255FlyerTZ

It's that time of the year, no doubt this will be one of many wedding based TR's on FT, so here's my offering!

Full itinerary:

DAR-NBO KQ Y (Embraer 190)

NBO-AUH-LHR EY J (A321, A380)

London-Paris-Lyons-Valence Trains (some in "First")

LYS-LHR EZ (most definitely Y)

LHR-AUH-NBO EY J (A380, A321)

NBO-DAR KQ Y (TBC)


I'm writing the first instalment from the AUH lounge after leaving DAR this morning.

I opted to fly out of NBO (and not DAR) because a) I had never been on EY and it’s a chance to start with the Business Studio b) EY only launch the DAR-AUH route later this year and c) It was still almost 35% cheaper than taking EK ex DAR even with the KQ flight added in d) I had quite recently been to PVG and HKG on EK, and though normally a fan, I was feeling a little ambivalent towards another EK flight so was quite keen to try another long(ish) haul option

There are no pictures of the DAR-NBO leg as I can't imagine anyone is that interested in a 1 hour Y flight on KQ. Maybe it's because it's the start of a holiday, but I am really impressed with KQ's short haul offering on the Embraer 190. This has to be taken in context, I'm impressed because it's efficient, comfortable, reasonably priced and a thoroughly pleasant way to get to NBO. It's impressive because I know from experience that KQ could do so much worse! The more I fly it, the more I like the little Embraer.

I had to clear customs and collect my bag in NBO before checking in to EY which only took about 30 minutes. Fortunately there was a dedicated check in as the Y load looked pretty heavy, and the agent was friendly but unhurried. There was one manning the fast lane immigration, but there weren’t major queues, and I soon found myself in the fairly spartan “Simba Lounge”. To be fair, it’s spartan because someone took a dislike to the old NBO airport and set it on fire, so they’re still rebuilding.

I had fairly low expectations for the A321 as the only pics I could dredge up from the internet of the J cabin had it looking quite underwhelming. The only report I found that shows it was one where SFO777 goes to Seychelles- have a trawl through the archives if you’d like to see what I mean. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had recently been refitted with new seats and in the new(ish) EY colours. I can only describe the overall effect as a very “handsome” cabin. I’ll try and get some more shots on the return leg, but here’s what I have so far.



Sort of leg room shot. Appropriate calf high socks as per a discussion on another TR!



Seat controls



Menus







I’m no oenophile, so this bit is largely wasted on me. More cultured folk will no doubt be disappointed in the cheapness of the Champagne on offer. I was focusing on my Whiskey game and so didn't try any.





You can make out some more cabin detail from this, though it’s a pretty shoddy shot. I apologise for the poor quality of shots, but my normal device for ‘happy snappy’ shots was recently stolen and I’m using a cheap smartphone until I can get a replacement. The image quality is thus not great.





I opted for the mushroom dish after a light nap. It was superb!

]

Then some fruit



Then a mint tea





Then a bit of Abu Dhabi!

EY really went all out considering it was only a 5 hour flight. Both the soft and hard product were spectacular. I thought that this leg of the trip would be a bit of a non event on account of the narrow body short haul jet and non lie flat seats, but I was sorely mistaken!

They did the separate bus to terminal for J passengers. Security was quick, and as a first impression, the terminal seemed quite cramped and overcrowded. The smattering of duty free shops is also a bit of a shock after flying almost exclusively though DXB for the last few years. That said, DXB is really just several hundred variants of the same shop whereas AUH seems to be just one of each, and I hardly ever buy anything in Duty Free anyways. The end result being that there probably isn't that much that one could get exclusively in one and not the other. Perhaps its more about the illusion of choice.

The EY premium lounge is well documented (it’s the same for F and J except for a cordoned off seating area for F), so I’ll spare you that. No queue for a shower, though I did have to strip to my underwear in full view of the spa attendant in order for him to be able to take my clothes for ironing while I had a shower. Once that was done, it was time for a whiskey and some sushi!



Up Next: EY A380 Business Studio

255FlyerTZ

This is quite a lot of writing, mostly to offset for the poor picture quality.

Very rarely does a product live up to it’s tagline, but this is one of those instances. EY’s slogan for all this is “Flying Reimagined”, and the J product really does feel like something entirely new. Whilst many J products feel like improvements on an existing idea, the whole premium experience on EY seems to have been reinvented from the ground up.

It feels a little like a prerequisite for membership on the EY design team was that one had to have never set foot on an aeroplane before, lest it corrupt the process and conform to established ideas. I imagine the design took place an ultra radical institution set somewhere inaccessible where, if anyone came up with an idea that was too conformist, they were dragged out back and shot. It truly is a triumph of design and function.

Most rare (compared to EK and the likes) is the understated luxury of the studio. The colours are muted and handsome, controls are elegant and subtle. Space is intelligently used and while at first glance, things like headphones and the amenity kit are not immediately obvious, once seated it becomes apparent that they’re tucked away in the ample storage around the seat. There when you need them, but no clutter. It should be noted that the window seats have 2 ‘bucket’ style storage compartments whereas these aren’t there on the aisle 2.






Bucket Storage



Control Panel







Legroom (loads)



Breakfast







It's worth noting that at the "Lobby" there was Pol Roger 2004 vintage champagne, so for those who (unlike me) are not total heathens, there were options.



Not sure how efficient these were at cancelling noise, not bad, but a bit 'meh'.



Tail Cam



Another view of the seat and what it looks like "lived in"

The cabin layout is confusing in a diagram- technically 2x2x2 but the window has forward and rear facing seats, while the aisle 2 face forward. When I looked at the seating diagram, I thought there would be nightmare scenarios of inadvertently playing footsie with the rear facing seat closest to me, but nothing could have been further from the truth. I was only dimly aware of the rear facing seat when I got up and actively looked to see if someone was there, but one is entirely sealed off. EY has managed to make the studio feel very private, and while the J load was probably at about 75% or more, from my seat I could only see 2 other people in the cabin, and it felt empty. There is also ample legroom (I’m ± 6’1” and slept comfortably) and plenty of surfaces

That said, though the service was absolutely fine, one can’t help but feel when you stick 74 J passengers in (vs 30-something on QR’s A380 herringbone thing), that things will take a little longer to get done.

Let’s be clear about this next bit. EK still has a great J offering, and I suspect a lot of this will come down to personal taste and loyalty, but having been a big fan of EK, and now seeing EY, I’m certainly shifting towards EY. EY makes EK look like the design process involved arming a chimp with a hacksaw and glitter glue and electrocuting it at random intervals. Maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you get the point. The Business Studio feels more deliberately designed with a more coherent goal than just “bling”.

The E-Box thing is truly woeful as in flight entertainment and pales in insignificance compared to ICE. There was an erratic smattering of old TV shows (3 episodes of season 1 of a show that’s currently airing season 5). There were very few movies and ever fewer recent ones (Ocean’s 11, the Original Mission Impossible, The Italian Job etc. were the ‘features’ this month) all great if you’re feeling nostalgic, but if by some chance you haven’t been living under a rock for the last 10 years, you may struggle to find something that you haven’t seen. Even the Rugby World Cup documentary was so old, it predated the last World Cup, ending in 2007. This I feel is low hanging fruit if EY wanted to up the competitiveness of their product.




The Shard, Gherkin and Walkie Talkie on approach



It is a good looking plane in those colours.


Immigration was a breeze with the "Fast Track", and bags arrived relatively quickly. EY have this "Z" fare for Business that, as of sometime last year, doesn't get a chauffeur, so it was out of the lap of luxury, onto the underground!


Up Next (when it actually happens) Paris, Lyon, Valence and the Chateau Wedding

Thunderroad

Thanks very much for posting this, as I find the EY business seat/studio an enticing prospect. But do you have any photos of the cabin as a whole, showing how the seat configuration works in practice?

Regardless, I appreciate the TR.

255FlyerTZ

London

There are no pictures from London, partly because I still haven’t got a decent device to take pictures with, and partly because I’m sure there is no shortage of TRs covering London.

In the few days I was there, I covered: Bermondsey, Blackfriars, The City, Borough Market, Sloane Square, Camden, Brixton, Hampsted, Leicster Square/Oxford St/Tottenham Court Rd, Canary (Qatari?) Wharf, all on various tourist and life administration exercises.

I also went to Reading, Henley for some light work, and Coventry to check out the nearby university I just got an MBA acceptance offer for, for 2016.

Soon it was time to head to Paris and to begin the wedding festivities! The plan was for the groom’s friends to meet in Paris for the night (Wednesday) before making our way down to Valence and starting the pre wedding events on Friday. There were arrivals from Tanzania, Kenya, Djibouti, Malaysia, UK, Canada and US, so we had opted to get an apartment through AirBnB and use that as a base.

Unfortunately, there was not a lot of time to do many touristy activities, which is particularly sad in a city like Paris. This was also exacerbated by crippling hangovers, which somewhat curbed our enthusiasm for the higher order thinking necessary to visit and appreciate Parisian monuments. As a result, there are not many photos of Paris:





View from the Apartment in Paris



L'Arc du Triomphe



Gare De Lyon on the way to... well.. Lyon


From Paris, I went to Lyon while the remainder went straight to Valence. Here, I was determined not to be a heathen, and, fortified with some sort of tequila beer, spent about 6 hours wandering around the city on foot. I was highly impressed with Lyon which is a fantastic city both aesthetically and practically. Lyon has a great restaurant scene and I duly gorged on all things delicious and French.



Some sort of Tequila Beer











I ate many, many macaroons.













Some pretty intense horses



The following morning, J (who arrived from the office via LGW the night before) and I made our way to Valence. From here we jumped on the coach the wedding had hired for a 50 odd minute drive to the bride’s family farmhouse for a BBQ.



Said Farmhouse


The BBQ was a great chance to meet everyone who would be attending- the huge mix of nationalities present meant that very few people knew everyone, and so an event for all to get to know each other was a great idea. It being the South of France in summer mean that the weather was fantastic. Food abounded and was truly incredible. One has to also admire the creativity of the French both in creating new ways of turning fruit into alcohol, and producing exquisite dishes from simple ingredients. I remain a huge fan of the rural French culinary scene from the little I sampled.


The following day was the legal ceremony at the local town hall and celebration at a nearby chateau. Naturally this was another marathon of culinary delights, and much eating, drinking and dancing ensued.







View from the Chateau





Catering's No. 1 Fan!



Vive les Maries indeed!

It was then a rather fragile start to Sunday, during which J and I had the following itinerary:
Valence-Lyon (TGV) Lyon-LYS (Tram) LYS-LUT (EZY) LUT-South London. Fortunately the various travel deities seemed appeased, and our only delay was about an hour on the final leg from Luton.


Monday was the final day of my trip and so, after a little wandering around, it was time to head to LHR. Presumably, at this point, one would have the chauffeur service if not on the “Z” business fares. Alas this wasn't the case for me. However, some handy Uber manoeuvres meant that a car to LHR from around London Bridge came to the princely sum of £24, and far preferable to lugging bags around the underground.
It’s from here that things started to go wrong:

First, the LHR-AUH flight kept getting more and more delayed. Finally we took off at around 10:15pm instead of the scheduled 8:35.

I assume I’ll incur the wrath of all mankind for this, but I then spent the first 3 hours of the flight in the lobby, in conversation with striking and increasingly inebriated lady of a small Indian Ocean island descent. It was dialogue at first, but ultimately descended into having to find creative ways of rebuffing her ever more amorous advances. I know there are many that would leap at the chance and I can scarcely believe it happened myself (largely testament to the volume of booze consumed by her!). But, for many reasons both ethical and practical I was in no way going to take her up on any offers.

Ultimately I opted to have the remainder of my meal in my seat, under the guise of going to bed so as to escape the clutches of my new ‘friend’. At the end of the meal, the FA dropped my cutlery onto me, staining a freshly tailored white shirt with an orange ravioli sauce. I accept that these things are somewhat of an occupational hazard, and in no way begrudge the FA. It was an accident, and they happen. None the less, after a lot of scrubbing with soda water, my shirt still looked a little like an early stage Jackson Pollock. All this could have been avoided if EY did lounge wear, but the only do on flights > 9 hours, which is understandable.

I then made my breakfast arrangements before going to sleep, requesting a wake up for full breakfast 1.5 hours before landing so that I could get a little work done. I woke up just as we were about to start descent into AUH, so no breakfast, no work and no option to brush my teeth etc. I assume the FA just forgot about our arrangement.

The delay meant that once I was through security, my connecting flight to NBO (naturally at the other end of in T1) was on final call. Fortunately I made it on, only to realise that in all likelihood, my checked suitcase wouldn’t. Bizarrely, a longer delay out of LHR would have helped if it meant missing the NBO flight as it would have landed me a hotel and my suitcase in AUH and a flight the next day.

Upon arrival at NBO, I went to baggage services and was told that my suitcase had not made it, and so got the wheels in motion about finding it. I then had to check in to the final flight to DAR (which was on a separate ticket). At check in, I found out had been rescheduled (without warning) to depart 1.5 hours earlier, and that it was on final call. The agent refused to let me try and make a run for it, and so I had to rebook. Fortunately this was only a $40 fee and an extra 4 hours in NBO, but naturally I had no recourse on EY because it was on a separate ticket.

I then had to delay my departure from DAR because the baggage handling company can only deliver the bags to DAR (and not my final destination further inland). Another day in Dar was not a bad thing, but it would have been a pain if I had a less flexible timetable.


Conclusion

On the first 2 flights, I was really taken by the EY product, this may have just been the novelty factor.

Looking at it now, 4 out of 4 flights were delayed. The Business Studio is an incredible hard product, but the soft product takes a hit when you’ve got 70+ J passengers. I just don't think it’s possible for the FAs to keep up. When you do get it, the catering is exceptionally good.

Your level of service is also quite hit and miss. The FA who was serving the seats behind me was superb, I found this out because she ended up serving me because the FA assigned to my section barely showed up (except to explain how I was wrong and definitely hadn't ordered a wake up).
This may sound strange, but I actually think I preferred the flights on the A321. Sure the seats aren't lie flat, but the service is A+ because of the small cabin, and the catering is at least on par with the A380.

Small things make a difference- on only 1 out of 4 flights did they have a copy of The Economist on board. On all 4 the FA handing out magazines promised me that they would get one, but only once did it materialise (and it was on the A321)

AUH is a bit of an uninspiring airport. The LHR lounge was pleasant, but quite small. That said, the AUH lounge is pretty impressive. The incessant advertising throughout boarding (on loop and on loudspeakers) is particularly irritating when taking 2 flights, and compounded by delays. There’s little respite from the meagre inflight entertainment which is also peppered with more of the same ads. I did think the dubstep on the Grand Prix ad was an interesting choice to have on loudspeaker while boarding. Personally, I find it entertaining, but I suspect there will be many others who don’t!

Some catering shots from the LHR-AUH-NBO leg will be posted shortly

offerendum

How cool is this

255FlyerTZ

Thanks Thunderroad

I tried to get a better shot of the cabin on boarding:



I'm not sure if it's clear, but in the aisle seats, there are 2 alternately forward and rear facing. Along the windows, each seat is alternately forward and rear facing with 2 windows each.

255FlyerTZ

Right? Believe it or not, it's only 3 months old! a St Bernard's I believe...

There were also 2 of the biggest Mastiffs I've ever seen in my life there, "Fleur" and "Dante". Fleur had recently lost 20kg's and still weighed in at over 100Kg! It was like having 2 baby hippos cruising around. They were incredibly good natured and sweet, despite all the people in their castle.

255FlyerTZ

Managed to dig up a photo of Dante with one of the groom's party (not me)!

offerendum

100 is a little much, but with such catering I wanted a Mastiff for some years, but in the end we decided against it. Too many health issues. We had a Komondor, but he would have hold all people out Now we "only"ha a crazy Beardy, but I always like to be around some giants....