Your 2006 BA board travel awards!
 

Yes, it's that time of year again when you can share the highs and lows of your travelling life with the rest of the FT universe!

Based on a mix of my categories from 2004 and PhilH's from 2005, here are my suggestions for categories, with my responses to follow in the next post. Feel free to give away your own gongs, and to add your own personal award categories.

Best Flight
Worst Flight
Best Airport / Lounge
Worst Airport / Lounge
Best Hotel
Worst Hotel
Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year
Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year
Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year
Regret of the Year
Your Gold Special Award (anything you like)
Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award

Let me be the first to kick this off: :)

Best Flight - LHR to DEL (Feb 2006) in FIRST - truly ate and drank the whole of the flight. Great CSD, excellent company.
Worst Flight - MAN to LHR (Sep 2006) re-routed from LGW (handbaggage weekend). Then had to get the bus to LGW to pick up my car. Traffic on M25 really bad due to freak weather/flooding.
Best Airport / Lounge - BAH / T1 FIRST lounge, LHR
Worst Airport / Lounge- DEL / MRS lounge
Best Hotel - The Venetian, Las Vegas
Worst Hotel - Best Western Marseille Airport
Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year -15,000 3 world Bonus thing
Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year - Spending £500 weekend break to Manchester on my own as otherhalf decided 'she couldn't make it'
Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year - Delhi (and the poverty)
Regret of the Year - Not pre-booking the train to Agra from Delhi
Your Gold Special Award (anything you like) - Jury is still out
Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award - Getting a job, hopefully eventually involving some travel where I don't have to pay for my own tickets.

Best Flight - despite their 2x2 seating I'll give it to LH for the F flight I took to Hong Kong. Easily the best airline food I have ever had, you get to sit upstairs and they try to block the seat next to you. And, of course, see 'lounge' below! Special mention to Jet Airways in India, whose J service is arguably better than BA.

Worst Flight - an honourable mention to the CPT-JNB BA / Comair flight this week, where I threw my wine over the guy in 2A. And a slow hand-clap to the F crew on the JNB-LHR leg as well!

Best Airport / Lounge - the Frankfurt First Class Terminal, by a mile. Although the journey from Pier C through B and A to get there is not a pleasant one. City Airport has also come into its own since the security clampdown and the DLR opening.

Worst Airport / Lounge - tough one. The Clipper Lounge in Delhi, where BA dumps their F pax? Certainly the Delhi international terminal is the most pathetic airport I have ever visited - I think it has four (all rubbish) shops. My disappointment with BA's non-EU lounges is also growing - JNB wasn't great. Luckily I've avoided the *A lounge in T2 this year.

Best Hotel - very impressed by the Grand Hyatt in Shanghai, the IC in HK, Hacienda Xcanatun in Merida, Mexico, the Hyatt in Birmingham and the FS in Provence and Geneva. I'll go for the Feversham Arms in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, though, because its so rare you can stay in a decent UK hotel.

Worst Hotel - Mayaland at Chichen Itza was infested by huge lizards, but we'd been upgraded from the hotel to a stand-alone bungalow so perhaps I'm being too mean! I was under-impressed with Chewton Glen (apart from the spa and food), the Eurostars in Valencia (location is key on a short trip), the JW Marriott in Mexico City, the IC in Cologne (only because the suite was small) and, oddly, the over-hyped Kempinski Munich Airport.

Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year - winning those 2 J tix to Bangkok on Thai in CityAM (thanks again for the link, Krug!) let me cancel an existing Asian holiday and saw 160k BMI miles comes flooding back to my account. The BAA WorldPoints '750 BMI miles for booking airport parking which you can later cancel for a full refund' was also handy ....

Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year - pouring my wine over that nice man on Comair. I haven't had a REALLY big fight with a hotel employee either this year - I don't think I've been comped a single night all year, for the first year in ages.

Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year - probably the Terrace Suite of the JW Marriott in Mexico City, which doesn't actually have a terrace. And that's the least of its failings - although I got £200 off the bill in the end. Don't trust tripadvisor! Last Sunday's rain in Cape Town wasn't much of a laugh either.

Regret of the Year - Going to the German Isle of Wight (Rugen) in on the wettest August weeks in years. Overall, though, its worked out well - I FINALLY got to India, six years after first planning a trip there, and China. And I REALLY regret not being targetted by MBNA for their 'miles on balance transfers' promotion, which saw some FT'ers earn over 250,000 miles at minimal cost by transferring their card limit to their current account and then back again (repeat to taste).

Your Gold Special Award (anything you like) - Mexico. I'd never have gone if Ms Raffles hadn't been keen, and it was great. Better than India in many ways, if only because the former comes with fewer expectations. Although I did meet Henry 'The Fonz' Winckler in India!

Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award - the FS in Langkawi, where we snagged a ludicrously huge beach villa for about £600 per night before they jacked up the prices. This should be fun! And the Four Seasons Tented Camp in northern Thailand promises to be very interesting indeed. I should also get to visit the LHR F lounge for the first time (as opposed to Concorde Room) now that Ms Raffles is Euro-Gold!

Best Flight - BRR-GLA and sightseeing Fingal's cave at 1000' - fantastic Loganair pilot, thanks!

Worst Flight - increasingly grumpy-looking BACON crew towards end of year

Best Airport / Lounge - Airport: Airport - BRR, unique, we love it; Lounge - Amnios (PP) at T4S MAD, big, spacious, comfy, food, empty at 6pm

Worst Airport / Lounge - Airport: MAD - massive ungainly lump, ghastly to navigate through

Best Hotel: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park for treating us nice, made me almost like London again!

Worst Hotel: Best Western Linton Lodge Oxford for being a minus 3* hotel, a terrible mistake, should be nuked

Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year: got to be Tesco

Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year: gov.uk's stupid cabin baggage policy ruining quick weekend breaks

Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year: NZ switching equipment 744 -> 777 for trip next year, probably going to have to wait for Amex 241 to mature to fly at the front of a 747 for the FIRST time

Regret of the Year: buying 3xBP LHR-AKL before discovering FT and miles-earning credit cards, 13000 miles wasted

Your Gold Special Award (anything you like): FT and all of you

Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award: 4 week trip to NZ

:D

Best Flight - CAI-LHR BA F first sector or RTW with superb crew
Worst Flight - SFO-JFK AA F what a waste of space
Best Airport / Lounge - Airport: HKG; BA/QF F Lounge SIN
Worst Airport / Lounge - Airport: SFO; Lounge BA uses at CDG
Best Hotel: Conrad Hong Kong great staff and birthday treat
Worst Hotel: nothing stands out
Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year: zip
Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year: BA new seating policy implementation
Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year: QF domestic J PER-MEL very poor service
Regret of the Year: Wasting 1 sector of AONE on AA domestic transcon
Your Gold Special Award (anything you like): Numerous CX crew who made all the F flying much more fun
Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award: QF F LHR-HKG-MEL-SIN-LHR award booking

It was a total accident, before anyone gets the wrong idea!

Best Flight
Luftwaffe FRA to BKK leg of Manila flight using *miles. Attitude of the cabin crew who just wanted to make the whole experience enjoyable. They really camped it up, and said that if I got too drunk they would only be too happy to carry me of the plane. By contrast the flight back was very German and efficient.

Worst Flight
None to really single out this year.

Best Airport / Lounge
Virgin Pier in Hong Kong by far out classes anything else I have been in.

Worst Airport / Lounge
*lounge in Prague due to all the cigarette smoke. It was like sitting in an ashtray.

Best Hotel
Difficult to single one out thsi year, although I do love the SAS Radisson Plaza in Oslo for its glass walled sauna men only on the 32nd floor. The view over the city at night is amazing especially if you catch the Northen Lights.

Worst Hotel
W Lakeside in Chicago, nice enough hotel, given the third degree about bringing someone back to my room.

Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year
Nothing to add here

Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year
Nothing to add here

Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year
VSOE train not even having a shower despite spending £1.3k each for one night on a bloody train.

Regret of the Year
Nothing to add here

Your Gold Special Award (anything you like)
Luke - junior concierge at the Four Seasons Sydney

Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award
Finally getting to try out an A380

Best flight: BA297 LHR-ORD in J (28 Feb). Crew absolutely delightful with special merit to CSD, Mary O'Reilly Bell who deferred all my praise to her crew. She (and the crew) were absolute stars throughout.

Worst flight: UA7506 MYR-ORD in Y (04 Mar). Wretched aircraft (ERJ-175), spartan cabin, surly service. That about sums it up.

Best airport/lounge: BA First at LHR T1. I know its not a patch on the Wing at HKG or even the VS Clubhouse at LHR T3 but its as good as it got for me in 2006.

Worst airport/lounge: Toss up between TRN VIP lounge and SFO Admirals Club and this is coming from someone who's home airport is EDI ;)

Best hotel: Hoteles Silken Puerta América, Madrid. None of the chintz nonsense - unashamedly high quality, contemporary interior design

Worst hotel: Another toss up between a flea ridden room at HI Paris Opera and a very disheveled and unloved room at the HI Select MCO. Former probably wins it.

Best mileage earning opportunity of the year: The oneworld 12,000 BA Miles promotion during Q1

Biggest travel related f***up of the year: BA2946 BCN-LGW (18 Jun). Checked in for the flight only to discover that on my booking the flight no was correct, but month was wrong. Doh!

Biggest travel disappointment of the year: LGW North. Not a disappointment, rather a recurring pain. Come on BA/BAA, sort out the FCC.

Special Kelvin "what do you mean, he just wants to be left in peace" award: goes to the CSD onboard BA480 LHR-BCN (17 Jun) for his heroic (but sadly, failed) attempts to raise a smile on the face of the grumpy old git sitting next to me in seat 2C. Give the CSD his due, he memorised the surname of each passenger and I got a personal goodbye as I disembarked through door 2L. CSD was in the front galley. "bye Mr Prospero, bye!" :o

Best Flight - SQ J FRA-SIN - first time in SQ J longhaul, sat in 17K (upper deck exit row opposite the crew seat ;) ) and amazing service from the crew.

Worst Flight - Eurostar QQW-BRU - nothing wrong with that in itself but it replaced some flights ex-LHR I had during the travel chaos in August. :mad:

Best Airport / Lounge - SIN airport for its ultra-efficiency; NRT NH F lounge for typical Japanese service; and LGW Terraces - the start of another weekend away!

Worst Airport / Lounge - FRA for its confusing layout; the KRK lounge (a tiny prison cell) and the BA/AF CDG lounge.

Best Hotel - Shangri-La Pudong - upgraded to a large suite with a jaw dropping view of the Bund.

Worst Hotel - some no name dive near Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan, Southwest China with no heating during winter; mysterious calls on my mobile all night; rowdy truck drivers; women who asked me whether I "wanted to go to Shangri-La"; and strict instructions not to walk down the street of the town at night! :eek:

Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year - Tesco wine offer (£200 for 30,000 BA miles plus a dozen boxes of miniature bottles of cr*p wine) or the Goldener Hirsch free suite upgrade plus 25,000 BA miles offer. :D

Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year - none that I can think of (other than foolishly thinking that I would actually sit in all of my selected 2A seats on forthcoming CE flights!).

Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year - my first SQ F longhaul which I'd psyched myself up for but which was a disappointing anti-climax; and ScottC and influential not reciprocating on my offer to have their babies. ;)

Regrets of the Year - only signing up for FFPs this year and also not discovering FT earlier.

Your Gold Special Award (anything you like): :-: :-: :-: for the following
Raffles - say no more!
Smirnoff and DavidA for my BA silver card
The organisers of all of the away Do's I've been to (and the LON Do) - Andrius, Jenbel, Pyeinthesky and Steady-EDI

Things You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award - my first BA miles booking (using an Amex 241 as well); becoming BA gold and getting lots of love from the BAEC ;) ; my first BA CW or F; and having to endure ;) yet more SQ J/F to renew SQ PPS status.

Best Flight , BA F NRT-LHR faultless treated like a king.
Worst Flight, AA F BOS-SFO Very lazy crew.
Best Airport / Lounge, LHR Zone R/ VS LHR clubhouse.
Worst Airport / Lounge, LHR not Zone R/NRT terraces= with IAD terraces complete with mice.
Best Hotel, FS Philly
Worst Hotel, Some crap hole in Whitby with a leaky roof over my bed
Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year, Tesco
Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year, Hand baggage fiasco.
Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year, Having to cancel our NYC trip this year.
Regret of the Year, not getting to SYD again.
Your Gold Special Award (anything you like) AA flagship lounge at ORD.
Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award, getting to SYD(when I find cheap enough F tickets)

[B]Best Flight: CX J HKG-SYD
Worst Flight: probably HKG-SYD in Y on QF. Shocking hangover missed my morning flight and had to take the overnight flight, so I could be back in SYD to catch my flight to LHR:rolleyes:
Best Airport / Lounge: The Wing/Pier no contest. Honourable mentions though to my fav QF Club at OOL of which I am quite a regular also quite impressed with the CX lounge at PEK as far as outsourced lounges go.
Worst Airport / Lounge: QF SYD T2 lounge. I guess as only Qantaslink and J* Operate from here QF dont really care what its like but its pretty much a big hall MIA Admirals is also bad even by AA standard
Best Hotel: Hotel Jolly Lecco. Surprisingly good and fantastic rate
Worst Hotel: Regal Airport Hotel HKG total ripoff
Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year: didnt have one....
Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year: a 12 hour train ride becoming a 32 "journey" in the dead of winter on the overnight service to Bucharesti in Caecescu class
Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year: Milan (was business but was soooo boring)
Regret of the Year: Its been a good year...
Your Gold Special Award (anything you like) North Korea....and Austin Texas...
Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award Moving to London and my CX J flight over and my Mexico holiday staying where the stars stay for nada:D oh and apparently Im going to a wedding in Prague...

Best Flight n/a
Worst Flight BKK- LHR with a faulty seat
Best Airport / Lounge BKK
Worst Airport / Lounge - Thai Phuket not too bad but didn't travel too much this year
Best Hotel - Oriental Bangkok
Worst Hotel - Le Meriden Phuket - one for the chav's I'm afraid
Best Mileage Earning Opportunity of the Year - 12,000 One World using Aer Fungus
Biggest Travel-Related F***-Up of the Year - going through security with my bosses second passport with his Russian visa in, and him then almost not being allowed to travel - also relates to biggest job f*** up this year
Biggest Travel Disappointment of the Year - hitting Moscow at -30
Regret of the Year - all the do's I missed and the Gulf Air to BKK
Your Gold Special Award (anything you like) okay this has to go to the BA Board with notable mentions to Jenbel, MCS?, Shuttle-Bored, the drinks companions, Swissytrader exceptional mentions to Raffles for all his hard work on maintaining all our mileage balances and a historic mention to Jimmy The Jock for outing me onto this board
Thing You're Most Looking Forward To In 2007 Award : New New First and CW

This feels a bit premature with 7 sectors and almost 20K miles still to go, but anyhow:

Best flight - Hasn't happened yet but I suspect SQ's new F from SIN to HKG on Tuesday will win.

Worst flight - Nothing really stands out, though Air Vanuatu delaying a flight to VLI by 12 hours wasn't great.

Best airport/lounge - Airport = HKG, Lounge = VS Clubhouse at LHR by miles and miles

Worst airport/lounge - Airport = BLR (anyone that thinks DEL is bad ain't seen nothing), Lounge = The Coffee Hut at BLR

Best Hotel - The Sherwood in Taipei has always been incredibly welcoming, service orientated and good value. White Grass Ocean Resort on Tanna was wonderful

Worst Hotel - The Metropole Hong Kong, a grubby, grimy 3 star tour group dump.

Biggest Mileage earning opportunity - BA Triple Miles in Club, the excellent value offered by BD's DC

Biggest Travel related F'up of the year - Aforementioned 12 hour delay wasn't great, otherwise just a few typically mediocre ET/CE flights on BA

Biggest Travel Disappointment - Not having taken enough holiday, not being able to nominate BA for any of the best of/most special experiences

Regret of the Year - being on a CX plane home when my father passed away. Made everything else seem very unimportant

Your Gold award - CX for being just lovely to me all year (despite not having a single op-up). Special mention to the crew that flew me home on a Friday and then back to HKG on a Monday, all of whom remembered me and made a huge fuss. 12 hours of not feeling at all jaded by travel.

Think you are most looking forward to in 2007 - more holidays, less business mileage