Report on LGW-KEF-BOS
departing 10:35, arriving BOS 17:00
(KEF arrive 13:55, depart 15:50)
Overall this was a good set of flights, everything went pretty much as expected. Only it was exceedingly good value. The flight from LGW to KEF was totally full, the flight from KEF to BOS was nothing like full, and I imagine everyone on board paid very little for their flights since, as part of my searches in case of airline failure, I had checked fares the night before and Wow was by far the cheapest option, it was still available as a £300 ticket.
Pre-departure
I stayed the night before at the LGW Hilton, which thereby, as a Diamond, allowed me to have as big a breakfast as I could manage, given that it would have been counter-productive to start spending money on extras en route. Because the online check-in wouldn't accept my non ESTA / visa travel to the USA I had to check in personally, in zone H, and as you can see the queue wasn't exactly massive. There were 3 check-in agents at the desk and a couple of people doing the document check while people waited in the desk. It only took a few minutes to get through this, and it would have been quicker still but for the fact that twp of the three agents seemed to be tied up with complex issues.
The baggage check was cursory in my case, I wasn't asked to check it, however the night before I made sure it was OK. The gauge used by Wow is fractionally more generous than the website dimensions.
However the agent - who I think was very experienced - did spot that this black bag in the centre of the photo wouldn't go into the rear gauge slot - it was a bit too fat and the wheels also took over the dimensions, so the owner of this bag had to check it in.
Security was a doddle so I was through into airside very swiftly despite not having fast track (Premium Gatwick). Then I tried the No 1 Traveller Lounge and was surprised to be admitted as a Priority Pass member, no issues there, and I have a few drinks waiting for boarding.
And to help with free water, I had bought an empty water bottle for security for this handy water pump in the lounge.
Then as departure time drew near I went towards the gate, stopping first to get my executive lunch, and this basically came to about £10 all in including sparkling water.
The departure was from gate 3, which is the extension to the left of the airport / BA lounge, rather than on the main piers. Departure was on time at 10:35, boarding started around 10:00 and took rather lounger than needed because only one agent was staffing the gate - I think the second scanner + screen had IT problems judging from the engineer trying to get it to work. Incidentally in the gate picture below, that entire luggage train was filled up with Royal Mail postal items heading to Iceland, clearly it's not something BA are doing on this route.
XXL Seating
At the check-in I was offered an extra large seat for free because of a late aircraft change. I accepted it, but later wish I hadn't done so. Here are some photos of it, and yes it certainly had plenty of space in front of it.
and from the seat itself:
Now there were several reasons why this wasn't a great idea. As I well knew, this exit row seat meant I couldn't have a bag at my feet during take off and landing. What I didn't know was that there is zero other storage provided - so no side pouch as you would get on BA. So you really do have to sit there with water / phone tightly grasped. And as it happens, the aircraft was filled with beautiful young short slim travellers - except of course the only two ugly heffa-lumps on board had been placed next to each other. In other words while I had the window seat (10F), there was someone of a similar "muscular" build to me in 10E and was slightly taller too. It got better after take off since I could have a bag at my feat and use the tray table, but this wasn't a good start. Thinking it through, you have to consider who else is going to specifically want an exit row seat - it won't be someone petit(e).
Incidentally one thing I found really odd: because there is no storage room at all, those in emergency rows have their safety information cards in the overhead compartment! So if stuff happens, you're well strapped in waiting for a bad situation to happen, you're in charge of the exit door, you have a few minute to refresh yourself on safety procedures - well you can't! It's out of reach.
There are actually 6 seating groups for sale on board. Normal seating - however they charge a bit more for being sat in the middle/front area. I had gone for row 30 originally which was cheaper. Then at the other end there were also their Big Seat, for which I don't have a photo, but these look like the old First seats on USA airlines - wide across and heavily cushioned. These are not available on all aircraft. There are the XXL seats at exit rows, as shown in the photos above. There are also some XL seats (as opposed to XXL) which have slightly more space between rows. It didn't seem a lot to me, but some of them - not all - had a guaranteed middle seat block, like this, which seem to be better value all round.
It's quite a complex array of seats. Now if you buy a seat at first ticket purchase then you get a slightly discounted rate on most categories - some were slightly more expensive but that could be a currency glitch. But having done that you can't change your seat until Online Check in, not even for the same category of seat. And at OLCI - assuming it works - they charge a Seat Change Fee of $10 to $15 per leg! If you don't select your seat at first purchase I believe you can alter your seats since there isn't then a pricing differential to calculate.
Standard seating
For the KEF-BOS section I was back in my originally selected window seat, and this was my original LGW-KEF seleciton too - and I had no-one else in my row. There were others at the back also in the same position. Most single travellers seem to have had the middle seat clear at least. It was vastly more comfortable an experience than the XXL seats, due to access to bags, storage pouch and power, plenty of legroom and of course no-one next to me. The magazine rack on top was perfect for wedging my phone in to catch up with some BBC iPlayer programmes. The middle arm rests can be kept raised after take off. Some photos to illustrate.
The seat dimensions were width between arm rests: 46cm
Length of seat cushion back to front: 43cm
Edge of seat to back of seat in front: 28cm
Pitch: 79cm (31 inches), so that includes the depth of the seat itself (8cm)
Given that KEF-BOS is not much longer than some of BA's shorthaul services such as LCA and Greece, this was a comfortable enough experience for me, and I'm taller and wider than most.
Keflavík transfer
This was dead easy. Because the UK and USA are not in Schengen (Iceland is) then it's a simple gate to gate transfer, no security, no passport check, and it turned out my LGW-KEF service was continuing on to BOS anyway, so it was even at the same gate. This is all in the C gates at the end of the main KEF pier and it has recently been upgraded. It was a fairly miserable day in KEF, here are the Royal Mail bags being offloaded.
The toilets are on the floor below the lounge area, and there are water fountains there to restock with the great tasting Icelandic water.
The seating has plenty of power sockets (Europe and USB plugs). There are shops and restaurants but apart from bottled water (about £1.50) everything is quite dear, and even a basic sandwich is about £6 there. So given there are no controls at KEF you would be best to stock up in LGW and bring water bottles with you.
Reboarding at KEF was non eventful, and quick, and we were soon on our way again to BOS. They started boarding about 50 minutes before departure, and had it mainly completed in about 15 minutes, but we had to wait for some late connecting passengers, we still left a few minutes early.
Inflight Service
The crew made one trolley pass from LGW-KEF but were very willing to sell products via the call bell or visits to the galley. On the KEF-BOS sector there were at least 3 trolley runs, Again it isn't cheap, a cheese baguette - quite a large one admittedly - is £8. They also sell duty free items. The crew were clearly a bit preoccupied by the developing situation but were professional and helpful throughout, no complaints there, if not particularly willing to engage with the passengers.
Arrival into BOS
We arrived a handy 30 minutes early at 16:30 due to the wind conditions, and entered into E terminal in BOS - the terminal used by BA and other overseas airlines - well before the main transatlantic bank of arrivals from 17:30 hrs onwards. This meant an empty CBP hall - a rare luxury - and with Global Entry (the only passenger on the aircraft to have it) I was through in seconds.
Window watching
I never get tired of looking out of the window and this flight was good for this. Iceland had low cloud, so that wasn't so good but much of the rest was clear skies, This is the coast of east Greenland as we approached.
Conclusion
The main flight was effortless and short, and given the very low cost, it was certainly very good value for money at £239. Just be aware of the XXL seat limitations! One interesting alternative would be perhaps to travel to KEF via BA or easyJet albeit on separate tickets, and then connect on Wow flights from there, given the easy transfer. However that assumes that Wow has a future, and that remains a very open question.