Just a fairly short review of a recent JER-UK-IAD with BA in CE/CW. Nothing really interesting or scenic, but we haven’t done this route since June 2015 and haven’t done much BA l/h since then either. Will we miss flying TATL with AA? Read on …

30 Aug 16
JER-LGW, 1350-1450
BA2773, A319, Club Europe seats 2A/C

A leisurely start, with at the taxi booked for 1230. Arrived at the airport to find it heaving- something to do with school holidays, I assume. No problems with CE bag-drop, but on this occasion Security was packed with a queue of some 60 people! However, even with those numbers it only took 10 minutes to get through, and we were in the un-crowded lounge by 1315 for a quick snack.



The board showed a 15 minute delay on the flight, but by 1355 we were in our usual seats (2A/C, with bags under the seat in front!) after the usual Jersey version of Priority Boarding (mixed!). The traditional high-speed Lunch service delivered a rather tasty Chicken Salad during the short hop to LGW.



At 1505 we arrived on stand at LGW at one of the 55 Gates, which made a nice change from bussing, and we were in Reclaim 5 minutes later … waiting and waiting for our cases. At 1540 an announcement apologised for the delay with bags, as “Gatwick is very busy today.” Eventually, at 1548 the bags started arriving, with ours coming in to view at 1550 [45 minutes after arriving on stand]. Not one of LGW’s better days!

Thanks to the baggage delay, we had clearly missed our intended National Express coach to LHR (the #200 at 1540) so checked with the NE desk for the next available coach service. There we were told they were also running a bit late and we would probably get the #200 or, if necessary, the later #707. Ah, how glad I was that we bought Flex tickets … £87 return for the 2 of us. We drifted outside to wait for what might happen …



… and a few minutes later the #200 arrived at the kerb! The helpful driver loaded our cases into the hold, and at 1605 we were in the comfortable seats at 1A/B, which provide an excellent view of proceedings. We are now thoroughly convinced by the NE service between the 2 airports, as we cruised smoothly and quietly along the M23 and M25. Until we hit the inevitable buildup of traffic as we neared LHR, of course!



Journey time - around 50 minutes. And the bus stop [# 13] is right below Zones H/J [the CW and First desks]. But that’s for tomorrow, as we headed back to the north end of T5 and our ‘cheap’ night at the Sofitel attached to the Terminal. The booking was made through lastminute.com using their “Top Secret Hotel” deal … I can’t remember which description is the Sofitel, but folks on FT will remind you if needed! The room cost £137.93 - would be £242 for the same room next week!

31 Aug 16
LHR-IAD, 1050–1350
BA217, A380, Club World seats 53J/K

After a decent night’s sleep we showered and packed and, trailing our 2 large 4-wheel spinner cases, set off on the long walk from the Sofitel to the far end of T5, where we exercised our BAEC Gold privileges by using the First desks in Zone J. No point in not using them, especially when there is a queue at the CW desks! At 0800 there was no queues at the desks, and happily no queue at South Security [Fast Track] either, so we whisked through in minutes and grabbed breakfast in the First Lounge. At 0950, after the short train shuttle from T5A to T5C, we found ourselves seats at Gate C57, where G-XLEK sat waiting for us [and a couple of hundred other people].



Boarding started at T-45 minutes, and was managed well, and we were soon relaxing in the smaller CW cabin on the Upper Deck in 53J/K with a glass of champagne: oh, this is the life! We pushed back at 1051, just 1 minute late, but a busy day at LHR meant a long and slow taxi before eventually getting airborne at 1122

As seems normal [for us] there was very little interaction from the CC. No visit by the CSD [OK, big and busy aircraft], and never addressed by name. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest, but it’s supposed to happen!

Lunch. Ah-ha. How exciting … or not We had pre-ordered the Curry, on the basis that a BA Fillet Steak was going to be a guaranteed ‘fail’.



Oh, good-oh. A Salad Starter to go with the Salad. Excuse me, BA, do I look like a rabbit? I’m a carnivore, for Heaven’s sake!! Left largely untouched, as the Full English Breakfast in the FLounge a couple of hours earlier was enough food for one morning!





The Curry was pleasant enough, in a Marks & Spencer pre-prepared sort of way.



The red wine was, of course, ‘nicely’ chilled as always, but when it recovered it turned out to be rather pleasant … Barbera d’Asti Superiore 2012, DOCG, “La Luna e I Falò” apparently.

I finished with the Cheese plate, which was OK.



And then decided to have a couple of hours sleep, as I do

Tea was actually quite nice … the sandwiches were fresh and the little cakes quite tasty, but the scone seems to be getting smaller every time I see one!



Anyway, I’m not here for fine dining, I’m here to get to IAD … which we achieved successfully, thanks to the skill and dedication of the Flight Deck crew There then followed what was possibly our easiest/quickest IAD Arrival ever, obviously helped by being amongst the first dozen or so pax to disembark and from a bit of practice over the years:
From entering the IAB to waiting at Carousel 7 at 1415 - maybe 5 minutes? And at 1430 it was a quick kerb-side cigarette before hopping on the Avis bus to their Rental Depot, where we were dropped off at the Preferred cabin to collect our rental - a shiny black Kia Sportage this time.



And so to Old Town Alexandria, VA for a 2-week stay at the Embassy Suites by Hilton at 1900 Diagonal Road [what a cute address] with its very cosy underground parking arrangements. Parking was a rather pricey $30/day, and our suite was $2,804 for the 14 nights … with taxes a total of $3,225 as the USD/GBP rate hit rock bottom!!





On this occasion I’m glad Avis didn’t give us an upgrade to anything larger!