Air travel!

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Business, but a three hour flight, so not flat bed job. Far, far superior to the kind of business you get on an intra-European business flight though, perhaps 60 degree recline with extending footrests.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Business, but a three hour flight, so not flat bed job. Far, far superior to the kind of business you get on an intra-European business flight though, perhaps 60 degree recline with extending footrests.

Bastard!!
Have you got Business for the long haul back to Blighty as well?

I'm lucky enough to have been business class for work as well and agree that it's really not worth it on European flights.

 

[Winot]

BA Club Europe has unbelievably awful leg room (I am 6'4"). I usually book the Economy exit row which is far better.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Yep, it’s a midnight departure from Hong Kong, arrives in Heathrow at 5am, 13 hours, so a bed will be very welcome.

Our flight out here looked like this;




And before bedding down for the night Cathay now gives you this to hang from the coat hook;




Just like in a fancy hotel

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

BA Club Europe has unbelievably awful leg room (I am 6'4"). I usually book the Economy exit row which is far better.

Same in club as economy, same with all European airlines except Air Serbia. Club Europe’s benefits are a meal, drinks, lounge and less fucking around at the airport, often that comes in a five times the price of economy, sod that.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Bloody marvellous

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Same in club as economy, same with all European airlines except Air Serbia. Club Europe’s benefits are a meal, drinks, lounge and less fucking around at the airport, often that comes in a five times the price of economy, sod that.

I was always massively disappointed by the food in the Club lounges of all the airlines I went on. I mean it's nice having the space and the free booze and I know the food is free but it was woeful in most places, considering the price you pay for the privilege.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I was always massively disappointed by the food in the Club lounges of all the airlines I went on. I mean it's nice having the space and the free booze and I know the food is free but it was woeful in most places, considering the price you pay for the privilege.

Yeah the food does tend to be shit. We flew first on BA last Christmas, they have a special lounge at Heathrow call the Concorde Room, (cos their first lounges are open to gold card holders they needed something just for first class punters), the food in there was on a par with my local Burger King.

The booze was lovely, coupled with a two hour delay I was pretty steamboats before we’d even taken off...

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Yeah the food does tend to be shit. We flew first on BA last Christmas, they have a special lounge at Heathrow call the Concorde Room, (cos their first lounges are open to gold card holders they needed something just for first class punters), the food in there was on a par with my local Burger King.

The booze was lovely, coupled with a two hour delay I was pretty steamboats before we’d even taken off...

It is nice how there is just a massive, well stocked drinks cabinet from which you can just help yourself!

ETA: is that the special lounge at T5 that has a bar with a trough running down the middle filled with ice and bottles of champagne?? I never went in it as a punter but was invited to have a look round before the terminal opened.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

It is nice how there is just a massive, well stocked drinks cabinet from which you can just help yourself!

I do like that, in the Concorde Room there is a fancy, manned bar. I ordered a Bloody Mary for Frau Bahn and a Johnny Walker Blue Label for me, “One bloody, one blue” he replied, which was kinda cool. This was after we’d had three glasses of pink champagne each.

Shitfaced before we took off and suffered 9 more hours of boozing.


For the record, I am not whiskey connoisseur, Blue Label tasted just like ‘Scotch’ to me.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Oh - and have they still got those fabulous horse lamps in the T5 lounges??

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Yes

I love them so much!

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Yes

I love them so much!

Me too!

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Anyway, it’s nearly 1 am here, I need to go to bed!

Sweet dreams.

 

[HAL9000]

Yeah had to keep fear of flying Frau Bahn away from BBC news this morning with it’s dramatic headline of a surge in flight fatalities, just before taking a three hour flight

It was a bumpy one too, I barely noticed, she lost her shit over it, must be pretty rough to feel that way.

Food was good though;

View attachment 157569


And there was a dragon on the engine


View attachment 157570

"dramatic headline of a surge"

The news report is very misleading, as far as I can see only 1 fatality on western airlines. The number reported on the bbc included, a July crash, the plane was being prepped for a final trip to a muesum (Convair 340). August crash, the plane was built in 1939.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

ETA: is that the special lounge at T5 that has a bar with a trough running down the middle filled with ice and bottles of champagne?? I never went in it as a punter but was invited to have a look round before the terminal opened.

That’s the first lounge (gold card holders, not first class passengers).

 

[Winot]

The Cathay 1st class cabanas at HKG make you realise how shit BA is.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

That’s the first lounge (gold card holders, not first class passengers).

Ahhhh....I dom't think I saw the Concorde Lounge then. Super-special-exclusive.

I did work with someone who had a black BA card which meant the limo came onto the fucking tarmack to get him off his flight.

 

[hash tag]

Speaking of Cathay Pacific, I see they sold a few tickets for £535 instead of £12,000 and they honoured the cock up

Airline to honour tickets mistakenly sold for £535 instead of £12,000

 

[T & P]

I was most amused to see that at Schiphol Airport you can have Deliveroo bring you food to your boarding gate. Combined with the much nicer array of quality restaurants, shops, indoor smoking areas and individual, art inspired decor and seating areas, it makes such a refreshing change from the UK airports...

 

[gosub]

I was most amused to see that at Schiphol Airport you can have Deliveroo bring you food to your boarding gate. Combined with the much nicer array of quality restaurants, shops, indoor smoking areas and individual, art inspired decor and seating areas, it makes such a refreshing change from the UK airports...

when they sort out the glitches, the drone delivery service at Gatwick could be a boon

 

[Don Troooomp]

I only get economy flight tickets from my boss - tight bugger
16 already booked for next this year - yippee - I love it

 

[A380]

I have come to the conclusion that if I'm paying I have the time (and that second is a big if for most) it's both better and more cost effective to fly long haul in economy and then book an extra night in an (preferably) airport hotel on arrival and just crash out then shower and mooch there.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I have come to the conclusion that if I'm paying I have the time (and that second is a big if for most) it's both better and more cost effective to fly long haul in economy and then book an extra night in an (preferably) airport hotel on arrival and just crash out then shower and mooch there.

I would never pay out of my own pocket for anything other than economy as the price hikes are enormous compared to what you actually get for your money. It's just not worth it unless you are either very wealthy or someone else is paying.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I have come to the conclusion that if I'm paying I have the time (and that second is a big if for most) it's both better and more cost effective to fly long haul in economy and then book an extra night in an (preferably) airport hotel on arrival and just crash out then shower and mooch there.

There's the key though, unless (unlike me) you don't get rat-arsed on the free booze, you arrive refreshed and ready to go, rather than having to spend a day or so getting over it. In fact I deal with one company who's policy is economy + a day to recover or business and you're expected to go from airport to office, even when flying to Melbourne, it's up the traveller what they prefer.

We have very little time on this trip, and sometimes you come across business (or incredibly rarely, first) for not much more than economy. For example last January BA had a sale, London-JFK return £950 in business, eco is £500-ish. Still almost double, but you effectively get an extra day or two out of your trip as you can arrive (both ways) so much fresher.

And if you can get someone else to pay all or part of it, well, that's so much the better too

 

[Almor]

On a 787-8 right now. Cabin crew seem to have let passengers choose individual window settings. One thing I've noticed with these electrochromic units is they attenuate RF so the cabin is a Faraday cage as regards personal GNSS. Toilet lid seats stay where you put them.
View attachment 157347

The 787-8 that I travelled on had annoying toilet seats but the 787-9 had lighter, smaller seats that stayed where put.

Both aircraft had more comfortable seats than previous years.
Although the food seemed worse, I think it was pretty much the same as the other flights I've taken with China Southern, I might just have been put off by an early experience with a badly frozen/thawed slice of tomato.

 

[Teaboy]

I didn't know where to stick this but this looks as good a place as any.

Flybe rescued by Virgin and Stobart

Despite losing money at an alarming rate Flybe are going to continue in one form or another. I've flown them a few times but they are a very niche airline flying from small airports to small airports. Their jet engines are OK but they seemingly can't find a year round market for them but flying on their little tiger moths is a grim experience. Fine if you're just hopping over to the channel islands or up to Inverness or what have you.

I just don't think as an airline they are on many people's radar. That being said they provide some important links to isolated communities and if they went bust who would want to take them over?

Always amuses me when Heathrow airport are giving it the big one about emerging markets and capacity to see Flybe's little turbo props drifting in in-between A380's and the like. What a great use of capacity.

 

[mauvais]

I think that's at best a bit snobbish if not 'metropolitan elite'

They certainly service some small airports, but much of their route map is not small airports.

 

[Teaboy]

I think that's at best a bit snobbish if not 'metropolitan elite'

They certainly service some small airports, but much of their route map is not small airports.

Yeah like Heathrow, which I said.

I've flown to Frankfurt with them, horrible flight but I know they fly to bigger airports. Problem is they can't make it work as a business model. The whole 'Flymaybe' tag hasn't helped them either.

 

[mauvais]

Yeah like Heathrow, which I said.

I've flown to Frankfurt with them, horrible flight but I know they fly to bigger airports. Problem is they can't make it work as a business model. The whole 'Flymaybe' tag hasn't helped them either.

I used to fly with them a lot, Southampton and Manchester to various places. I thought they were pretty good. You're probably right though, for anywhere in contention with Easyjet they're too expensive to compete.