This is my first trip report, any feedback for improvements welcome.
I had recently finished my MSc conversion course to Building Surveying and after 7 months of hard work (uni is not how I remembered it be) I thought I’d go and visit my auntie who lives in Cyprus who had recently lost her partner.
When I fly out of LHR I try to arrange a visit to the Emirates stadium to watch Arsenal play. As it worked out this would be the last game of the season vs Stoke and I snapped up the Red Level ticket as soon as they went on sale.
MAN-LHR
24th May 2009
Flight No: BA1389
Departure time: 10:00 am
Airbus A321
My mother was also travelling to Cyprus that morning and so we got picked up at 6am by some friends to take us to Manchester T2 where she would depart with Fly Thomson.
Rucksack packed, waiting for lift
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T2 was busy at 7:00am
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After a quick coffee with my mum I headed over to T3, what I thought would be a quick walk took about 10min. View of the raised walkway connecting T2 to T1 & T3
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View from the tunnel, Virign 747-400 and a Monarch.
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What I thought was T3 turned out to be a Thomson office.
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I had checked in on-line the night before but the BA counters serve both check-in and baggage drop off. T3 was really quiet with no wait to be served.
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After security (again, no waiting) I headed to the terminal taking the chance to snap some photos, T1/T3 not too busy.
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As I had never travelled in anything but Economy before I was excited to use the BA Galleries lounge at Manchester. The lounge dragon scanned by my boarding pass and checked for my on-ward connection to LCA the next day then welcomed me in. Entrance to the lounge
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I settled down in a comfy chair overlooking the runway and grabbed some Breakfast. Coffee and pastries were good. I had a quick look round for some champagne but didn’t see anything other than spirits or beer which I didn’t really fancy at that time of the morning. I then remembered that in BA lounges Champagne is only served on request, I hunted down one of the waiters and nervously asked him for Champagne in anticipation of some sort of “It’s far too early for that sort of drink” response, instead he brought it straight to my table. I grabbed some more food and sat there with a big grin on my face drinking Champagne at 8:00am, just like being a student again!
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There was a wide range of magazines and drinks available but the Breakfast selection was limited to Cereal and Pastries, I can understand though as I was one of only 10 people in the lounge at that time. Just before boarding I took some photos of the lounge and some planes waiting for passengers.
Computer terminals
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Various seating areas
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Food area
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Toilet and shower room
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I like how you can look down at the rest of the terminal from the lounge
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FlyBE
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BMI and Ethiad
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Furton
Jun 2, 09, 2:58 pm
Boarding was called at 9:30 and I got to the gate by 9:45 just as it opened, we boarded from gate 143 and I was on the plane in 10min. Best photo of the A321 we were boarding
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I had selected seat 8F (Emergency Exit seat) for the extra legroom, as you can see, plenty of room to stretch out
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Captain said load was 100% and that we would depart at 10:30 due to traffic. The window was filthy so sorry for photos, we waited on the tarmac until 10:30 until we could take off.
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Take off
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The cabin was clean and in good condition
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Tea/Coffee and snack bar were served 10min after takeoff. I never usually take black coffee but on this occasion I had to due to my sweaty hands not being able to open them stupid milk sachets :(
As much as I appreciate a drink on a flight, it does seem a bit pointless for a 30min flight, cabin crew do an excellent job though getting everyone served.
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Coming in over Heathrow and landing
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A quick photo of my seat
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We parked at one of the dedicated domestic bridges and were quickly in arrivals waiting for my luggage. This was my first time at T5 and although I only saw a small part of it, I was really impressed with how open and bright it was
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As I was staying at my friends flat for the night which was near Euston, I got the Heathrow express to Paddington then the tube to Euston Square.
Heathrow express
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I arrived at my mates flat sweating like I’d been to the gym, it was soooo much hotter in London than in North Wales. After a quick wash and some food I headed off to Euston to get a tube to the Emirates stadium. On the way I stopped at St.Pancreas station to have a look at the renovation work as I’d read it was a great example of renovating listed buildings.
Furton
Jun 2, 09, 2:59 pm
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Finally arrived at Arsenal tube station at 3:00pm
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Walking up to the stadium
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First half
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At least the ladies had some silverware to parade at half time
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2nd half
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Full House
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Final score :D
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Lap of appreciation at the end of the game
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Video of the lap
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From what I’ve read this would be good practice to getting onto the plane at T5
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I spent the rest of the day wondering around London, visiting friends and watching Angels and Demons at the Odeon in Camden Town.
Furton
Jun 2, 09, 3:00 pm
LHR-LCA
May 25th 2009
Flight No: BA0662
Departure time: 8:50am
Boeing 767
I was out of my mates flat by 5:30am heading towards Euston, London is lovely and quiet at this time of the day :D
Euston underground
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Elevator up to Paddington
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Paddington deserted at 6:00am
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Heathrow express to T5.
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For a first timer in the departures area I was really impressed by size of T5, loved the whole layout and amount of light here. Wasn’t too busy at 6:30am, I took my bag to the drop off point and headed to security. Felt rather privileged to go through the fast track lane, which wasn’t overly fast due to BAA staff debating if shoes should be on or off. Something that really annoyed my about the scanner was the fact your not allowed to remove the trays, why? It makes it stressful to get all of your belongings out before it’s whizzed away again, stupid idea.
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I headed straight to the North Galleries lounge up and down god knows how many escalators.
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A380 Model
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I’d had nothing to eat all morning so dumped my bag near the window and grabbed some bacon and mushroom/tomato rolls before starting on the Champagne. Thought the food here was good and the lounge was nice and quiet with plenty of different seating areas, not that I explored it much.
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Food area
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My seat
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Entrance to the lounge
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The Clock
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Some aerial shots of the T5 shopping complex
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I checked the screens at 8:30 to see that the gate was open, I felt my rear open as I thought I’d miss the flight, I dashed to gate A8 to find gate not actually open but full of people, why do this? Deprives me of Champagne ;)
View from the gate
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Furton
Jun 2, 09, 3:02 pm
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I was greeted by two friendly FA’s who for the first time in my life directed me to the left instead of to the right. I’d chosen seat 4A and was lucky enough not to have someone sat next me. The seat was spacious, even for me at 6,2” and I had plenty of room to stretch out. Club Europe cabin was around 60% full. A blanket, pillow and headset was placed on each seat.
Leg room
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Seat
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At 8:50 the captain announced we’d missed our slot and would be delayed until 9:30, he announced we would free up the gate for other aircraft and park near T5C until we could take off. Some photos of the journey.
We sat on the ground for 45min after the doors had closed but weren’t offered any drinks, just a selection of magazines, I opted for Business Traveller, a class of Champagne would have been better :D
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My first ever view of the A380, not the best
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T5C under construction
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The OneWorld BA 747-400
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Lufthansa A320-200
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Lufthansa Italia A319, will be on this to Milan in August
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BA 747-400
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Emirates 777-300ER
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Ethiad A340
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Masses of BA
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We eventually took off at 9:35am
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Passing over Twickenham
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O2 Arena
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After the Captain announced the flight time of 4 hours and no turbulence, we hit turbulence for about 10min with the safety belt sign on, DOH! Menu’s were handed out.
Furton
Jun 2, 09, 3:03 pm
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Breakfast was served at 10am, I chose the fruit with Champagne and coffee for starters :D This time I could actually open the milk sachet, things were getting better :D Bread rolls and pastries were also served.
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About 20min later the trays were cleared for the hot breakfast, another bottle of champagne was served. This tasted better than it looked. More pastries were offered but I was stuffed after the breakfast in the lounge as well.
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The whole breakfast run lasted about 2 hours by which the trays were cleared and more champagne offered. I settled down to watch Valkarie on my Dell Mini 9.
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A nice lake
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Coastline
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After 3 hours some nuts and more champagne was handed out.
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View of the CE cabin
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At 1:30pm we came in over Cyprus
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Landing Video
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Picture of the new Larnaca Airport, should be a huge improvement on the current shed
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The current Shed
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Austrian
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No idea, answers on a post card
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Last view of the 767
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I was one of the first on the bus and first off, walked straight through security only to wait 20min for my bag to arrive as one of the last ones. I would have thought CE baggage would come through first?
Baggage reclaim
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Conclusion
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of a J product. The lounges were probably the best part as the new BA galleries are done to a high standard and offer comfortable environments away from the noise of the rest of the terminal in both MAN and LHR. Although the 767 BA operate are old and dated, the seat was comfortable and the crew made up for any short comings in the planes condition.
Food was good on the LCA leg and the availability of Champagne throughout obviously helps. For £70 extra over ET, the CE product was definitely worth it, although if the difference was much more I’d probably stick with ET.
Return leg isn’t booked yet but should be from Istanbul after I fly from Lefkosa in the North.
JALlover
Jun 2, 09, 4:39 pm
great report!!
and superb with all those photos, must be having a busy time holding the cam around =)
Genius1
Jun 2, 09, 4:45 pm
An excellent first trip report, with some good pics ^
Always nice to hear of someone's first experience in a premium cabin.
Just a few technical points; the MAN lounge is still branded as 'Terraces', as it hasn't been refurbished into the 'Galleries' concept yet. Also, the Galleries Club in LHR that you visited looks like the Southern one from your pictures, not the Northern one. But I'm being picky. ;)
Hope you write some more trip reports soon :)
Furton
Jun 2, 09, 5:10 pm
Cheers for your replies. Had no idea that MAN lounges weren't galleries, looked pretty similar ;) Good spot on the North Lounge, forgot I couldn't be bothered to walk to the south lounge.
Just noticed my youtube videos aren't showing correctly, anyone know how to put them in proberly?
JALlover
Jun 2, 09, 5:14 pm
Cheers for your replies. Had no idea that MAN lounges weren't galleries, looked pretty similar ;) Good spot on the North Lounge, forgot I couldn't be bothered to walk to the south lounge.
Just noticed my youtube videos aren't showing correctly, anyone know how to put them in proberly?
try copying the whole address down and paste it in..that is the most basic way which I expect it to work 95% of the time;)