40MinutesToLanding

This is my first trip report. Been lurking on this website for 5 years and its about time I give something in return. Any comments or suggestions would be grateful.

About me

I’m a thirtysomething wonderer who is addicted to travelling, especially flying. For me, the flying bit is most important aspect of any trip I take. Airlinewise, its BA (and Oneworld) all the way. Kind of carrying on a legacy passed down from my gran and great-aunt who only flew them on their twice yearly visits to Jamaica. My first experience with them was in ’87, the same year of privatisation, when I travelled on the BA/ Air Jamaica flight 267 to Kingston via Nassau from Heathrow Terminal 4 with my gran. Love planes too ( saddo I know) and I live under one the main flight paths to Heathrow, no problems with the noise.

The Trip

My first trip report is a recent quick getaway to Athens. Athens was actually the first BA flight I took in Europe 15 years ago. At that time, I flew out from Gatwick on a 757 and returned to Heathrow T4 on a 767. At the time I visited, the city was a massive building site getting ready for the Olympic Games in 2004, but I always vowed I will return as I found it to be a majestic place; walking around the Plaka, sitting a cafe drinking a Frappe; taking a midnight walk in the summer; the list could go on and on.........
Anyways the booking. BA had a sale in February and I had a shortlist of three places that I wanted to go to in order of preference; Istanbul, Marrakech and Athens. Why these three you might ask? One, I’ve visited all these place before so no need to acclimatise myself to any of them; Two; 3 of the cheapest places to eat out; Three ( and the most important one); all these destination will net me 160 tier points on the BAEC. By taking this trip I will gain Gold ( at the time of writing this, given the threads and my experience at the Galleries First Lounge at T5 and appalling food I’d encountered, I’m thinking twice on whether it was worth it?) and that will be useful to me given the trips i will be taking this year and the soft landing into Silver if things do not go to plan to re-qualify. Anyways, I checked out the hotels for the dates that I required and that put Istanbul out of the running. So it was a choice between Marrakech and Athens. I flipped a coin and it was Athens. Booked the ticket ( and used my shareholder discount so came in at a nice price) and booked my hotel which was the Novotel Athens City. All I had to do was wait two months before the big day.

The day arrives

I woke up at 6am, a little groggy and pissed off after a board meeting I was chairing ( I’m a chair of a charity in South London) didn’t go my way but that soon went as I had thoughts of nice spring weather in Athens and Champagne!!! To rewind, I checked in via the BA app on my iPhone T24 and I already pre-selected my seat which was 4A. The seat next to me was occupied (grrr!!!!) ( For those of you who are interested, was no 8 in boarding sequence

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All set to go!

Left home at 6:40 ( I live in Zone 2 in South London) and decided to use the Piccadilly line to T5. Since I have many trips to Heathrow coming up, I want to try the different transportation options that was available to me and will report accordingly in future trip reports. Got to Green Park from where I live in 23 minutes and waited 7 minutes for my train to T5. I arrived at just after 8 which wasn’t too bad.


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Heathrow T5

Despite lots of foot traffic, it was nice and tranquil. As I had no bags to check in, I went to the Amex Foreign Exchange to get some Euros ( and Avios ) and went through security. Usually I use the South but this time, I wanted to sample the new e-gates in North. Scanned my boarding pass on my phone onto the reader and was allowed in. No Fast Track at the North Gate so waited patiently in a queue but it was only five minutes.


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Departure area Heathrow T5

After going through I went to Boots to get some Lucozade Sport as I would be going for a jog the next day. Then off to Galleries Club South Lounge. Boy it was crowded! I eventually managed to find my favourite set of seats on the side and managed to find a lounge attendant to ask for a glass of champagne.


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I spent the time catching up with the news and e-mails with my chief executive following the fallout from previous night’s meeting ( at the time of writing this, the situation has been resolved). I grabbed a bite to eat ( sorry no pictures) and I couldn’t see any of the bacon rolls any more, only bacon and toast.

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Galleries Club South Lounge -The view from my seat

After 3 more glass of champers, I decided to go to the departure gate to stretch my legs.

19/4/13
BA632
LHR-ATH
Club Europe, Seat 4A
DEP: 12:10 (Actual 12:27)
ARR: 17:45 ( Actual 18:00)
Aircraft : B767 ( G-BNWX)

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Soon enough a queue was forming at the Fast Track section and I waited in line there. Five minutes later, a pre boarding call was announced for passengers with small children and those needing assistance. At this time a long queue was forming at general boarding area. This is where BA needs to rethink its boarding policies. Call me snobby but I think they should allow elites to board first similar to the system that they use in Singapore Airlines or American. So my ideal boarding scenario would be;

• Club Europe
• BA Gold and Silver
• OW Emerald and Sapphire
• Families and Small Children and those needing assistance
• BA Bronze and OW Ruby
• General Boarding

Back to the trip report; after pre-boarding, they allowed the ‘Fast Track’ queue to board. This was badly handled. Patiently waiting in the queue and I had people pushing in. Being British, I said nothing and just glared at them. There was only one staff doing the passport and boarding pass check. Suddenly another desk opened I decided to cut through the queue to get to that desk. An interesting dialogue took place

Staff: Sir we are only boarding Club Europe and Elites
I showed him my boarding pass and passport
Staff: ( A bit lost for words at this moment checks and hands it back) Well there was a queue sir.
Me: Thank you (and walked off with a nice grin on my face )

Walked down the airbridge onto the aircraft was greeted by the cabin service director and turned left. Put my luggage into the overhead locker and settled into my seat.

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Legroom was adequate and I also noticed it was a refurbished 767 with new monitors, seats and overhead bins. My seatmate settled down and he continued reading his Daily Mail. The Captain welcomed everyone on board and announced a flight time of 3 hours 15 minutes. After that, the safety video was played and pushback commenced. We were taking off from the North runway towards the west.

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American Airlines 777-200ER in the old livery

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Queen of the Skies in CX colours, be sad to see her go

It was then our turn


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30 minutes after take-off, the drinks service began. On my side of the cabin, the Cabin Service Director was serving. She was old school; attentive and professional.

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Also the menu was handed out

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In English

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In Greek,. As you can see, there’s no translation for Dhansak

40MinutesToLanding

While waiting for lunch, I was just looking out of the window. It was cloudy over much of Western Europe;

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Flying over the Alps ( I think)

Lunch was then served. Others have spoken about it in threads and trip reports, but the service lacked a bit of style for Club Europe. Basically you are asked what you want, then the crew will plonk the food from the packaging onto the plate. I’m sure this never happened before? ( My last Band 4 flight was to Istanbul in August 2011). Anyways, I had the dhansak.

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And there was prawns!

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This was a popular dish. The passengers in the cabin largely consisted of Greeks. It seems they love Indian food . I had another champers and to end I had an Earl Grey and Tia Maria. Once lunch service was over, my seatmate moved elsewhere ( whoohoo!!) and I spent the rest of the time listening to music and staring at the world below me

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After this picture, the flight was sadly coming to an end and we started our descent to Eleftherios Venizelos


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Nice view of Greater Athens

The landing was smooth and we were at the gate in no time. From the aircraft to metro station took 10 minutes. I paid 16 euros for a 48 hour return ticket to and from the city centre. The journey took 50 minutes. I got off at Larissa Station and it took five minutes to get to my hotel.

Novotel Athens City

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This picture was taken when I was leaving[

Check-in was quick, they recognised that I was a A-Club Platinum member ( but I don’t really see the point of it LOL). My upgrade request to a suite was denied so I got a normal room. Heyho, I only paid 90 quid for the weekend so I cannot complain.

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The room was really basic. My welcome gift was 2 bottles of water, this was never replenished during my stay.

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Bathroom ( shower to the left)

After scanning the room, I decided to go for a bite to eat. I checked out this website for ideas on where to eat good food at low cost, Culinary Backstreets (www.culinarybackstreets.com). My first stop was Doureios Ippos ( Koletti 21, Exarchia) which specialises in paidakia or charcol grilled lamb chops which is gourmet food to Greeks. I got to the place at around 10 and the place was empty, 15 minutes later it was full to the brim.

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The Menu

And what i ordered

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Don’t be fooled by the picture, but this meal was absolutely georgous!! The lamb was bursting with flavours and the lemon added a extra kick to the taste. The salad was dressed in extra virgin olive oil. The house red wasn’t going to win any major awards but fitted the meal. I paid 12 euros for this meal . Feeling satisfied, I went back to the hotel where I retired for the night.

The Day in Athens

I woke up at 5:30 and went for a pleasant 5 mile run around the city. After that, I went for shower and went for breakfast. It was chaotic. I had to wait five minutes before being seated and when that did eventually happened wait a futher five for my table to be cleared. The breakfast spread was poor. ( sorry no pictures) The toast machine wasn’t working properly and it took 4 attempts to toast my bread. The cooked breakfast looked pretty dire. There was a saving grace on which they couldn’t go wrong with;

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I had 3 helpings of this.

After my ‘ordeal’, I went back to my room to watch TV and plan my sightseeing route. I got distracted by this;

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Some pictures of my wonder around Athens


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Plaka ( in the distance Mount Lycabettus)

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Plaka

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Temple of Olympian Zeus

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A Roman Bath

40MinutesToLanding

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The Evzones guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the base of the Parliament Building. Interesting fact; soldiers have to be at least 6’1 to join.


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Nice view from lycabettus Hill

After sightseeing, I was getting hungry and I went to Peinirli Ionias ( Panormou 3,Ambelokipoi) to have the Greek version of a pide

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This was really filling!

Feeling replenished, I went back to the hotel to put my feet up for while .
Evening came and I ventured out. I didn’t go too far as I was slightly tired. I fancied some honey doughnuts and curbed my cravings with these;

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I watched TV for the rest of evening and went to bed. Sunday I stayed in browsing the internet and watched coverage of the London Marathon. As part of the rate, you could have a late check-out up to 4pm. I requested that I have the room until 2pm. I had breakfast but only yoghurt and orange juice.

The Journey Home

I left at 2pm and walked 5 minutes to Larissa Station and took the metro to the airport which took 50 minutes.

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As I checked in online I went straight to the lounge. Its located in the non-schengen area of the airport and to get there, you need to clear immigration. Security is done at the gate. ( sorry no photos!) This part of the airport is tranquil. I brought some ozu to bring home with me and then I found the lounge.

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My boarding pass was checked and was allowed in. The lounge wasn’t crowded and many were waiting for a delayed Royal Jordanian flight to Amman. I was hungry so I grabbed a Greek Salad in the fridge;

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And yoghurt and coffee

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The RJ flight was called and the lounge was near empty so I took some snaps.

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The staff in the lounge were very professional and nice, constantly clearing up. There are no toilets in the lounge however some were outside. Time passed by and the lounge filled up with passengers for my flight. 40 minutes before departure I decided to leave the lounge and wait in the departure area. It was pack to the filter. This was going to be a full flight. While waiting, I bumped into a colleague from my political circle and we got talking and time went by. ( I’m involved in politics) Boarding was done by seat rows and elites and Club Europe passengers could board at our leisure. I eventually boarded the aircraft.

MojaveFlyer

Quick trip to a place which is worth a lot more time, but a nice TR with good pix and I enjoyed the details as well as the views of familiar sights from Athens. Nice job, now get on with it, I hope this won't be your last TR Thanks!

40MinutesToLanding

21/4/13
BA 633
ATH-LHR
Club Europe Seat 2k
Dep 18:50 ( Actual 19:04)
Arr 20:45 (Actual 20:56)
B767 G-BNWA

I settled into my seat

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Once boarding was completed, the captain welcomed everyone and announced a flight time of 3 hours 40 minutes. No one sitting next to me
Pushback commenced a few moments after the announcement. After a quick taxi, we were airborne

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Spent most of the flight taking pictures of the scenery

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30 minutes after take-off, the service commenced.

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I was also given a menu

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Some more views

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And moi relaxing

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Dinner was then served

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Despite the appearance, the cod was tasty and not overcooked. The carrots were flavoursome. The dessert was magic!

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My second bottle, I have a drink problem

To end I had a baileys ( as no Tia Maria was loaded onto the flight) and a camomile tea

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A word about the service. It wasn’t as polished as the outbound as I had to make repeated requests for things from the crew. Maybe it was a busy flight I do not know. However, it was done with a smile. One of the crew from Friday’s flight recognised me and had a brief conversation with him about the situation in Greece and my break. He was really funny saying I should have stayed longer to appreciate his country. The rest of the flight I was relaxing, listening to music and thinking about general stuff.

Again sadly, time passed quickly and it was time to land. The sky was clear and had a good view of Central London.

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We landed but had to wait 5 minutes until our gate was free. Once on stand, I thanked the crew member serving me and disembarked. From the aircraft to tube train took 8 minutes. The queues at immigration was insane. Fortunately IRIS was working and there was no one in front of me. Eventually I got home at 10:15pm


Final Thoughts

BA have definitely upped its game on its European flights. Overall I enjoyed both flights, however the service wasn’t as great on the return than on the outbound. I still feel a lot more could be done such as how food is presented to passengers and the boarding process.
Athens was a nice break, I didn’t need to eat fancy so was extremely kind to the pocket. The hotel was crap and despite the price, I will not be returning. I filled in a comment card and an online survey and got a response from management but I don’t see anything changing LOL.

So that’s it, my first stab at a trip report.Its a litte rusty but I hope you like it. Got a few trips coming. I've just returned from Manila so will chart how I got here and back and will be taking my sister to Central/South America for a trip before she gets married and I will be at her wedding in August in Toronto.

Salut

JCUK316BA

TravellerFrequently

Detailed TR, thanks.

Moomba

It does looks like the onboard offering has improved somewhat. It seems to be the same story on BA these days, fabulous one day, OK the next.

Thanks for a great report.

SanDiego1K

Loved seeing the bright yellow FlyerTalk tag on your case!

What does flashpacker mean?

Polomarc

Nice TR Short wknd trips can be fun

40MinutesToLanding

Thanks TravellerFrequently

40MinutesToLanding

Hi SanDiego 1K

Thanks, I don't leave home without the tag! I have some US domestics to take this week so hopefully I will see some fellow Flyertalkers.

Flashpacker is a 'backpacker' who travels in style ( ie premium class and hotels). I kind of hijacked the term in that I don't own a 'backpack'

chris1979

Great report - shame you couldn't make it on Friday.

Just returning on much (well 90 mins) delayed 633 having flown out on 632 yesterday.

coolblue21

Great job, JCUK316BA! I enjoyed reading that. Looks like you had a good time in Greece!

BA1321

Excellent report, thanks for sharing ^

40MinutesToLanding

Thanks for positive feedback