Jump to content
Do Not Sell My Personal Information


The General Chat forum is ONLY for threads which DO NOT fit any other category. If your thread is anything do to with a specific model, it should go in the relevant model club section

Big Adventure Holiday


The Dark Knight
 Share

Recommended Posts

I turned 30 in February and later this year, me and my sister are going to the USA as part of my 30th year celebrations. I went to New York in 2006 and Houston and Dallas in 2008 so now it's California and Vegas time.

Here is the deal: http://www.archersdirect.co.uk/holiday/ ... -francisco

We've got all the key tours thrown in such as Alcatraz. We are also flying semi-posh with Virgin Atlantic who I highly rate and again a great deal: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/th ... onomy.html

Flew with Virgin to New York and they were better than British Airways who we flew to Texas with in my opinion.

Fly from Heathrow 29th August and we've got a 4 star hotel at Heathrow the night before the flight! It will be hot out there and the coach goes close by Death Valley! I will take my Stetson I bought whilst in Dallas.

Can't wait!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Not fair, thanks for making me jealous!! :angry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry about that lol. It seems ages since I was last in the States and this holiday has been in planning since 2010. It ain't gonna be cheap but California and Vegas were high on my list.

My sister turns 40 in 2016 and we said that we would love to do the east coast tour in the autumn. Boston, New York and Washington DC.

I also want to go to Canada at some point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like your in for a treat!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, it will be great. Defo worth the upgrade on the flights as it is 10.5 hours approx.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Some photos when I went last summer:

About to depart Heathrow:

IMAG0016.jpg

A nice and sunny Vegas:

IMAG0752.jpg

The Grand Canyon could not be missed:

IMAG0925.jpg

Heading back towards the simmering lights of Vegas after dusk:

IMAG0981.jpg

All in all, I had a wonder of a time there, and the weather was great (average of around 42C, reached a max of 46C whilst there).

This was my 3rd trip to America, loved it even more than the previous one. Also visited Alcatraz.

Your itinerary sounds good, I really look forward to some of your photos, I hope you don't forget by then!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have fun mate i went in 2012 to vegas and it was unbelievable deffo get yourself up the top of the stratoshpere for some great views :)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Ford OC mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those photo's have made me look forward to it even more lol :)

Looking forward to the 28th of August. A nice steady drive to Heathrow before chilling out at the hotel, knowing the stress of daily life can be put on hold for 2 weeks. Watch a few planes take off and land. Then at 11:15 on the 29th it's Los Angeles here we come!

According to this site: http://www.seatguru.com/

We are flying on 747-400 which I am pleased about. They sometimes run an Airbus A340-600 on that route but the trusty old 747 is my preference. Champagne upon boarding too.

I notice that plane is Lady Penelope. We flew on Ruby Tuesday to NYC. As for photo's, I won't forget as I am looking forward to using my new Nikon P520 camera with it's 42x optical zoom.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those photo's have made me look forward to it even more lol :)

Looking forward to the 28th of August. A nice steady drive to Heathrow before chilling out at the hotel, knowing the stress of daily life can be put on hold for 2 weeks. Watch a few planes take off and land. Then at 11:15 on the 29th it's Los Angeles here we come!

According to this site: http://www.seatguru.com/

We are flying on 747-400 which I am pleased about. They sometimes run an Airbus A340-600 on that route but the trusty old 747 is my preference. Champagne upon boarding too.

I notice that plane is Lady Penelope. We flew on Ruby Tuesday to NYC. As for photo's, I won't forget as I am looking forward to using my new Nikon P520 camera with it's 42x optical zoom.

Glad you liked the photos. Have many more actually, but I wished I had a decent camera with me instead of my smartphone!

That feeling of forgetting about the stress of daily life you mention - has to be one of the best feelings ever. I swear, after more than 4 days in NYC - I was beginning to feel a part of it. :P

I've flown on a 747 big-time - yep they are pretty good, but give me a 777 any day. Only flown once (short-haul) in a A340, so don't really have an opinion of those.

The VA service was on the whole good, but the interior of the planes are very dated, and the IFE sucks. Not sure if they have been refurbished since then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We flew on a 777 with British Airways to Houston.

I'm hoping the premium economy experience will help improve the overall experience. The 747 refurb has just been completed I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sad news about that Malaysian Airlines 777 crash. Probably terrorist they're saying now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard something about a stolen passport... wouldnt surprise at all!Hopefully this doesnt discourage the positivity of the holidays!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope this incident hasn't put any of you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just makes me wish Air Marshalls where on every air craft....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like Neeson in that new movie non-stop!

Back on topic, I did a search online and discovered that if you want a non-stop flight to Los Angeles, it has to be Heathrow.

American Airlines from Manchester to Chicago then on to LA was another option.

If you choose Virgin or British Airways from Manchester to LA, it shows a quick internal flight to Heathrow first. Not that I mind, Heathrow is the busiest airport in the world in terms of international passengers so it all adds to the occasion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • 3 months later...

Using flight radar, I discovered that our flight most often flies right over our house lol! It was almost an hour behind schedule today. Perhaps due to the new checks following new terrorist threats. I grabbed my camera and got a quick shot of it going over (Boeing 747):

The holiday is 7 weeks this Friday. Closing in fast.

post-41593-0-79744100-1404734271_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

bet your getting excited to the idea of the break!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yes! Looking forward to the day before the flight too as it will be all about the build up. Steady drive to Heathrow and stay in whatever hotel we've got and just chill out. We will probably check out Myrtle Avenue which is a haven for plane spotters apparently. Pass a bit of time watching some big planes land or take off.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share




×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership