Arrived in New York last night
Hi Guys!!! I arrived in New York City last night.
Travel did not go too well.
I was booked on the 14:50 American Airlines flight to JFK. I arrived at Heathrow two hours early to avoid the long queues and having to rush around in a mad panic. Fortunately, there were no long queues at LHR, and from what I've observed LHR has now sorted out its queuing issues following complaints from travellers. For security reasons, travellers still have to remove all metal objects they are carrying, but I noticed that the removal and scanning of shoes was not enforced. My carry-on bag was scanned as per normal, but it was then emptied out and manually inspected, in my presence I may add. I hate it when I have my personal items displayed in public, but they were only Christmas cakes and two cans of Quality Street.
The flight was on time, but immediately after the aircraft doors were closed and the captain announced that we would commence backing out of the Terminal Building, he came back on the intercom to announce that something was hanging loose on the plane just by where the ramp meets the main cabin entrance door. Of course, it had to be investigated. It turned out that a utility vehicle had knocked an emergency light which illuminates the emergency inflatable chute located there. The broken light had to be removed, a new part located and installed, and the airline had to sign off an invoice. Passengers were told it would take approximately 10 minutes and that we would make up the time lost. As it happened, it took much longer than the ETA, we lost our take off slot, and took off 2 hours later at 17:00. We landed at JFK at 19:45, from the original scheduled time of 18:00.
If you thought that the immigration queues at LHR are long, then you haven't been caught out at JFK. I deliberately did not book with Virgin Atlantic (after a bad experience at JFK in February), because they arrive at the JFK International Terminal, and if you get caught behind four flights arriving in close time proximity, you could be held up for 3 or more hours. As it was, I had to join a very long queue at the American Airlines Terminal when my flight arrived behind flights from Equador, and the Dominican Republic. I did not get out of JFK until 23:00 to catch the AirTrain, having been in the immigration queue for 3 hours.
Mayor Bloomberg needs to do something about JFK Immigration staffing levels. They had just 5 Immigration Officers (increased to 6) in the manned bays to clear an immigration hall crammed full of visitors, with more flights arriving.....and boy oh boy, the queue was slow moving due to their intensive security checks!!!
It is a bright, sunshiny morning here. I will be walking to a Subway Station later to buy a One Week Metrocard and will be going out to nowhere in particular.
Speak with you soon.
Last edited by rocktron; 18th November 2012 at 01:20 AM.
Jealous.
That is all.
Enjoy your trip!
For all your cabling needs..... KaBL
Hope you enjoy your trip, and deepest sympathies about the state of US Immigration controls. I expect anyone here who has been to the States has experienced something similar. I've been to the U.S. quite a few times over many years, and I can honestly say that the experience has ranged from bad to bloody awful. Endless waits, surly staff, and hot, airless airports. It is without doubt the worst bit of the journey, and I include being sat on your arse in an aluminium tube for 9-12 hours being fed airline food.
One of my particular favourites was arriving at Chicago on a business trip about ten years ago. The immigration official took my passport, and asked me when was the last time I had been into the States. I told him about 5 or 6 years ago. He stared at me and said "Well, is it 5? Or 6?" I told him if he gave me back my passport I would let him know, as I couldn't be sure. At which point he kept hold of it, and walked off back into his cubby hole, before returning 20 minutes later and grudgingly waving me through with a scowl. I can only imagine that he'd got pissed off with my response, and sat down for a coffee to make me wait deliberately. The rest of the business party, all 15 of them, had to stand around and wait until I was allowed to pass. Annoyingly, I was in the States with a view to purchasing some very expensive equipment, and I did feel somewhat less disposed to do so after that.
Were you on AAL105 ?
Originally Posted by Myranda_Rose
I read that with interest because I really want to go to the States next year and I've not been outside the country, or practically the M25, since forever.
Have a great time in New York!
[QUOTE=Emperor Fabulous;1381406]Were you on AAL105 ?[/
It was AA, from Glasgow, with some Scottish guys whose accents were so thick, a translator was required!
You'll love it. NYC is an experience never forgotten. I can't wait to go again.I read that with interest because I really want to go to the States next year and I've not been outside the country, or practically the M25, since forever.
Have a great time in New York!
For all your cabling needs..... KaBL
We were there in 2005, just as the Retina Scanning came into being. We too, flew into JFK and I have to say the service we received was unbelievable when stacked up against the UK's airports. We arrived at the end of what appeared to be an interminable queue and were settling in for what seemed as though it might take an age, when a security guy came down the queue and immediately pounced on me (I was using a walking stick) and announced in a booming voice, "Sir, you have a disability, come with me", so we rather shamefacedly made our way past the entire queue and were seen straight through the checks and then were introduced to our "Helper" who apparently was there to see us through the whole process. Seats were found and our baggage was somehow found very quickly and we were whisked away to the Yellow Cabs all in about 30 minutes of touchdown.
UK could take some lessons from this one feels? Mind you, if you want fun, try Treviso Airport and being the victim of one of the periodic spot checks, especially when you have a spare pair of prosthetic legs in your luggage!! That was a very different experience I assure.
Great Trades With Fretwired,Shugz,Simply Ben ,Digitalkettle, Loosemoose, Timmyo , Si ,thecolourbox , frankyknuckles and msdan
Thanks for all the warm wishes guys.
Emp, yes it was Flight No. AA105. You did not sabotage the emergency light, did you?
Rob, I believe that you are planning a trip to the West Coast next year. Bet you can't wait!!!
Oli, not sure what to recommend to you first - East or West Coast. New York is a wonderfull place to visit. Early June or late August is fine. Airfares tend to be cheaper and the temperatures not very hot. Hotels can be expensive. Christmas in NYC used to be magical, but right now, the city is recovering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. When visiting the West Coast, it is advisable to do a 2 or 3 cities tour to make more effective use of the airline ticket. I combined a 5 nights tour to Las Vegas, including helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon, with a 3 nights tour to San Francisco, including a trip to Alcatraz. Everyone knows about Las Vegas, but San Francisco was a revelation - I enjoyed it very much there. If you are interested in visiting NYC, do let me know when you plan to go.
ChilliDoggy, I haven't visited Chicago. It is one of the places I plan to visit in the not too distant future, perhaps combining a trip to Boston.
Yesterday, I went shopping with a relative for a flatscreen TV at BestBuy. She bought a Samsung 55" LED standard model which will be delivered on Tuesday - before Thanksgiving. Visited another store, Target, then went to Macy's (like Selfridges ground floor with the perfume sprayers) at the Queens Center Mall, then popped into JC Penney to check for Levi's 505 jeans which a work colleague asked me to get for him - cost $40 plus 8.5% tax - I think some places have them for $33 plus tax. Wide choice of styles and colours. We had a very late lunch in the Food Court - Teriyake chicken, noodles, spicy boiled potatoes, special fried rice, and two medium Pepsi - $13 for two people and it was so much food that I did not eat dinner.
Today, I will be going to the Bronx to visit an elderly aunt, my deceased Mom's sister, who is in her mid-90s.
Hope you don't mind my travelogue!!!!
Last edited by rocktron; 18th November 2012 at 12:23 PM.
2004 I arrived at JFK with $25k in travellers cheques to buy some lenses and a laptop. The built of the cheques were just $20 thanks to the eejits at NatWest.
Let's just say that immigrations incredulity at the number of cheques for someone only there for three days led to a bit of a strained atmosphere.
And then they checked my passport. I spent all my winters in N Africa and S America at that point. Usually about 6 different trips.
I was a loooong time at the airport and they were surly buggers too.
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