lukecdw

Hi all,

Hope you’re all having an enjoyable Christmas/Winter season. There’s not going to be anything fancy to this report, but to bring in the New Year I decided I wanted to go and visit my grandparents in Tunbridge Wells, Kent and also a visit to my uncles work at the Royal Automobile Club on Pall Mall in London. I had a few options for this, flying EasyJet AMS-LGW, KLM non-rev (due to family member) AMS-LHR or BA AMS-LHR/LGW. LGW is an easier airport for Tunbridge Wells so settled on that. I had previously given BA some feedback on their Club Europe ex-BMI aircraft product and they gave me 5000 avios compensation, and my mother already had 12000 avios in the household account. Reward availability was good, so decided on the BA2761 on the 26th of December coming back on the BA2764 on the second of January, both in Club Europe (ET unavailable on return leg and I’m a strong believer of YOLO “You only live once”). I was looking at trying out the new lounge at AMS therefore booked into Club Europe for the outbound, too. It was £62,50 and 16200 avios. A few days out I saw on ExpertFlyer that 1C, D, F and 2 D and F had already been assigned, therefore was hoping that 2A remained unoccupied until online check in with 2C staying unoccupied. ExpertFlyer hinted that Club wasn’t too full.



However a day before departure, I went to online check in and T-24 and it wasn’t working. Tweeted BA and they had suspended online check-in. Got to the airport the next day a mere three hours before departure (wanted to make the most out of the new lounge). Was checked in by a very pleasant lady at the club check-in, who wished me a merry Christmas but had no explanation for online check-in not working. Managed to get seat 2A with no one (for the moment) in 2C.

Following this, I made the venture to the (almost completely empty) lounge. Corporate-wage-slave’s and others on the new lounge thread’s directions were very clear and I had no problems finding the lounge, even helping a lost, elderly gentleman along the way! Anyways, sitting in the lounge as I write this and I must say I am extremely impressed. As heard before, food offerings aren’t great however the overall ambience and look to the lounge is fantastic, and it was very empty when I arrived. I settled myself down by a nice window seat with an espresso and a bottle of water for two and a half hours of spotting. The man at the reception came over for a chat after I had taken some photos, and asked me what I thought of the lounge. I told him I was impressed and he continued to tell me about how they were getting a hot food bar and a “super deluxe” coffee machine.

Got a nice view of the Arke Dreamliner pulling into a gate at the end of the D-Pier. Spotting really is fantastic from here. I also took two sandwiches from the food area, which were a little dry but tasty overall (fueling myself up for the walk to the gate). Here are a few photos of the lounge. In the interest of other passengers, I took photos of the areas with little people in, as the second area by the window had a few passengers giving me dirty looks for taking photos LOL, even though I had asked if they minded.

Here is a photo of the entrance and the link to the AMS lounge thread where more of my pictures are posted:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24057777-post127.html




Flight will be up later!

lukecdw

The flight was called in the lounge about 50 minutes before departure and was an ex-bmi A319 from gate D28 (about a 20 minute walk). They strongly enforce fast track at Schiphol but as the load for the whole flight was 50% in both cabins, the fast track queue had about 8 people in it, including myself. Passengers with children or passengers needing assistance were boarded first, followed by fast track followed by general boarding. As I got on board, I was welcomed by purser Cassandra (big thumbs up for her) and her colleague, who's name has completely disappeared from memory, and wished a merry christmas. I got settled into my seat, 2A and must say it was a comfortable seat with the table in 2B but legroom was extremely cramped. I could barely fit my hand in between the seat-back in front and my knee once sat properly:





When all of Club was seated (8/16 full), she came round taking drinks orders for with afternoon tea, which went as follows:

"Mr. lukecdw, we will be serving afternoon tea, sandwiches and scones after take off, what would you like to drink to accompany it?"

"Could I have some champagne please?"

"Of course Mr. lukecdw"

and she went round all passengers and wrote it all down, addressing passengers by name, which she remembered for the whole (40 minute) flight. A small detail but I liked how she didn't bring around a notepad, but instead went back to the galley to write it down afterwards, which was very professional. I chose champagne as it was boxing day and fancied a treat (even though my ideal treat isn't the so-called battery acid monopole blue top, but being a non-champagne connoisseur it didn't bother me).

Following this, she brought round hot towels for us to freshen up with, still addressing all passengers by name. Even though the towels were thin, the scent was nice and it was appreciated for the short flight.



Shortly afterwards, it was time to leave the gate and make our way to Gatwick.



The captain told us the flight would be a smooth one, and to sit back and enjoy, which is exactly what I did. After a powerful and short take-off, seatbelt signs turned off and the service started. All afternoon tea trays were taken from the galley to each passenger with their desired drink on by Cassandra. When she got to me, she placed it on my tray table, wished me an enjoyable afternoon tea and showed me the basket of scones out of which I took one plain and one fruit. I must say the sandwiches were scrumptious and adequate for this length of flight. The scones and clotted cream were tasty too, accompanied by the champagne. I was thoroughly enjoying the flight!



Cassandra came through the cabin a few times making sure we weren't going thirsty and asking if we wanted anything else to drink. I eventually finished the champagne and had a cup of tea. As I was served the tea, Cassandra made some conversation asking about how my christmas was, which was very pleasant. I told her not to work too hard and to enjoy the last few days of the year, to which she laughed and thanked me. Soon after this it was time for landing and all trays were taken away back into the galley. The descent into gatwick was smooth but very cloudy, and it was raining when we arrived. Overall it was an extremely pleasant flight, with a great purser. An overall better CE experience than my May one, which I already thought was pleasant.



Immigration was packed but the line moved quickly and I was out within 15 minutes. Got to the baggage belt and for once my bags were actually waiting for me at gatwick, and had actually come out first with the priority tags.

halfcape

Thanks for sharing your observations and photos. Glad you had a nice crew and trip.

Becho

This is awesome report with good visuals. Thanks for sharing!!