stuart101
Jun 10, 12, 9:37 am
Background
I fly 4 or 5 times a year to Accra in CW and most of the time experience meets expectations (even though it is now a MF route). This trip was however a little different. Half my trips I take a colleague with me but on this trip his wife wanted to come along to see what we got up to in Ghana. She is not a regular traveller, the last time she went on a flight was 1989.
The practicalities of that request were a little difficult, firstly my colleague and his wife have 6 School age children (all girls) so getting someone to look after them is a problem, and secondly his wife had to save the money for the flight.
Back in January we worked out that I would take her with me on a Tuesday, her husband would join us on Friday and she would go home on Sunday. This solved the childcare problems as only needed help from after school Friday to Monday morning.
She soon solved the second problem telling me she had saved the money for a Y ticket. This was the next problem, I really didn’t want to do a trip in Y. So back to the drawing board, my colleague told me he had been saving on the quiet so had enough for the fare difference between Y & W. Great, all it took was 20K of my Avios and we were in CW as usual.
We decided that the upgrade should be a surprise, we really pushed the point that i was having to travel cattle class because of her, the guilt trip worked well!
The build up
Well apart from her asking at least twice a day what she needed to bring all we did was explain to her what would happen. She knew that we would get to use CW check in as i am a BA Silver, she also knew that we would get lounge access for the same reason. I got her on tenterhooks at T-24 as i told her i would try to get us the exit row at the front of the Y cabin for the legroom, (this was to explain the low row number on boarding passes (we were actually in 10J/K).
On the Day
We arrived at T5 at about 11.45am for our 2.40pm departure. She was blown away by the open airy feel of T5 and the lack of a queue. Check in was efficient and speedy and fast rack security was empty. A quick stop in Duty free and it was time for the lounge.
Friendly greetings from the dragons and we were in, we found a good place to sit overlooking the runway and time for lunch and a drink. Time passed quickly in the lounge and soon it was time to head over to the B gates for our departure.
Boarding had not quite started when we got to the gate, one of the gate dragons was working the area removing excess cabin baggage to the hold. For anyone who has not travelled to West Africa, excess cabin baggage is an Olympic sport, i remember fondly a flight on another airline to Accra where the last person to arrive at the gate (nearly an hour late) had 16 bags of duty free shopping with him and was surprised when told he couldn’t take all that into the cabin.
Boarding for FIRST, Club, Gold and Silvers was called and we went forward, the dragon was now patrolling the priority lane and sending most to the normal queue, this put a real smile on my face as my travelling companion was ushered through. We arrived at the door of the aircraft and the CSM directed us across the cabin and turn right. My companion who was in front of me asked how far we had to go and i just said keep going until i tell you to stop. We had just reached the front of the CW cabin and she looked around and asked me if this was where i usually sat, i replied with some sarcastic comment about yes but not when i have to bring you. We were stuck in a queue for a minute and then as soon as we moved i just told her to turn left. She balked slightly at this but went into 10K and sat down. At this point she realised that she had been done and we had been winding her up for months. I told her how it had all happened and that everyone else knew except her (always a trump card to any surprise).
Crew came around with drinks and menu’s which were received with amazement. Soon it was time for departure and we hit the next slight hitch, she is afraid of heights. This is something that has developed since her last flight 23 years earlier.
A long taxi and a bit of a queue at the end of the runway but we were soon off. The smile seemed to have slipped from my friends face but after a while i thought we were going to be ok. She told me that it helped that she was looking at the engine and in fact she was fine.
Hot Towels offered orders taken for Lunch and drinks served all very efficiently and it was soon time to eat. To my experienced flyers taste the food was fine, nothing out of what i have come to expect but for someone who has only taken 2 return flights in her life it was stunning. She had already been blown away by getting a menu and several drinks rounds offered but to then get just starter and salad served, well that was a real shock.
One particular surprise to her was when the crew found out that my friend did not drink wine they not only immediately offered more of the Vodka and Diet coke she was drinking but then had more of the same ready on the meal cart.
The flight passed fairly quickly and soon it was time to land in Accra. There was a delay upon arrival as there was a medical emergency and everyone was asked to remain seated until paramedics arrived. Soon off for the short walk to immigration and the start of an African adventure.
Conclusion
Apart from the fact that i love to spring nice surprises on people the experience hit me quite hard seeing the CW product through the eyes of someone who has not travelled. It did make me realise how many of even the small things are totally different to the experiences of many people.
A few of the highlights that most of us take for granted:
No check in queue running half way to your destination
The civility of an Airline Lounge
Priority boarding
Personal service
There are many more but these are really what i noticed that she noticed the most. An excellent trip and nice to see it all fresh through someone else’s eyes.
Post script
One part that i had really forgotten about is that she was flying back on her own. I had drawn her a map of the airport in Accra so she didn’t get lost and her husband went into the terminal with her, through check in and as far as he could take her but then of course she was alone. She was happy (ish) once ensconced in the Lounge with a drink but then the trip to the gate can be tiresome in Accra with several document checks before you actually get to the aircraft. She got though all of this but found it stressful but was saved by a knight in shining armour of a CSM who greeted her by name at the aircraft door, pointed her in the direction of another member of crew who showed her where her seat was, took her jacket offered her a drink and wished her (again by name) a nice flight.
Stuart:D
I fly 4 or 5 times a year to Accra in CW and most of the time experience meets expectations (even though it is now a MF route). This trip was however a little different. Half my trips I take a colleague with me but on this trip his wife wanted to come along to see what we got up to in Ghana. She is not a regular traveller, the last time she went on a flight was 1989.
The practicalities of that request were a little difficult, firstly my colleague and his wife have 6 School age children (all girls) so getting someone to look after them is a problem, and secondly his wife had to save the money for the flight.
Back in January we worked out that I would take her with me on a Tuesday, her husband would join us on Friday and she would go home on Sunday. This solved the childcare problems as only needed help from after school Friday to Monday morning.
She soon solved the second problem telling me she had saved the money for a Y ticket. This was the next problem, I really didn’t want to do a trip in Y. So back to the drawing board, my colleague told me he had been saving on the quiet so had enough for the fare difference between Y & W. Great, all it took was 20K of my Avios and we were in CW as usual.
We decided that the upgrade should be a surprise, we really pushed the point that i was having to travel cattle class because of her, the guilt trip worked well!
The build up
Well apart from her asking at least twice a day what she needed to bring all we did was explain to her what would happen. She knew that we would get to use CW check in as i am a BA Silver, she also knew that we would get lounge access for the same reason. I got her on tenterhooks at T-24 as i told her i would try to get us the exit row at the front of the Y cabin for the legroom, (this was to explain the low row number on boarding passes (we were actually in 10J/K).
On the Day
We arrived at T5 at about 11.45am for our 2.40pm departure. She was blown away by the open airy feel of T5 and the lack of a queue. Check in was efficient and speedy and fast rack security was empty. A quick stop in Duty free and it was time for the lounge.
Friendly greetings from the dragons and we were in, we found a good place to sit overlooking the runway and time for lunch and a drink. Time passed quickly in the lounge and soon it was time to head over to the B gates for our departure.
Boarding had not quite started when we got to the gate, one of the gate dragons was working the area removing excess cabin baggage to the hold. For anyone who has not travelled to West Africa, excess cabin baggage is an Olympic sport, i remember fondly a flight on another airline to Accra where the last person to arrive at the gate (nearly an hour late) had 16 bags of duty free shopping with him and was surprised when told he couldn’t take all that into the cabin.
Boarding for FIRST, Club, Gold and Silvers was called and we went forward, the dragon was now patrolling the priority lane and sending most to the normal queue, this put a real smile on my face as my travelling companion was ushered through. We arrived at the door of the aircraft and the CSM directed us across the cabin and turn right. My companion who was in front of me asked how far we had to go and i just said keep going until i tell you to stop. We had just reached the front of the CW cabin and she looked around and asked me if this was where i usually sat, i replied with some sarcastic comment about yes but not when i have to bring you. We were stuck in a queue for a minute and then as soon as we moved i just told her to turn left. She balked slightly at this but went into 10K and sat down. At this point she realised that she had been done and we had been winding her up for months. I told her how it had all happened and that everyone else knew except her (always a trump card to any surprise).
Crew came around with drinks and menu’s which were received with amazement. Soon it was time for departure and we hit the next slight hitch, she is afraid of heights. This is something that has developed since her last flight 23 years earlier.
A long taxi and a bit of a queue at the end of the runway but we were soon off. The smile seemed to have slipped from my friends face but after a while i thought we were going to be ok. She told me that it helped that she was looking at the engine and in fact she was fine.
Hot Towels offered orders taken for Lunch and drinks served all very efficiently and it was soon time to eat. To my experienced flyers taste the food was fine, nothing out of what i have come to expect but for someone who has only taken 2 return flights in her life it was stunning. She had already been blown away by getting a menu and several drinks rounds offered but to then get just starter and salad served, well that was a real shock.
One particular surprise to her was when the crew found out that my friend did not drink wine they not only immediately offered more of the Vodka and Diet coke she was drinking but then had more of the same ready on the meal cart.
The flight passed fairly quickly and soon it was time to land in Accra. There was a delay upon arrival as there was a medical emergency and everyone was asked to remain seated until paramedics arrived. Soon off for the short walk to immigration and the start of an African adventure.
Conclusion
Apart from the fact that i love to spring nice surprises on people the experience hit me quite hard seeing the CW product through the eyes of someone who has not travelled. It did make me realise how many of even the small things are totally different to the experiences of many people.
A few of the highlights that most of us take for granted:
No check in queue running half way to your destination
The civility of an Airline Lounge
Priority boarding
Personal service
There are many more but these are really what i noticed that she noticed the most. An excellent trip and nice to see it all fresh through someone else’s eyes.
Post script
One part that i had really forgotten about is that she was flying back on her own. I had drawn her a map of the airport in Accra so she didn’t get lost and her husband went into the terminal with her, through check in and as far as he could take her but then of course she was alone. She was happy (ish) once ensconced in the Lounge with a drink but then the trip to the gate can be tiresome in Accra with several document checks before you actually get to the aircraft. She got though all of this but found it stressful but was saved by a knight in shining armour of a CSM who greeted her by name at the aircraft door, pointed her in the direction of another member of crew who showed her where her seat was, took her jacket offered her a drink and wished her (again by name) a nice flight.
Stuart:D