's business class proved to be very beneficial at the airport.
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