BotB

I believe Panny was just pulling our legs about the bit:

'loaded our bags with kettle chips, etc'

This has been the subject of heated debate on here many a time so I think Panny used artistic license to embellish his story to provoke...and it worked.

Great story Panny and I can very much imagine this happening the way it did...should be an interesting DO this Friday!

HIDDY

How condescending.

layz

Toilet paper. One of the Dutch supermarkets is selling it for 90% cheaper than Tesco so panny decided it was worth flying over to Amsterdam to fill suitcases full of the stuff even though it would mean he'd lose out on the associated Clubcard points.

layz

Has panny cursed the LHR - AMS route?

Yesterday I expected to get there with plenty of time I didn't have time for lunch and so was looking forward to the usual GC curry and jacket potatoes.

First delay happened when dropping the car off at Hertz the inspector noticed a deepish slash in one of the tyres. I hadn't done anything to cause it and when I look the car over on collection I normally look at the bodywork and windows closely and never check the tyres properly.

After looking through the cars service history and damage log on the computer the person at the counter said there was no recorded damage to the tyres and they were recently replaced so I would have to cover the cost of replacement. As I should be covered by my Amex platinum card I just told him to charge this to my Amex and I'll get them to sort it out. I made it clear I don't believe I caused the damage but didn't want to argue too much as I have a flight to catch.

Then waiting for the Hertz courtesy bus seemed to take a long time. I arrived at the car drop off about 18:00 by the time I'd finished in the Hertz office and on the bus it was 18:35. Fortunately the bus was quick and I got to bag drop around 18:45.

Not much time left as the flight was 19:40 and gate closing listed as 19:20. Recently I've been surprising lucky with T5 security when others have reported problems, today they were on go slow. One person ahead of me in fast track before the metal detector, but after the metal detector were a number of people waiting for their bags. The X-ray belt was backed up with bags that had not been screened yet in fact I couldn't get my tray on the belt I had to wait for space to appear.

So now it was almost 19:10, a brisk walk to Galleries North (I suspected it's easier to get to despite me being in south security and had just enough time to have a London Pride before the screens turned to boarding. I decided not to bother with food. As soon as boarding was announced it was then a case of walking back to the south of the terminal to gate A17. I checked the time I arrived at the gate and it was 19:19 so I got there before the official closing time, but the screens were still on green and a lot of people in the regular boarding queue. The fast track was empty so I boarded quickly and got comfortable in CE.

Now despite being silver so get lounge access anyway I do consider £69 excellent value for more space, the middle seat free, 4x the tier points, some food and a better selection of drinks. I will always take this upsell when offered.

As I'd not eaten yet I was happy to get my seafood salad and it seems larger than the last time I travelled band 1 CE a few months ago.

I bought my train ticket from the machines in the baggage hall and had no problems with them. I find them simple to use but then again I have been to Amsterdam a few times. At Centraal Station I jumped on the Metro to Weesperplein and walked to the InterContinental Amstel as I find the train journey to Amsterdam quick and reasonably priced I decided not to take the lazy option of a taxi that I do for most destinations these days.

So I made it. But if I'd arrived at the car hire depot later or there were more people at security I would have missed my flight. I now agree with those that are not happy with current security wait times and as fast track was so quiet it was inexcusable.

wbl-mn-flyer

Boarding is supposed to end at 810 and your brother is having a bathroom experience in the lounge, far away from your gate, until 8am? Does not sound like good planning here.

SCEflyer

I have read this thread with some amusement and it appears that others have done the same, but the one point that I can't comprehend is that how there can be so much confusion regarding rail travel between Centraal and Schipol(?).

Our family of four took a day trip to the terminal station in The Hague from Centraal on a Sunday morning this past September. We traveled on what I recall was the Dutch national railway, a yellow colored train in any event. This was our first time in Holland and this excursion to The Hague was completely seamless. The platforms were clearly marked and the trains were on time. Both trains stopped at Schipol and the pending arrivals were clearly announced by the train crews.

blahter

Quick question as I've only flown out of LHR a couple of times and it's all been intl. Do they not check ID at security like the TSA does in the states? Wouldn't security have caught this before you even got to the gate since you said you had no other form of ID other than credit cards?

mike&co

Only if he was getting the 10p off per litre for fuel. Did you see the last picture he posted of his toilet roll stash after the last Tesco fuel offer

NeverFirst

No, they only check your boarding pass for shorthaul flights (except Russia & Libya which need a mandatory document check (I think it's mandatory from BA's point of view, the check is not a legal restriction).

From ba.com;

Edited to add; the concern around checking documents (particularly visas ) at check-in is all to do with immigration issues at the destination, hence why most short-haul destinations do not require checking.

PanGalactic

Correct, All I had to show up to that point was my CX Gold card to get through fast track and my boarding pass as I did OLCI and PMOBP.

The tier point run itself has all actually become irrelevant as of today, my buddy came through today with the Gold partner card

You may now all address me as Mr PanGalactic...... or Sir

Herman ze German

OT

I'm also part of a Forum for Germans in the UK and one of the most famous topics in that forum is about Toilet paper and how this is so much more expensive in the UK than in Germany. Since then it's a running joke to bring a roll of toilet paper to the UK whenever being in Germany. so, yes there is some truth in your posting

/OT

NeverFirst

^ Utterly bizarre pricing situation. I have long thought there must be money to be made in parallel (I hesitate to se the word "grey") imports of Klopapier from the continent back to the island.

Still, it could be worse

shorthauldad

There are arbitrage opportunities, in both directions. Plenty of products that expat Brits would export from the UK because they've expensive (or unavailable) wherever they are.

For instance, this UK staple food, retailing at 70p, costs ~€1.50/can at my local supermarket.

I have not (yet) stooped to flying out here with a suitcase full of them though...

corporate-wage-slave

I was similarly bemused, it is as easy as pie in my view. Even my much more than 80 year old granny managed it a few months back. [Mind you there's a view that those from the North East of England can understand Dutch better than the rest of the UK since we have some shared dialect words]. I was going to suggest that maybe Panny should get out more, but then I rather fear for the consequences.

The one thing in Panny's mitigation is that after the recent building works, the display system on platforms is confusing since they've switched off some displays, and NL railways don't display all station stops - it's based on the train type. Though Centraal (CS) would be marked. The easiest way to work this out in Schiphol is that there is, over the main machine bank, a special display which indicates when the next train to main destinations is. You can spot this since the services on it are listed alphabetically, not in time order. This then indicates the platform / spoor.

johnny5a

He didn't forget his passport, he picked up his daughters by mistake.

As they all look the same, it doesn't surprise me, I've heard at least 2 friends do the same thing.

Back in the day, the old navy British passport use to have your name on the outside.

I've labelled up our initials on our passports.