Worth noting you can skip the general immigration queue at most larger US airports if you download the Mobile Passport Control app. You can scan your passport and take a selfie and then use the MPC queue which is usually much shorter.
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Flights you have been on
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Iskra
Established Member
Awesome advice, thank you!
Can you use it for a family on one phone? Or do each person need their own?
No problem, they even made an announcement about it on the last flight I took to the US.
Yes, you can add multiple passengers to the list. There is apparently no minimum age limit.
However it's worth noting that if you're relying on an ESTA, you must be returning for your second or subsequent visit to the US (it's unclear whether they mean for a given ESTA, or in your lifetime) to be eligible to use the MPC system.
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
Flew BA last night from LHR to GLA on a A321NEO. Booked a month or two ago for £45ish one way, which is about as cheap as you can get it.
Flight was around half full and I had a full row to myself.The aircraft did have a cleaning solution sort of smell which did linger on my jacket. Service was a bag of crunchy salted corn and a bottle of water. Seat was the new slimline seats although the front of the aircraft had a different seat fitted. All in all a decent flight, we got away on time and landed early. Terminal 5 on Saturday evening is quieter than the rest of the week.
Flight was around half full and I had a full row to myself.The aircraft did have a cleaning solution sort of smell which did linger on my jacket. Service was a bag of crunchy salted corn and a bottle of water. Seat was the new slimline seats although the front of the aircraft had a different seat fitted. All in all a decent flight, we got away on time and landed early. Terminal 5 on Saturday evening is quieter than the rest of the week.
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
Iskra
Established Member
I've just completed Miami-Manchester via London Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic A330-900 was a fantastic flight over the pond taking a fairly direct route over Bermuda and then towards the Azores, presumably to avoid weather. A little bit of turbulence, but not too much. I was lucky in that there were a few empty pairs of seats in Economy so I relocated to a spare pair which vastly improved the flight. Food and service were good. The arrival experience at Heathrow was also smooth, with only a small passport queue. Miami airport was still pretty shambolic on the departure side. I did see a Lufthansa 747 take off there though, which was great to see. I'd happily travel with Virgin again.
After that it was a BA A320 on the short hop up to Manchester, which had around 40 empty seats on board with it being a Sunday. The aircraft was adequate and the flight a little rough due to the weather. The approach to Manchester was 'interesting' in the wind, but the pilot landed the aircraft impressively smoothly.
Out of interest, when there are clearly spare seats on board and boarding has finished do posters on here wait to ask staff if it is okay to move, or do you just take up the spare seats straight away?
Virgin Atlantic A330-900 was a fantastic flight over the pond taking a fairly direct route over Bermuda and then towards the Azores, presumably to avoid weather. A little bit of turbulence, but not too much. I was lucky in that there were a few empty pairs of seats in Economy so I relocated to a spare pair which vastly improved the flight. Food and service were good. The arrival experience at Heathrow was also smooth, with only a small passport queue. Miami airport was still pretty shambolic on the departure side. I did see a Lufthansa 747 take off there though, which was great to see. I'd happily travel with Virgin again.
After that it was a BA A320 on the short hop up to Manchester, which had around 40 empty seats on board with it being a Sunday. The aircraft was adequate and the flight a little rough due to the weather. The approach to Manchester was 'interesting' in the wind, but the pilot landed the aircraft impressively smoothly.
Out of interest, when there are clearly spare seats on board and boarding has finished do posters on here wait to ask staff if it is okay to move, or do you just take up the spare seats straight away?
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In general you should only move once airborne (since weight and balance calculations for takeoff and landing are done based on allocated seats), and with the cabin crew's permission. On 'legacy' airlines, this permission is usually granted.
I ask, before take off, and it is always granted.
Just returned from Vietnam and Cambodia, and the comparison of Vietnam Airlines on my trip with BA was, I thought, quite illuminating, especially as I have only recently had an underwhelming WTP experience with BA on return overnight 12 hour flight to South Africa. So, here goes:-
Long Haul:
Out: (LHR-SGN) Business - no wow factor, but nothing to complain about either, other than use of a pay to use lounge at LHR, which is not unreasonable, given only 1 flight a day. All aisle access as is the norm now, unless you are unlucky with BA. Boarding better, without the scrum you seem to always get at LHR with BA these days.
Return: (HAN-LHR) Premium - this was the real eye-opener. VA prem seat was exceptionally comfortable, and I got 7 hours unbroken sleep, whereas on the two BA flights I managed around 3 hours broken sleep on each leg. Much greater recline, wider, 42 inch pitch (think BA is 38). Soft product (food, service) was better too.
Short Haul (3 x 2 hr sectors)
Business: Two of the three were on 787s, so Business seat was a flat bed! The third had proper business seating (2+2) on an A321, in comparison to BA's block the middle seat arrangement.
Economy: Proper snack (eg chicken roll), and choice of beverage including alcohol, in comparison to b*gger all on BA.
There didn't appear to be any charges for seat selection either in any class, in contrast to BA.
I think it just reinforced my view as to how much BA has declined in recent years, and maybe it's a symptom of many "full service" flag carriers too within Europe.
Long Haul:
Out: (LHR-SGN) Business - no wow factor, but nothing to complain about either, other than use of a pay to use lounge at LHR, which is not unreasonable, given only 1 flight a day. All aisle access as is the norm now, unless you are unlucky with BA. Boarding better, without the scrum you seem to always get at LHR with BA these days.
Return: (HAN-LHR) Premium - this was the real eye-opener. VA prem seat was exceptionally comfortable, and I got 7 hours unbroken sleep, whereas on the two BA flights I managed around 3 hours broken sleep on each leg. Much greater recline, wider, 42 inch pitch (think BA is 38). Soft product (food, service) was better too.
Short Haul (3 x 2 hr sectors)
Business: Two of the three were on 787s, so Business seat was a flat bed! The third had proper business seating (2+2) on an A321, in comparison to BA's block the middle seat arrangement.
Economy: Proper snack (eg chicken roll), and choice of beverage including alcohol, in comparison to b*gger all on BA.
There didn't appear to be any charges for seat selection either in any class, in contrast to BA.
I think it just reinforced my view as to how much BA has declined in recent years, and maybe it's a symptom of many "full service" flag carriers too within Europe.
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Thanks that’s interesting. I have a trip to SGN coming up in the next year or so, and was expecting to go via the Middle East or Singapore, but will now consider direct.
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
DL 75 today. A330 Amsterdam to Atlanta. Officially passed 2 million miler status on Delta Airlines. Gives me lifetime platinum status.
Congratulations. That’s quite an achievement and will be very valuable, as I’m sure you realise.
Travelled First (my first experience of First!) on a BA 380 to Washington a couple of days ago. Really impressed with all aspects of the service, from lunch in the Concorde Room through to “dinner for two” onboard. (Departure was at 6pm). Seats were booked through BAH as part of Business and First sale and were only around £200 more than Business. For the better experience, well worth it.
Fortunately it was booked before the Tier Point changes, so will immediately qualify us both for Silver through to Mar 2027. On the new method we would have for around a quarter of the points that will actually be credited, demonstrating how much the system has changed overnight from being very generous to very poor.
Fortunately it was booked before the Tier Point changes, so will immediately qualify us both for Silver through to Mar 2027. On the new method we would have for around a quarter of the points that will actually be credited, demonstrating how much the system has changed overnight from being very generous to very poor.
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
Most airlines seem to be devaluing their reward systems.
MasterSpenny
Member
Took my first flight of the year last night from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur with British Airways on a B787. The plane I was on had the old cabins, therefore I had the older IFE, and it’s touch screen function appeared to be broken, meaning the use of the remote was needed. As far as I am concerned this was only on my seat. I have another domestic flight within Malaysia, that is only about 50 minutes in a couple of hours.
flymo
Established Member
Flew Finnair for the first time recently, AY1336 LHR - HEL and then AY99 HEL-HKG, both in Biz class. Heathrow to Helsinki was on an A321, not bad, no entertainment but for 3 hours not a big deal. Helsinki to HKG was on an A350, also not bad. The seating was OK, the crew were OK and AY99 came in at 11 hours 20mins. Seat selection was chargeable on both legs.
One thing got me about Helsinki airport is that you don't go through security checks when changing planes as you do in so many countries, there were huge lines at the transfer desk which I thought you had to go through as it says 'Transfers' but a quick chat with someone put me at ease as I already had the pass for the HKG leg. Got the miles credited to my Asia Miles account in less than a week also. All good. Food was excellent on both flights.
One thing got me about Helsinki airport is that you don't go through security checks when changing planes as you do in so many countries, there were huge lines at the transfer desk which I thought you had to go through as it says 'Transfers' but a quick chat with someone put me at ease as I already had the pass for the HKG leg. Got the miles credited to my Asia Miles account in less than a week also. All good. Food was excellent on both flights.
MasterSpenny
Member
On Tuesday (the 8th of April 2025), I had a connecting domestic flight from Kuala Lumpur after my flight from London Heathrow. The connection was to Panang, and the flight was with Malaysia Airlines on a B737. I can’t really say much about this flight as it was only 35 minutes, but the crew did give out water and peanuts halfway through the flight.
TravelDream
Member
- Joined
- 7 Aug 2016
- Messages
- 840
A few thoughts on Vietnam Airlines, having flown them in all classes domestically and internationally.
Business hard product is good, no doubt, but it is also inconsistent as they have several different seats. Even new planes are delivered with different seats as they invest less in their hard product than 'premium airlines'. I have found the service to be unpolished and the food can be downright bad.
Now their business can be exceptional value, but I wouldn't say they are necessarily better than BA.
Premium hard product can also be decent, but they have several types of seats (as they do in business) and the 787 seat in premium is 3-3-3 which is exactly the same as economy. As such, it's worse than BA as all BA's WT+ (BA's premium economy) seats are wider than their WT (BA's economy) equivalent. You're also mistaken on pitch I believe as 38'' is found on all of Vietnam Airlines premium economy seats. The same comments on service also apply. BA might have lacklustre meals, but I've never had something I'd consider totally inedible.
The domestic comparison to BA is fair, but the European and Asian markets are very different
We flew on a 787 and the seating was definitely 2+3+2. The 42 inch pitch I quoted was from a Head for Points review of Vietnam Premium, and the amount of space we both perceived reflected that.
You might be confusing them with the 787 config without any Premium seating. A quick look at the Vietnam webpage for the 787 seating configs shows the difference.
You might be confusing them with the 787 config without any Premium seating. A quick look at the Vietnam webpage for the 787 seating configs shows the difference.
I have just flown from LHR to Mumbai on Virgin. Fantastic service, great plane the 787 is. Only gripe is that the pax need to request a vegetarian meal in advance. Virgin compensate for this by ordering more Asian veg meals, and less non veg. You won't get served beef or pork on these flights. So disappointed I did not get my chicken but the biryani was most delicious. Few days later Mumbai to Danang in Vietnam via Ho Chi Minh. Airline vietjet. They were awful. Late, rude staff.
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
Horrendous weather delays at Denver today but I did get two new routes in. Portland, OR (PDX) to Denver (DEN) then DEN to HSV Huntsville, AL .
TravelDream
Member
- Joined
- 7 Aug 2016
- Messages
- 840
Had a quick look and you're right.
Though they used to sell a section on the 787 without premium economy as premium economy, but appear to have stopped that.
I have to say, that bad experience really put me off. But I would have no hesitation flying them for the right price.