British Airways Club Europe to Newcastle
Aug 5, 2019, 2:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Surrey, UK
Programs: BA Gold, *A Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 653
British Airways Club Europe to Newcastle
For the pictures that accompany this report, see here: https://www.inflightwithjames.com/po...urope-lhr-ncl/
Looking for another trip where I burned some Avios, the aim of the game here was to try and find flights that allowed me to get the most bang for the buck - basically the longest flight for the 18,000 Avios budget I'd set myself.
So how did I end up going to Newcastle then?! Basically, availability. Whilst there were a few more exotic destinations available, the times really didn't suit. Or the price of hotels were ridiculously priced. Or I just didn't fancy visiting the city in question. In other words, Newcastle was the only trip that really worked for me.
As I was departing on a Friday, parking at Heathrow was a lot higher than if I had travelled on the weekend. Although as usual the business parking was only around a pound or two less than the standard long stay, so that was what I went for.
As is nearly always the case here, there were two buses ready and waiting. Almost as soon as I hopped on, we set off on the five minute drive.
Upon arrival at the First Wing (accessed by BAEC Gold), the check in area looked reasonably busy. I was expecting the security lane and the lounge itself to be similar, seeing as it was a Friday evening but I was proven wrong.
Whilst the lounge was a little on the busy side, I’ve seen it far worse. I won’t cover it in too much detail here, as I’ve reviewed it separately previously.
I grabbed a bite to eat, then headed out to the beach - a promotional area set up on the balcony.
Around 45 minutes prior to departure, gate A8 was displayed. Seeing as this is at the opposite end of the terminal to the lounge, I made my way down, but still arrived a little early. No matter, I’d had my fill of the lounge anyway.
Boarding began and for the second flight in a row for me out of T5, we were held on the jet bridge for 10 mins.
Once on board, I took my assigned seat of 1F. Boarding was completed in around 15 minutes or so.
The flight time was announced as 45 minutes and we pushed back around ten minutes behind schedule. As it was a pretty busy evening, it was a good 25 minutes after we left the stand until wheels up.
Within a couple of minutes, the crew started the onboard service. As this is one of the shorter flights on the British Airways network, the on board food offering lacked choice somewhat. Either a small beef salad or vegetarian salad. I can’t help but think that since the Do&Co catering was introduced in September 2018, its gone downhill a little.This was finished with a cup of tea.
By the time I was done, we were well into descent. I browsed the inflight magazine as there wasn’t too much to be seen outside until we were on short finals.
We touched down at 22:20, and made a pretty slow journey over to the stand.
With the delayed departure at Heathrow, we disembarked around 15 minutes behind schedule. Being a domestic arrival, there weren’t any formalities to worry about, so it was a case of making the short walk to the on site Metro station, to head into town.
In all, a brief flight with British Airways. I don’t recall the Newcastle flights being so short before! The service was a little on the rushed side with around 8 rows of Club and just a single crew member to take care of everyone. I’m pretty sure nobody was left out though, so top marks there.
Looking for another trip where I burned some Avios, the aim of the game here was to try and find flights that allowed me to get the most bang for the buck - basically the longest flight for the 18,000 Avios budget I'd set myself.
So how did I end up going to Newcastle then?! Basically, availability. Whilst there were a few more exotic destinations available, the times really didn't suit. Or the price of hotels were ridiculously priced. Or I just didn't fancy visiting the city in question. In other words, Newcastle was the only trip that really worked for me.
As I was departing on a Friday, parking at Heathrow was a lot higher than if I had travelled on the weekend. Although as usual the business parking was only around a pound or two less than the standard long stay, so that was what I went for.
As is nearly always the case here, there were two buses ready and waiting. Almost as soon as I hopped on, we set off on the five minute drive.
Upon arrival at the First Wing (accessed by BAEC Gold), the check in area looked reasonably busy. I was expecting the security lane and the lounge itself to be similar, seeing as it was a Friday evening but I was proven wrong.
Whilst the lounge was a little on the busy side, I’ve seen it far worse. I won’t cover it in too much detail here, as I’ve reviewed it separately previously.
I grabbed a bite to eat, then headed out to the beach - a promotional area set up on the balcony.
Around 45 minutes prior to departure, gate A8 was displayed. Seeing as this is at the opposite end of the terminal to the lounge, I made my way down, but still arrived a little early. No matter, I’d had my fill of the lounge anyway.
Boarding began and for the second flight in a row for me out of T5, we were held on the jet bridge for 10 mins.
Once on board, I took my assigned seat of 1F. Boarding was completed in around 15 minutes or so.
The flight time was announced as 45 minutes and we pushed back around ten minutes behind schedule. As it was a pretty busy evening, it was a good 25 minutes after we left the stand until wheels up.
Within a couple of minutes, the crew started the onboard service. As this is one of the shorter flights on the British Airways network, the on board food offering lacked choice somewhat. Either a small beef salad or vegetarian salad. I can’t help but think that since the Do&Co catering was introduced in September 2018, its gone downhill a little.This was finished with a cup of tea.
By the time I was done, we were well into descent. I browsed the inflight magazine as there wasn’t too much to be seen outside until we were on short finals.
We touched down at 22:20, and made a pretty slow journey over to the stand.
With the delayed departure at Heathrow, we disembarked around 15 minutes behind schedule. Being a domestic arrival, there weren’t any formalities to worry about, so it was a case of making the short walk to the on site Metro station, to head into town.
In all, a brief flight with British Airways. I don’t recall the Newcastle flights being so short before! The service was a little on the rushed side with around 8 rows of Club and just a single crew member to take care of everyone. I’m pretty sure nobody was left out though, so top marks there.
