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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TonyHancock" data-source="post: 2318213" data-attributes="member: 26838">“H – A – N – C – O – C – K” I heard myself repeat for the second time to the lady behind the Perspex screen. It was not going well I was having to fend for myself, Griselda was not quite on strike but was refusing to work between the hours of midnight and five A.M. I was attempting to change my flight to an earlier time in the hope I could get to my hotel at Charlotte airport at an acceptable hour and maximise my $12 food and beverage credit.The previous day American Airlines team could not do enough for me, today I was persona non grata. I expected it at Salt Lake City, everything is Delta there, there is not even a Centurion lounge and getting to the aeroplane required a 30 minute route march and a bus journey, but I expected better at Los Angeles. I wondered whether there was an opportunity for a driver service to the aeroplane, given it was miles away.[ATTACH=full]266063[/ATTACH]Salt Lake City...which I am led to believe is built near a lake.....that is salty.I am sorry Mr Hancock but there will be a charge to move to an earlier flight the lady sheepishly informed me. I made it quite clear I was not prepared to pay. A fool and his money are soon parted rang out in my ears.[ATTACH=full]266064[/ATTACH]The view from the Admirals club at LAX T5...shortly before my flight was delayed and moved to T4.Now there are thing I like and things I don’t like about the Admirals Club, I say this because the Flagship Lounge at Los Angeles is still closed. First up I think it is rather good that the local American Airlines Executive Platinum’s are kept at bay…unless they have an international connection. How much better the Qantas lounges would be if the Qantas Platinum’s, with their thongs and singlets, were excluded. <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" alt="😛" title="Face with tongue    :stuck_out_tongue:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" data-shortname=":stuck_out_tongue:" /><img class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" alt="😝" title="Squinting face with tongue    :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/1f61d.png" data-shortname=":stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:" /> The downside, or course, is that people can pay to gain entry so the nouveau riche holding glasses by the bowl are prevalent. (Good lord why on earth can they not work out what the stem is for?)[ATTACH=full]266065[/ATTACH]The view from the Admirals Club at LAX T4 shortly before the final gate change.Predictably my flight to Charlotte was delayed and Griselda will be writing a stiffly worded letter as a result. Boarding was a shambles, although to be fair Los Angeles Airport is somewhat of a shambles in general. American Airlines typically get priority boarding right but when the opening call is for groups 1-4 one knows a disaster is about to unfold. Sure enough a free for all enveloped the gate and I found myself fighting back the hordes to get to the front of the queue.I am still coming to terms with the notion of a fully flat bed on a 2 hour flight from Dallas to Phoenix when a near 5 hour flight from Los Angeles to Charlotte only merited a small aeroplane that had me exposed to the sort of passenger that brings fast food on board. Surprisingly a meal was served, if one can call it that. It consisted of a tiny salad and a roll “filled” with processed turkey.”By the time I reached The Hilton at Charlotte airport the bar had closed. (I hate losing my food and beverage credit.) the rooms were not unpleasant, my suite had two very large televisions, had they not been so big I would have popped one into my carry on.[ATTACH=full]266066[/ATTACH]Charlotte at night...I didn't actually see anything in daylight, from the Airport Hilton.After a traumatic day I drifted into sleep after consuming another chapter in that excellent book – A Thousand Years of Annoying The French – by Stephen Clarke.</blockquote>

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