Trip Reports - Short BA TR with PICS and CLUB BLAZER – Doha <> London, May 2012 – Club World

I took a short holiday to London in May 2012 from my place of residence and business in Qatar. It was a great trip and I bought the weather me as the Sun was out for most of the time I was there. But this TR is just a short record of the flights.

Outbound:: 05 April, DOH-BAH-LHR, Club World, seat 13K, Boeing 777 G-VIIY
Inbound:: 11 April, LHR-BAH-DOH, Club World, seat 13A, Boeing 777 G-VIIE
Ticket price:: GBP 1,495.96 + 10k Avios

Outbound, DOH-BAH-LHR

There was not a huge amount to report on this sector, which is a seven hour overnighter. After the short trip to BAH and the wait on the ground I slept for six hours, which counts as a very good flight on this sector as far as I am concerned.

What was interesting was that although First and Club World were very nearly full World Traveller Plus was almost empty. World Traveller probably was at about 60%-70% seat factor.

I had been on this aircraft (in the same seat and on the same flight in fact) only a month or so before. See this TR (http://tinyurl.com/6freedom-tr-10)

Inbound, LHR-BAH-DOH

This flight departs from LHR at 10:40, and I cut it rather short this time! I left the East India Club at 8:50 or so and after a taxi and trip on the HEX was checking my bags about an hour prior to departure. After a quick trip to the VAT refunds desk and the Travelex counter to actually pick up the refund I headed over to Terminal 5C on the train and boarded the aircraft immediately. So no time to visit the lounge.

I had been on this aircraft G-VIIE once before, in 14K on DXB-LHR (see this TR (http://tinyurl.com/6freedom-tr-4)).

Legroom shot with my signature CLUB BLAZER!:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7230/7303263732_78309b1b5b.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303263732/”)

IFE on this trip – National Geographic and two excellent books by Patrick O’Brian:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8026/7303263140_578a48c395.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303263140/”)

Unofficial stowage areas around the seat

Magazines slot nicely next to the arm rest:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7303262128_9f573725a1.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303262128/”)

Books can be put between the seat and the divider with the next seat:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7225/7303261480_ac174e875f.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303261480/”)

Your amenity kit slots nicely between the seat shell and the fuselage by the armrest:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/7303260978_4198f224fb.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303260978/”)

And the pillow fits between the seat shell and the fuselage at the back of the seat:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7104/7303260358_b6393afb76.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303260358/”)

Lunch – served about an hour out of LHR

Menu cover:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7103/7303259774_d58c2f5d7b.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303259774/”)

Wine list:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7303258972_cd174d2b9e.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303258972/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7303456800_956a4ce507.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303456800/”)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8143/7303460280_e8a00b667d.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303460280/”)

Lunch menu:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7303459254_7cd82b7b2d.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303459254/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7303458610_dfdcfa54be.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303458610/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7082/7303458014_aee6efe06b.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303458014/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/7303457408_45b42aedc9.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303457408/”)

Tray setup:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8163/7303255526_46363d7280.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303255526/”)

The garlic bread was good but would have been even better if it had been toasted to become crispy:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/7303254916_4e9c419a54.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303254916/”)

Standard BA lunch on the BAH route:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8153/7303254260_b0fd0501b9.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303254260/”)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/7303253614_edb7344581.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303253614/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7238/7303253022_b02afe3ee1.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303253022/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/7303251634_873dfb24a0.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303251634/”)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/7303250818_26dc9a401a.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303250818/”)
(The image above was inspired by Prospero)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8151/7303249912_beaf70cc59.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303249912/”)

The lunch was perfectly standard on this route and very tasty for airline catering. And I washed it down with a few glasses of the Australian ‘Gentleman’ and then some port. I then slept for an hour!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8163/7303252288_6cd0a9d79d.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303252288/”)

Route

Normally this flight proceeds over the Black Sea and then over Iraq and past Kuwait on the way to Bahrain. On this occasion though we went a bit south.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7219/7303249284_8aae0e0307.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303249284/”)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7216/7303248360_29cc994959.jpg ("http://www.flickr.com/photos/65506746@N02/7303248360/”)

Verdict

Another solid CW flight. Everything delivered as it should be and reasonable value for money. ^:)

Fantastic little report! That lemon meringue tart is to die for... I have to close my eyes every time I walk near it in the galley... So naughty.

I LOVE YOUR CLUB BLAZER!!! :D:D:D

I really need to get myself one of those jackets ^ nice TR again

Fab report Sixth Freedom, always a pleasure to read!

PS: You better watch out- soon there will be an army of FT'ers in Club Blazers like yours.. :p

The Club Blazer is back! ^

All's well with the World :)

What happened to the Rolex?

Loved the stowage ideas amd food photos. Essential for a proper TR.

PS: You better watch out- soon there will be an army of FT'ers in Club Blazers like yours.. :p

What a great idea @:-)

Very nice.

Did you make it to the drinks in St James's Square last night?

Great TR!

Are you allowed to take photos at Doha airport these days? Last time I was there (as an 8 year old in 1998, we were under strict instructions NOT to film!) I imagine things are different these days!

Great TR! Loved the 'unofficial stowage areas' :p

Hope you liked Lebanon from up above :p

Nice pictorial report SF.

If you want crispy garlic bread fly F. It was garlic toast and very thin on my recent flight. It was so thin the crew had difficulty extracting it from the basket with her fork and spoon without it disintegrating. (TR to come soon) ;)

Great TR! Loved the 'unofficial stowage areas' :p

Hope you liked Lebanon from up above :p

^ ^ :D

Great trip report Sixth Freedom... And I adore your blazer too :D

Thanks for the comments everybody! :)

What happened to the Rolex?

You can see the bezel in the bottom left corner of the fourth photo. :)

Did you make it to the drinks in St James's Square last night?

Unfortunately not as I was travelling away from London. :eek:

Are you allowed to take photos at Doha airport these days? Last time I was there (as an 8 year old in 1998, we were under strict instructions NOT to film!) I imagine things are different these days!

You can take pictures no problem. :)

Very nice short report ^

The catering looks pretty standard (decent-ish) for CW.

Loved the unofficial storage guide - I've used those spaces several times myself!

The pillow looks more like the F pillow than the normal light blue-patterned CW pillow/cushion.

The pillow looks more like the F pillow than the normal light blue-patterned CW pillow/cushion.

There is a shortage of the regular CW pillow covers and a new supplier is being sought... So, as an interim, a smaller version of the F pillow case is being used.

Had them on several flights over the last couple of weeks.

1. Love the Club blazer (you Rock Star you) (-;
2. Looking at flying CW PHX>LHR in Sept.
3. Normally fly LH through DEN. BUT, after reading your post, I think it's BA for me!

There is a shortage of the regular CW pillow covers and a new supplier is being sought... So, as an interim, a smaller version of the F pillow case is being used.

Had them on several flights over the last couple of weeks.

Interesting - I had seen unusual pillow covers on enough occasions to assume that there was more than one standard.

Evidently not...

So thanks for that little tid-bit BingBongBoy. ^:)

There is a shortage of the regular CW pillow covers and a new supplier is being sought... So, as an interim, a smaller version of the F pillow case is being used.

Had them on several flights over the last couple of weeks.

Actually this is incorrect, the white pillow case covers are used on "Sleeper Service" flights from the east coast on the US and on some overnight flights for the Middle East.

Actually this is incorrect, the white pillow case covers are used on "Sleeper Service" flights from the east coast on the US and on some overnight flights for the Middle East.

Oh, the cleaners were telling me fibs then. And, we had them on my MIA and TLV too. Interesting.

I bow to your greater knowledge, I had a flight yesterday from LHR with the sleeper pillow cases, so as you said they must be running short of the regular ones.