“Antigua (pronounced An-tee'ga), an Island located located in the middle of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean.”
Oh, another one of the Lesser Antilles!
We just can’t resist a Sale. And BA Holidays had one going in early May. At 1540 on the 5th, my beloved wife (She, who Explores Hotels) e-mailed me from her iPad in another room highlighting a possible destination of interest. At 1802, we were ticketed … we did some quick research on the web between those two events! Well, it was going to be a long time between PHX in March and OGG in August, so a bit of gap-filling and TP-earning made a lot of sense [although possibly not to ‘normal’ people!]. OK, for us this is almost a ‘direct flight’, but whatever … with the JER sectors, a useful 360 TP each to start a new BAEC Membership Year as Golds, and we WILL renew by the time that year is over
So, it’s JER-LGW-ANU in BA’s slightly downmarket LGW CE/CW, and 7 nights All-Inclusive at
COCOS Hotel, airport transfers included, for GBP 5,181.92 … which sounds a lot for a garden shed with an outside shower on a rocky headland above a beach, but let’s give it a try!
Incidentally, the hotel’s rack rate would have been £3.7k for our ‘cheapest’ accommodation, and the flights are currently [7 Jun] £5.2k for the 2 of us. I guess £9k of flight and AI hotel for £5.2k makes that a BA Holidays steal
One pleasant aspect was that there are no ground transfers in UK required. Fly JER-LGW, bus to Terminal South, enter UK, have a quick kerbside cigarette, exit UK through Security and get on the flight to ANU. And no great rush at LGW, with 2h20m between arriving and departing, so there’s time to grab a bite of breakfast in the new FLounge. Simples … hopefully!
Bitten by BA.com Bugs. Seat selection was a complete PITA, as Manage My Booking (MMB) was unhelpfully only showing a First Class cabin for both l/h sectors [but ‘unavailable’], whilst we were in Club World. What? Having contacted both the BA Gold line and the Social Media Team on Twitter, we eventually managed to get ourselves allocated something resembling decent seats for both sectors. MMB at least showed the new seats in text form, albeit still with only the F cabin showing! Several others on FT had the same problem. On the day before OLCI, the ‘unavailable’ F cabin was now showing as available! What, again? Do we play the BA Lottery, and try to select nice seats in the F cabin [apparently now being used as J], or just accept what we’ve got? We called the Gold Line, and she couldn't tell us why, or if we could book it, and said she would call back [which she didn't]. We chose the easy route - the potential risk of BA changing its mind/aircraft and re-allocating us rubbish seats was too great. Anyway, when it came to OLCI, we didn't get a seating map at all ... just an image of our 2 seats!
That hurdle having been half-crossed, it was time to finish packing, consign The Cat (‘Storm’) to her cattery for a week, and have an early night.
Wed 14 Jun 17
BA2767, A319, 0705 JER-LGW 0810, CE seats 4A/C
Yeuch. Taxi at 0530 meant getting up at an unseemly hour, with the prospect of a long day ahead. Oh, the suffering and woe one has to experience when enjoying premium travel to the Caribbean
Deserted roads meant we were at JER airport just as the doors were being unlocked at 0545, where our cases were duly dropped and tagged through to ANU. By 0600 we were in the Lounge having restorative coffee and pastries. Boarding was called in the Lounge, from whence we proceeded to Gate 10 … where we (CE and status pax) sat in a holding lounge for a while. No idea where the rest of the pax were, but when we were released into the wild it seemed they had boarded via the rear steps from somewhere else! We experienced the novelty of being back in Row 4 instead of our preferred Row 2 [the consequence of a relatively late booking] as we pushed back on the dot of 0705 for the short hop to LGW.
A nice BA hot breakfast filled the time, and our stomachs, until our arrival at LGW at 0745. As is now the norm for Domestic and ‘Common Travel Area’ at LGW (South), we were bussed to the Terminal where we made our way upstairs, past the Reclaim belt and into the utterly untidy and slightly confusing land-side environment … from whence, at 0800, we inevitably made our way out to the Smoking Zone outside the building to build up our nicotine levels for the journey ahead
Wed 14 Jun 17
BA2157, B777-200, 1030 LGW-ANU 1400, CW seats 11J/K
We re-entered the Terminal around 0830, and entered the ‘Premium Gatwick’ priority Security lanes … to find them deserted apart from the friendly and helpful staff! That made for a nice start, after which we braved the chaos of World Duty Free downstairs before heading to the BA Lounge complex on the upper floor. Only one lift was operating, which made life slightly complicated, but soon we were admiring the colourful array of tail fins on the ramp outside.
Before long, Gate 23 was declared … at the far end of that lonnnggg Pier. And so we set off for the hike. On arriving at the Gate, I asked the Ground Agent if the First cabin was actually being used today … he replied “No”. OK, good job we didn’t try to use it, then.
Eventually the ‘priority boarders’ were called, and we established Base Camp in 11J/K. Looking around, the CW cabin seemed rather empty, and a quick look down the aisle proved that the Ground Agent had lied … there were pax in the F cabin. Now I fully accept that seating is a complex and often emotive topic here, but what
really gets me going is being lied to. Unless the Gate Agent was ignorant about what was happening with the aircraft he was boarding, which is equally unforgivable. [/rant]
A quick chat with the charming CC on our aisle enabled us to move to 15A/B, thus allowing iWife unobstructed aisle access from her window seat … although we then realised that’s the seat with the missing window! Whatever! The CC later explained that 9/10 pax had been moved into F, but had no explanation of why … I later counted 10 empty seats in J. Anyway, I can’t complain: we got what we paid for, and ended up with better seats than those we had selected blindly, due to ba.com’s failings, in the first instance.
It was also clear that G-VIIY, our ‘jet for the day’, needed a respray on some of the engine cowlings. Not impressive, but I assume the internal bits and pieces are better cared for
So, on with the trip and, of course, the “tempting menus”. We pre-ordered the “Chicken Curry”, having met “BA Beef” in various iterations far too often
Lunch … have a menu.
I will attempt to pass on the anticipated comment about Bread Plates, apart from noting that we got one in CE on the JER-LGW leg
Anyway, the Salmon starter was very tasty … and the accompanying wine (Chablis 2014, Domaine Louis Moreau) managed to stay on the sloping table
The Chicken Curry was OK too, in a sort of ‘pour some Curry sauce over the chicken breast’ way. Inevitably a bit dry
The Cheese Plate was the culinary highlight! And with better crackers than we had on our first First
At this point, being suitably fed and watered [by BA’s standards] I think I watched a film on the IFE … I have a recollection of indistinct imagery and some noises in my headset. And then I grabbed some sleep, which was needed after the early start to the day. And then it was ‘Time for Tea’.
The sandwiches were largely left unfinished, after a taste of each, despite them being ‘just’ in date
However, the “Scones with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam” were fine [with the additions applied in the right order]. And the “Dundee round and salted caramel profiterole” were severely tasty, giving a much-needed sugar rush.
Oh, we’re approaching Antigua, in the shape of
V. C. Bird International Airport. It was an interesting approach, on a breezy day. Whether it’s a Windward or a Leeward island is irrelevant … the Flight Deck were working hard on final approach, and after we had thumped onto the runway one reason was clear: the runway is a bit buried in a valley, which undoubtedly helps to generate turbulence! However, the FD earned their pay [as did the CC], and we parked at the new (2015) Terminal where the airbridge was attached to G-VIIY … at Door 1L only. And so we disembarked though the F cabin <whimper> and entered ANU airport. Which is NICE. A short stroll from Gate 3 [?] to the escalator down to Immigration, where we were serenaded by someone playing
Steelpan … which was also NICE. The Holiday Mood swept over us.
The Immigration Hall was virtually empty, apart from those people who had got into F and some faster J pax
We only waited a few minutes before our Passports acquired a new/different stamp, after turning in our Immigration Card (remember the old white US I-94?) and being given the outbound stub and our Customs Declaration … and so to Reclaim, where our 2 cases instantly arrived on the belt. Did they know who we were?
Customs was almost a breeze, apart from being asked “What’s in your cases?”. iWife replied “Clothes?”, at which point we were again released into a new country.
Ground Transportation. Having booked with BA Holidays, we already had our ‘free’ Transfer Vouchers. And there, in the Arrivals area, is a Rep of our Transfer company … who points us across the road, still under a canopy, to a long row of desks in the open air, and a long row of waiting minibuses/people-carriers. There our Transfer people took my vouchers, and pointed us to Rodney, who would be our driver. He spent some time waiting for another couple, which gave us the chance to hop across the road for a quick ciggie, and then Rodney gave up waiting … and then had a twinge of conscience. Yes, here is the other couple [obviously from the back of the aircraft
] and off we go to the west coast of the island.
No disrespect to Antigua, it’s a small island. Well, twice the size of Jersey, but still small. And the roads are … interesting. Narrow, congested, poorly surfaced and generally “I would NOT want to rent a car here”. Our journey from the Airport to our corner of the Island took almost an hour for the 10 miles or so
But finally, after dropping off the other couple at a hotel nearby, we had arrived at ...
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Cocos Hotel - An All Inclusive Antigua Resort For Couples & Adults Only**