Back in 1776, “Taxation Without Representation” was a rallying point for the then Americans colonist during the Revolutionary War, in reference to the British government levying taxes on the then Colonists despite the fact the Colonists did not have representatives in Parliament. My fellow FlyerTalkers, I’m afraid that history has repeated itself and the British are once again levying taxes without representation, this time on unsuspecting travelers in the form of APD. For me, it really and truly is not a money issue. It’s a matter of principal. I absolutely hate paying taxes. Really, you do not want to be near me during the month of April. I am as crotchety of person you will ever meet during that month. Perhaps the fact that I am an accountant by training explains my aversion to taxes. At any rate, I’m willing to do a good bit to avoid any taxes (legally of course).

APD is already substantial while traveling in long haul Economy, but becomes even heftier when traveling in a premium cabin. If you buy an economy ticket, and apply an upgrade instrument for a seat in the premium cabin, you will be charged the difference in the tax as well. The most important thing to know about APD is that it is charged when you are departing from the UK on a long haul flight. In other words, I won’t be charged APD on my outbound from the U.S. to London, but it will charged on the return if my flight originates from London. So if my out bound is from the U.S. to London, and my return is from somewhere in the E.U. to the U.S., I won’t be hit with APD. So I started looking at the usual suspects, such as ex-AMS, ex-CDG, which I see often from our UK based FTers. As I noted in the introduction, I finally found a decent fare returning from Lisbon.

After a long day of sightseeing, I woke up much later than planned the next morning so I hurriedly packed and checked out. My original plan to get to Heathrow was to take a cab to Paddington Station, and catch the HEX from there. However the night before, my friend advised me against that plan as it would be very costly. Taking the Underground back to Heathrow was a fraction of the cost, and took just a little more time. Man, was she right. Although two transfers were needed, the journey was painless and cost just 10 pounds. Since it was Sunday morning, the trains were relatively empty. I was rather amused to see “Christian Mingle” had made it across the pond from late night cable television.







It took just 90 minutes after leaving my hotel for me to reach the Heathrow station. The walk from the station to the attractive entrance of Terminal 3 felt far shorter than when I left the airport a couple days prior.



Once inside, I headed to Zone F, where the British Airways check in counters, and made my way to the Club Europe counter. A very friendly agent took my passport and processed my check in. My bags quickly were tagged and boarding passes printed. The agent then gave me directions to Fast Track security and the lounge, wished me a pleasant flight, and I was off to security.

I’ve heard plenty of stories about security at Heathrow, and hardly any of them are positive. So naturally, I was expecting the worse. When I arrived at the checkpoint, I was pleasantly surprised to find a short queue. The attitude of the security staff was even more surprising, as the general themes of the stories I’ve heard are surly and rude. My experience couldn’t have been more different. Every single staffer I encountered was pleasant, save for lady (wo)manning the explosives checkpoint who got my attention by forcibly yanking my laptop bag strap. Well you could have just asked nicely, but whatever floats your boat, ma’am. After a few minutes of serious swabbing action, I was deemed to be non-threat and was sent on my way.

As typical at airports in Europe, I had to navigate the labyrinth of duty free shops before I made it to the lounges. I was flying on an el cheapo economy ticket, but I still had access to three different lounges thanks to my oneworld Emerald status. To satisfy my av/airline geek nature, I made sure to leave plenty of time to visit all three of those lounges, which are American Airlines’ Admirals Club/Flagship Lounge, British Airways Galleries Lounge, and Cathay Pacific’s Lounge.

First, I headed to American’s Flagship Lounge, reserved for First Class passengers and oneworld Emeralds, which is located inside the Admirals Club. My boarding pass and elite card was checked by an attendant at door, and I was then directed to the counter where another attendant handed me a key to the Flagship Lounge. My first order of business was a shower, which I didn’t do at the hotel due to my rushed departure. The shower complex is shared with the Admirals Club, so in order to keep those pesky Business Class passengers out, another set of keys, with a huge metal key chain, is available inside the Flagship Lounge. The key would be used for the entrance from the showers into Flagship. A simple, yet effective system.

One thing I really appreciate about American’s lounges is the availability of nice shower facilities in most of them. The Heathrow location is no exception.


After a refreshing shower, I checked out the lounge. It is very spacious and airy, with plenty of seating and nice views of the tarmac. Only a few desktops were available, but the wifi connection was reliable and fast. The only real knock against the lounge is the dated/uninspired decor, though it was in good repair for the most part.











As far the drinks selection goes, there were a nice selection of soft drinks as well as a coffee machine and a selection of tea. But the alcohol selection, though passible, is a bit lacking compared to what was available in the British Airways lounge next door.






“Flagship Lunch” was being served when I arrived. While the spread was varied and pretty tasty, it was nothing to write home about. For what it’s worth, a couple of attendants walking around remarked to me this was the first day a new menu was being served.






The Flagship Lounge is overall quite nice, but it’s nothing special compared to the other First Class lounges I’ve been to, which are Cathay Pacific’s lounges in Hong Kong and Singapore Airlines’ The Private Room. Regardless, it’s not a bad place kill a few hours.

After an hour at the Flagship Lounge, I packed up and headed next door to the British Airways Galleries Lounge. My boarding pass was scanned by the lounge attendant, which produced a triple beep. If I were flying American, that more than likely meant I was upgraded, but that wasn’t the case today. Apparently, they needed my original seat, 5F, for Club Europe. So I was moved back to 9F. No big deal at all.



I was then directed to the First Class side of the lounge, where I immediately went to the champagne bar which I have heard so much about. There was indeed a nice selection of bubbly available. I poured myself a nice glass of the champagne and enjoyed while reading a copy of the Financial Times.



I really enjoyed the ambiance and the décor of the Galleries Lounge, which was a nice mix of modern and classic touches. There was a large bank of computers available for use, and plenty of comfortable seating.
The drinks selection was extensive, especially compared to the Flagship Lounge.









There was a food menu, but no attendant roaming to take orders. In fact, I didn’t see a single attendant in the lounge itself during my time there. While the Galleries Lounge blows the Flagship Lounge out of the water with respect to the drinks selection, I’ll give the nod the Flagship Lounge for a more interesting menu as well as the availability of food.


The biggest shortcoming of the Galleries Lounge is the lack of electrical outlets. Of course, I’m known to be dumb, deaf, and blind at times, so it could be just me not being able to find it. At any rate, with my laptop battery just about dead, I headed for greener pastures at Cathay Pacific’s lounge a few doors down.



The lounge is actually located one level above the terminal, and is accessible by elevator to the left of the entrance area. Once upstairs, I was greeted by the lounge attendant, who was absolutely stunning. Though a bit surprised and tongue tied, I managed to handed her my boarding pass, elite card, and passport without making myself looking like a complete idiot (I hope). Apparently, they had just transitioned to a new computer system so it took a bit of time to check me in. I was welcomed into the First Class section of the lounge after all of the formalities were completed. The lounge reminded me a lot of the Cathay lounge in San Francisco, just a lot bigger and with nice views of the active runways. And best of all, I was able to find an outlet to charge up my laptop.







Many here on FlyerTalk have raved about Cathay’s wonton noodle soup, but unfortunately it wasn’t on the menu of my flight a few years back. So I was quite excited to see it on offer in the lounge. The noodle bar is actually in the Business Class side of the lounge, but the attendant urged to take a seat while she fetched an order for me. A few minutes later, she returned with a steaming bowl of it, nicely presented on a tray.



The soup and wontons were rather bland, and to be honest, it was very below average dish. Hopefully, other catering stations do a better job with it. While I didn’t partake or apparently photograph, there is a nice self serve buffet set up, with a few hot dishes, salad, and sweets. The drinks selection was nice as well. I left the lounge about 30 minutes before departures to stretch my legs, but soon got bored. So naturally I headed back to the American lounge complex. Since I went to Flagship Lounge already, I decided to check out the Admirals Club instead, leaving a flummoxed lounge attendant behind.

This ain’t no domestic Admirals Club. In addition to being large, airy, and spacious, there was a decent selection of complimentary alcohol and hot food.












As I thought there would not be any food on BA flight, I grabbed a bit of the beef stroganoff on offer. It was actually quite good. My hunger sated for the time being, I left the lounge and headed toward my gate. Bus station would have been a more appropriate term, as I found out when I reached the
“gate”. Having not experienced a remote gate situation before, I had no idea how unpleasant it would be.

Not long after I got to the gate, priority boarding was called for Club Europe, followed by Executive Club and oneworld elites. Instead of sending the bus off with just the priority boarders, the general boarding call was made shortly afterwards and the bus was subsequently truly packed to the gills. Fortunately, everyone near me remembered to wear deodorant making it a little more bearable. #firstworldproblems



While the ride was unpleasant, it was pretty cool driving on the tarmac, passing just a few feet away from a number of jetliners. Boarding was conducted via air stairs, which was another first for me. It’s certainly more fun than boarding by plain old jet bridge, and is reminiscent of many a scene in vintage movies.



British Airways 502
London Heathrow (LHR) – Lisbon (LIS)
Depart: 3:25 PM
Arrive: 6:05 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A320 (G-MIDS)
Seat: 9F (Economy)

Although I was just flying Coach, I was excited for this flight because it would be my first on British Airways. My first impression was good, as I was immediately greeted by a smiling flight attendant in a very looking sharp uniform. The cabin was clean and appeared to be in very good condition. Though I liked the leather seating surfaces, the cabin colour scheme was a bit too dark in my humble opinion. Seats were comfortable and decently well padded. Pitch was more than acceptable, and might even be considered generous in this day and age of packing as many seats as possible on an airplane.





As soon as I sat down, a mother and college age daughter took up residence in the aisle and middle seats. They were holiday makers headed to Lisbon for a few days of fun in the sun.

Interestingly, boarding was completed in about 20 minutes after it was announced despite a full flight, and having to be bussed to aircraft. It’s amazing what can happen if a decent baggage allowance is included in the price of a ticket. The captain came on the horn announcing a delayed departure due to a much later than anticipated ATC release time. We would be arriving in Lisbon about 40 minutes behind shed-jewel, despite pushing back nearly an hour late.

As with taxiing in any major international airport, there was plenty of interesting traffic on the way to keep me entertained. The coolest was the Air New Zealand’s 777-300ER painted in a special The Hobbit movie livery. There was this strange looking airframe near the Virgin Atlantic maintenance hangar. It looked like the ....... child of a 747 and DC-10/MD-11. Bonus points to anyone who knows what it is and being used for.











Soon enough we were climbing over the beautiful English country side, reaching our cruise altitude just after we went feet wet over the English Channel.





The cabin crew went to work shortly after, rolling the bar trolley down the aisle. To my surprise, there was snack service as well with a choice of a chicken pesto sandwich or something else. I saved the sandwich for later that night. It actually good, and didn’t taste at all like cardboard. I passed the remainder of the flight watching Iron Man 3 on my iPad. Landing was smooth, and I soon found myself in the attractive terminal of Lisbon’s Portela Airport.

A very nice immigration officer stamped me into the country, and after retrieving my bags at baggage reclaim, I went looking for the shuttle for the Holiday Inn Express Lisbon Airport. But I couldn’t find any trace of a shuttle stop after 15 minutes, and most of the attendants around the pick-up area didn’t speak much English. So I headed back to the information desk in the terminal. The attendant told me that the shuttle was on demand and was not free, something the website failed to mention. Tired and cranky, I decided just to take a cab. While the driver was friendly, I was ripped off as I paid 14 Euros for what was a 2 mile ride at most.

I was checked in by a very cute but equally as disinterested front desk clerk. After my room keys were literally tossed at me, I was off to my comfortable but basic room on the 4th floor. Dining options in the hotel’s immediate area were lacking to say the least, so it was quite fortunate I saved the sandwich from my flight.





Overall, I was quite pleased with the hotel. Though basic, my room was clean and comfortable enough. And it was quite a bargain, given the price I paid: 75 Euros for the night, which includes 5,000 bonus IHG points. Since I had an early start the next morning, I went to bed quite early and fell asleep watching a poor quality feed of the NFC Championship Game. Yeah…don’t get me started on that.