Hi Everyone and welcome to my first ever trip report!
Just a quick sorry for being so inactive, I’ve had a lot of things on my plate lately which has finally cleared so green light for some travel documenting
Booking:
I originally booked this fare in World Traveller having got a great deal in the middle of August, I was offered a POUG for £198 via MMB a week before departure so took the opportunity.
At the airport:
Having almost think I missed my flight due to GWR and their inability to operate a railway I turned up 1 hour before Check-in closes, after a 1 ½ hour journey took me 3 hours! (One of the reasons I hate Gatwick) although they are ok I much preferred when the Mauritius flights left from Heathrow. Being only 20 minutes away from. Anyway, going back on track, I took my chances for an AUP and went to the glass area of Zone A in the South Terminal, BA’s ticket desk is located just behind the Aer Lingus ones.
A lovely gentleman behind the counter took my enquiry and told me it was not possible at as World Traveller Plus was full, took a moment to realise and before I even said anything he apologised and said “oh you’re in world traveller plus” Plugged something in to computer quickly and offered me an AUP from WTP to CW for £549.00 (Deal! Half of the ticket cost so far for a club booking
) He rang up what I think was a revenue team to finalise the upgrade, take payment and issue my seat in the cabin He hung up and issued me my boarding pass and off it was to drop off my bags!
I made my way to the dedicated bag drop for Club and First and after dropping the bags, back to the glass area and up the escalator to security. Went through FastTrack which took around 15 minutes and then a brisk walk to the lounge on the other side of the building.
Lounge:
The new lounge in South Terminal is fantastic, although not a huge change the refresh was needed and it was good to see the vibrancy in items rather than worn interiors (if that makes sense) Views of the runway are fantastic. As it was evening, the catering reflected this and there was a variety of soups, bread, pasta, rice, curry and the usual biscuits, hot beverages and cold/ alcoholic drinks. Proactive staff cleaning as things are left behind keeping the area clean and well I’d say the lounge got slightly crowded but if you don’t mind sharing the side table with someone you’ll be fine.
Pre-board:
With an hour before departure the gate came up and it was a ride down the lift we went up in and a 5-6 minute walk to the gate through the departures area, arriving there to a queue which resembled one of those notorious immigration lines. (Gatwick has a system where they scan your boarding pass and place you in to a form of holding room for those that don’t know) before going in to that area there was a lack of sign posting so it was just a huge huddle of premium and normal passengers mixed together, as you slowly make your way forward do you then see the priority lane which if it was more exposed would have saved me around 20 minutes of queuing. After getting through all that was left know is one more double door to the aircraft.
Boarding:
Boarding was an absolute shamble, no priority given. Prior to this there was pre-boarding done for wheelchair passengers and after an announcement for families with young children and premium passengers. Literally everyone queued up and the request wasn’t enforced so there was a long backlog from the aircraft door to the jet bridge to the double doors from the waiting room. Eventually got to my seat and settled in with the pre-boarding drinks and a professional welcome from the crew at the door.
The flight:
Uneventful flight and what you would call typical for Club World. After take-off the Purser (Or the other name that BA usually calls them) came around welcoming Gold and above members. Pre- meal bar service commenced while handing out Landing cards consisting of a Drink and Club Nuts Sachet, shortly after meal orders were taken for dinner, followed by the dinner service itself which consisted of a seasonal salad, two starters smoked salmon or something else (to which mine never turned up after ordering), bread basket with wholemeal and white rolls, 4 choices for dinner consisting of 1 beef, 2 chicken and 1 veg. Finally one dessert, consisting of two cake slices once chilli chocolate and one pear/apricot and the tea/ coffee service with hotel chocolat chocolates.
Seat was comfy and managed to get a good 8 hours sleep waking up just before breakfast service, Two options this time, Vegetable Panini or a English Breakfast, Followed by bread and pastries and Tea & Coffee. Prior to the main a juice or smoothie (orange & carrot) was offered followed by either a fruit salad or bircher muesli. Breakfast run was quick and before we knew it the seatbelts signs were on for a on time landing.
I also had a look at the cub kitchen during the flight, options are quite limited compared to what was on offer before. I’ve listed them in the notes section.
Well that’s all really, I didn’t expect it to be this long but hopefully it gives an in-depth detail on the flight.
Maybe a few pictures would have helped but I haven’t warmed to the idea of taking pictures yet for trip reporting.
Do let me know if I can improve on anything and I also have a few reports I made in 2015 and 16 although late if you want me to upload it let me know! (as I never got around to doing it) woops! It was a WTP round trip to Mauritius, CE to Bordeaux return, ET to Marseilles return, ET to Amsterdam return and Emirates to Mauritius Via DXB economy and Business.
Stay tuned for the return; British Airways: World Traveller to Gatwick BA2062
Notes on this flight:
1) Club World nuts only have cashews now.
2) Aircraft was MMR – Noticeably very clean cabin. Can only presume cabin was deep cleaned quite recently.
3) Club kitchen: Cadburys chocolate, Crisps, Fruits, Orange Juice/ Water and Granola bars.
4) Quality of breakfast was sickening, there does need to be an upgrade in the quality of ingredients used as the taste really does travel!