Review: US Airways Business Class (Envoy Suites) Philadelphia to Venice
A Mediterranean Cruise and Four Days in Ireland
Introduction
Planning
US Airways Business Class (Envoy) Philadelphia to Venice
Two Magical Days in Venice
Boscolo Venezia Hotel in Venice
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam: Introduction, Itinerary, and the Pinnacle Suite
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam: Katakolon and Athens
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam: Istanbul, Mitilini, and Kusadasi
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam: Santorini and Argostoli
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam: Sailing into Venice
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam: Cruise Review
Ryanair Economy Class Venice-Treviso to Dublin
Two Days in Dublin
The Aran Islands and Galway, Ireland
Driving the West Coast of County Clare, the Cliffs of Moher, and Bunratty Meadows B&B
Aer Lingus 757 Business Class Shannon to Boston
After a quick and uneventful, yet pleasant flight from Washington-National Airport, we arrived in Philadelphia with about two hours to spare until our scheduled departure time. We were welcomed into the Terminal A US Airways Envoy Lounge where our passports were checked and we were issued two premium drink certificates apiece. The lounge offered a great view of the evening European departures from Terminal A.
I felt it was a very solid lounge for a US domestic carrier – probably one of the better I’ve seen domestically. Boarding for our flight to Venice was announced around 6pm, so we proceeded to the gate and arrived as some of the last passengers to board.
US Airways (US) 714
Philadelphia (PHL) – Venice (VCE)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Seat: 4F (Envoy Suites)
Tuesday, April 28, 2014
6:45PM – 09:15AM (+1 day)
Duration: 8:30
My initial impression of the business cabin was that it looked awfully spacious and nice with the wood paneling on the bulkheads and tables. The US Airways A330-200 features only twenty business class seats (or “Envoy Suites”) as five rows in a a 1-2-1 configuration. The reverse herringbone configuration of these seats is a scaled down version of the same seats used by Cathay Pacific in their international business cabins. Though they lack some of the storage of the Cathay seats, these Envoy Suites are some of the most spacious and nicest business class seats one can fly across the Atlantic. Certainly, they’re currently the best hard product on an US carrier (with the exception of the new American 777-300ER cabin, which are the same type seats as these Envoy Suites). The 1-2-1 business cabin is quickly becoming the standard among airlines, and US Airways deserves some credit for being the first airline to introduce this seat a few years ago. I had more than enough room to stretch out. While fully flat, I was able to stretch out without hitting the wall of the foot well . This is pretty spectacular since I’m 6’4”.
We were offered champagne as soon as we took our seats, as well as a newspaper, an amenity kit, and brand new Bose QC15 noise-canceling headphones. I was quite impressed by the Bose headphones, as I’m used to a much inferior offering on United. They featured American Airlines branding, so they’re on of the first signs of the integration of the two airlines. Menus were distributed and orders were taken prior to departure.
About ten minutes after takeoff, the flight attendant delivered a vodka tonic with warm mixed nuts.
The starter featured a pesto shrimp dish, which was excellent. The salad was quite small, and came on the same plate as the shrimp.
For the entree, I selected the panko-crusted tilapia with mashed potatoes and green beans. The fish was a much larger portion than I was expecting. It was tasty enough, and the mashed potatoes were delicious.
I had the tiramisu AND the Ben & Jerry’s chocolate brownie ice cream for desert – both of which were excellent. My girlfriend ordered the cheese plate and enjoyed that.
Dinner was quite good overall. It was not overly memorable, but was certainly adequate for a business class dinner.
After dinner, I attempted to finish a movie, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” but didn’t last more than ten minutes, as I fell asleep in the lay-flat bed. For whatever reason, I didn’t sleep particularly well that night though the seat itself was quite comfortable. I finally gave up trying after about four hours or so of on-and-off sleep. Not too long after that, the flight attendants started preparing the cabin for breakfast – about 75 minutes prior to scheduled arrival into Venice, as we flew over Paris. There was a choice of fruit and yogurt, or a mushroom and sausage quiche. I opted for the fruit and yogurt while my girlfriend chose the quiche. The fruit was fresh and tasty. The quiche was excellent – easily one of the best egg dishes I’ve sampled on any flight.
After breakfast, I changed and prepared my things for landing. We arrived into Venice about ten minutes ahead of schedule with a beautiful view of the city, the lagoon, and Murano our the starboard side of the airplane.
Overall, I was very impressed with US Airways. I was expecting a very solid hard product, and that’s exactly what I got. The Envoy Suite is an excellent choice for crossing the Atlantic, and it blows away most other US carriers’ offerings as far as comfort is concerned – namely United’s BusinessFirst products and American’s old business class. Admittedly, I had somewhat low expectations for catering and service, but I was pleasantly surprised. The flight attendants working the business class cabin were friendly enough and very efficient – not necessarily memorable, but they certainly provided good enough service. The catering was overall quite good, and I enjoyed a change from the somewhat standard United BusinessFirst menu that I’m used to.
I certainly recommend the US Airways Envoy product, which is found onboard their Airbus A330 fleet. I would choose it again if the choice was between US Airways and /or United. At the end of the day, the 1-2-1 configuration is clearly the most comfortable business class configuration out there, and is one of the best business class options across the Atlantic.
How I booked it…
I was able to book this cabin using 50,000 American Airlines miles and $5 per person for the one-way North America to Europe award ticket. Award availabilty for US Airways flights is easily available via the American Airlines website. An added benefit of using American miles for flights on US Airways is that it presents a Transatlantic option that avoids London-Heathrow and the significant taxes associated with such a flight. There are also no fuel surcharges on US Airways flights, as opposed to the hefty surcharges that exist when flying American’s other transatlantic partners British Airways and Iberia.
Sean, was the 50,000 points for you both? If so, I definitely need to sign up for card that has American as the travel rewards partner. Delta is great b/c it’s here but options overseas always seem to be insanely ridiculous and not worth the use of the miles.
Randy
Randy,
This was 50,000 points per person in business class. There are some ways out there that you can get to Europe in business class for less than that. I will hit one of those later on in this trip. Living in Atlanta is tough because you’re hub-captive with Delta. While Delta is a great airline, it’s often extremely difficult to find a low-level award to Europe using Delta Skymiles. You’ll find the availability to Europe on American and United (and each of their partners) is much easier to come by than Delta.