This week it's time for something completely different – the Flyertalk Bristol Do! Can you hear the imaginary fanfare of trumpets blaring in your head? I know I can! Details are in the link below, and trust me, it's worth a read. Kudos to BotB and BA or bust for organising/hosting this shindig – they've been absolutely stellar and hilarious throughout the process.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...-27-jul-5.html

The easy way to Bristol from Newcastle is via easyJet. I haven't flown with them in about 15 years, so I'm eager to see how their service has evolved. Bristol itself is like an old buddy of mine. I lived in Thornbury way back when, so I'm planning a Sunday stroll around the city to see how it's changed – assuming the weather (or hangover) doesn't play spoilsport.

I won't bore you with a detailed itinerary – you can find all that in the thread above. The best part? I didn't have to plan a thing for this trip. It's shaping up to be one excellent laid-back weekend

It was touch and go whether I'd be hitting the road at all this weekend. I've been nursing a nasty cold all week since I got back from Valencia, resembling a human tissue factory. Yesterday things seemed to improve a little, and, thankfully, this morning the worst has passed. While I'm not entirely out of the woods, at least I'm not walking around with a tissue permanently glued to my hand. Small mercies!

Right now, it's not even 6 AM, but it’s time to summon that Uber and head to the airport. Adventure awaits!

No surprises to the start of this trip. Uber arrived in less than ten minutes, and the roads were so clear you could've sworn we were the only ones awake. We made it to the airport faster than you can say "frequent flyer." No fast track security for me today, but who cares? I was still through and at the bar in fifteen minutes flat from leaving the cab and that included a random full bag check of my suitcase.

First stop: Aster and Thyme for my new tradition – a glass of champagne, all thanks to Priority Pass. Nothing like a bit of bubbly to get the adventure started!

And so to the lounge. Obviously no lounge access with easyJet and so it is Priority Pass to the rescue once more.






This is the first time I’ve been in the standard lounge since I ran around it on day one of the reopening to take some pictures.

The lounge is very quiet, and expected to remain that way for the next hour and a half. The team in the lounge were surprised when I made an appearance in the standard lounge and when I told them what I was up to they all said they fancied visiting Concorde. There may be an Aspire team visit to Edinburgh in the offing

There is very little delta between the Aspire and Luxe lounges, the main differentiator is that you have to pay for the Prosecco, the premium sprits have a cost uplift, and, of course, at peak times the luxe lounge will be quieter.

With a little bit of time to kill it, time to breakfast and enjoy the standard trio




Flighty is currently predicting a 20 minute delay so we’ll see.

Wonderful, JapesUK. I would be very happy to join you there but can't this time. I spent 5 years at Wells Cathedral School in Somerset and I have been going back regularly these past few years. Bristol is my airport of entry and I usually spend some time in Bristol because I have a number of things to do there

Hmmm, my bristol flight is not departing late, the departure time of the flight has changed

Over to gate 7, one I’ve never departed from before. It is a very basic holding pen divided into standard and speedy boarding.




No sign of the plane as yet, flighty predicting an arrival of 08:25 so 08:45 departure feels optimistic

Yes he’s well enough to entertain us,

Love the trifecta, start as you mean to go on! ^

Omg, throw us a bone here JapesUK, don�t leave us in suspense like this�I�m like the mouse hitting the refresh button but not getting any rewards! My dopamine levels are crashing�. Hope the flight goes well, see you soon!

He’s currently downwind at Bristol.

My apologies for messing with your brain chemistry There was zero data signal at Gate 7 and there�s not much of a signal here in Bristol as we trundle around the airport. Catch up update to follow shortly

NCL-BRI
EZY238
G-EZTV



Obviously my first time on board this 14 year old A320.





I’m going to guess that this has had a recent refit as the cabin is nigh on spotless. The seats appear very lightweight and it doesn’t look like any of them recline. They don’t seem to be the most comfortable, but this is only an hour long flight. Plenty of leg room in the exit row, as you might expect.






Once everyone was on board I was asked to move from 12d to 12c as that exit row was empty and was more than happy to do.




There was a very hungover lady in 12e who was making some quite alarming noises. Alarming enough that I was checking for a sick bag just in case and it seems easyJet don’t stock them in the chair backs?

We were never going to make the advertised new departure time but I have to say that the turnaround was a little faster than I expected and we were pushing back at 09:03

At first meeting the crew seem very pleasant and capable, dealing with a couple of passengers with humour.

This is the Buy on Board offering












After the standard brief taxi we were off the ground and on our way to Bristol at 09:12. The actual flight time is about 45 minutes with an estimated arrival of ten A.M.

Once we were a few thousand feet up door 3 right started a quite loud high pitched whine which I’ve experienced on a couple of Embraer but this is a first on an A320. I assume it is caused by air leaking past the seal.

Trolley service started around ten minutes into the flight, and after having had breakfast in the lounge I settled for caramel Latte just to give it a go.




If you are expecting a Starbucks caramel latte equivalent you’d be disappointed. The caramel flavour was not very strong despite the coffee being sweet enough that I did not need to add additional sweeteners. That said, it was a perfectly pleasant drink.

Another oddity for me was the armrests on the seat which were surprisingly low, to the point where my elbow was 1/2 inch from the surface of the armrest, and I have arms to rival an orangutang.

I thought I’d try one of the standard seats on for size. I would say that it is no worse than BA and perhaps a fraction better as the seat hardware is less clunky. Also the fact that the seat is fixed is a bonus for us lanky people.





Pilots announcement came thirty minutes into the flight that we are currently over Liverpool and would soon start our descent with and expected arrival time into Bristol of exactly 10am.

This announcement was NOT followed by the almost Pavlovian response that you get on BA from the crew that we were x minutes from landing and to pack away larger electronics.

This lead me to think about other differences between the on board experience of easyJet and BA. Honestly, not much.

I only recall two no smoking announcements whereas on BA there are 5 or 6.

The plane was not as packed as BA flights tend to be. Most BA flights are rammed full. There was no fuss at the gate of people having to give up hand luggage.

On a sample set of 1 flight I’d happily book more. The return is still to come, let’s see how that stacks up.

The seatbelt sign came on at 09:50, exactly as expected and we were 10 minutes to landing. This did trigger the ‘stow your laptops’ crew announcement.
On the ground at the expected time and a very short taxi. The seatbelt lights have now been off for ten minutes and the crew are arguing with the ramp guy. An interesting end to the flight

Eventually the crew sorted out their disagreement with the ramp team and off we trotted. There were the ramps rather than stairs, which the lazy in me thoroughly appreciates.



It’s then a simple walk into a dark and dingy corridor and then through to landside.








I was surprised how long it took to walk to the pick up point, at least six or seven minutes. Once I’d reached it I ordered an Uber which arrived very promptly and I’m now enjoying the free vibro-massage courtesy of the pretty awful road surfaces!

Next Stop: Moxy Hotel in maybe twenty minutes time.

The Moxy is very much as you would expect it to be, same design, same rooms.









There was one surprise, at check in, I was given a little goodie bag, not experienced that before



I’ll do a full walk around of the public space either late tonight or tomorrow morning. Right now it’s time for beer lunch

I now refer to you as the devoted follower of the holy trinity!!!