Homeward bound.
Again Azade organised a complimentary Taxi to the airport, and helped us with our case down to the pick-up point. Interestingly we were not charged the €3/day Tourism Tax, as apparently staying in an historic building gives an exemption! 30 minutes later, having ground through Town traffic and up onto the plateau where the airport is located, we are at CHQ Departures where the BA Priority desk was quick and efficient, and with a very short queue. Up the escalator to Security, which was also agreeably quick … and indeed almost casual! Through to the Shopping Mall for a carton or two of ciggies, then Immigration for a passport stamp and off to Gate 14. No lounge here, but the large holding area was reasonably pleasant and with a view of the ramp area.
BA661, A320, CHQ-LHR, 1415-1630, CE Seats 1D/F
Anyway, we perched ourselves on seats at the front of proceedings, and waited for proceedings to proceed. Eventually Ground Agents appeared, and I enquired about pre-boarding. “Yes, certainly. Wait there and we will call you forward.” Much juggling of Tensa barriers outside ensued, forming a collection of enclosures [[i] this photo from a previous trip to give an idea of the environment beyond the Gate podium].
Eventually assorted Groups, including the pre-boarders, were moved into various holding areas outside before eventually we, and Groups 0-3, are all released to board the bus to the remote stand. Fortunately the pre-boarders were nearest the bus, and thus had a chance to grab a seat. Not super helpful, perhaps? And when we arrive at the aircraft, there is of course a surge of humanity to the front and rear steps which unsurprisingly left the halt and lame with no special treatment whatsoever in their wake ... NOT very helpful for sure!
Seats 1D/F offered a sanctuary, again with a mass of overhead locker space, as the rest of the pax boarded. And happily on this occasion Captain Speaking remained silent, so we were soon on our way. Another good set of CC looked after 11 rows of CE, and after a drinks run fed us Lunch.
Despite the presentation, the Lamb was perfectly tender and very tasty. Sadly the Cheesy Cauliflower had drowned, and could not be resuscitated.
Arrival at LHR was routine, followed by the long walk to Connections. Security was a pain, though, with innumerable bags again being sent to the one Agent doing Secondary Screening. As with the outbound, it was so clogged up that the trays couldn’t move, as yet another one waited to join the secondary belt. Lady T was one of those … the reason provided was that the magnetic closure on her iPad cover had the same signature as Military grade explosive! Oh, right, and my identical iPad cover didn’t? Something really needs to get sorted out here!
With a couple of hours left to waste, we weaved our way to the FLounge and flopped Nothing to do but wait for ….
BA1350, A319, LHR-JER, 1940-2045, CE Seats 1A/C
Gate 12? I think so, and pre-boarding worked well for us and a couple of wheelchair pax who joined us. Apart from that, nothing to say really. A couple of salads nourished us (Trout for her, Mozzarella for me) and then we were home … with the most massive braking on touchdown that threw my whole body forward against the seatbelt. Whaaaat?
Reclaim, taxi, home, collapse! Tier Points duly credited correctly, and just waiting for the BA Hols bonus to turn up in a couple of weeks.
It was nice to have a week in a new destination, even if it didn’t inspire us as much as we had hoped. Perhaps Chania is a bit too touristy? Certainly most restaurant staff performed their duties in a fairly perfunctory manner but without any great charm or sociability. I don’t think we’ll go back … we’ll settle for the 1h15m transfer from CHQ to Rethymno.
Off to the Dominican Republic again at the end of November … Zoetry Agua again, ‘cos we’re old and boring!