GKY
Mar 21, 05, 5:31 pm
BA032…HKG-LHR
Check-in:
Accessed the internet page and managed to check in online the day before. Didn’t get any other seats and my current seat was pre allocated at 31H. Went to the airport with my family and checked in again there. Upon arrival, there seemed to be no separate queues for Club World which I thought odd. The club world passengers were asked to queue up like the WT passengers and they were allocated to a desk whenever one became available. FIRST had a separate check in queue though. I managed to persuade the agent to re-allocate me to seat 29K, which I was told to be the best seat in economy, if travelling alone, due to the extra legroom. After check in, we wondered around the shops and I said goodbye to my family and headed towards the departures area.
HKG:
I have to say that I keep on flying to HKG on a regular basis and every time I go to the airport, it makes me proud. It is such a nice airport. Very refined, modern and spacious. It never seeks to amaze me how big it is. I proceeded to the Plaza Premium lounge which is one of the best lounges I’ve been to. It offers a wide range of drinks, snacks and some hot food as well. On offer, there was fried rice and steamed Chinese vegetables which were very nice. The lounge atmosphere is also very pleasant, with air conditioning and mood lighting. The lack of windows and the confined space lets the lounge down a bit but not much. I managed to sink in one of the leather chairs and relaxed for the 2 hour wait for my flight.
After about one hour, I thought I’d have a bit wonder around the shops. Most of them were closing as this was at 11:00pm. I managed to buy a Samsonite travel bag to go with my pull along trolley case. It matched. I then made my way to a public seating area to transfer all the stuff that I needed for my flight into the new bag. It was very spacious and surprisingly cheap, but mainly due to the good exchange rate.
Boarding:
After faffing on with my new bag, I had neglected the time and before I knew it, it was the final call for my flight. Luckily, the gate was right next to where I was so it didn’t take much walking and made it there alright. FIRST and Club World entered via door 1L and the others through 2L. When I got to my seat, I put all my belongings up in the overhead and took off my jacket. I kindly asked the crew if they would hang it up for me but they refused and said it was for WT+ passengers only!!! Quite strange, but I understood their point. Surely if they are obliged to do that to every WT passenger, the coatrooms would be bulging with coats so I hung mine up on the small coat hanger on 28J. Before I knew it, we were pushing back and I noticed that the two seats next to me were empty!!! That proved to be very valuable on the flight and I managed to get a lot more rest.
The Service:
After takeoff, an announcement was made saying that channel 4 wasn’t working and that the new channel 4 was channel 17 which meant that channel 17 wasn’t available. (I think). They then went on to serve the drinks. Having the seat next to me free was great for putting drinks on the next table. I was also offered a bottle of red wine to accompany my dinner. I took the wine and decided to save it for my friend who is a big wine fan. The meal service then came around. I was starving so I was really looking forward to the meal. The choices were Salmon or Chicken. I decided to go for the salmon which turned out to be steamed with roast vegetables and potatoes. This was really nice and I enjoyed every bit of it. Much better than the bangers and mash that I had on the outbound. Starter was a salad and to finish it off, a nice cheesecake. The crew then came round to collect the trays and I asked them for another bottle of water, as I found the environment to be quite hot. The crew handed me a questionnaire which I filled out later on.
The Flight:
I managed to get quite a decent bit of sleep. I estimated about 5 hours, on a 13 hour flight. I also asked the cabin crew if I could use the laptop power point in the WT+ seat as I saw that it was an empty cabin (almost). They kindly obliged but providing that I was discreet and that I would only be an hour or two. This was before my sleep, so after my work was done, I discreetly moved back to my 29K and sat down to enjoy a movie and a bottle of water! Dodgeball was on so I watched that, a rather disappointing effort by all actors. I then fell asleep and woke up to the smell of breakfast. Breakfast was, ‘fresh’ fruit, yoghurt and a scrambled egg and sausage baguette. This was quite nice, but I remember when breakfast used to be a tray in which you got all the trimmings. Now you have to pay at least £2000 for the privilege.
The Arrival:
Landing in LHR was prompt. We had to wait for an aircraft to be moved from our allocated gate as it was moved there due to heavy snow the night before. Whilst waiting, I managed to catch a glimpse of the early morning far eastern arrivals. Included were a Virgin Atlantic A340-600 which I guess was the VS201 from Hong Kong, A Qantas 747-400, and a Cathay Pacific 747-400, another Hong Kong arrival. When we docked, I then had to endure a 2 hour wait for my connection to NCL…
BA1324…LHR-NCL
The Wait:
Waiting in the departures lounge of terminal 1 domestic was very boring and uninteresting. The plasma was showing BBC news, which I watched for a while and when I’d heard the same story over and over again, I managed to stare outside to the view of the northern runway of LHR. I saw all the early morning arrivals again, including another Cathay Pacific 747. Previously, I saw ANOTHER Cathay Pacific 747 pass by being towed. I know they increased the number of services, but I saw more CX aircraft than BA!!!
Boarding:
My flight was finally called and I proceeded to the gate. (I think it was 5c). My boarding pass was checked and I took my luggage, placed in the over head bins and my coat was kindly hung up in the coatroom!!! It was quite annoying sitting in the aisle and having everybody knock against you and have their luggage smack into your leg. I was in 2D and another business traveller was in 2F. 2E was empty so It was quite spacious. Like being in Club Europe, I guess. The 757 seemed quite old and the plastic panels on the walls seemed very outdated.
The Service:
Service was at usual BA standards. I managed to play around with my PSP as I waited to get to NCL after a long trip. We had another breakfast, again, a Panini, which this time, I was told to be sausage and egg. I opened it only to find that it was ham and cheese. I managed to wash it down with a nice coffee and relaxed, again with my PSP in hand. My companion in 2F was reading the Times all the way there.
Arrival:
Finally, after 17 hours of travelling, I had touched down in my home town of Newcastle. We docked at a gate which was usually for internationals but the snow meant that gate 4 was unavailable. We were directed from the stairs and the icy floor to the warmth of the terminal building where I waited for my baggage to arrive. I only checked one and it came within about 5 minutes.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed that trip. Having previously flown in premium cabins, I was quite dreading the possibility of WT but the two empty seats and the good service made my trip all the more enjoyable. Airlines should take this as an example to show how a little difference like service with a smile can go a long way. I think also, if you go onto a flight in economy in a negative frame of mind, it actually pays off when you see that it is not all that bad. (maybe that’s just me!!!). Hopefully, this will be my last trip in WT for a loooooong time!!!
See you soon!!!
Check-in:
Accessed the internet page and managed to check in online the day before. Didn’t get any other seats and my current seat was pre allocated at 31H. Went to the airport with my family and checked in again there. Upon arrival, there seemed to be no separate queues for Club World which I thought odd. The club world passengers were asked to queue up like the WT passengers and they were allocated to a desk whenever one became available. FIRST had a separate check in queue though. I managed to persuade the agent to re-allocate me to seat 29K, which I was told to be the best seat in economy, if travelling alone, due to the extra legroom. After check in, we wondered around the shops and I said goodbye to my family and headed towards the departures area.
HKG:
I have to say that I keep on flying to HKG on a regular basis and every time I go to the airport, it makes me proud. It is such a nice airport. Very refined, modern and spacious. It never seeks to amaze me how big it is. I proceeded to the Plaza Premium lounge which is one of the best lounges I’ve been to. It offers a wide range of drinks, snacks and some hot food as well. On offer, there was fried rice and steamed Chinese vegetables which were very nice. The lounge atmosphere is also very pleasant, with air conditioning and mood lighting. The lack of windows and the confined space lets the lounge down a bit but not much. I managed to sink in one of the leather chairs and relaxed for the 2 hour wait for my flight.
After about one hour, I thought I’d have a bit wonder around the shops. Most of them were closing as this was at 11:00pm. I managed to buy a Samsonite travel bag to go with my pull along trolley case. It matched. I then made my way to a public seating area to transfer all the stuff that I needed for my flight into the new bag. It was very spacious and surprisingly cheap, but mainly due to the good exchange rate.
Boarding:
After faffing on with my new bag, I had neglected the time and before I knew it, it was the final call for my flight. Luckily, the gate was right next to where I was so it didn’t take much walking and made it there alright. FIRST and Club World entered via door 1L and the others through 2L. When I got to my seat, I put all my belongings up in the overhead and took off my jacket. I kindly asked the crew if they would hang it up for me but they refused and said it was for WT+ passengers only!!! Quite strange, but I understood their point. Surely if they are obliged to do that to every WT passenger, the coatrooms would be bulging with coats so I hung mine up on the small coat hanger on 28J. Before I knew it, we were pushing back and I noticed that the two seats next to me were empty!!! That proved to be very valuable on the flight and I managed to get a lot more rest.
The Service:
After takeoff, an announcement was made saying that channel 4 wasn’t working and that the new channel 4 was channel 17 which meant that channel 17 wasn’t available. (I think). They then went on to serve the drinks. Having the seat next to me free was great for putting drinks on the next table. I was also offered a bottle of red wine to accompany my dinner. I took the wine and decided to save it for my friend who is a big wine fan. The meal service then came around. I was starving so I was really looking forward to the meal. The choices were Salmon or Chicken. I decided to go for the salmon which turned out to be steamed with roast vegetables and potatoes. This was really nice and I enjoyed every bit of it. Much better than the bangers and mash that I had on the outbound. Starter was a salad and to finish it off, a nice cheesecake. The crew then came round to collect the trays and I asked them for another bottle of water, as I found the environment to be quite hot. The crew handed me a questionnaire which I filled out later on.
The Flight:
I managed to get quite a decent bit of sleep. I estimated about 5 hours, on a 13 hour flight. I also asked the cabin crew if I could use the laptop power point in the WT+ seat as I saw that it was an empty cabin (almost). They kindly obliged but providing that I was discreet and that I would only be an hour or two. This was before my sleep, so after my work was done, I discreetly moved back to my 29K and sat down to enjoy a movie and a bottle of water! Dodgeball was on so I watched that, a rather disappointing effort by all actors. I then fell asleep and woke up to the smell of breakfast. Breakfast was, ‘fresh’ fruit, yoghurt and a scrambled egg and sausage baguette. This was quite nice, but I remember when breakfast used to be a tray in which you got all the trimmings. Now you have to pay at least £2000 for the privilege.
The Arrival:
Landing in LHR was prompt. We had to wait for an aircraft to be moved from our allocated gate as it was moved there due to heavy snow the night before. Whilst waiting, I managed to catch a glimpse of the early morning far eastern arrivals. Included were a Virgin Atlantic A340-600 which I guess was the VS201 from Hong Kong, A Qantas 747-400, and a Cathay Pacific 747-400, another Hong Kong arrival. When we docked, I then had to endure a 2 hour wait for my connection to NCL…
BA1324…LHR-NCL
The Wait:
Waiting in the departures lounge of terminal 1 domestic was very boring and uninteresting. The plasma was showing BBC news, which I watched for a while and when I’d heard the same story over and over again, I managed to stare outside to the view of the northern runway of LHR. I saw all the early morning arrivals again, including another Cathay Pacific 747. Previously, I saw ANOTHER Cathay Pacific 747 pass by being towed. I know they increased the number of services, but I saw more CX aircraft than BA!!!
Boarding:
My flight was finally called and I proceeded to the gate. (I think it was 5c). My boarding pass was checked and I took my luggage, placed in the over head bins and my coat was kindly hung up in the coatroom!!! It was quite annoying sitting in the aisle and having everybody knock against you and have their luggage smack into your leg. I was in 2D and another business traveller was in 2F. 2E was empty so It was quite spacious. Like being in Club Europe, I guess. The 757 seemed quite old and the plastic panels on the walls seemed very outdated.
The Service:
Service was at usual BA standards. I managed to play around with my PSP as I waited to get to NCL after a long trip. We had another breakfast, again, a Panini, which this time, I was told to be sausage and egg. I opened it only to find that it was ham and cheese. I managed to wash it down with a nice coffee and relaxed, again with my PSP in hand. My companion in 2F was reading the Times all the way there.
Arrival:
Finally, after 17 hours of travelling, I had touched down in my home town of Newcastle. We docked at a gate which was usually for internationals but the snow meant that gate 4 was unavailable. We were directed from the stairs and the icy floor to the warmth of the terminal building where I waited for my baggage to arrive. I only checked one and it came within about 5 minutes.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed that trip. Having previously flown in premium cabins, I was quite dreading the possibility of WT but the two empty seats and the good service made my trip all the more enjoyable. Airlines should take this as an example to show how a little difference like service with a smile can go a long way. I think also, if you go onto a flight in economy in a negative frame of mind, it actually pays off when you see that it is not all that bad. (maybe that’s just me!!!). Hopefully, this will be my last trip in WT for a loooooong time!!!
See you soon!!!