Bristol Trip Report
 

My wife and I just got back from a weekend in southwest England and Wales after landing in Bristol. It was a wonderful trip with great weather - only about 30 minutes of rain!

Key points:

1) The 752 was not a bad option in either direction. Granted, our flights were about 3/4 full, but their was not a lot of complaints or chaos. We were in row 15 both directions and were not as cramped. 16 would have been better for the recline, but we made do.
2) The landing was very rough, which I believe was due to the typical heavy winds since the runway is on top of a ridge and did not seem to be all that flat.
3) We almost diverted to B'ham due to low ceilings, but ended up getting clearance after a couple loops overtop of the clouds.
4) The captain did a great job of keeping us informed as well as "selling" the flight during his final announcements.
5) The outbound concierge in EWR was sub-par and seemingly disinterested. A quote "the exit row does not have more legroom" certainly does not impress me...
6) The outbound cabin crew was decent, although I can do without the many duty free annoucements when I am trying to grab some sleep.
7) The BRS airport was awesome! We were in our rental car in about 30 minutes, though we did not check luggage. Immigration was painless beyond them letting all brits go first. Our wait was about 10 minutes.
8) Be forewarned - there are no jetways. That doesnt bother me, but some folks didnt seem to like the stairs.
9) BRS is well outside of the Bristol city center. I suggest going around town to the south/west if you are trying to get to the M5.
10) The rental car facility is a short walk to the parking lot. You might want to bring an umbrella if the weather is going to be an issue.
11) The check-in facility was very nice. E-Service Stations, elite lines, and many helpful staff to help you through the process.
12) The Elite Access line through security was a nice touch, though the lines were not all that long.
13) Security was very detailed while maintaining polite professionalism.
14) The waiting area was spacious with a nice bar area upstairs, several shops, duty free (no good deals IMHO) and many chairs.
15) Elite access for boarding worked as advertised.
16) There was a healthy mix of Brits and Americans on the flight, which I think is a great sign.
17) BF did not appear to be full in either direction, though I think it will change once more people realize the convenience.
18) The in-flight crew on our return was top notch and will earn a nice email to CO Corporate from me.
19) You really could tell that the staff at BRS were trying very hard to make a good impression. This is a critical flight to them and I am sure they want to do everything possible to keep it. The Brits sitting near me loved the fact that they did not need to drive to London or B'ham to catch a flight to America.
20) The FIS facility in EWR was a bit chaotic, mostly due to the time of day. 5-10 minute wait for Immigration and lord knows how long for bags before Customs. It looked like 6-8 flights per carosel and a lot of people milling about.
21) This could be a great place to connect onwards throughout Europe. The airport has a decent website listing the various airlines, but I would imagine that Easyjet would be the best option if you are purchasing in advance.

Thanks for the info. I too was in Bristol this weekend (granted for only a couple of hours on Sun~~and I came via rail from London's Paddington Sta). For those who care, there appears to be a bus connecting the rail station & BRS that runs every 10 minutes for 7GBP. It's a quick walk from the rail station to the city center, river, hotels etc. The train is great for getting to Bath Spa which is a 12 min ride from Bristol. Yes the weather was great this weekend and I heard there were some record highs on Fri (I arrived on Sat).
I was a little uncertain about what there was to do in Bristol prior to my arrival but it seems there is quite a bit of stuff to occupy yourself with especially if you have children along.

Friday was really hot - all of the "natives" were talking about it at the pub that night. We thought about the bus/train combo to continue on to London, but balked as I really did not want to deal with the "hassle" after a night of very little sleep.

Bath was an amazing place to visit within the beauty of the town and the history of the Roman Baths.

The bus runs every 20 minutes, and the journey takes 30 minutes. The airport is only 10 miles from central Bristol, but the road is a two lane, and traffic into/out of Bristol is pretty bad.

After getting my rental car, I headed SW on A38, but one can go NE on A38 for a few miles and then take B3130, either east towards Bath or west towards M5, to bypass Bristol.

The Texaco station about 3 miles NE of BRS has good prices. I filled up for 84.9 p/Litre before returning the car, which is about 4-5 p cheaper than most stations elsewhere. [I did fill up for 81.9 in Falmouth, though.]

I arrived BRS on Saturday. The flight was about 30-40% full, and many people including myself could spread out in the back. The landing, however, was just as rough in strong wind. In fact, something fell in the rear galley, and I could hear one of the FA says "sh_t". :D

Overall, I also like BRS a lot. Renting a car is so easy there. And we were in the air about 5 minutes after scheduled departure time, arriving EWR half an hour early. I managed to get on an earlier flight back to IAH yesterday on standby.

MBM3

Thanks for the great report.....I hope to try BRS myself soon.

I have a question for those who fly CO from the UK often, though. On our way back, the snack they give us in coach prior to arrival at EWR consists of a sandwich and the following - scone, strawberry jam and clotted cream. That's Cornish "cream tea" served everywhere in SW England.

I wonder if this is a BRS special, or if they serve this on other UK flights as well? If it's BRS-only, then I think that's a very nice touch, even though I think many of my fellow passengers don't know the significance.

This has been the standard snack from LGW for many years now. I like it too, and I also agree that it's a nice touch.

Yummy for the tummy it was! But, I did need to be reminded by my Brit seatmates that this was a SW special.

Ditto on both points. I followed the internet directions when I arrived and got frustrated with the traffic and roundabouts. Got a better map and found the route you noted above and saved 20-30 minutes on the way back for the flight home.

The Texaco did seem to be a better deal, but it sill was darn expensive!

I've posted my long-winded report of all my flights IAH-DFW-EWR-BRS-EWR-IAH on a thread in the "Trip Report" forum:

Link here.