4 Airlines, 3 Cities, 2 Wonders (USA on SQ, VS, VX and B6)

[yflyer]

Maybe it's just me, but I find the whole concept of having touchscreen IFE not very well thought out. The obvious issue with fingerprints but also having to press against the seat. With an unresponsive screen, it could be rather annoying for the person in front. Or someone trying to play a game...

The touchscreens on the Qantas A380 work quite well. After a few QF flights, I found myself touching the screen when flying SQ and using Krisworld too...

[ycp81]

At the gate.




Soon, boarding was completed and the purser welcomed everyone onboard, as well as announcing the total number of passengers, which I recalled was around 220pax. Flight time was stated to be a short 7hrs instead of the scheduled 8hr10m.


Had a very long pushback while the entertaining safety video was played. The SQ aircraft that I flew into LHR on could also be spotted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTd3DHS-0dw


Started the short taxi to Rwy09R, passing lots of BAs during taxi.




BA Land at T5.




Takeoff from Rwy09R......not....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EpmNDf3Ywg


Apparently there was a small administrative issue with the tallying of bag numbers vs passengers onboard, but this was resolved rapidly. However we had to wait for another 10-15min on the taxiway for a takeoff slot again.


SAS MD80 passing by while we were waiting for takeoff clearance again.




Off we go again, this time successful! However we were 30min behind schedule by then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEno38ARLic


Climbing through the clouds.




Service started, first with the distribution of headphones. There is also a "Change for children" donation envelope within the headphone pack to support VS's charity work, with any donations encouraged in the envelopes and to be passed to any cabin crew upon disembarkation.




This was followed by the distribution of menus. Yes, VS is one of the few airlines which still provide menus in Economy Class, even though it is only a card.




What is on offer for today's flight? 3 choices offered for mains, including a vegetarian choice!




The sun has begun to set. We would be chasing the sunset for almost the entire flight! Longest sunset ever witnessed.




A bar service was first offered. My aisle was manned by 2 male attendants. They were casual and friendly, but nothing exceptional. Not a problem with me as long as they still provide the expected service.




Was given a pack of delicious pretzels and selection of drinks from the bar. We both went for the speciality cocktail without alcohol. According to the crew, it is a mixture of cranberry and orange juices. Tasted fine to me.




Drinks were served in a fanciful but of good quality purple plastic cup.

[ycp81]

Started with a movie. IFE movie selections on Virgin's Vera are not bad and comparable to SQ's Krisworld, but SQ is better on the Asian and European movies. Guess this is due to the 2 airlines' vastly different route network.




Shortly after, the meal and drinks cart were rolled out. A crew member would be distributing meals while another would be following behind with drinks.




The meal tray with a salad, main, roll with butter and a cutlery pack.




All laid out with cool purple plastic cutlery used. Dessert would be served separately with coffee/tea. I had a diet Pepsi to go with my meal.




A simple salad and unheated roll.




I had the Minced beef with herb breadcrumb topping, mixed vegetables and potatoes. Not too inspiring and portion of beef is rather small.




My partner chose the Diced chicken with cheese and leek sauce, garlic and thyme potatoes and creamed spinach. This tasted slightly better but portion is again not too generous. Luckily we were not too hungry as our minds were screaming "Bedtime!!".




Nicely designed salt/pepper sachets.




After the meal trays were cleared, 'Gu' dessert was served along with coffee/tea. Today's Gu selection was a Black Forest Mini Pud/ I also had a tea to go along. Tea was served in a "Slurp" designed paper cup.




The 'Gu' dessert was what a dessert should be. Sweet, sinful and satisfying! One of the best desserts ever had on a plane! Yummy!!




The sun is still setting.




Visit to the lavatory. It was basic, with nothing more than the necessary.

[Desert Traveller]

[...]



[...]

What were you watching?

[ycp81]

What were you watching?

Haha, a R18 comedy "For a Good Time, Call...". A film that would probably never be shown on SQ

[ycp81]

A view of the cabin.




By the time I have finished my movie, we were almost halfway across the pond.




4.5hrs to go.




The still setting sun. By this time, fatigue has caught up with us and we decided to sleep the rest of the flight away. Guess we missed the mid-flight ice-cream service that Virgin offers. Snacks, such as chips and chocolates, were available for purchase if you want a bit more.




Slept for almost 3hrs and when the glancing out the window, the sky was still in its last moments of sunset. We were then somewhere over the cold Canadian soil.




An snack, supposed "High Tea", was served slightly more than an hour prior to landing. It came in a cardboard box.




The snack consists of cheese and onion sandwich and a Great British cupcake.




The cheese and red onion finger sandwiches were cold and unmemorable.




But the Great British cupcake was really yummy!! A really nice sweet treat!! Wished I could have a couple more of it!




Had another tea along with the snack.




Just passing Boston when the pilot came on and gave the arrival information.




Seemed like VS's adopted some of the "practices" of its previous major shareholder. The cabin was secured for landing, seat upright, headsets returned, and even blankets have to be tucked away behind you, all 30min before landing!! Now who's more "safety conscious"?!

[ycp81]

As there was a storm brewing and heading towards New York area, winds were rather strong, making a very interesting landing. Throughout the entire approach, passengers in the plane were entirely silent while we felt the plane swerving left and right and engines spooling up and down in total darkness. Finally. the skillful pilots made a rather smooth landing onto Rwy04R, half hour ahead of schedule thanks to the weak headwinds. Even the crew remarked that JFK is "seriously windy" during his arrival announcement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxO4jVg3mm0


Parked at Terminal 4.




My seat for the last 7.5hrs. Legroom is good but seat cushion is a bit hard.




Waiting to disembark. A bit of a wait here as only one aerobridge was in use.




Legroom is not that great at the normal rows.




Premium Economy seats.




As there were no other arrival flights at this time, the immigration hall was almost deserted! Luggage was also out quickly and customs just looked at our forms and waved us on. In fact, we only took less than 20min from stepping out of the aircraft to clearing customs! Must be quite a record for an international arrival at a US airport!

Thoughts on my first ever Virgin Atlantic flight? Acceptable but not exceptionally great. Guess being pampered on the previous SQ flight did not help. Cabin comfort and IFE is acceptable, ambiance is "Virgin" funky, but catering could be improved, especially for the main course quality and portions. But don't remove the Gu dessert and cupcakes! Service was acceptable, not exceptional warm but not bad either. This sums up my review of Virgin Atlantic, and also the start of my USA whirlwind journey!


Took Airtrain/subway E to our hotel, Staybridge Suites Times Square, at Port Authority, which was a cheaper and faster way than the shuttle buses. Taxis are ridiculously expensive! My first meal in USA would be the famed New York Pizzas, with a rather famous chain located just steps from my Hotel.




The pizzas from 2 Bros are cheap and delicious! Strongly recommended the cheese and pepperoni pizzas!




Then it was straight to bed for the night before our day-trip to Niagara Falls early the next day.

Morning view of Empire States from my hotel room.




Free breakfast provided.




New York Times building across from Port Authority.




Then it was back to the subway for the journey to JFK again. It started to snow a bit while on the way to JFK.




View of Delta Terminal 2 from the Airtrain.

[ycp81]

Delta-land at JFK Terminal 2/3.




More Deltas at Terminal 4.




jetBlues and TAM at Terminal 4.




Reaching the jetBlue Terminal 5. It is a rather long walk through the link-bridge from the Airtrain station.




Tarmac action across to Terminals 7 and 8.




Deicing on a jetBlue A320 in progress.




First sight that greeted us at Terminal 5. Self-service check-in machines. As we had no check-in luggage for the day-trip, I proceeded to the machine to print out boarding passes, as I had done online check-in earlier. Unfortunate due to some issues, the machine could not spit out our boarding passes and
we had to get them from the counters.




jetBlue check-in counters. No queues at all and we got our boarding passes immediately.




Boarding pass for the flight.




Document check by TSA done (valid passport/ID needed to clear through security) and through security we went, which was not too bad as there were no queues. Travelling through US airports, as long as everyone follows the drills (shoes, jackets and belts off, liquids out, laptops out, all metal objects out), the process would not be that painful. And currently they also utilizes the body x-ray thingy to speed things up a bit.

Departure board.




The spacious departure hall, with shops and dining available.




There is even a A320 engine on display!

[ycp81]

Shops in the terminal. There is even a Muji!





07 March 2013
jetBlue
B6 108
New York John F Kennedy (JFK) - Buffalo Niagara (BUF)
A320
N564JB "Absolute Blue"
Economy Class

"Absolute Blue" would be flying us to Buffalo this morning.




Boarding had already commenced when we reached the gate. So straight into the aircraft we went.




Welcomed at the door by a friendly crew member. Down the aisle, passing through "Even-More-Space" seat rows with 36" pitch. These can be purchased for an additional cost, but I don't think that is really necessary as normal seat rows on jetBlue A320s offers 34" pitch, the largest economy seat-pitch among all US airlines.




Reached my seat at 19A. View out of the window.




Boarding in progress.




DirectTV entertainment consoles on the armrest. I had brought my own earphones to enjoy the free IFE.




Entertainment selections are already available at the gate.




Weather Channel, showing a storm brewing around Boston. Legroom was more than sufficient at 34". The leather seats were rather comfortable.




Safety card and inflight guide in the seat pocket.




Entertainment and buy-on-board meal box options.




And the complimentary snacks/drinks and payable alcoholic options. The beverage choices can put many full-service carriers to shame!

[ycp81]

All aboard and we are ready to go. Flight time was announced to be approximately 55min. A manual safety demo was conducted by the crew. There were only 3 cabin crew onboard this A320.




Pushback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gri468FwxoE


Starting the taxi to Rwy 04L.




Taxi to runway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5axo2JhhjOU


American eagle ERJ starting its takeoff roll.




Delta Connection CRJ ahead.




jetBlue behind.




And another jetBlue landing.




Takeoff from JFK Rwy04L to Buffalo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsUyUAgx30Y


Above the white sea of clouds, which would be the only scenery throughout the entire flight.




Flight map. We would only be cruising at a low 20+k feet.




On this short flight, jetBlue would only offer the express-service instead of the full works. This meant that only a few selection of drinks and snacks would be available. For today, the snacks available are Linden's Chocolate Chip Cookies and Kings Nut Fancy Nut Mix. Drinks on offer are Orange juice, Dasani water and Dunkin' Donuts coffee. First, snacks are distributed from baskets, followed by drinks on trays. No carts were used on jetBlue flights. Crew were friendly and professional.




Both options of snacks, paired with coffee and water. More than sufficient for such a short flight! The mixed nuts were delicious, being a premium mix of almonds, cashews and honey roasted sesame sticks.




View for the rest of the flight while I channel surf on DirectTV.




Before long, we started our descent into Buffalo.

[ycp81]

Crew picked up the trash and secured the cabin for landing. We would be landing towards the north-east today, but flew south to intercept the approach path.




Cloudy day in the Buffalo area as well.




Flaps and gears down...




And landed smoothly on Buffalo Niagara International Airport Rwy 05.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu8A52c1M24


Parked at the jetBlue designated gate. One interesting concept of US domestic operations is that most of the domestic airlines have their own dedicated gates in the terminal.




Southwest B737-700 also arrived.




Disembarking.




Last look at the spacious and comfortable cabin. Crew were already clearing the trash off the seats while bading goodbyes, preparing the aircraft for the short turnaround.




Welcome to wet and cloudy Buffalo!




It was a really comfortable flight on jetBlue. Even though jetBlue did not market itself as a full-service carrier, nor of a budget carrier, the service provided is definitely not budget at all, and not surprisingly could be better than the legacy US carriers. Seats are comfortable, legroom good and catering more than sufficient. For those travelling with bags, jetBlue also offers 1 free check-in bag per passenger, unlike the major "full-service" carriers which are already charging for check-in bags on domestic routes. Definitely the carrier to recommend when flying domestically within USA.

From Buffalo airport, we headed directly to Niagara Falls using the airport taxi. There was an hourly shuttle by the same company which costs much less, but we missed the shuttle and so decided upon the taxi to save time, However return was on shuttle. Upon reaching Niagara Falls at the USA side, which was about a 40min drive away, everywhere is walkable or reachable by a shuttle trolley bus.

First stop was lunch at the Culinary Institute of Niagara, which was recommended to us by the attendant at the Niagara Falls Visitor Center. It is basically an institute with a restaurant, bakery and sandwich place run by students of the institute.




True to her recommendation, food was great, service was good and prices were very reasonable! Starter of a salad.




Yummy gnocchi.




Equally tasty carbonara!

[ycp81]

Niagara Falls USA

Most people would visit Niagara Falls from late spring to early autumn as that is when most attractions would be in operation. For my visit in early March, the entire Niagara Falls felt like a ghost town, with most attractions like the Maid of the Mist and Caves of the Winds closed. However there is still a charm in visiting Niagara in winter, with no crowds to jostle your way through.






Rapids of river towards the falls.






Trolley bus shuttle within the park. There is a shuttle every 10mins!




American Falls.








The bigger Horseshoe Falls, where idiots went over in barrels.




Within the State Park






And lots of squirrels around! The little one preferred my potato chips to the berries it was originally eating on a tree!

[ycp81]

As mentioned earlier, we took the Airport Shuttle back to Buffalo Airport in the evening, after having a light bite at Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls. The shuttle could be arranged at the Niagara Falls Visitor Center for only USD16 per person. Much lower than our USD70 taxi fare to Niagara Falls!




Some buffalo wings in Hard Rock Cafe.




Again, having done internet check-in earlier, we just picked up our boarding passes at the check-in counters at Buffalo airport. There were no queues at all as we were still rather early.




Off through security again with the same rituals without fuss and into the secure areas. I was getting quite deserted with most shops closing or closed, leaving only a restaurant still in operation till the last departure.




At the next gate was a delayed Boston flight due to bad weather in Boston. According to the flight information boards, all flights to Boston experienced lengthy delays that day.




Soon, the gate agent announced that our flight would be slightly delayed for 20min due to late departure from JFK. Apparently the weather in JFK was also worsening with the snow storm approaching. I was just glad that the delay was not as long as the neighbouring Boston flight, which was delayed more than 2hrs!

Finally our Embraer E190 jet arrived from JFK, 30min behind schedule.





07 March 2013
jetBlue
B6 131
Buffalo Niagara (BUF) - New York John F Kennedy (JFK)
Embraer E190
N284JB "Sincerely Blue"
Economy Class

Luckily the turnaround was rather quick and the plane was rather for boarding less than 10min after the last passenger got off! It was my first time flying on the Embraer aircraft and even though the seat configuration is in 2-2, it still felt rather spacious. Jetblue's E190 was configured with only 100 seats, thus only 2 cabin crew were needed. Seats were the same as on the A320s.




Legroom on the E190 was only 32" compared to the A320's 34", but still more than sufficient for the short sectors the E190 operates. DirectTV is also available.




Safety card and inflight guide, similar to the A320s.




Boarding in progress, with seated passengers already channel-surfing on the DirectTV.



Plane being refueled. Another thing noted was that the windows of the E190 are huge!




Very soon, all passengers were aboard. Almost a full flight this evening to JFK. Safety demo done manually and flight time announced as 1hr. We pushed back and taxied to Rwy05.




Takeoff from Rwy05, heading back to JFK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NplnBmFENPw


Service announcement after takeoff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFl6UI09Bdk

[ycp81]

We would only be cruising at a low 20K feet tonight. In fact, most of the time we were flying in the clouds, with lightning flashing out the windows. Surprisingly there were only minor turbulence, even though the seatbelt signs were kept on for most of the flight.




As briefed in the service announcement earlier, the "Express" service for this short flight would consist of a choice between animal crackers and mixed nuts, and beverage choices of water/coke/diet coke/sprite. Again, snacks were first offered from a basket, which the friendly female crew, who was conducting service at the rear half of the plane, offered us both choices each. This was followed by drinks from trays, where I had a Sprite. We were offered whole cans each, with cups of ice also available. I was seriously impressed with jetBlue for having so many cans of beverages on offer! On full-service airlines, SQ included, passengers were normally only served a plastic cup full.




Animal crackers and the delicious mixed nuts. Again, more than sufficient for the very short flight.




Watching the latest episode of Glee on Fox channel!




On jetBlue, cabin lights were kept dimmed throughout on night flights. The lights were only switched on for landing preparations.




Lavatory of the E190. It took some time for me to locate the 'Flush' button. See the blue button above the toilet roll? I initially thought it was the cabin attendant call button!




Descending into stormy New York.




We landed on Rwy31R from the south.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWn_qLZ3AXI


Parked at Terminal 5. It was snowing rather heavily by now.




Disembarking. Comfortable seat pitch on the E190 as well.




Our E190 in the snow storm!




Again. a short and pleasant flight on jetBlue, despite the delay which was due to weather, so no fault of the airline. Luckily we had flew to Niagara Falls this day as the following day, there were major delays at all NY airports due to heavy snowfall overnight! Back to the hotel and rest for the night.


And this was what greeted me the next morning!

[ycp81]

Had the complimentary breakfast again at Staybridge Suites.




It had been snowing very heavily throughout the entire night till late morning.






Due to the heavy snow, we decided that it was not an appropriate day to explore NY city, and thus decided to go up to Woodbury Premium Outlets instead for some shopping! It was a correct decision as we felt as if we were shopping in winter wonderland!










Simple lunch at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets.




After lots of shopping, it was back to Manhattan for dinner! By then, the snow on the streets had been cleared.




An evening of sinful New Yorker "cuisine"! First up, Shake Shack burger!




Followed by Mac n Cheese from Schnipper's Quality Kitchen.




Ending with dessert from Cake Boss Cafe!