Welcome to my latest trip report. This one covers a rather hectic and last minute business trip to Mumbai.

Routing

- London Heathrow T5 (LHR) – Mumbai (BOM): British Airways (BA), Premium Economy (Y+), 747-400

- Mumbai (BOM) – London Heathrow T5 (LHR): British Airways (BA), Economy (Y), 747-400

Background

I work in IT, and as many of you that work in or with IT know many companies have expanded into the offshore services market using large numbers of staff based in India. I work for such a company and have been working with my Indian colleagues for a number of years now, but as yet had not had the opportunity to actually go to India and meet everyone, face to face.

The project that I’m currently working on is going through the latter stages of development and testing and it was clear that as deadlines were getting tighter, there would be benefit in myself and another colleague travelling out to meet the team in India and help them out by co-ordinating the remaining project activities. It was also a great opportunity for a bit of team bonding and a chance for me to sample some proper Indian food!

Booking

Booking was a bit of a nightmare! Like many organisations, I’m instructed to use our corporate travel agent. The company that we are actually fantastic and very friendly. It’s the internal politics that makes life difficult. Which class was able to travel in? What’s the price limit? Can I book direct flights even if they are more expensive? Who will authorise the travel and how long with that take? Blah, blah.

Due to the fact that this trip was a bit of a last minute affair and that we are not allowed to book business unless the flight is over 10 hours I settled with premium out and economy back. Even that, booking a few days before meant a ticket price of around £1200. Incidentally, I could have booked business with Emirates for only £200 more, but due to politics, I was denied this luxury. Still, as I was with BA and a silver card holder, at least I’d be able to use the lounge and both ends, board first and pick up some useful points.

Visa Process

Any reader wishing to travel to India should be aware that even for UK passport holders a visa is required. I applied for a one year business visa to give me flexibility should I need to return to India in the near future. This was all taken care of by a visa processing company and after filling in a few forms my passport was collected and returned within 3 days by courier. Much simpler than getting a US visa I can tell you!

London to Mumbai – British Airways 747-400 – Premium Economy

I’ve flown premium economy with British Airways quite a few times so knew what to expect. Much comparison with Qantas’ premium offering takes place and in my opinion they are not comparable. The Qantas product is streets ahead. Still, premium with BA is better than economy with BA, just a shame that it wasn’t business.

Flight: BA139
Carrier: British Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Scheduled Departure time: 10.30 am
Duration: 8h 45m
Scheduled Arrival time: 00:45 am (local)
Routing: London Heathrow (LHR) T5 – Mumbai (BOM) T2
Class: Premium Economy
Seat: 28J – Exit Row

Getting to Heathrow

I needed to be in the office on Monday morning so I’d booked a morning flight on Sunday. The flight times to Mumbai are pretty awful. You end up wasting a whole day in the air if you want to arrive before the start of the working day in India.

I had a taxi booked for 7.30am and the silver E-Class arrived on time. I use a local taxi firm that 90% of the time use large executive cars for airport transfers and only charge about a pound a mile which I think is a bargain!

The weather wasn’t great but at least traffic was clear at this time on a Sunday morning and I slept most of the way.

Check In and Lounge

After paying the driver I made my way to the business class check in desks at T5 (a Silver card benefit) and quickly checked in. This was around 8.45am.

On my last long haul trip (see my previous TR) I was rather spoilt with op-ups so now every time I fly on a Oneworld carrier I have that slight expectation in my mind. I also knew that 9 hours in premium economy would not be fun however, 9 hours in business would be bliss!

Sadly, I was still in the seat that I’d chosen a few days ago online (another Silver card benefit). 28J is right by door three on the right hand side of the aircraft and benefits from massive leg room, no-one beside you and a handy little table for placing drinks/newspapers and such like. This and it’s sister pair, 28A are definitely the pick of the bunch in the premium economy cabin on a 70J configured 747.

After checking in I made my way to South security, noting that ‘Fast Track’ was actually pretty busy so I joined one of the many standard lines instead. It was strange as people seemed unwilling to give up their fast track privilege even if it meant waiting longer.


Terminal 5 Departure Area – viewed from South Security


Terminal 5 Departure Area – viewed from South Security

After clearing security I started to make my way to the Galleries South lounge which was looking down on me.


Galleries South – Lofty position above security

As many of you may know, BAA has designed Terminal 5 in such a way that you have to do a big loop on yourself to get to the lounge. This is just to send you past the shops I’m sure.


On my way to the lounge


Down the escalators...

I made my way up the double escalators to the Galleries lounge and presented my boarding pass and Silver card and was welcomed into the lounge by name. No dragons working today it would seem.

The lounge was pretty busy, which was a big surprise to me, and it took me a while to find a spot to settle. My normal spot by windows was taken, at least at the beginning. Luckily, breakfast was still being served.


Mmm, bacon rolls, I took two


Breakfast pastries

I helped myself to a couple of bacon rolls, some cheese and biscuits and a cookie. Even at this time in the morning all of the usual alcohol options were available but it was a little too early for me to start drinking. I’m not sure that a vodka and coke would have washed down my bacon rolls too well.


My breakfast

I settled into my seat and caught up with a few emails using the free Wifi and posted the obligatory ‘Look where I am’ photo on Facebook.


Silver bar – towards the windows


Silver bar – from the other side


General lounge view


View beside the windows

The south runway was pretty busy, but no A380’s at this time in the morning. When I used to fly to New York regularly it was almost tradition to see the Emirates A380 take off for Dubai early in the afternoon.

There wasn’t really much time for me to spend in the lounge as the gate was announced at around 9.30. Guess what, gate A10. Oh joy, buses.


Departure Board – A10 for me

Having had the experience of being bussed before I knew that it made sense for me to get down to the gate sharpish, even more so when it started showing ‘Flight Closing’ at 10am!

Arriving at the gate and it’s the usual. Big queue to have boarding passes checked, no priority queue for First, Business and Gold and Silver card holders so everyone has to queue up together. We were packed onto the bus and then it seemed to sit there for ages. Eventually we were on our way and spent the next 5 minutes crawling around the apron trying not to fall over or into each other.

One thing I do like about being bussed is that you are able to get totally up close and personal with the aircraft. The sheer size and magnificence simply cannot be conveyed when boarding through an air bridge.


Making my way to board the big bird


2 x Rolls Royce Engines


Heavy duty landing gear


Boarding

My only annoyance is that they use a covered set of steps, which limits the view as you board.

After a bit of shuffling I was up the stairs and greeted by a lady wearing a uniform that I had never seen before on a British Airways aircraft. To my surprise, all India based cabin crew wear different uniforms to the UK crew.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo....main/3630115/

I mournfully walked past business class and made my way into the premium economy cabin. Not too bad a place to be to be honest, especially as I had one of two of the best seats in the house.


Business Class/Club World Cabin during boarding


28J – Note the side table

I even had my own overhead locker, so stowed my bag accordingly. Boarding seemed to take quite a long time, with a slow but steady stream of people making their way into economy behind me. I understand why now when boarding from gate A10, boarding is started very early.