12. Charlotte - Londres Heathrow, US Airways A330-200, business
13. Londres Heathrow - Paris CDG, British Airways A320, econonomy
After disembarking from our previous flight, we arrive quikly in the main hall of the Best 2010 Airport.
I could not resist to laught when entering the lavatories: not sure that was a significant superior customer experience XD
Some parking views, with a nice mix of US and AA schèmes.
Warm welcome at the entrance of the lounge. Hello Pititom!
Massive departures at CLT. For the moment, our original flight to Dublin is on time.
Just like our previous flight from Charlotte, we find a seat Under the large and bright dome.
The armchairs are comfy, even if very worn.
My little selection from the buffet. Classic beer are free. I will use my coupon later to have a liquor.
No need to remind me: I know I am very late to type my reports ;)
Shit happens, and here it comes: the aircraft to Francfort is facing some problems, US Airways decided to switch those A330 and OUR aircraft to Dublin is now assigned to Francfort and we get the bad A330… That's an instant 2h20 delay.
The good A330 leaving for FRA…
The problem is that Pititom and I have a connection in DUB to get back to CDG (of course it's on another reservation ^^) ! And with this delay, we would miss our connection… Pititom is reassuring me: Don't worry Padawan, they could rebook us on what we want, me may even get the direct flight back to Paris. Back to the Customer service at the entrance of the lounge, we explain our problem to the agents. The answers of US Airways agents could be sum it up like this: - NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN ! NEIN !
We abandon the fight, as it seems those agents have likely been trained by Lufthansa rather than American Airlines… With this long delay, we spent some time in the airport. We notice a Global Customer Service, and we try again. This time, we get a young agent, but undoubtedly an American Airlines one: in no time, he understands our problem. makes a reservation on the direct flight to CDG, assignes us some seats but… the check-in time is over, he cannot issue our tickets :( We ended with asking a rebooking on the London flight, as it would be easier for us to get back in Paris from London rather than from Dublin (4000 avios on a BA flight).
Finally, here are the documents :
I am able to print my LHR-CDG boarding pass at the busines corner.
Lavatories are cleam.
We can found some dressing rooms, quite usefull!
Time to board.
Pititom is already at the gate.
But before boarding, all customers must see an agent for documentation check.
Of course there is only 1 agent checking the documents for an almost full A330, of course he is the one who shall answer the phone, and of course once the documents are "checked", i could exchange my boarding pass with ANYONE in the airport !!
If an american flight-reporter could explain me the goal of this "pre-boarding check', I would be greatfull :) In the meantime, I decide to play a little with this stupid check ^^
Finally, they decide to check the documents directly in the boarding queue: much clever from my point of view!
Boarding in the A330.
And the now well-known US Airways Cirrus cabin.
For this red-eye flight, we choose some center-seats.
PDB, in plastic glasses.
Newspaper and headset distribution.
The flight attendant on my aisle is one of this "air granny": very kind and smiling.
Push-back on time, safety video.
As soon as the safety video is over, the IFE is activ.
Let's have a look at the menu. It's almost the same as in April, only the wines changes.
Diner starts with an oshibori.
As for my previous flight, the IFE is crashing too often…
The flight attendant on Pititom's aisle is not going at the same speed as mine: Pititom has his apéro, but i'm still waiting mine.
Shar a Coke with a showstopper.
Indeed, the airwshow stopped with the IFE somewhere between Petersbourg and Chesapeake Bay.
Stuffed Zucchini Trio. Seasonal Greens with Hearts of Palm and Sweet and spicy Pecans. Teriyaki Glazed Chicken. Everything is good, but the chicken presentation was nicer in April.
Once again, the flight attendant on Pititom's aisle is not going at the same speed as mine : I already had my tray, the non-revenue passenger on seat 6F too, but Pititom is still waiting!
Chocolate ice cream.
After the service, the flight attendant take a seat to have a look at the airshow to get an idea of the flight time to destination. Not very smart…
5h00 later, I Wake up after a good -but too short- night. Pititom too is enjoying the full-flat bed!
I woke up too late for the breakfast, so no pictures, sorry! The FA gives a fast track and a lounge access upon arrival.
Back in Europe!
Let's follow the purple signs for a connection.
Thanks for reading!
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Verdict
US Airways
6.6/10
Cabin9.5
Cabin crew6.5
Entertainment/wifi4.0
Meal/catering6.5
US Airways US Airways Club - Concourse C
4.4/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering3.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Services0.0
Charlotte - CLT
8.4/10
Efficiency8.5
Access7.5
Services9.0
Cleanliness8.5
London - LHR
5.9/10
Efficiency2.0
Access6.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5
Conclusion
US Airways: Not so bad flight, but my previous expériences were better (FA, service). Cabin is comfy, but this old IFE is really a pain.
Lounge : comfortable, with wifi, but the buffet is too poor, even with a voucher. And no comments on the useless staff.
CLT : Nice and big airport.
LHR : Flight connections are not very easy, too bad the connecting passengers are using the same security as passengers orignated from LHR.
6 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
"As promised to KévinDC, I will share this return flight to Europe in English :)" - Yay! Thanks. It was worth the wait :-)
It's good to see a "US Airways" report. It's appropriate considering that as of this week, there are no more mainline aircraft left in the US Airways livery--all have been repainted to the new AA colors. I like the new AA colors, but I always thought the US colors were nice. US planes always looked better on the outside then on the inside ^^
"No need to remind me: I know I am very late to type my reports ;)" - Ah yes, the V2 home screen...it's been a while! haha
"US Airways decided to switch those A330 and OUR aircraft to Dublin" - Yikes! That is always one of the risks of booking complicated routings on separate tickets to maximize mileage. Most of the time is works out, but sometimes you get burned. Nice to see that (after some persisting) they were able to work it out and reroute you to LHR!
"The flight attendant on my aisle is one of this "air granny": very kind and smiling." - The grannies are the best. They do service right--they learned that from their Pan Am days :-)
"I woke up too late for the breakfast, so no pictures, sorry!" - How very pititom-esque of you ^^
It's hard to believe US Airways were the first to introduce the Cirrus seat--now widely considered the best J seat in the industry! Granted, the US version is a bit more basic and smaller IFE than the CX and AA versions. I know this report is from last year, but the pmUS A330s still haven't been updated and they cabin is starting to look a bit tired. They should at least put on some new upholstery to match the darker colors of the new AA cabins.
Thanks for sharing this lovely report with great pictures!!
I just realized that this report could be the very last on US ! The most important on these Cirrus is to change the IFE prior changing the seat colors... Thanks for your comment :)
Thank you for this report. Very interesting to see this 1st generation Cirrus seat and how it has evolved over the years. The main structure of the seat remains the same :) The personal TV looks ancient though by today's standard!
Did the different service speed really create a weird vibe in the cabin? I can imagine for a not-so-long flight across the atlantic, some passengers must have been quite irritated when they saw others have received their meal and he/she had not
Anyway, thank you for this brief but entertaining report!
This flight made me understand that a huge gap between US and AA will exist for quite a time. Repainting liveries is anecdotic, leveling catering will go fast if synergy reduces costs, retrofitting the cabins will sure take longer, but instilling the corporate culture to all employees will take forever...
There was absolutely no gain for US staff to refuse our rebooking, and the AA agent would have done it in minutes. Our biggest mistake was to waste a single second with the stubborn staff from US. For me, the real difference between the two companies lays here : not in the hard / soft product when everything's smooth, but in the manner they deal with irrops and customers in general.
Onboard, the CIrrus is great but that's it. Staff was lenient, service was bad. You can paint AA on the plane, this was definitely a pure US flight....
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52 reviews
8 Comments
- Yay! Thanks. It was worth the wait :-)
It's good to see a "US Airways" report. It's appropriate considering that as of this week, there are no more mainline aircraft left in the US Airways livery--all have been repainted to the new AA colors. I like the new AA colors, but I always thought the US colors were nice. US planes always looked better on the outside then on the inside ^^
"No need to remind me: I know I am very late to type my reports ;)"
- Ah yes, the V2 home screen...it's been a while! haha
"US Airways decided to switch those A330 and OUR aircraft to Dublin"
- Yikes! That is always one of the risks of booking complicated routings on separate tickets to maximize mileage. Most of the time is works out, but sometimes you get burned. Nice to see that (after some persisting) they were able to work it out and reroute you to LHR!
"The flight attendant on my aisle is one of this "air granny": very kind and smiling."
- The grannies are the best. They do service right--they learned that from their Pan Am days :-)
"I woke up too late for the breakfast, so no pictures, sorry!"
- How very pititom-esque of you ^^
It's hard to believe US Airways were the first to introduce the Cirrus seat--now widely considered the best J seat in the industry! Granted, the US version is a bit more basic and smaller IFE than the CX and AA versions. I know this report is from last year, but the pmUS A330s still haven't been updated and they cabin is starting to look a bit tired. They should at least put on some new upholstery to match the darker colors of the new AA cabins.
Thanks for sharing this lovely report with great pictures!!
The most important on these Cirrus is to change the IFE prior changing the seat colors...
Thanks for your comment :)
Thank you for this report. Very interesting to see this 1st generation Cirrus seat and how it has evolved over the years. The main structure of the seat remains the same :) The personal TV looks ancient though by today's standard!
Did the different service speed really create a weird vibe in the cabin? I can imagine for a not-so-long flight across the atlantic, some passengers must have been quite irritated when they saw others have received their meal and he/she had not
Anyway, thank you for this brief but entertaining report!
There was absolutely no gain for US staff to refuse our rebooking, and the AA agent would have done it in minutes. Our biggest mistake was to waste a single second with the stubborn staff from US. For me, the real difference between the two companies lays here : not in the hard / soft product when everything's smooth, but in the manner they deal with irrops and customers in general.
Onboard, the CIrrus is great but that's it. Staff was lenient, service was bad. You can paint AA on the plane, this was definitely a pure US flight....
At least I slept well ^^
Thanks for sharing !
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