Index to Genius1 trip reports

This report will be rather brief, and more photo-heavy than text-heavy. All the same, I hope it provides a little insight into Vienna and makes for an enjoyable read.

A quick break was in order, and Vienna fulfilled our criteria – somewhere cultured, with architectural interest and not too far from home. The flights and hotel (InterContinental) were booked together as a package with BA, as this reduced the price rather a lot. Due to last minute booking, the cheapest flight outbound was actually in Club Europe, with the return in Euro Traveller. BA wanted £2000 to upgrade the return by phone – needless to say that was swiftly declined!

We stayed at the Sofitel T5 the night before our flight, as even though we would be departing from T3, the Sofitel is only one short trip on the HEx. At the time of staying, I was A-Club Gold (alas I have since dropped to pleb level with this program), and this granted us a room upgrade from a Classic to a Luxury room with a rather swish bathroom.


Luxury twin room







The next morning, there was no queue at BA’s enclosed F check-in area in Zone G of T3, our one checked bag was tagged with the new oneworld priority tag and we whizzed through Fast Track security, with nobody in the queue at all – quite a spectacle in T3! I was pleased to note that the Fast Track exit into the duty free area was open, meaning we didn’t have to walk along through the security area.

Our first port of call was BA’s Galleries First lounge. I’m really not sure I like this lounge. The champagne bar is nice, but the rest feels distinctly Club lounge-like, with only a few of the comfy single armchairs that the T5 Galleries First lounge has. The rest of the seating is identical to the Club lounge next door, and really doesn’t provide the same levels of comfort as the T5 F lounge.


Champagne bar, BA Galleries First, T3




Gold bar

Breakfast was taken in the First dining area, where a friendly waitress took our order from the menu. My full English was rather tasteless, whilst the bacon and scrambled eggs were both under-done.




Watery porridge

After breakfast, we couldn’t find anywhere particularly comfy to sit, and so we headed to the Cathay Pacific lounge complex, and were directed into the almost empty F lounge. This lounge is much better appointed than BA’s F lounge, and had a decent selection of hot and cold breakfast items, along with the spectacular view of the runway that makes this lounge my preferred oneworld lounge in T3.


CX First Class lounge






BA 747 with New First, viewed from the CX F lounge


QF 747 viewed from the CX F lounge



I somehow lost track of time in the CX lounge, and so we had to run to the bussing gate (24C), before boarding the penultimate bus that was almost full when we arrived.

We were welcomed onboard by the friendly purser, and directed to our seats (2DF) in Club Europe on this almost brand new A320 (G-EUYI). This aircraft has BA’s new spacesaver seating throughout, meaning that the CE seats no longer convert into wider seats (although the forward 10 or so rows do have a 34” pitch, as opposed to 31”). Whilst these seats have come under much criticism due to their non-convertableness, I found them to be very comfortable and perfectly wide enough for the average person. Legroom seemed better than the old converter seating, and the armrests can be raised to provide extra width. Of course, in CE the middle seat is left unoccupied, and this is a significant advantage to CE over ET.




BA’s impressive tail line-up at T5