Sat 09 Aug BA0395 - BRU-LHR
Equip: A319
Scheduled Depart: 14:10
Actual: 14:22
Scheduled Arrival: 14:25
Actual: 14:24
Takeoff: 14:37
Touchdown: 14:14
I decided it was worth seeing whether BA would move us on to the earlier flight – i.e. go back on the same aircraft as we had arrived on. I knew Vick would be happier to do this. No one at the gate, so we popped upstairs to the lounge where the guy at reception was very fast on the phone and quickly sorted everything for us. We headed back down to gate B04 and although we had to wait for a few enquiries to be completed ahead of us, we had our new boarding cards.
Vick had a stroll down to the shops in Terminal B and before too long we were first on in CE heading back to Blighty. We were getting hungry by now, and we were looking forward to some in flight lunch.
Based on comments on FT, I was under the impression that the flight safety video had been updated to reflect the changes in mobile device rules, but the one we got on this flight was the old one. I knew the bunny was still in the video, but I couldn’t detect any changes, and they still refer to turning off your phone for the flight. Not the end of the world.
Lunch turned out to be afternoon tea, and although Vick is wheat intolerant we could help but indulge ourselves a little. I have always loved a warm scone, jam and fresh clotted cream – ever since the days of BMI – long time ago that, and well documented in previous trip reports. Sandwiches were ok – nothing fancy.
Cabin crew were very welcoming and provided a lot of time to pax to make sure they got what they wanted to eat and drink. So no complaints there. Was a little disappointed to have to take the bus to T5 after landing – it’s just not a good experience. However on the positive side, we were back 3-4 hours earlier than expected and so we could relax at the hotel before meeting up with Andrew and Sam for dinner at the hotel in the evening.
We got the Heathrow Hopper back to the Hilton T5, and by this stage I was checking through all my pms on FT – this took a lot of my attention over the next couple of hours since it had been bugging me most of the day, and it was time to put the situation to bed once and for all.
Once back at the hotel, we prepared for meeting our dining companions and met in the River Bar for drinks just after 6pm. Good attention from the bar staff, and they were very helpful in setting up a tab and providing drinks to the table etc. We had booked a tab at Mr Toddiwala’s for 7pm and having got extremely good reviews, we were really looking forward to it.
The restaurant is on the mezzanine level and we received a warm welcome. We were shown t our table without any delay and provided with a very good level of service. The waiters were very knowledgeable about the food options, and how to adapt the options to meet the requirements of individual diners. We had some mini pops to start with, a selection of starters and then an individual main each. I ended up with a Pork Shank which was tremendous. Some of us had puddings and then coffee afterwards.
In summary it was an amazing culinary experience of Indian food – very much recommended. A little on the pricey side, but worth it. We paid £200 for the four of us including bottles of water and some alcoholic drinks (and a healthy tip).
We said our goodbyes, ensured our guests didn’t have to pay to get out of the car park and headed up to bed. Need a restful night’s sleep ahead of a busy day tomorrow.
I noticed that the equivalent flights for Sun have been cancelled, so that’s worked out well for us!