Turboprops really are workhorses, aren't they?

There's nothing glamorous about them. The image of a frequent flier is someone strutting the worls in jumbo jets, sipping champagne in exotic departure lounges.

I smile to think that I got to BA Gold status using only turboprops (and two domestic sectors on a jet if I am totally honest - but also two sectors on a Twin Otter) in and out of airports with no business lounge. And it made me smile, after I stopped that route, to be able to access the F Lounge in T5 a few times - just a different world to the grind of commutes on a turboprop.

But you do get fond of turboprops - and you get to know the cabin crew pretty well. And they are small and informal enough that the pilots can do things they wouldn't do elsewhere. For example, one balmy summer evening, our pilot took us on a low altitude detour over the north of Scotland (Gairloch) and swooped the Shiant Islands - just because he could.