flylikelinz

I was so happy on Monday morning when I looked at my BA app which had told me I'd moved from 33b to 64a! I was on the super HiJ to Lagos and I was so happy on my commute to work. Albeit thinking the red eye back may have been better for the upgrade. Alas I get to work and my travel agent calls. Sorry I see you have been upgraded but we have been told your visa won't arrive until 5pm and therefore we need to rebook you on to the VS red eye! 😱 Do this count as one or do i get another go? So! No status, no lounge what do I do?!? I frantically login to EF to find if there if UC availability. And if I have enough VS points! Luickly I have enough for the return leg. Still the same predicament of flying CW/J on the Day and PE/W on red eye.

now comes to today where I need to fly. I've not flown VS since 2011 on their A343 where I and my partner got shocking food poisoning so my hopes are not high to know I'm on and A346
i say to myself all will be fine. I have lounge club with my Amex gold.

At VS check in they said you can access the club house for £60. My Instagram mindset plays and says yes why not?! I get rejected! I goto the aspire lounge and display my card! Sorry we are full! I manage to use fast track security without any status! So that's a bonus. Now I get on board and there is no USB! No Power except by a special adapter! But!!!!!!!! They have wifi and for £2.99 I'm drinking congac over Algeria writing this message so. No willl I ever switch to VS but after having a video call and constant Instagram stories I am sold on wifi and I can't wait for the day BA get it across their fleet!

So a a kind of BA story. It started with happiness and ended in somewhat disaster. I have no flat bed to sleep on but I nice congac to put me to sleep

HMPS

What is the average turn around time for this visa ? Looks like someone dropped the ball !

skipness1E

You had a video call on the plane? Not good manners! Terribly aggravating for a great many people who can't exactly swap carriages.

"I'M ON A PLANE! COOEEE! A PLANE. AN AEROPLANE. WITH WIFI!! PUT GRANNY ON SHE'LL LOVE THIS!"

CloudGazer

Neither is being critical of other people you don't know!

corporate-wage-slave

It is possible to have a discreet video call without causing disturbance to anyone nearby. Indeed the sensitivity of modern cell phone microphones is remarkable, so that if people get a throat infection and "lose their voice" they often still sound clear on a mobile phone call. So it should be less disruptive to do a video call than talking to the person sat next to them. Unfortunately it is rarely appreciated that talking more quietly into a phone often makes it louder and clearer for the person at the other end - it often reflects the hearing of the person speaking rather than the hearing or equipment amplification for the person at the other end of the line, and the two are not actually related.

stuart_f

The crew have a stock of the EMPower adaptors that you can borrow if you ask them.

euromountain

I was expecting something more horrifying when reading the title…

mickeyjaw

At the risk of dragging this off-topic, I find the best technique for a discrete video call in public is to use a pair of earphones with a microphone and only insert one earphone. That way only you can hear the caller and you can still hear the ambient noise level so you can tell if you are talking too loud or not...

irishguy28

As all good BA stories do!!!

IAN-UK

Yes, I've tried to perfect a look that transmits this intelligence to those making wandering calls, or (even worse) the ones who seek out a quiet corner in which to make them.

But I usually settle on a scowl.

Perhaps getting cards to hand out with the information about the sensitivity of telephonic devices would be a good idea.....

irishguy28

Alas, it's the sensitivity of the wandering-phone-barker that needs addressing - not the sensitivity of microphones! - and they are unlikely to change.

They often seem to know enough to remove themselves from the vicinity of their own travelling group - and to instead inflict themselves on unsuspecting strangers, pacing around to disturb the peace in as broad an area as possible.

And the banality of these conversations!

frenzie01

I mean the problems you have...wow.
I don't know how you live.

IAN-UK

I see what you mean. I have a colleague who gets the best seat he can checking-in online, worries not a jot about it. Goes to the lounge when he can, or buys himself a coffee/snack if he needs to kill time and can't use the lounge. Can't be arsed with miles/avios and is bemused by the TP thing.

I'm concerned he might be a happier traveller than I am

HMPS

Try this. Be judicious ! I have done it.

More and more people are talking loudly on the cell phones. Once in a while I have answered the offender with a quick yes or no when s/he is asking a question to the person on the other end.

sl1ppy

My experience of the BA lounges tells me no-one else subscribes to this view, invariably there are 'suits' braying into their phones as loudly as possible.