December 29

Hong Kong 3: For the LOVE of Avios! With Swiss and British Airways
Avios? Oh Yes… Oh Yes… OH YEAH!

Sections:

And time to wrap this up… it’s been as just as a monster as I suspected…. and that’s just an ECONOMY Class trip! ;)

I think the image below sums up how well I did.


Or to put in simple terms:   90 Tier Points, 26,808 Avios. Not bad for a weekend out eh?

Considering it would cost £399 to purchase 24,000 Avois, and the fare was £420ish or so, it was truly cheaper to fly than buy Avios.

Oh, I should do the usual laughing thing I tend to do at Miles and More due to the hilariously bad earning rates on cheap flights:

Like I said: Hilarious. Hilariously Bad.

I should do some summing up really shouldn’t I?

OLT Express for Swiss: Hmm. I’m not sure what to think. Whilst they try to keep to the Swiss service levels, they seem to miss out bits of it or rewrite bits of it. Certainly not the worst carrier I’ve been on by a long stretch, but there is something missing from them – and it shows in the lack of finesse in the final product. A pity as Helvetic got it right without an issue.

Swiss (Mainline) Didn’t disappoint. Good service all round, balanced with good segment legs remind me why Swiss is one of my favourite European airlines. More importantly, they delivered luggage on time, and it is possible connecting across the back end of the A gates to the D gates at Zurich airport in fewer than 45 minutes. But don’t if you like running lots…

British Airways did a great job, with its staff showing off great customer service. The on-board product isn’t THAT bad in economy (compared to some recent – and not so recent – experiences). The seating in World Traveller isn’t bad… although those slimline seats are really not suitable for Long Haul runs in my book. IFE seems to be something that BA has worked on, and had a good mix for all tastes, with systems that work easily.

Dayrooms at Zurich: Put it like this, if I have a forced overnight in Zurich again, I won’t be heading out to the hotels in the area – I’ll be using either a couch or a bedroom at Zurich Airport. Far cheaper, friendly and cost efficient… and I don’t even have to leave the airport, maximising rest time.

Holiday Inn Express Soho, Hong Kong: Another great little Holiday Inn property in the ICHG portfolio. The location can’t be beaten, the rooms are comfortable, the beds are reasonably firm. My only bugbear is the Breakfast facility which is too small for the amount of people that go through there. Still, for a good value chain property in one of the more expensive places in the world to get a hotel room, you can’t go wrong here.

Well, that concludes this little trip. I’d like to say I’ll be back on another trip soon, but – there is a problem that stems from the real world.

You see, in the real world as much as I dream of being a travel writer or a wonderful photographer, I’m a simple IT engineer that works in the National Health Service.

Just before this trip started back in November, I was fully expecting news that we would get our funding for 2013/2014 for the little unit I work for. All I got when I arrived back at the end of November 2012 was a letter of “that I was possibly at risk”. As of today (when this post went live), that’s turned into “You are formally at risk of being made redundant” as of 29th December 2012.

Meanwhile there are efforts for my little unit to be saved that I’m doing my best to participate in as redundancy is possibly staring in my face.

The above is the factual stuff – but I do have a lot of rude words for the powers that be up top who have made the changes to Health Profession (any side of it) an absolute pigs ear and even more confusing than it has been before.

Until I know otherwise, all trips are pulled until I know one way or another. Hopefully, all being well, I’ll be back in “Untitled Chicago Trip 14″ in April.

To those of you who have stuck with me till the final paragraph of this trip report, thank you so much for reading.

Comments and Feedback welcome :)

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December 28

Hong Kong 3: For the LOVE of Avios! With Swiss and British Airways
Rushing around Zurich, and LX424 Zürich Airport – Birmingham Airport

Sections:

Hmm. I’m going the wrong direction. First south of Birmingham, now west! Hopefully I should make it home this segment… if the connection gods are with me…

A quick (and I mean quick) transit of Zürich Airport

Sitting near the front of the plane, I managed to make it out quickly. And with the plane docking the far end of the A gates, it was a case of doing it in the musical stylings of Christopher Cross/East Side Beat (take your pick – I prefer the East Side Beat version… but I grew up in the 90′s…) to ride like the wind  and power walk/run/whatever to the transfer gates as soon as, so I could make LX424 to Birmingham.

After clearing initial traffic coming off other places, I bolted down the travelators, and power walked through the A pier, a hard turn for to the B and D Piers rushing through the local traffic, and arriving at the Schengen Border with about 25 minutes to spare.


Thataway!

5 minutes of it was spent queuing to leave Switzerland. A quick diversion to the small room, and I was right next to the boarding gate… which was running late.

What is that about “The more things change?”

Another pit stop to pick up more chocolate for my co-workers, and boarding had begun, with Elites being seen to by a person and non elites having to use the scanner. I was beeped and headed into the boarding pen, where a bus turned up quickly and took a full load of us to the AvroJet/Jumbolino/Fokker apron.


Awaiting Boarding

After a short wait for the thumbs up, the bus doors opened and I boarded this little Fokker for the final flight home

Leg 8 LX424 Zurich International Airport – Birmingham Airport
Operated by OLT Express for Swiss International Air Lines
Fokker 100, Seat 11A
125 Miles Earned + 32 Executive Miles

The Photos: http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2012/12/20/lx424-zurich-to-birmingham.html

I found my way to my seat, and to my luck, I had lucked out on an exit row. After stuffing my bags in the small overhead lockers, I checked the emergency instructions and waited for the plane to load. Again, this flight left Zurich with a full cabin aboard – seems like Swiss really is packing them in on this route.


In case of emergency – I wonder if the moustache is optional…. I doubt the fuzz on my face would pass…

Late as we were, the plane pushed forward and trundled towards a runway. During this time, the OLT Express crew gave the safety briefing (they did the actions over a pre-recorded announcement). There wasn’t a long wait for take off, allowing us to take off

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And the view during climbout…

Even though it’s a little Fokker, those Rolls Royce Tays did a very nice performance, with a nice climb-out into the night.

After settling into the cruise, I took a look around me.


Legroom. I’m not going to say it. Honest.


The seat (post landing)


Overhead panel


Cabin with service commenced.

There was a service and I was in for a shock. I WAS OFFERED A CHOICE OF SANDWICH!!! This is a first for Swiss (or in this case OLT Express) – A Ham Baguette or a Cheese Baguette.


Pictured with a glass of water.

Again, nice and fresh – with a reasonable amount of filling.

This being Swiss of course, they do know about wine, so I had a bottle of their darn nice white wine too.

Meanwhile outside, the final bits of red sunlight sun were fading, marking the end of the day

Cleardown was reasonably quick, and shockingly one Swiss service standard was missed. No handing out of chocolates (nor were they handed out on exiting the plane). It’s a small thing, but Swiss do make a point of saying it – even in their adverts.

Decent soon begun, and we dropped down into the murk of an English evening where rain seemed to be the order of the day as we begun our descent into Birmingham airport, landing towards Birmingham City Centre.

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From there it was the long taxi back to the terminal, and finally back to Gate 59 where this trip begun. After the bongs went, it was time to grab my trash one more time and head off.

After landing I made my way down the cold jetbridge, and into the warm terminal, following the signs to Immigration. I tried to clear using the ePassport gates, but the system was having none of that, so I had to go to an agent (thankfully the UK queue had 1 person in it). I was cleared quickly, and went down to luggage claim – and through to the baggage claim in the corner as opposed to the big luggage belts.

A short wait (well quicker than the wait times listed in this handy diagram that Birmingham Airport provides), and my little rucksack had made the 45 minute connection at Zurich Airport.


I’ve linked the larger version to this at http://pb-i4.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/6247-1356683600-23-l.jpg… 1 hour for a last bag off a 777/747????

From there, it was through UK Customs and finally out into the “Real World”.  Tracking back to the Airport Air-Rail Link I boarded the next available one which took me to Birmingham International Station.

Upon arriving, a state of chaos seems to be active, with a couple of cancellations causing major trouble – and a full Virgin Pendolino for the 15 minute ride to New Street as the signals were on the blink.

Nothing like a sharp jolt of reality to welcome a person back to the UK.

After the train pulled in, I headed up the escalators, to find the ticket inspectors had gone home for the night, and headed for the taxi rank.


Home and don’t spare the horses. Oh. Birmingham traffic. Save the horses.

After 10 more minutes enjoying Birmingham traffic, and 6 days of travel, I was at my front door, ending this adventure.


15627 miles, eight segments, two airlines and one front door.

And I went in, dropped my luggage off and put my feet up… and begun to make odd noises at the computers when all of them moaned about running out of disk space. Again.

Some things never change.

And finally … Avios… Oh Yes, Oh Yes, OH YEAH!

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December 28

Hong Kong 3: For the LOVE of Avios! With Swiss and British Airways
Barcelona Switchover, Lounge, LX1955 Barcelona – Zürich Airport

Sections:

Right. Barcelona is further away from home from London. What was I thinking? Anyway, onto the next flight…

Exiting the plane I cleared immigration in the most stupid way possible thanks to the immigration checkpoint – I went to the EU queue, handed my passport over at the passport page. Now whilst I normally see lots of typing and a swipe of the information bit of the passport, the agent looked at the passport, looked at me, said thank you and let me through.

It’s quick, but that’s a bit of a security snooze there methinks.

Meanwhile baggage was being unloaded, and it was taking time coming out. I think my bag came in the last lot of bags to be ferried from the plane, but it arrived, with everything seemly intact. I cleared customs quickly as they were switching off half of the lights in the baggage claim hall.

Oh Spain.

After entering the public area, I quickly re-packed a few bags so some stuff I had picked up on route was stored safely (and wasn’t bulging out my main bag too much), then headed back upstairs to the check in area.

After a bit of hunting, I found the Swiss check-in desks. I was seen to quickly as a SEN and the boarding passes issued for both the ZRH-BCN flights and the ZRH-BHX flights.  With the 45 minute cutover between flights, the computer system seemed confident I could make it.

I still wasn’t sure.

With the formalities completed and the luggage taken away, I was off through security, and going through the same security check point I went through on the way out. Within minutes, I was clear (with my bag unmolested), this time heading down to the main terminal area.   I tried to buy a coat there (not easy or cheap… I’d address that deficiency once I was at home) and get gin for those who wanted it in the office. Once purchased, I was off to the common lounge

Lounge Stop – Barcelona Schengen Lounge

I was welcomed into the lounge which in all respects, is a mirror to the Non-Schengen lounge (See Back to El Prat, Lounge, BA0475 Barcelona – London)- the big difference is that this lounge was a lot more busier. Still it allowed me a good 30 minutes or so to unwind before the next set of flights.

One thing that was of interest however was the new Lufthansa Business Class Seat that was being demoed. And of course, I had to review it quickly. Why?  Because I love you all.

 

The seat itself does go flat – that’s the good news. As I noted in my initial analysis some time ago, I was worried about the angling of the seat in regards to feet intermingling, and I saw they put a divider up so feet from one seat won’t touch the other person.Put it like this: You’d need to put effort into it if you want to play footsie with the person in the seat next to you.

The IFE controller and screen were nice to handle, but as usual with IFE – its the content that counts…. and sadly there was little content hooked up in the demo system.

It was reasonably spacious but honestly…. nothing overly special. For those who don’t like Lufthansa’s current wedgie seat, this is one hell of an improvement though.

Eventually I headed off as the computer screen said that a gate had been called. However, I was in for a shock. 1) The gate was at the far end of the C Gates at C75 and 2) When I arrived at the gate… there was no plane there. Now I was clock watching, as every minute wasted on the ground would add up to less time to run across Zurich Airport.

The plane pulled in about 10 minutes late, with a full unload of passengers, as well as crew who were swapping over at Barcelona.

I guess “Swiss Punctuality” and “On-Time” don’t apply at Barcelona…

Boarding begun (with separate boarding for Business/SEN/Star Gold and Economy), and I made my way onto this A320 that was taking back to Zurich.

Leg 7 LX1955 Barcelona El Prat – Zurich International Airport
Swiss International Air Lines, Airbus A320, Seat 7F
125 Miles Earned + 32 Executive Miles

The Photos: http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2012/12/19/lx1955-barcelona-to-zurich.html

I was welcomed aboard, and headed to my window Seat of 7F for this leg towards Zurich – 1 row behind the business class. This isn’t a bad thing as you don’t get a face-full of curtain when you get up later during the flight, or when you’re getting off the plane a rush.

Cabin during boarding

I stowed my baggage in the overhead lockers, and I found myself in a familiar comfortable Swiss short haul environment. Thankfully boarding seemed to move at some speed as there were a lot of people on connections beyond Zurich for this flight, and the plane was buttoned up to go. However, the point where we took off, we were 20 minutes down already.

Take off:

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This, was going to be tighter than I would had liked by any stretch of the imagination. Deciding not to worry about this for a bit (and rather worry at the other end), I settled back into the climb.

After the plane settled at its flight level, the food and drink service began

The usual drinks.

And an Apricot Tart.

Well… this is different. No baguettes with Turkey meat inside? Am I *sure* I’m flying Swiss here? Nonetheless it was a reasonably different thing to have as an inflight snack.  I wasn’t overly hungry, so I popped it in a bag for later (and considering the expiry date on it, later would be a longgggg time).

The seat? Well I think we all know the answer to that:

Do I need to say it even?

And the seat even supports a GhettoIFE system (yes, it FINALLY makes an appearance on this trip ;) )

Mono…. D’oh! (Marge Vs The Monorail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_vs._the_Monorail )

There was also IFE on the TV screens too (Classic Tom and Jerry).

Again, the seat next to me was free, creating a very pleasant in flight experience.

Clear down and duty free were done, with very few takers for Duty Free.  Of course, there was one important thing that happened near the end of the flight:

Ah yes. I’m DEFINITELY on Swiss.

Soon, we were beginning to turn and descend, and the seatbelt signs went on indicating we were closing in on Zurich Airport.

Landing:

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Looking at the clock we had pulled in at about 16:20. 5 minutes late on the ground, so that pilot had made up some serious time in the air. Some of that was lost during the taxi to the terminal, but I was mentally preparing myself for the great run that was ahead of me.

And Goodbye to you too… lets hope I make the next flight!!!

Unfortunately for me the plane pulled up at the far end of the A Pier at Zurich Airport. Knowing that the clock ticking on my connection, I pulled my bags from the overhead bin, thanked the crew… and rushed off the plane.

Overall: A slightly different service, but delivered in the usual Swiss style that I’ve come to enjoy on these shorthaul legs offered by this airline. Great crew, good seating that is appropriate for the flight.

Next: Ride Like The Wind (To be Free again)… and homeward bound (Hopefully…)

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December 27

Hong Kong 3: For the LOVE of Avios! With Swiss and British Airways
British Airways T5 First Class Lounge, BA484 London Heathrow – Barcelona El Prat

Sections:

I maybe in London, but there’s a lot of this journey to go yet. Firstly I have to get to Barcelona…

BA Galleries First Class Lounge

The Pictures: http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2012/12/17/heathrow-airport-in-the-morning.html

You might want to look at http://boardingarea.com/blogs/ghettoife/2012/12/12/oh-for-the-love-of-avios-british-airways-first-class-lounge-t5/ for my initial impressions of the place… and if I’m honest, the impressions remained the same.

As it was 5am, there seemed to be no-one out to do food at table service, so I went to the food service area to get breakfast


Mmmm. Bacon.


Sausage, Mushrooms Potato and lots of other bits to make an English breakfast


And more sausages!


Of course there was a glass of this to start the day. Don’t look at me in that tone of voice.

The lounge got busier as the morning waned on. It was still quiteish, with comings and goings of busy people doing busy things, whilst there was little olde me in a corner dumping pictures onto an ever groaning hard disk drive.

Well, it’s something to do to waiting between flights. Besides, it frees memory cards for the next steps of the journey. There’s three more segments to go before the day is out…

As 8:30 ticked passed, a boarding gate was announced, and I packed my trash up, heading for Gate A1 (whilst stopping off on the way to get some chocolates for the office), still making it in plenty of time for the Barcelona flight.

Gate Alpha 1


Art near Gate 1 in the public area.

After a short wait, boarding was commenced. As I was in the priority queue, I used by BA Gold to get through the gate and onto the plane

Leg 6 BA484 London Heathrow – Barcelona El Prat
British Airways, Airbus A320, Seat 11A
10 Tier Points Earned, 1434 Avios (717 Base + 717 Status bonus)

The Pictures: http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2012/12/18/ba484-lhr-to-bcn.html

I was welcomed aboard by the crew and headed for my seat in the 2nd exit row of this Airbus A320. After stowing my bags, I settled down to watch the plane load in its entirety, with a fair few hunts for space for bags being made

The Shorter version of the BA Safety Video played, and we pushed back a bit late, heading again for runway 27R, and powering off into the sky.

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Once we cleared the cloud there was but blue sky and sunlight… with some higher-level cloud.


Turning in the morning sun


Cabin during Cruise.

Well, this A320 appeared to be “well use” I think the term is. Whilst it was clean, there were signs that it had seen better day’s


Better days… and Better Glue needed.

Soon enough the food and drink cards made their way down their aisle, with me selecting a diet coke, and an Egg Mayo Croissant for the meal with a cuplet of orange juice too. Add a cup of water as well to help the dehydration I seemed to be going in, this is not a bad idea.

I don’t expect high life catering on short segments, and this breakfast seemed to fit the “fill the corner of a customer’s stomach” category. Saying that, the croissant was a reasonable size, and the service was designed for a reasonably quick clean away.

Whilst the leather had seen better days, the seat was extremely comfortable with lots of leg room – one of the joys of being an exit row on a European leg.

Meanwhile the crew on-board were performing their duties and being helpful. Sadly, I didn’t get a hello from the CSD with his iPad (and also to note – not on any of the long haul legs either). Whilst the crew were there and being helpful, they weren’t overly warm compared to some of the recent crews I’ve experienced.

The flight moved on quickly, and soon enough the bumps of the Pyrenees occurred, signalling the plane was closing in on Barcelona.

Soon enough, clear down was done as was duty free, and we were descending down on the Barcelona area, breaking through the heavy cloud into a rather grey Mediterranean morning.


I swear the Med is down there. Honest.

The plane begun vectoring in for final approach into Barcelona, with the A320 making a nice decent on a wet Barcelona morning.

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There was a fair old taxi as we were taxing over to the Non-Schengen gates, but after a while we docked next door to another BA CityFlyer E-190 next door – how this BA Journey begun.

Shortly after powering down the jetbridge was engaged, and we were allowed to disembark

Overall: Not as special as some legs, but perfectly functional for the flight length and a reasonable service. Could be worse, could be better.

Next: A Barcelona Switch, a Lufthansa Business Class Seat and a Swiss flight

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December 26

Hong Kong 3: For the LOVE of Avios! With Swiss and British Airways
BA26  Hong Kong International Airport - London Heathrow T5

Sections:

Time to to get back on track with writing… and to the journey. Back to the airport first…

Leg 5 BA0026 Hong Kong – London Heathrow T5
British Airways, 39K, World Traveller (Economy)
Boeing 747-400, 70J Configuration
35 Tier Points Earned 11958 Avios (5,979 Base + 5,979 Tier bonus)

The Pictures:


Heading down the jetway

Upon boarding, I was greeted by the crew, and settled down to my seat in the main World Traveller cabin. Instead of an exit row, this time I had a bulkhead row. Bulkhead rows as we know contain a risk – the loud screaming variety of risk.

Thankfully, the right hand section of the row had me and another lady in it. There was a baby in the middle block of economy, but it was relatively quiet.


Pillow at Seat.

After settling down, I started chatting to the friendly cabin crew – I could see this was going to be a reasonable flight tonight. Boarding took its time, but eventually the plane pushed back without a full load of passengers, making for a reasonable environment.

As I was in the bulkhead row, the TV Screen was stowed in the seat. I extended it for the safety demonstration – which was the long version of the demo.  It’s still relevant and a good video, but there does need to be a new version of it as it has done the rounds for many years now.

Take off was quick and reasonable, with the plane’s four Rolls Royce RB-211 engines powering up.

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Now, here’s a little did you know. The flight I went on operated by G-CIVX – which featured in a documentary on how British Airways maintain its fleet at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yHtfGH0nI (If you’ve got an hour, get a coffee and settle back – its a great documentary).

The seat itself is the old generation World Traveller seat, and that’s not a bad thing by any means. For starters, the padding on it is not akin to a steel bench, with the headrest you can drop down so it acts like a firm side pillow – a great alternative against sleeping against the bulkhead wall.

The drinks trolley came around, and I was good… I just stuck to the Diet Coke

Being a late night flight, food followed pretty much behind the drinks, with options. I went for the chicken, which was delivered on a tray with:


Salad


In flight throwing projectile… or a roll.


Water Cuplet


Wine – again very palatable


Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice


Apple Pie

The salad was cold and edible, whilst the Sweet and Sour Chicken whilst the rice was a bit soft, the chicken was flavoursome – another reasonable meal indeed. Combined as a tray, it wasn’t a bad economy class meal at all.

Cleardown was quite quick as it was a late night flight, and I settled into use this IFE system.

Whilst this is an older generation system, it wasn’t exactly lacking in terms of content – which is another thing I look for in an IFE system.


From the Big Bang Theory…


… to highlights of the Olympic Ceremonies of 2012

And that’s what I fell asleep to (whilst waking up every now and again to restart the video).

Whilst it wasn’t sold sleep, I managed to get some rest until about 4 hours to go in the flight. During this time, a lens of mine decided to fall down the back of plane. At a quiet moment, I talked to the crew who offered to help me when we landed. Thanks to a bit of teamwork by one of the cabin crew (and by god, she got a ba.com/welldone from me when I got to the lounge), the lens was found rolled down two rows just before breakfast.


Meanwhile… Outside…

Speaking of breakfast, that came along shortly after the lens was found, with a choice of Noodles or a full English. I went for the noodles


The tray with coffee in a BA Paper Cup.


Orange Juice


Noodles, Yoghurt and Cake/Pastry/thing


The Noodles.

The noodles were warm and plentiful – Singapore style, with a nice dash of meat, eggs and peppers. Not too spicy, but a very traditional far eastern wake up call.  The pastry/cake was… edible at best, and yogurt… well we all know what I think about the bacterial fermentation of milk. The coffee was warm, brown and did the waking up thing.  All good things. Mostly.

Soon the flight was closing in to London, with the map showing we were crossing the Channel, honing in over Clacton and Colchester, before heading for the London stacks.

As we cleared the stacks, our descent took us on a river approach. Whilst it was early in the London morning

During this time, the crew cleared down the plane – still smiling, talking to the passengers and interacting with all of them as they woke up as we closed into LHR.

And the approach into London was nothing short of… spectacular.

And the final 3 minutes of the trip to landing, captured digitally

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After landing on 27R, our 747 begun the long taxi past the T1/T3 complex and towards T5, finally docking at the B Gates at Terminal 5. After a short wait and after thanking the crew for their help during the flight, I headed off the plane soon after 04:45 – shortly after landing.

Overall: I’ve said this once, I’ll say it again – Good Crew Make a Good Flight, and this crew exemplified this. The service itself was reasonable, but the way it delivered made it really enjoyable – like the crew wanted to be there to run the flight to London.  Top Marks here British Airways.

Next: I may be in London, but I am nowhere near home. There’s still Barcelona and the tightest connection possible at Zurich. Next is… British Airways T5 First Class Lounge, BA484 London Heathrow – Barcelona El Prat

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December 26

Hong Kong 3: For the LOVE of Avios! With Swiss and British Airways
Lounging Around Hong Kong International Airport

Sections:

Time to to get back on track with writing… and to the journey. Back to the airport first…

After finishing up my trip in Hong Kong, it was time to head off to the Airport. This time as my baggage had increased, I decided to take the free shuttle bus to Hong Kong Station. Whilst convenient, it did take its time going around (with the driver stopping off to pick up some snacks on the way). Eventually, he dropped me at the entrance of Hong Kong Station, and I proceeded to In-Town Check in (something I love to use to get shot of the luggage early, so I can focus on getting on the train).

My bags were checked, and boarding passes issued to Barcelona El Prat. From there, I headed down to the platform to board a waiting Airport Express train back to the airport.

Efficient as ever, the train dropped me off 24 minutes it pulled out of Hong Kong Station, where i visited a waiting MTR counter to hand over my Octopus card and get a refund on it. It was then a case of walking up to the departure area… when I remember where I left my fleece. On the airport express.

Oh well, I’ll freeze when I get home… for a few minutes only…

Moving along, I exited Hong Kong, cleared emmrigraiton and security.  After doing a bit of duty free shopping, it was time for the main reason why I was here – Lounge Hopping.

Oh, you would as well.

Things have changed however. I’m used to heading to the Singapore Airline Silver Kirs Lounge, or Thai’s Royal Orchid Lounge. Now it’s Cathay Pacific’s range of lounges or the Qantas Lounge.

Well, change is good.

Three lounges were selected: The Wing, The Cabin and The BA/Qantas Lounge… well it would provide some entertainment for the evening

Lounge Stop: The Wing:

I was welcomed to the lounge and invited into a very quiet environment, and made my way in.


Food

A lovely circular cubby hole.


Dim Sum


Food Area

The lounge itself was a quiet area, with some quiet coming and goings. THe food selection was reasonable if picky. But a nice quiet place.

But with so many lounges and so little time, it was time to move onto another lounge. I thank the staff and begun my hunt for the next Cathay Lounge: The Cabin. A Short wander back into the main terminal and a bit of good guesswork, I was at The Cabin

Again, I was welcomed into the lounge and directed to the right. The lounge was buzzing, and in the same style The Wing. This time, there were more bars than not, be it a food bar, a Panini Bar or a Health drink bar.


Bar


Panini Bar


Various seating


Health Drink Bar..

Again, a nice quiet lounge that has  buzz to it, with a variation on the food in the other lounge. I took advantage of a bar and made a discovery of Absoult Vodka, which was Mandarin flavour.

I’m not an alcoholic honest – on my wage packet, I can’t afford to be an alcoholic!

Power sockets were easy to find, and the WiFi was of reasonable quality – useful things. The usual food mix was around, of good snacking quality.

After a while, I decided to see what other lounges are around. Well… I love to explore. I wandered off to the Qantas lounge, and wound up at the Business lounge.


QF Business Lounge Entrance

I was welcomed into the lounge, and the member of staff asked “Would you prefer to pop up to the First Class Lounge instead”.

I nodded and was told to head upstairs… where the Qantas First Lounge is tucked behind emmigration. So, yes – I looped around and around… to end up where I started.

I need to improve myself at this game of hunt the lounge – I’m really getting off the scent these days.


Qantas/British Airways First Class Lounge

I was welcomed in, my boarding pass scanned and I wandered into the 3rd lounge of the day.

Wandering in, I settled down, and acted like any Premium BA passenger would do, and headed for the bubbles.


C’mon. What do you think I was going to drink when I’m in a premium lounge?

Looking in at the food selections, it was a mix of nibbly foods really – still for the mood I was in, perfect enough

Drinks

WiFi again was reachable, however there was a minor hunt for power sockets. Why is it that some lounges you have to hunt around for a power socket for a while? Oh well – one little thing.

It’s a nice enough venue, but the lounge felt much more business class than first class. However, it served the purpose of being a place to relax and unwind before a flight. This suits me fine.

Eventually the London flight was called, and it was back downstairs and to the gate area, where my chariot of the evening was awaiting boarding

Next: BA026 Hong Kong to London Heathrow

 

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November 20

Different Airlines – Same Routes – To Chicago with American Airlines and British Airways
Or “Oh Sandy. You came and you gave without thinking….”

Index:

Let it never be said that my travels aren’t without incident – either with me loosing something, getting something stolen, or a hurricane deciding to cause havoc.

As I got home, I saw the devastation the storm did, and it was heartbreaking to see what was happening.

I contacted my friends, who were ok at least – and had managed to get their cat out safely. For others, its a long rebuild and clean up – one I’m sure the New York/New Jersey recover from. The damage will be repaired, but it was sad to see what had happened in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Virginia, DC, New York and New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New England, and parts of Canada.

So I’d urge to to donate to one of the charities who are supporting efforts in these areas – long after the cameras have gone.

I considered myself lucky to be where I was, and had the chance to get out whilst I could.

Lets do some summing up then.

  • British Airways: Ok, the F Lounge whilst comfortable was a bit crap in terms of service. However, the BA Reservations team came into their own when I needed to change the flights to avoid Sandy – managing to put me on a flight home (twice), and they get top marks for that – even for the 1 hour and 15 minute wait.
  • American Airlines: Well, that was a bit different compared to the United runs. Certainly the food and beverage product is a lot strong than United, but the seating was universally awful in economy – from the tight thing they call 32″ on those 777′s to the very tight bulkhead seats on those 767′s. Not perfect, but a way to get from A to B… I suppose.
  • Crown Plaza O’Hare: Did the job for the night. That’s all I ask… and considering how much I paid (and got in Priority Club Reward points), I’m not exactly complaining.
  • Hyatt Regency O’Hare: They did a great job as usual – and it seems that hotel is improving in terms of getting things right in terms of customer service. There are little kinks, but a good job by them as usual. The conference team there again did a marvellous job supporting me during my event.

And that’s that for this trip.  Comments and Feedback are always welcome.

But I can’t leave you dangling on a string about my next adventure. Surely there is something more? Well look at the map below:

Join me in To Hong Kong: For the LOVE of Avios with Swiss and British Airways – coming very soon ;)

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November 20

Different Airlines – Same Routes – To Chicago with American Airlines and British Airways
Or “Oh Sandy. You came and you gave without thinking….”

Index:

As I’m on the ground, it’s time to head back home where I can unpack and sort my life out in peace… but first, I actually need to get home…


Towards the border

As I was heading to the UK Border, I wasn’t in that much of a rush – so it was a gentle walk to T3 processing.

I noticed for once IRIS was open, and I went through the tensa-barriers to it. I looked into IRIS… where it promptly crashed when I tried to get through.

After pressing the exit plunger, I was called over to a manual desk where I confirmed I was registered for IRIS, and told to use e-passport gate next time.

I was then let on my way into the United Kingdom and onto baggage claim downstairs.

By the time I arrived downstairs, luggage delivery had commenced, with my bags on the belt. I hefted them off, popped them on a trolley and cleared UK Customs.


Never gets lighter….

After exiting to the joy of T3, there comes another joy – and that’s the joy of getting out of Heathrow. As I had a held return train ticket (and I didn’t want to pay another penny to National Express), I headed down to Heathrow Central Train station, and missed a Heathrow Connect service by a minute. Grumbling, I paid up for a Heathrow Express ticket – the full £19.

Heathrow Express – Heathrow Central – London Paddington
Class 332 – Express Class
£19

Yes, I know only a fool pays full price for Heathrow Express, but by this point, I just wanted to be heading in the direction of home.

I managed to get onboard the service, and relaxed for the 15 minute ride on the Great Western Mainline Fast lines to Paddington Station.


Speeding down the GWML.

The train itself was in good condition, with all the amenities you’d expect.


Including the small room.

There was a full ticket inspection too, so no one got away without paying.

Soon enough, Old Oak Common reared up on one side, and North Pole Depot on the other – indicating we were closing in on Paddington.


Old Oak Common TMD, with a Great Western Intercity 125 waiting

By the time the train was passing the Western Approach, I was up and ready to go.

Overall: Still one of the most expensive train journeys… bar none really. Still, it did the job getting me to Paddington. But £19 still….

From Platform 6, it was a slow drag towards Platform 12 and the taxi queue. There was no wait for a cab for the £6 ride to Marylebone, and soon enough, I was outside Marylebone station putting my luggage back on on back.

After entering a station, a train to Birmingham been called. Perfect timing as always, I headed to barrier with a rather crumpled ticket (which was still valid much to the ticket inspectors disgust), and I boarded the train.

Chiltern Railways London Marylebone – Birmingham Snow Hill
Class 168
Return portion held.

Today I boarded the first train heading out of Marylebone – a “slow” service that would take 1 hours and 50 minutes to get Birmingham. Ordinarily, I’d prefer a faster service, but this service helped as it dropped me off at Snow Hill station, which would be an easier place to navigate to a taxi, rather than Moor Street Station and the revised Birmingham Road network.

The train did its thing, and sped me along England’s Green and Pleasant land to Snow Hill station (with more stops than I’m used to, but I’ll live with it as it will make my journey easier).

AS it was off peak (and half term), the train remained relatively empty.

Soon enough, the train begun the approach to Birmingham Moor Street, then its final stop – Birmingham Snow Hill (the business district of Birmingham)

From there it was a final drag of all my stuff from the bottom of Snow Hill station, up the escalator, through the barrier with another look disgust having a dog-eared ticket and into another cab to take me the final couple of miles home to my front door.

Coming up: Oh Sandy… (The wrap-up).

 

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November 19

Different Airlines – Same Routes – To Chicago with American Airlines and British Airways
Or “Oh Sandy. You came and you gave without thinking….”

Index:

Lets head out of the USA and off to a land where the weather is just murky. Or is that just Birmingham most of the time?

AA098 (Sold as BA1547)  – London Heathrow Airport – Chicago O’Hare International
American Airlines,  Boeing 767-300, Seat 20A, Economy Class
35 Tier Points Earned, 7906 Avios Earned  (3,953 Base + 3,953 Bonus)     

The pictures:

I boarded the plane to be greeted with a 2 class 767. The crew was friendly as I headed down past business class to be greeted with Economy Class.

And I thought I stepped back into the early 90’s

The state of the plane was not what I’d call premium down the back…. and Row 20 was a bulkhead. That was the good news.  The plane however  itself had seen better days.

I got to the seat and settled down to inspect the state of play… and lets say it wasn’t what I’d call excellent.

Even though there was an exit row at a bulkhead, whilst there was a little more room than a normal Y seat, it was tightish (a lot of the bulkhead people had feet on them in flight – something I wouldn’t do).
legroom

The seat controls were something from the last ice age, with dials and such. Obviously, IFE was limited to Big Screen IFE – another throwback to the past.


Well.. big screen may be a lie.


IFE “controls”


IFE Screen – a Quick journey allegedly.

The seat however wasn’t in great condition, with bits of it falling off… quite literally.

During boarding, someone who was too tall for their seat requested to be moved forward… and he did pre-takeoff to the middle of the bulkhead row. We’ll come back to him in a bit.

Soon enough the plane was buttoned down, and begun pushback for the hop back over to London. I noted where the staff sat, which was a new one on a 767 – the flight attendant seats were in the isle. Now whilst there are adequate exits on a 767 (I was next to one of them), I’ve got to say “huh?” I always thought keeping isles clear was a key safety thing.

Take off was its usual 767 self.

YouTube Preview Image

Now the gentleman in the middle seat in the bulkhead row started reaching for his waste bag as we begun our climb. When I reach for one, i’m building a GhettoIFE system. When someone else reaches for one… its 9/10 times to use it as a biological hazard cleanup tool.

Thankfully, the gentleman failed to expel what was in his body with AA staff reaching for plastic bags and other things , and the plane continued to climb out of Chicago.

Milwaukee I think…

By this point, my seatmate was fast asleep, and Mr Tall who was sat in the middle row had gone to the bathroom, and then to the exit row behind my seatmate.

Even though this is a last flight of the night service, there was a meal service to come. Lets look if Chicago catering by AA is any good… or not.


Tray out in preparation

As usual, it’s a chicken or pasta choice.


Tray


Roll


Out of focus salad. Note the tomato – at least AA are trying…


Cola and cake – yes, I ran out of room. Again.

The chicken was edible if forgettable – it was easy to cut and filled a small hole. The salad was fresh at least, and the addition of cheese and crackers (whilst I didn’t touch them) was a nice touch. The cookie for dessert… well you all know my opinion of that anyway.

Not a bad meal, but nothing exciting.

Still the tray was cleared away another drinks run was done, and the cabin went into darkness for the flight. I took advantage of the darkness and watched a bit of my own non iPhone IFE (as there was no way the headphone I had would had reached the bulkhead.)


I know all about not being a number… however that’s how airlines see me as… (Patrick McGoghan is The Prisoner)

Even that didn’t keep me awake, and I descended into sleep for a bit  - even after fumbling around for a lack of recline button on my seat.

Daybreak came soon enough as it always does on a Transatlantic hop and soon enough I woke up to a dark cabin and a complete lack of guessing where I was (there was some silly reality TV programme on that made me want to ponder the meaning of existence when I woke up).

Soon enough, a breakfast service rocked up.

Well. Hmm. Yoghurt. That’s instant pain in a pot (and all of you know of my love of fermented milk – especially with the lacto now). The croissant was a bit.. chewy but warm. At least the orange juice tasted of orange juice (believe me, some airlines make that a challenge).

I picked away at it for a bit, before giving up on breakfast as a bad idea… well – on any Transatlantic flight. Sadly, old Continental Routes seem to have the best breakfast going.

And you don’t know how painful it is to type that.

Breakfast was cleared down, and our route took us over the north of England.

Eventually we were placed in a stack and after a few loops, we were brought in on a river approach.


Path


Stacking


River approach


South London

Finally, the wheels were extended and we made it down onto 09R, ending the flying part of this adventure.

YouTube Preview Image

It was then a reasonably long taxi over to T3 and we were gated nearer to the terminal and passenger processing.  Soon enough the doors were opened, and after a minor stumble on the way out as people were taking their own sweet time getting of the plane as usual.

I thanked the crew, and left the plane for the final schlep of this journey – back to my home.

Overall: What was I saying about glorified buses across the pond in the first half of this? Feels like this again, except the equipment needs work – serious work – to bring it up to its competitors. This is a case of “can do better” here AA. Whilst the service was solid and the food products was good, the state of the plane really can’t be excused when other operators (lets say United) tidy up their plane in all classes.

Next: Homeward Bound

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November 16

Different Airlines – Same Routes – To Chicago with American Airlines and British Airways
Or “Oh Sandy. You came and you gave without thinking….”

Index:

With an e-ticket in my itinerary and new valid segment, it was time to head to O’Hare Airport and escape this madness…

The photos:

The shuttle driver drove directly to T3, and as I was the only person aboard, it was a painless thing. After exiting the shuttle, it was time to find out where in this terminal I could check in.

T3: Pre-Security

After wandering around T3 with my bags a bit, I headed over to a set of international check in desks where I was received. My bags were accepted, with the rucksack being a fair few lbs over (the exact same amount as the ski bag was under).

And I had to pay the $60 to get it on the plane.  Grr. Oh well. I’ve got a seat on the flight home. Mustn’t grumble.

Reluctantly, I paid up.

I was assigned in Row 20 in the middle block and sent on my way (as the agent didn’t bother to ask me if I’d like an isle or a window seat).

So yes, poor first impression there of AA at one of their hubs

I headed over to security to deal with the joy of that wonderfully organised force – the Transportation Security Administration – and headed to a queue without a nude-o-scope in it.

Meanwhile in front of me was a family who failed to get to grips with what to carry in their bags and what size liquids they couldn’t carry. People eh?

Still, I was cleared quickly enough, and after taking my time putting my shoes on and my laptop in the bag (that’s a challenge with the amount of crap that was in that bag too), I went on my way.

The next challenges were simple: Duty Free, and a lounge. It was time to go into the hallowed atrium bit, which has had the world flags removed and replaced by Breast Cancer Awareness flags

The intersection – turn left..

Obviously, I had a small amount of duty free to get, which was purchased without any problem (including my favourite tipple of the moment – Smirnoff Vodka with Cinnamon and gold flakes… don’t look at me in that tone of voice. I happen to like it…), which would be delivered at the gate.

With that all done, it was time to head off to the FlAAgship lounge and rest for a bit after the madness of the past few hours trying to get a flight home.

An unassuming entrance

Lounge Stop: American Airlines FlAAgship Lounge

I was welcomed into a very quiet lounge, and presented my boarding pass and Gold card. After being granted access, I asked about my seat assignment, and if there was an open window seat.

A bit of fiddling, and I was placed in Row 20G – the bulkhead row.

Now, I had 3 hours to check Seatguru out. Did I? No. I’d pay for that for the flight home…

However what I did instead was enjoy the lounge. Now, its not exactly “large” compared to some lounges, but it’s 1) functional, 2) quiet and 3) Has food in it.

Because, we all know that TATL food in economy can be… lacking (there – a nice term rather than saying the catering can be awful).

Lets have a look around…

Food section

Fruits and cakes

Cheese and crackers

Cruets, Salad, Hot Items (Sausage, potato bits, meat skewers)

Cajun Chicken Gumbo

Meanwhile on the drinks side…

Californian Fizzy Bubbles. They were passable.

The food and beverage selection were a lot better than a lot of lounges I’ve been in the USA. But as this lounge had so few people in it (as FlAAgship lounges are targeted at First Class passengers), it’s not difficult to see why.

Saying that, the lounge was quiet. And I mean very quiet.

WiFi was operated by AT&T and was of a good strength and speed.

And the lounge itself… was very very quiet. For a Sunday, I would had thought there would had been more people flying out – but I was wrong. In total, I counted 10 people go through the lounge.

There were the usual features of a lounge – a business area (sponsored by HP), Food, washrooms and plenty of seating, with TV screens for those who wanted them… and areas without them for people who didn’t need them.

Speaking of the mens…

The Mens was also a severe weather shelter…

and lots of soap.

The washroom was clean and well maintained and, the lounge offered quiet environment before having to go out to the real world.

And eventually at 22:05, a call was made to the lounge that Flight 98 to London was boarding. I took that as my cue to leave.

I thanked the staff and went on my way.

Overall: A peaceful lounge in a hive of activity. Just what you need sometimes. Whilst a bit small, it is well formed for its needs and is one of the better lounges. Shame they can’t deliver this to the basic lounges in the USA…

I headed back to the gate slowly, taking my time.

On approach to the gate, the call was made for Oneworld elites to board – that was my cue to head to the line.  I got to the line, and handed over my boarding pass where a red light came on.

Had I been upgraded? Had I been denied boarding?

Another agent came over and told me I had simply been moved to the other side of the plane, in the same row – still in a window seat.

One thing I suppose.

I collected my duty free.. and headed to the plane for the last flight of this journey.

Next: Row 20 in a 767-300ER. Where’s the recline button… oh – in AA98  - Chicago O’Hare International to London Heathrow 

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November 15

Different Airlines – Same Routes – To Chicago with American Airlines and British Airways
Or “Oh Sandy. You came and you gave without thinking….”

Index:

Remember the skies were dark in my last post… well this is where I learn not to ignore the voice in the back of my head…

I have this nasty habit when aboard to stick either to CNN or when in Chicago watch NBC a lot – for me, its part of “being connected to the world”. And the news reports of Sandy and the devastation that storm was bringing.

I watched with interested with the path, and took no notice in the beginning. On Friday, the path began to change and headed for the East Coast.

There was a nagging thought in the back of my mind, but I dismissed it…

Saturday, 27th October

I was watching the box and was slowly aware of Hurricane Sandy’s path. Looking at it, it looked like it would be rough, but I would make it out ok on the Monday with the proposed route via Philadelphia.

That thought changed quickly  when my friends who live in Jersey City (who were also in Chicago at the same time) they were told to evacuate from their residence as soon as possible

Putting 2 and 2 together in my brain, I realised that getting out on the itinerary I had (ORD-PHL-LHR) could become very troublesome without pro-actively doing something about it.

It was a quick shift to the British Airways site, and I noted an advisory was in progress already which would allow me to change flights.

Reluctantly, I picked up my US phone (I was glad I got that little cheap flipphone a this point), and dialled the 1-800 number. Within 6 minutes, my call was answered and I explained the situation to the operator. I was offered flights a day earlier – departing the Sunday as opposed to the Monday – and was offered a choice of the 09:00, 18:00 or 21:30 flight out of ORD to LHR directly. As I had cause to remain in the ORD until the evening, I plumped for the 21:30 flight, and hope the flight wouldn’t be too bumpy.

No charges were made for the change and I put the phone down, thinking I had beaten the storm.

At this point, I also gave a call to the InterContinental Hotel O’Hare as there was no point in keeping the room at this point, and release it to someone who might actually need it.

The changes were reflected in my booking (as I was monitoring the changes through MyFlights), and all looked good.

OLCI came and went and I plumped for a seat in the back of the plane. Closing the seat map, I thought that would be the end of it.

Boy was I wrong.

Sunday 28th October 15:33.

I had finished packing up from a good weekend and catching a lot of friends when a text message hit my phone. My fun mood that I had dropped at that moment when I saw this:

The words that came out of my mouth were none too polite at this point.

It was a case of pulling out the laptop and dialing the 1-800 number again. This time the hold time was long. Very long as everyone else was racing to rebook.

Lets put it like this: I had time to:

  • Have a coffee
  • Go to Walgreens in Shiller Park and back
  • Discover the joy of LactAcid! (that stuff has improved life a tiny bit)
  • Have another coffee
  • Check my mail and flight stats multiple times

Whilst on hold I got another message from British Airways – one that made me glad I picked up the phone when I did…


Now delayed to 10:00+1 – that’s  10:00am Monday…

A quick check using the BA App confirmed the bad news:

My motivation to hold suddenly increased at that point. The BA site was jammed at that moment, so all I could do was wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Finally, 1 hours and 20 minutes later my call was answered.

After a discussion of what had gone wrong, the agent pulled up my file, and saw what he could do – he could put me on an AA flight out of ORD THAT NIGHT at 22:45. I checked if it was the only option. The agent’s advice was simple “Hang around – you’ll get stuck”.

I took that as a sign to take the flight.

The agent offloaded from BA296 and switched  me to AA98, and reissued my ticket, so I could check in at the airport. The changes reflected within seconds in my booking as MyFlights alerted me to the changes

1 hour 30, I pressed the hang up button, with only a $9 charge hitting my little AT&T flipphone.

Best $9 I’ve ever spent.

Breathing a bit more of a sigh of relief, I thanked my friends who were looking after me, thanked the conference manager (who was preparing another room for me on the conference rate I was on), and I headed up to the hotel reception, so I could high-tail it to O’Hare.

There I saw a shuttle was heading for the airport. I took it. Being only person aboard – it was straight to T3.

Overall: This is where customer service comes into its own with exceptional circumstances at play. Whilst the waits were long, British Airways did one of the most important things they could – that was to get me home in a timely and safe manner – even if it meant sending me via a oneworld partner.

Next: To O’Hare T3 and the American Airlines FlAAgship Lounge

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