Category — Airlines

The top wines served on a flight UA925 from London (LHR) to Washington (IAD) in February 2006 in United’s First Class cabin included:

• Champagne Deutz Brut, 1998 $49
• White Wine Chateau de Davenay, Montagny, 2003 $25
• Red Wine Bouchard Pere & Fils, Monthelie, 2002 $25
• Dessert Wine Sandema’s Founders Reserve Port $17

TOTAL SCORE: 116

Note that the prices are my best guess as to their U.S. retail value. (Corrections are welcome. They are used to derive a score to help travelers figure out how seriously airlines are taking wine in the premium cabins.

Interestingly, United had almost a tradition of serving Dom Perignon in First Class back in the “good old days.” Also, it was interesting to see that there was no red Bordeaux on this wine list. Almost evert First Class product offers a red Bordeaux as one of the options.

Using the same analysis Cathay Pacific, scored 280, and Virgin Atlantic Upper Class scored 82.

My method is provided on the link below:

Moyey’s Wine and Travel Blog: Scoring Airlines for their wines in First and Business Class

And my report on Virgin is here.

Using the analysis I applied to Cathay Pacific First Class, I scored the wine list from Virgin’s Upper Class 021 in February 2006. (This is the London to Washington flight.) I gave the wine list a score of 82.

As I said in my earlier post, this is really not an exact science, but it is pretty clear that Virgin spends much much less on its wine than Cathay Pacific, which score 280.

Click here to go the article that describes my criteria for scoring wines on airlines.

Of course, this does compare a Business Class product to a First Class one.

Also, I could not get a US price on Berry’s White Burgundy so I used the price at Berry’s shop in London.

Finally, remember that this scoring scheme is like Oscar Wilde’s auctioneer, who knows “the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Berry’s does an extraordinarily good job of selecting wines, and I am sure that you could have a very enjoyable wine experience on this flight.

Here are the wines, and my best guess at what the retail price would be in the United States.

• Champagne: Laurent Perrier Brut nv $30
• Red Wine: Chateau Lucas, Lussac-St. Emilion, 2002 $19
• White Wine: Berry’s Own Selection White Burgundy, 2003 $13
• Dessert: Graham’s Port $20

• Total Score: 82

This is the first airline that I have tried to analyze based on the criteria described here. And I have a funny feeling that no airline is going to beat this amazing score!

• Krug Grand Cuvee ($140)
• Puligny Montrachet Les Grandes Marches, 2002 ($25)
• Chateau Lynch Bages ($85)
• Ramos Pinto Quinta de Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny Port ($30)

(Wouldn’t you have loved to be a passenger on that flight!)

Total Score for Cathay Pacific in First Class would be 280!

Bear in mind that very few airlines, if any, are going to get a score as high as Cathay Pacific, which offers about the best First Class service of any airline in the world. (Also, I took a wild guess at the value of the Puligny Montrachet.)

I have been reading wine and travel magazines for longer than I care to remember, and I have never seen anyone do a thorough job of analyzing the quality of wines that are served by airlines in Business and First Class.

In the next few months, I am going to put up a few airline wine lists and I propose a score that is based solely on price. Generally speaking, an airline will serve four classes of wine: Champagne, white table wine, red table wine, and a dessert wine.

What I propose to do is to take the most expensive wine in each category, get the best estimate of its retail value in the United States, add the four numbers together, and that will be the score. (If an airline does not serve Champagne or a dessert wine, it will receive zero for that category.)

Is this perfect? Not at all. For example, Virgin Atlantic is doing clever stuff these days. They have engaged the services of Berry Brothers and Rudd to select its wines, and many of the wines they serve are interesting wines from southern France. They are often wonderful wines, but the retail price is low so that will be reflected in the score I give.

Another flaw is that the plan is regrettably US-centric, but it is a world that I know. Also, the United States probably still offers a wider selection of wines than anywhere else in the world so it will be relatively easy to find the price although some wines will be hard to find at the retail level. (In Europe, it is hard to find good American wines, and countries that produce good wine tend to dominate their domestic markets.)

But at least it will allow readers to gain a general sense of how much an airline is putting into its wine selections. An airline that spends $250 on its top four wines is likely to be taking wine matters more seriously that an airline spending only $50.

Comments are invited as I would welcome the thoughts of anyone who can think of a better way of doing this.

I would love to hear comments on this approach.

As a matter of interest, when Bordeaux was classified in 1855, the only criterion used to rank the wines was price.

This was revised on September 3, 2006. Note that starting on October 1, the MAXJet flight will leave at 20:15 (8:15 in the evening.) Click here for details.

The traveler looking for a non-stop flight from Washington Dulles (IAD) has a variety of options. Here they are with a few comments:

Flight: BA 224 (British Airways)
Departure: 08:05
Arrival: 20:15
Flight Time: 7 hours 10 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777

British Airways offers four classes: First, Club World, World Traveller Plus, and World Traveller, which mean First, Business, Economy Plus, and Economy respectively. The First Class product is outstanding. Business Class offers a completely flat bed. World Traveller Plus gives you a significantly better seat than World Traveller, but there is no difference in the food and wine service.

It is rather nice to be able to leave the United States and arrive in the United Kingdom last thing at night, and frequently there seems to be great availability of this flight. Free drinks in all classes.

The serious shortcoming of British Airways is that, if you fly on a discounted ticket, they reward you with only 25% of actual miles, which means that you need to fly 50 times before you get a free ticket!

British Airways uses Boeing 777 on this flight, which is a good modern plane.

Flight: UA 922 (United Airlines)
Departure: 09:28
Arrival: 21:45
Flight Time: 7 hours 22 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 767

The other morning flight. United has really become a little bit spartan during these troubled times, and they no longer server caviar and Dom Perignon in first class. Business class is OK although, unlike much of the competition, it does not offer flat beds. And you have to pay for drinks in Economy. Economy Plus gives you more leg room, but the seat and the food are the same. You usually do not have pay for Economy Plus as this is one of United’s ways of rewarding its elite members of the frequent flyer plan, but they seem to be experimenting with charging passengers to sit in this area.

You earn miles in United’s Mileage Plus program, and you can spend these miles on any Star Alliance flight. If you are Premier Executive you can earn a free transatlantic ticket with just 11 flights. (That is why I fly United rather than BA.)

The 767s are becoming a little old, and I see that as a disadvantage of this flight.

Sometimes I have found it easiest to get the deepest discounts on this flight.

Flight: UA 918 (United Airlines)
Departure: 18:03
Arrival: 06:20
Flight Time: 7 hours 22 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777

My previous comments on United apply here, but note that UA 918 is on a 777, which is much nicer than a 767. Economy seats on United’s 777 at 2-5-2. Unless you get stuck in the middle of the center aisle, which has never happened to me, this turns out to be a pretty nice arrangement. For me, I dislike the timing of this flight because you cannot get a full day’s work done and then travel, In other words, it combines the disadvantage of an overnight flight without the benefit of being able to do a day’s work.

Flight: UA 920 (United Airlines)
Departure: 18:28
Arrival: 06:55
Flight Time: 7 hours 32 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 767

Too early in the day, and a Boeing 767. Avoid this flight.

Flight: BA 216 (British Airways)
Departure: 18:35
Arrival: 06:55
Flight Time: 7 hours 20 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 747

Although I have not taken this flight for some time, I am beginning to find 747s a little bit too old for my liking. And I don’t like the time of this flight. Avoid.

First and Business Class passengers have the advantage of being able to use BA’s wonderful arrivals lounge at Heathrow, and they can eat in the lounges at Dulles Airport before they leave.

Flight: VS 022 (Virgin Atlantic)
Departure: 18:40
Arrival: 07:05
Flight Time: 7 hours 25 minutes
Aircraft: Airbus 340

Virgin does everything a little bit differently. The Upper Class is quite an experience, but passengers need to remember that it is a Business Class product — not First Class, although it beds are certainly comparable to first class beds, the food and wine are not. Two wonderdul features in Virgin’s Upper Class are the on-board massages and the bar.

The departure lounges and arrivals lounges are outstanding

Passengers who accumulate miles on Continental and Singapore Airlines will be happy to know that this flight runs as CO 8242 and SQ 2522. (However, although you can fly on Singapore Airlines using United miles, they will not let you book flight SQ 2522 using Mileage Plus miles. A pity!)

Flight MY 200 (MAXjet Airways)
Departure: 19:30
Arrival: 08:30
Flight Time: 8 hours

This seems like a very interesting way to get to London, but I have never been on this flight. You pretty much get Business Class quality at highly discounted rates. The lowest available fare at the moment seems to be $2,503 including all taxes. Note that this flight arrives at Stansted Airport (STN) and not Heathrow (LHR). This is a disadvantage for travellers wishing to go to the West End or west London, but it could actually be good for people wishing to make connections on discount airlines like EasyJet to the rest of Europe. People on this flight get to use the Northwest Lounge in Terminal B. Reports say that there are some beverages, but little food.

I have never traveled on this flight, reviews of this flight can be found here.

Flight: UA 924 (United Airlines)
Departure: 21:53
Arrival: 10:00
Flight Time: 7 hours17 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777

Nice aircraft. Good frequent flyer plan. And you can do a day’s work and then fly. This is the flight I usually try to take.

Flight: BA 292 (British Airways)
Departure: 21:55
Arrival: 10:10
Flight Time: 7 hours15 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777

The timing of this flight suits me, and I like British Airways. The only bothersome thing is their frequent flyer plan if you are flying on a discounted seat in economy. I have been on this flight all of BA’s four classes. First was the best!

They also gave me a bottle of the delicious Louise Champagne from Pommery as a gift at the end of the flight!

It is not often that things get better and cheaper, but this has actually happened with parking at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. (I think BWI has the longest official name of any airport I know!)

For years, there was parking available very close to the terminals, but the price crept up to $30.00 a day, which seemed too high even when traveling on an expense account. The satellite lots were too far away and, after digging my car out of snow after a winter trip, I began to seek alternatives.

From the Columbia perspective, Columbia Cabs provide service that is only barely acceptable. Previous problems include arriving late, drivers who talk loudly on the cell phone while driving, and drivers who find their credit card facilities are not available despite assurances to the contrary when making the reservation.

Columbia Airport Shuttle has provided me with good service (click here for a description) although I have used them only when I have traveled out of Dulles Airport (IAD).

But I have recently had two good parking experiences. The first was on a recent business trip to Boston. I was in a hurry, and it was a two-day business trip. I got an on-line coupon and was able to park in the hourly lots right next to the terminal for $15.00 a day. These spaces are also sheltered in case you are anticipating snow.

Another experience was a trip where I was paying for myself. I used Econopark Express. (A coupon from this site allows you to park for $5.75 per day; otherwise you pay $6.75.) As soon as I arrived, they told me the exact spot where I could park, and the bus was at that spot ready to whisk me off to the terminal. On the way back, I called their number from my mobile phone. A friendly driver was where I needed him within five minutes, and I was taken back to my car. To make matters even more pleasant, the bus had a cooler full of bottles of water to refresh the weary traveler. Good value and friendly service!

If you want to get to the Econopark lot, and you are traveling on I-195, make a right (Exit 1-B) and go south on Route 170 (Airport Loop). After about one mile, make a left. Follow the signs to the employee parking, and the Econopark lot is just to the right of the employee parking lot. Click here for their directions.

Embraer 140/145 at BWI

Baltimore Airport (BWI) shortly after take off

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

A farm in Pennsylavania

Final approach into Philadelphia (PHL)

USAirways
Flight US 3042 Operated by: Chautauqua
Baltimore (BWI) to Philadelphia (PHL)
Depart: May 17 2006 at 09:30 PM (local time)
Arrive: May 17 2006 at 10:20 PM (local time)

This was a pleasant and punctual flight on an Embraer 140/145. I sat in Seat 5A, which is nice — a window and aisle seat as this plane has single seats on the left side and pairs on the right. Of course, no drinks, no food, no amenities, but a friendly flight attendant and a clean, modern regional jet.

United Airlines
Flight 864
Los Angeles (LAX) to Denver (DEN)
Depart: April 17 2006 at 2:37 PM (local time)
Arrive: April 17 2006 at 5:48 PM (local time)

This flight was somehow not meant to happen. I was traveling with my younger daughter, Hannah, and we really wanted to have a bump. We almost got one, but someone dropped out at the last minute.

Hannah and I had Seats 9B and 9C, which, as I have mentioned before, are the best seats on United’s 757s. There was a grumpy old man in 9A, and there will be more about him a little later.

Anyway, just as they were about to shut the doors, they announced that we would all have to leave the plane while they sorted out a mechanical problem. They also instructed people with tight connections to go straight to the United service counter to get help with connecting flights. Since we were supposed to be on a flight back to Baltimore (BWI), we went straight to the long line, where things were just a little chaotic.

Then the person at the counter suggested that people with mobile phones should phone United’s reservations agents, which I did. They told me that the flight was on time, and that, if I wanted to make any changes, I would have to pay $100. Needless to say, I decided that was not a good idea.

Then we were told to get back on the plane and take our seats again. Mr. Grumpy, in 9A, who has probably never been entrusted with any management responsibilities in his life, suddenly decided that he knew how to run an airline. Rudely, he told the flight attendants that “this is ridiculous,” and “why don’t we go right now.” Perhaps, he expected them to say “What a good idea. We had never thought of leaving. Let me go to the cockpit and tell the captain to ignore all safety requirements and forget about air traffic control!” I hate people like that. People who cannot face little changes in their travel plans should not be allowed to travel.

After that it was a pleasant flight, and the flight attendants gave us free drinks to “make up” for the delay.

Mr. Grumpy got ratty with Hannah. As she was getting down her case, which she always does efficiently and quickly, he declared. “You’re in my way!”

Anyway, we arrived late in Denver. We went straight to the United Service counter, and we were given a voucher for the night at a hotel, vouchers for dinner and breakfast, and boarding passes in First Class for the remainder of our journey.

The test of an airline is how well they handle things when they go wrong. I think they did fine for us! But Mr. Grumpy will probably tell a different story on his blog!

Southern California’s coast

A Korean Air Boeing 747-400 landing at Los Angeles airport. The LA airport Hilton is in the background.

Approaching the LA metropolitan area

Shortly after take off

Passengers boarding the United Express (SkyWest) Embraer 120

Embraer 120 at Carlsbad (CLD) Airport

United Airlines
Flight 5744 Operated by: UNITED EXPRESS/SKYWEST
Carlsbad (CLD) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Depart: April 17 2006 at 12:42 PM (local time)
Arrive: April 17 2006 at 1:20 PM (local time)

The pictures really tell this story. It was a lot of fun to take off from the tiny McClellan-Palomar airport at Carlsbad and fly the little hop into Los Angeles. Needless to say, there was no food, no drink, and no amenity kits! Just a spectacular view from a tiny plane that took off and landed on time. Great flight!

Another nice thing about this trip was the way we returned the rental car. We went to the Holiday Inn where we had picked up the car. The car rental agent drove us right up to the airport. Really smooth and easy!

Tonight I was on flight UX 5754 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Carlsbad (CLD).

Carlsbad’s airport, McClellan-Palomar airport, is the smallest commercial airport I have ever been to. The flight from LAX departed at 10:10 PM and arrived on time at 10:49 PM. It is operated by Skywest as a United Express flight, and it uses the Brazilian Embraer 120s. Naturally, no drinks or food were served on this short one-class flight.

This turned out to be an interesting and comfortable way to get into the San Diego area. Avis has a car rental desk at CLD, but we used the cheaper Budget agent at the nearby Holiday Inn.

The front of Carlsbad airport