Tier Point Run to Hawaii in Jan 2023: Day 5 – Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK)

As it happens, the Starbucks queue at TBIT wasn’t long at all.  Since they opened the second store further up the concourse, perhaps it has distributed the volume of passengers wanting a Starbucks.  I was happy with that.  Having seen the first few passengers quickly place their order and wait at the end of the counter, the two ladies in front of me must have ordered for their entire female soccer first team (plus reserves)!

Having picked up my caramel macchiato, I tasted it and the sweetness wasn’t there.  So I had to ask for some vanilla to be added.  I did ask why it hadn’t been put in to start with, but I never got a clear answer.  Surprising how many times the standard approach to making a Starbucks coffee isn’t followed.

Back to the AA Flagship Lounge and a number of the staff recognised me, so I got a warm welcome.  That’s what status is all about (and of course regular flying).

I wasn’t in the lounge for long.  I managed about 20 mins before fitting my contacts and heading off to Gate 47B.  I thought I’d give AA another opportunity to invite me to pre-board.  As it happens there were a significant number of CKs that pre-boarded, then Group 1 was called.

On into seat 01F and I settled in for the transcontinental flight to New York.  Not normally much longer than 4.5 hours and initial estimate was that we would be arriving early.  The captain referred to the maintenance log and that’s never a good sign…

Luckily, this only led to a 15 min delay to our departure, and the captain estimated the flight would only take 4hr 20 min. I noted there were at least 2 empty seats in first class. Normally, AA like to fill up the premium cabins, but not today, unless of course the seats were broken?

We took off about 9am heading inland, rather than the norm of taking off over the Pacific Ocean. I was looking forward to getting back home now. It was going to be nice to visit the JFK lounges again, but arriving into Heathrow will be the focus.

Onboard service started pretty quickly after take off. I started with tea and some biscotti biscuits with nuts. Odd combo to be honest.

I trawled the movies again and concluded I needed to lower my standards. I chose Midnight in Paris with a star studden class including Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdam. It was a film for Owen Wilson and it was a classic Owen Wilson film.

Then came a beautifully presented plate of fruit. Followed by an American breakfast.

The scrambled egg was dry, but the canadian ham was lovely. I also received a pressed juice, which was an unusual flavour. I was then invited to pick up a cheese plate – a collection of them were on the side.

After the relatively short Owen Wilson film, i decided i would try a Denzil film i hadn’t seen before: Remember the Titans. It was a classic American football story, combining a tale of building a new football team and overcoming racial bigotry. Based on a true story.

Final approach provided some hazy views of Manhattan. We arrived early on a (convoluted flight path) into Gate 31 of Terminal 8 and the new JFK lounges were only a short walk away.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to Hawaii in Jan 2023