CE / T5 / GF ... through the eyes of a family...
Nov 6, 2012, 7:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: not far from MUC
Posts: 6,620
CE / T5 / GF ... through the eyes of a family...
Inspired by Swanhunter’s mini TR, and having reached a nice round number of posts here on FT, here is my "family oriented" TR from a MUC-LHR-MUC trip we made a couple of weeks ago.
Background:
Mrs Shorthauldad has only ever travelled twice with BA, both times a while ago, in s/h Y. Since then she's mainly to be found flying l/h J with LH with the occasional trip with QR when she can manage it. She's not a big LH fan.
Shorthauldad Jr was along for the ride. He’s flown s/h a handful of times in Y, this was his first time in any premium cabin or indeed a lounge. He’s 3.
Booking:
Two adults booked for cash, one child booked with Avios (RFS). I needed the TPs, MrsShorthauldad got the 10k bonus Avios. Having done it this way meant we needed to do the TCP thing to get seats together, which I tried to get sorted by phone but four days later they still hadn't done it so I followed up with Nicci by PM which got it sorted quickly.
This TCP for Golds seems to be a very manual process. One reads about "linked bookings" but are they actually linked? Or does someone in seating just log into e.g. my son's booking and assign the seat I've requested? It would be so much better to be able to do this yourself online.
MUC-LHR on BA953
Online check-in:
Failed, due to my son being "a minor travelling on his own". Bookings obviously not that linked, then!
MUC check-in:
Very quick, nice to be able to use Fast Track but didn’t really save much time. A lot of faffing around while the agent found the right orange tag to attach to the buggy so we could reclaim at the aircraft after landing at LHR. With hindsight not a clever move to do this anyway.
MUC lounge:
Good selection of (snack-style) food & drink. Shorthauldad Jr. behaved himself. Mrs Shorthauldad though it was better than the LH lounges, in particular she thought it was quiet and restful. I thought it was fairly busy!
MUC boarding:
We didn’t bother with the FastTrack boarding lane as there wasn’t much of a queue … then it turned out we hit the big queue in the jetway. Not entirely sure what the point is of “priority” lane for checking of BPs, when it doesn’t make that much difference, only to then hit a huge queue in the jetway and have to wait to get in to through the aircraft door. Not the first time this has happened so I’m used to it.
Seating:
Shorthauldad Jr in 2A, me in 2C, Mrs Shorthauldad in 2D. Worked fairly well. I had wondered whether to go for C, D and F so we could sit three abreast in D/E/F but I think we made the right decision as it it was actually better to give Jr a bit more space.
Food - adults:
We had all eaten before going through security as I’d pointed out the “meal” on offer CE would like be more of snack … given the flight timings both of us would have preferred a solid meal. Dep MUC 1625 Arr LHR 1725 so that means arrival is actually 1825 “passenger time”, at least with us that is definitely dinner time. However, Mrs Shorthauldad and I did like the (new) citrus scones.
Food – child:
Child meal seemed OK (at least it was varied), but now we know what’s offered I’d prefer to intercept the tray before my son sees it so we can remove the sweets. Will know for next time. Shorthauldad Jr. was given a citrus scone, sniffed at it, then went back to his M&Ms.
Landing/arrivals:
We were almost first off the aircraft, then had an at least 15 minutes wait to get the buggy delivered. Everyone, including all the crew, had left the aircraft by this time. If getting a buggy back is going to be that slow then next time we’ll check it in as normal and get it from the belt, thanks. In the time we waited for the buggy at the aircraft we would have easily been right through passport control and waiting down in the baggage hall. Not very good. Felt particularly silly as we were almost first off the aircraft.
Slightly odd moment at passport control, I was asked if we were father and son, the chap then peered at my son and said "Hello x". I must have looked quizzical, and mumbled something about how he's changed a bit since his passport pic was taken, because the Border Force guy explained that he needed to check my son responded to his name. Left me wondering if everyone gets this treatment or whether I just looked like I could be trafficking a 3-year-old that day.
Then followed three days of sight-seeing in central London, for what it's worth we stayed at the Plaza on the River, paid for entirely with Club Carlson points from the Big Night Giveaway. We were upgraded to a 1 bed suite with river view, so a big ^ to FT for the tips that helped with all that. The weather was shocking though...
LHR-MUC on BA960:
Arrived early at LHR due to inclement weather/tiredness/boredom cut short our last day in central London sightseeing...
T5 Departures
As many others have commented, the long walk from the HEX lift along to the Zone H check-in area is quite simply daft. No, we didn’t walk even further to Zone J. Why is LHR T5 laid out this way?
Security screening:
This was just unpleasant from beginning to end. The low point was observing a mini “shift change” of security staff, one of the new guys put on a fresh pair of gloves and then immediately sneezed into them [it was a big, juicy, loud sneeze...], then, without changing gloves or even wiping them, went straight on to searching people's bags. Yuk.
Mrs Shorthauldad was incensed by the rudeness and general “attitude” of the staff. I think she’d still be standing there pressing the red unhappy face “feedback” button if I hadn’t dragged her away.
Lounge - GF:
We were expecting GC, on reaching the top of the first escalator we were greeted with a big beaming smile, I held out our BPs and said “we’re flying in Club, but I have a Gold card…” and we were positively swept with open arms into GF. So sometimes you benefit from lounge dragons not knowing the rules. No, I know it's not fair, but hey, there are a few things BA owes me for, so we were happy to get the benefit of the doubt this once. Must try harder to get enough TPs for GGL next time
Mrs Shorthauldad was very very impressed with the lounge. Grabbed herself a glass of Bollinger Rose while I took Shorthauldad Jr to the window to watch the aeroplanes. He behaved himself too.
We both had the burger, was nice but the chips were cold. Are they supposed to be cold? The efficiency of the place seems to be a bit below par … I’m fairly sure one guy brought our food out from the kitchen but he wasn’t the one we ordered from so he didn't know where to bring it, so went roaming around with a tray until he found the right host, handed the food over, then the second host who knew where we were sitting wandered all the way back to us to bring it to our table. Then disappeared for another 5 mins to go and find the cutlery… etc etc.
Shorthauldad Jr had a portion of cheesecake and a juice. He seemed impressed.
We were left wondering how much better it could be if you got someone in who actually knew how to run things efficiently...?
Boarding:
After a couple of hours in GF we were a bit bored, so had a mosey round the shops, then on checking the screens it turned out we our gate was in T5B (?!) which I hadn’t really anticipated. Shorthauldad Jr liked the transit though. He'd probably still be in it if I hadn't carried him out and up to the gate.
Less of a queue in the jetway, and for some reason the priority boarding queue at the gate seemed much more of a benefit at LHR than it was at MUC.
10-15 mins delay before we pushed back (think the reason was given as “ATC”, because it sounds better than “this is Heathrow…”)
Flight
Row 1 on the way home, crew were very good, offered to serve up the CHML for Shorthauldad Jr before starting the drinks round so that he wasn’t kept waiting… again, he took one mouthful of sandwich and then ate all the M&Ms.
Arrival:
Baggage reclaim at MUC – the buggy came out on a separate trolley, after all the other bags. Next time I will put the buggy inside a bag and check it in both ways, at least that should reduce the waiting time.
Overall verdict:
MrsShorthauldad thought the CE experience and benefits from the BA FF card beat the equivalent LH offering into a cocked hat. Mind you, I’m BA Gold and she’s "only" LH FQTV despite her l/h J, but even so I think Galleries Club at LHR T5 beats the equivalent lounges she’s been to.
Background:
Mrs Shorthauldad has only ever travelled twice with BA, both times a while ago, in s/h Y. Since then she's mainly to be found flying l/h J with LH with the occasional trip with QR when she can manage it. She's not a big LH fan.
Shorthauldad Jr was along for the ride. He’s flown s/h a handful of times in Y, this was his first time in any premium cabin or indeed a lounge. He’s 3.
Booking:
Two adults booked for cash, one child booked with Avios (RFS). I needed the TPs, MrsShorthauldad got the 10k bonus Avios. Having done it this way meant we needed to do the TCP thing to get seats together, which I tried to get sorted by phone but four days later they still hadn't done it so I followed up with Nicci by PM which got it sorted quickly.
This TCP for Golds seems to be a very manual process. One reads about "linked bookings" but are they actually linked? Or does someone in seating just log into e.g. my son's booking and assign the seat I've requested? It would be so much better to be able to do this yourself online.
MUC-LHR on BA953
Online check-in:
Failed, due to my son being "a minor travelling on his own". Bookings obviously not that linked, then!
MUC check-in:
Very quick, nice to be able to use Fast Track but didn’t really save much time. A lot of faffing around while the agent found the right orange tag to attach to the buggy so we could reclaim at the aircraft after landing at LHR. With hindsight not a clever move to do this anyway.
MUC lounge:
Good selection of (snack-style) food & drink. Shorthauldad Jr. behaved himself. Mrs Shorthauldad though it was better than the LH lounges, in particular she thought it was quiet and restful. I thought it was fairly busy!
MUC boarding:
We didn’t bother with the FastTrack boarding lane as there wasn’t much of a queue … then it turned out we hit the big queue in the jetway. Not entirely sure what the point is of “priority” lane for checking of BPs, when it doesn’t make that much difference, only to then hit a huge queue in the jetway and have to wait to get in to through the aircraft door. Not the first time this has happened so I’m used to it.
Seating:
Shorthauldad Jr in 2A, me in 2C, Mrs Shorthauldad in 2D. Worked fairly well. I had wondered whether to go for C, D and F so we could sit three abreast in D/E/F but I think we made the right decision as it it was actually better to give Jr a bit more space.
Food - adults:
We had all eaten before going through security as I’d pointed out the “meal” on offer CE would like be more of snack … given the flight timings both of us would have preferred a solid meal. Dep MUC 1625 Arr LHR 1725 so that means arrival is actually 1825 “passenger time”, at least with us that is definitely dinner time. However, Mrs Shorthauldad and I did like the (new) citrus scones.
Food – child:
Child meal seemed OK (at least it was varied), but now we know what’s offered I’d prefer to intercept the tray before my son sees it so we can remove the sweets. Will know for next time. Shorthauldad Jr. was given a citrus scone, sniffed at it, then went back to his M&Ms.
Landing/arrivals:
We were almost first off the aircraft, then had an at least 15 minutes wait to get the buggy delivered. Everyone, including all the crew, had left the aircraft by this time. If getting a buggy back is going to be that slow then next time we’ll check it in as normal and get it from the belt, thanks. In the time we waited for the buggy at the aircraft we would have easily been right through passport control and waiting down in the baggage hall. Not very good. Felt particularly silly as we were almost first off the aircraft.
Slightly odd moment at passport control, I was asked if we were father and son, the chap then peered at my son and said "Hello x". I must have looked quizzical, and mumbled something about how he's changed a bit since his passport pic was taken, because the Border Force guy explained that he needed to check my son responded to his name. Left me wondering if everyone gets this treatment or whether I just looked like I could be trafficking a 3-year-old that day.
Then followed three days of sight-seeing in central London, for what it's worth we stayed at the Plaza on the River, paid for entirely with Club Carlson points from the Big Night Giveaway. We were upgraded to a 1 bed suite with river view, so a big ^ to FT for the tips that helped with all that. The weather was shocking though...
LHR-MUC on BA960:
Arrived early at LHR due to inclement weather/tiredness/boredom cut short our last day in central London sightseeing...
T5 Departures
As many others have commented, the long walk from the HEX lift along to the Zone H check-in area is quite simply daft. No, we didn’t walk even further to Zone J. Why is LHR T5 laid out this way?
Security screening:
This was just unpleasant from beginning to end. The low point was observing a mini “shift change” of security staff, one of the new guys put on a fresh pair of gloves and then immediately sneezed into them [it was a big, juicy, loud sneeze...], then, without changing gloves or even wiping them, went straight on to searching people's bags. Yuk.
Mrs Shorthauldad was incensed by the rudeness and general “attitude” of the staff. I think she’d still be standing there pressing the red unhappy face “feedback” button if I hadn’t dragged her away.Lounge - GF:
We were expecting GC, on reaching the top of the first escalator we were greeted with a big beaming smile, I held out our BPs and said “we’re flying in Club, but I have a Gold card…” and we were positively swept with open arms into GF. So sometimes you benefit from lounge dragons not knowing the rules. No, I know it's not fair, but hey, there are a few things BA owes me for, so we were happy to get the benefit of the doubt this once. Must try harder to get enough TPs for GGL next time
Mrs Shorthauldad was very very impressed with the lounge. Grabbed herself a glass of Bollinger Rose while I took Shorthauldad Jr to the window to watch the aeroplanes. He behaved himself too.
We both had the burger, was nice but the chips were cold. Are they supposed to be cold? The efficiency of the place seems to be a bit below par … I’m fairly sure one guy brought our food out from the kitchen but he wasn’t the one we ordered from so he didn't know where to bring it, so went roaming around with a tray until he found the right host, handed the food over, then the second host who knew where we were sitting wandered all the way back to us to bring it to our table. Then disappeared for another 5 mins to go and find the cutlery… etc etc.
Shorthauldad Jr had a portion of cheesecake and a juice. He seemed impressed.
We were left wondering how much better it could be if you got someone in who actually knew how to run things efficiently...?
Boarding:
After a couple of hours in GF we were a bit bored, so had a mosey round the shops, then on checking the screens it turned out we our gate was in T5B (?!) which I hadn’t really anticipated. Shorthauldad Jr liked the transit though. He'd probably still be in it if I hadn't carried him out and up to the gate.
Less of a queue in the jetway, and for some reason the priority boarding queue at the gate seemed much more of a benefit at LHR than it was at MUC.
10-15 mins delay before we pushed back (think the reason was given as “ATC”, because it sounds better than “this is Heathrow…”)
Flight
Row 1 on the way home, crew were very good, offered to serve up the CHML for Shorthauldad Jr before starting the drinks round so that he wasn’t kept waiting… again, he took one mouthful of sandwich and then ate all the M&Ms.
Arrival:
Baggage reclaim at MUC – the buggy came out on a separate trolley, after all the other bags. Next time I will put the buggy inside a bag and check it in both ways, at least that should reduce the waiting time.
Overall verdict:
MrsShorthauldad thought the CE experience and benefits from the BA FF card beat the equivalent LH offering into a cocked hat. Mind you, I’m BA Gold and she’s "only" LH FQTV despite her l/h J, but even so I think Galleries Club at LHR T5 beats the equivalent lounges she’s been to.
Last edited by shorthauldad; Nov 6, 2012 at 10:31 am Reason: typos
Nov 6, 2012, 8:37 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Balham - Gateway to The South
Programs: BA Bronze
Posts: 2,020
Great trip report, especially liked Shorthauldad Jr's enjoyment of the m & ms and the transit at LHR
Reminds me of travelling with my 4 year old son and 3 year old daughter to SVG via BGO, many moons ago (on BA) - getting off the plane at BGO where there was Lego to play with - what a nice surprise !
Mine are all grown up now but still remember their faces when confronted with a table full of Lego
Reminds me of travelling with my 4 year old son and 3 year old daughter to SVG via BGO, many moons ago (on BA) - getting off the plane at BGO where there was Lego to play with - what a nice surprise !
Mine are all grown up now but still remember their faces when confronted with a table full of Lego
Nov 6, 2012, 8:50 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,046
Super report thanks shorthauldad. ^
Were the M&Ms part of the CHML or did you bring them yourself?
When as a boy I was going with my Mum and Dad down to London or Norwich we would stop off at the Happy Eater at Markham Moor (the one with the hyperbolic paraboloid roof, later converted to a Little Chef).
Kippers for breakfast or fish & chips for dinner ... and of course the excellent Lego tables!
Happy memories!
Were the M&Ms part of the CHML or did you bring them yourself?
Reminds me of travelling with my 4 year old son and 3 year old daughter to SVG via BGO, many moons ago (on BA) - getting off the plane at BGO where there was Lego to play with - what a nice surprise !
Mine are all grown up now but still remember their faces when confronted with a table full of Lego
Mine are all grown up now but still remember their faces when confronted with a table full of Lego
Kippers for breakfast or fish & chips for dinner ... and of course the excellent Lego tables!
Happy memories!
Nov 6, 2012, 9:23 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Ireland
Programs: Skywards
Posts: 313
An excellent read, thank you.
Once again I'm left thinking how much valuable feedback there is on this board for BA. Do they actually read it? I don't mean the odd member of staff or BAEC staff, I mean those that are paid to make BA a better airline.
Many businesses would have to pay a fortune to get this much targeted feedback about their services are seen by their customers.
Once again I'm left thinking how much valuable feedback there is on this board for BA. Do they actually read it? I don't mean the odd member of staff or BAEC staff, I mean those that are paid to make BA a better airline.
Many businesses would have to pay a fortune to get this much targeted feedback about their services are seen by their customers.
Nov 6, 2012, 10:25 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
A very enlightening TR - obviously of no relevance to me, as I would never consider travelling with my grand-brats, but undoubtedly of value to those who have to travel with "The Smalls".
A whole new set of challenges.
A whole new set of challenges.
Nov 6, 2012, 10:34 am
#6
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,734
(Incidentally I know what your wife means about the LH lounges, they seem to have just about enough seats for everyone, giving a general slightly stressful sense of being busy. There is however one Senator lounge in FRA which may give Flounge a run for its money).
Nov 6, 2012, 10:53 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: ex-Eurocheat in London
Programs: BA Silver, MUCCI
Posts: 582
Landing/arrivals:
Slightly odd moment at passport control, I was asked if we were father and son, the chap then peered at my son and said "Hello x". I must have looked quizzical, and mumbled something about how he's changed a bit since his passport pic was taken, because the Border Force guy explained that he needed to check my son responded to his name. Left me wondering if everyone gets this treatment or whether I just looked like I could be trafficking a 3-year-old that day.
Slightly odd moment at passport control, I was asked if we were father and son, the chap then peered at my son and said "Hello x". I must have looked quizzical, and mumbled something about how he's changed a bit since his passport pic was taken, because the Border Force guy explained that he needed to check my son responded to his name. Left me wondering if everyone gets this treatment or whether I just looked like I could be trafficking a 3-year-old that day.
Nov 6, 2012, 10:56 am
#8
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,914
... Slightly odd moment at passport control, I was asked if we were father and son, the chap then peered at my son and said "Hello x". I must have looked quizzical, and mumbled something about how he's changed a bit since his passport pic was taken, because the Border Force guy explained that he needed to check my son responded to his name. Left me wondering if everyone gets this treatment or whether I just looked like I could be trafficking a 3-year-old that day. .
.
Nov 6, 2012, 12:04 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cham CH
Posts: 1,645
**clearly the Child-Snatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will have to team up with an Evil Princess
Nov 6, 2012, 1:06 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: London-Nice
Programs: GGL
Posts: 1,425
Nov 6, 2012, 1:23 pm
#13
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,914
Nov 6, 2012, 1:53 pm
#14
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 623
They are indeed part of the child meal. For us on our FCO flight the other week there were m&ms, a very sugary 'five alive' drink and mini-cheddars as snacky things to accompany the main meal and yoghurt. A decent amount of food for any kid, let alone our 2 and half year old. Thankfully we had a sensible CSD who suggested taking the drink away as it was rubbish. Perhaps he fancied it for himself!
Nov 6, 2012, 1:56 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 623
We've always checked our buggy in a buggy bag, but have almost always had to take it to an oversized luggage desk, and it often comes out separately then.