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Four Days in Košice – Wait, Where?
Firstly I’m going to apologise for using ‘Kosice’ henceforth, digging out the special characters keyboards on the phone and iPad is just not a game I want to play constantly! For a place almost nobody has ever heard of, Kosice has had a few mentions here and there in the trip report forum recently, mostly with people passing through.
This weekend I’m off on a four day trip booked due to what was an irresistibly cheap fare to use as a weekend filler. Of course being a cheap fare comes with certain ‘challenges’. This itinerary is three flights out and three flights back the first and last flights are on Eurowings and the middle four are on Austrian airlines, all in economy. I’ve never flown on either airline so that’s going to be interesting. The total fare was a a fraction over £200, working out at £35 a flight. Hopefully my Lufthansa Senator status is going to come into play and get me into a couple of lounges and also a bit of group one boarding along the way. From what I can see online Eurowings doesn’t offer lounge access in Newcastle but it does offer lounge access in a number of its destinations. Priority pass to the rescue in Newcastle. I think I’m covered by the SEN status for Düsseldorf. The connecting times in Vienna are pretty short so I’m not sure I’ll even have time to think about going into a lounge there. As far as seating goes, the Lufthansa status allowed me to book exit row seats on all four Austrian flights but there was no chance of booking on the Eurowings site until check-in opened at which point it cost me the princely sum of £4.62 to book an exit row seat, Another first for me, I’ve never been to Slovakia either so it’s all new this weekend. I have to say, having looked up how to pronounce Kosice properly, to my rather childish mind It sounded like I was questioning whether the bovine had defecated, Eh? Yeah, yeah, I know, too much waffle, so what’s the plan?
Next stop: Newcastle airport in about 20 hours time. |
We had a very pleasant visit to Kosice after it was declared European City of Culture in 2013. Based on the Doubletree thread, it was 2017 before we made it. We enjoyed it.
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Following along. Košice is very much on my agenda so this should be interesting.
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Been there somewhere around 2018 or 2019, in November, as far as I remember. Pleasant city, and if you have enough of it, you can always catch a Flixbus for a day trip to Budapest ;)
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Just in time for a Friday read! Safe travels, can't wait to see what Sunday has in store.
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Ahhh... another Japes weekend coming up. I was beginning to go into withdrawal 😉
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Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37262683)
Hopefully my Lufthansa Senator status is going to come into play and get me into a couple of lounges and also a bit of group one boarding along the way.
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Originally Posted by BMarkus
(Post 37263716)
Please, do not expect too much about the VIE Austrian Senator lounge. On my trip to Berlin and back it was the worst lounge compared to FRA or ZRH. I don't know how the Business Class lounge is.
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If I do make it to the VIE lounge it’s going to be a flying visit so to speak, transfers both directions are sub 1 hour. I’ve couple of hours in DUS each direction so that’ll be lounge time (hopefully). Now I know they had lieberkase I might be tempted to rush a visit if I strike out in DUS :D
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Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37263738)
If I do make it to the VIE lounge it’s going to be a flying visit so to speak, transfers both directions are sub 1 hour. I’ve couple of hours in DUS each direction so that’ll be lounge time (hopefully). Now I know they had lieberkase I might be tempted to rush a visit if I strike out in DUS :D
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Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37263738)
If I do make it to the VIE lounge it’s going to be a flying visit so to speak, transfers both directions are sub 1 hour. I’ve couple of hours in DUS each direction so that’ll be lounge time (hopefully). Now I know they had lieberkase I might be tempted to rush a visit if I strike out in DUS :D
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Finally, he’s on the move again! :D
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Bon voyage! :cool:
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I’m off! Standard start to the trip with an Uber to the airport. It is absolutely heaving at the moment. And then, checkin to collect the boarding passes that Austrian airlines resolutely refuse to issue and first failure of the trip there is no check-in for Eurowings!
after parading up and down the Air port for three turns I decided that I wasn’t going blind. There really wasn’t a euro wings check-in so I gave up and asked a very very helpful chap outside of the Tui check-in who suggested that they might well open behind him, we shall see. |
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37264007)
I’m off! Standard start to the trip with an Uber to the airport. It is absolutely heaving at the moment. And then, checkin to collect the boarding passes that Austrian airlines resolutely refuse to issue and first failure of the trip there is no check-in for Eurowings!
after parading up and down the Air port for three turns I decided that I wasn’t going blind. There really wasn’t a euro wings check-in so I gave up and asked a very very helpful chap outside of the Tui check-in who suggested that they might well open behind him, we shall see. |
Online works for eurowings, did that, Austrian fails and tells me to come to the counter :)
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https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9f18477a4.jpeg
The fine gentleman was right, now all we need are staff |
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37264030)
Online works for eurowings, did that, Austrian fails and tells me to come to the counter :)
Have a fun trip, looking forward to the report! |
The app insisted I pick them up one hour before the departure of my earliest flight in Newcastle, but actually they couldn’t generate them at all so that’s a half an hour of my life completely wasted.
On the bright side although the boarding pass didn’t have any mention of fast track on it I thought I’d try my luck and straight through so that gave me five minutes back as standard security was pretty busy today, in fact the airport itself is completely packed. no prizes for guessing what and where comes next. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...46bc7f11b.jpeg The number of times I have sat at this bar and never noticed all the sockets under the bar counter! https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f81504ddf.jpeg |
Success number two with Eurowings and senator status, lounge access into the standard lounge, which is the same as you get with Lufthansa business class. This is interesting in two ways first with Eurowings the web site doesn’t specifically state Newcastle as a lounge location and again with the fast track nothing is on the boarding pass. the lady check-in had no idea whether the lounge and bolt and fast track security were included.
It’s food, Jim, but not as we know it! Having completely skipped breakfast, I was feeling the need for a little bit of lunch. I think this is possibly the worst pasta I’ve seen this lounge turn out, it seems to be all tomato and nothing else. At least it will fill a hole until I get on board. I’ve had a look at the Eurowings but lyon board menu and there’s one dish there that I think I need to give a try to.. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f86bf6310.jpeg Thirty minutes to the gate, time to do justice to these goodies |
Boarding commenced on time from gate 10… if you consider this boarding
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8d94ab57c.jpeg Note the ajar door… there was much interest in this a few minutes ago from the crew… are we going to start off by going tech? We have been stood here now for 15 minutes…. |
We’ve pushed back ten minutes late and we are currently sat outside of the gate. I assume we’re waiting for a slot on the runway because we’re not in the naughty bin parking at the moment.
no great surprise that there’s plenty of legroom here at the exit row but the one surprise was that on this was supposedly completely full flight The middle seat has been left empty. I don’t know whether this is a state is benefit or not. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...91e01fad9.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...002d6ab68.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...524370631.jpeg Next stop: Düsseldorf in a little over an hours time |
In the end we were off the ground 20 minutes behind schedule. It didn’t take long for the seatbelt light to come off and there was a massive exodus to the toilet. I think a lot of the passengers have been indulging nicely in Newcastle Airport :D
The trolley service was quite unusual in that there were three of them running the trolleys one from the front one, from the back, and one down the middle. Here is a look at the menus. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6ff4faf53.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...24cabdca0.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...19b55c116.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...626650a35.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...63b80a161.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...97bcba684.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...56813bbfa.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...38cab1f53.jpeg This is my first time on Eurowings and so I had to give the food a try and I really couldn’t resist the currywurst. There was an offer in the menu to accompany that with some chips and a beer so of course why not? As I ordered the currwurst the crew member serving me said that would be about 20 minutes for the chips so I might be eating them on descent - that will be a first. Whilst waiting for the snack to arrive, I was paging through the Wings in-flight magazine and I was really surprised to see how extensive the Eurowings network is https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9b56fbd4e.jpeg The crewmember wasn’t wrong about eating on descent, no sooner had my food arrived than there was a double ding and seatbelt lights came on. To the crews credit, they didn’t harass me at all to finish the food. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ec277a7f4.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5265f9e8c.jpeg For chips in the air these were pretty decent, they were crispy and fluffy. The curry turkey sausage was okay, the curry sauce actually had some bite to it. I thought it was a bit bland when I started, but once I’ve finished eating I realised there was a decently tingly aftertaste. I’d order that one again. The only negative in the whole on board catering was the beer which was warm and so I couldn’t really tell you whether it was good or bad. Whatever delay we picked up in Newcastle, we managed to catch up on in the air and it looks like we’re gonna have a nicely on time arrival in Düsseldorf. My impressions from my first flight on Eurowings? Actually I thought it was enjoyable flying. With the exit row, the empty seat beside me, fast track lounge access, and group 1 boarding, all in all I couldn’t tell you the difference between this and BA apart from Eurowings have better food on the BoB trolley! I suspect it might be a slightly different experience if I didn’t have the senator status. The crew were friendly and smiling and the service was efficient. 8/10 (warm beers is a crime, I’m being a little generous :D ) On the ground exactly on time and a short taxi to the gate. And everyone is up before the seatbelt light is off <sigh> |
Originally Posted by BMarkus
(Post 37263716)
Please, do not expect too much about the VIE Austrian Senator lounge. On my trip to Berlin and back it was the worst lounge compared to FRA or ZRH. I don't know how the Business Class lounge is.
Regarding Leberkase, if one fails in DUS, one can count on Leberkase-Pepi between gates F06 and F08 in Vienna. Regarding Kosice, I shall be travelling there tomorrow. Overland, though, so I won't be reaching until Sunday afternoon. Might pop in for a picnic in the park or something, as a random cameo :D |
Off to the gate and the plane is only just emptying out. I did find this, looks like Düsseldorf shares BAs IT systems
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7798ad58a.jpeg |
We started boarding about quarter to the hour. It took quite a while for the arriving passengers to disembark. The only problem was, the gate was hot hot hot ! It’s quite a relief to be sat here with the air blowing.
Seat 12A and plenty of room as you might expect. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...36aa1c71c.jpeg A quick look at the safety card or should I say safety cards? https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d742583c2.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...881892b95.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bbaa54943.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...96707ef7f.jpeg and the rather extensive flight menu well, lots of pages just not very many things on each page https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...aff7b8912.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0f0e3eaec.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6b980cae0.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a6ab6fec0.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f1bd54ecb.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9f6c35a2e.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f3db77f9e.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2bbbc3c4d.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...76572dd53.jpeg I’m going to leave the Austrian network photo taken from the flight menu of all places. There is an in flight shopping magazine as well, which is where I would’ve expected to find it https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cda2a7720.jpeg There might have been quite a long delay in starting boarding but we just had the announcement that everyone’s on board at exactly 8 pm which is our departure time, although to be honest it doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere any time soon. it’s not a full load on board this fight far from it and 12B/C are both empty thankfully. just had the pilots announcement that we have a 10 minute delay, or should I say a further 10 minute delay due to congestion around Vienna so that’s cutting down my transit time to under 40 minutes unless we can make up some time in the air? Oh well, it wouldn’t be one of my trips without a bit of drama somewhere along the way! Nextstop: Vienna, eventually :D |
Don't worry about it too much, 40 minutes is plenty. Chances are that the KSC flight will be held for more connections anyway. I've been taking a 35 minute (scheduled) connection from AMS for years and I have yet to miss it.
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After quite a bit of hanging around both on the taxi and at the end of the runway we were eventually off the ground 25 minutes late. It looks like there might be a lot of slack in the timetable, flighty is still saying that we should be arriving on time? Fingers crossed.
The buy on board service started fairly quickly once the seatbelt sign was off and all of the team ran a pair of trollers down the cabin one after the other. The first trolley was buy on board in the second trolley was just offering water. I went for a coffee and a Jack Daniels, and thought that I’d give the marble cake a try. The cake is much larger than I expected, it comes in a two pack. One was enough and so theres a second for snacks later. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7b0979397.jpeg Once they finish serving the entire cabin one of the ladies came back again, offering chocolates to everyone. The chap on the left is a fine looking fellow, but I have to say the chap on the right bit of a hard life :D https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...82b6481ad.jpeg Chocolate shell and a gooey centre, very tasty. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ad3607553.jpeg Towards the end of the flight the flight lead announced that we will be arriving at a remote stand! He also gave the gates for everyone with connections so at least I know where I need to go. Whether I make it is whole different question. At 21:10 there was an announcement that “we’re flying pretty quickly“ no .... Sherlock! This was actually his intro into the ‘everyone pack your stuff away’ announcement although the seatbelt light hasn’t come on yet. In fact, it was fully 10 more minutes before the pilots ‘cabin crew prepare for landing’ announcement which accompanied the seatbelt might be illuminated. All that worry for nothing, in the end with managed to land exactly on time. Now let’s see how long it takes us to get the bus across into the terminal. |
And…. Delayed
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f49f208fa.jpeg And right next to F06 https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a09a0346c.jpeg Closed :( In fact the entire pier is closed, nary a bite to eat or a beer to drink. |
The gate eventually opened at 22:25 And it’s no great surprise to anyone that it was a bus gate. The bus itself, and I don’t mean the air, I mean the actual physical bus was so hot that leaning against the panel on the side of the bus was like leaning against a radiator. It was pretty unpleasant waiting for the full load before we headed off.
What did come as a surprise when we reached the plane the cleaning crew was still on board so the bus unloaded onto the tarmac and off it toddled, at least it was cooler standing outside. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2c111ab4e.jpeg There was only about five minutes before the cleaning crew finished and we were allowed on board. Seat 14F for me this evening for this last of three legs, and acres of legroom on this Embraer E95 https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...797b348a3.jpeg The traditional look at the safety card: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e9f45fe25.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9a5602524.jpeg Everyone aboard by 22:45 and three out of three for empty seats beside me, I could get used to this! The crew seem absolutely lovely on this fight and in fact I was very surprised that I was greeted by name by one member of the team who brought me a refreshing towel… maybe I just looked hot and bothered :D 22:53 and the safety demo is all done, the lights are down, and we are ready to roll for this 40 minute flight. Next Stop: Kosice |
Once the seatbelt sign was de-luminated the crew did the water run. It’s worth noting that the water on Austrian is large bottles dispensing into plastic glasses, just as BA have been trialling. The difference is that on Austrian they actually give a full glass of water and not three thimblefuls.
Soon thereafter the chocolates made an appearance and it would have been rude to refuse :D Beyond that there is very little left to add, it was a pleasant enough little hop, the crew were friendly but clearly had no time to engage on such a quick flight, they were all on the move constantly. The pilots announcement for 20 minutes to landing came almost immediately after the chocolates, the seatbelt light was on, and we were on our descent to Kosice. Obviously there was no buy on board with such a short hop so now all my hopes are pinned on the hotel bar still being open :D We’ve just landed a little over a quarter over an hour late, hopefully Kosice has a bus for us, or, even better, it’s a walk in strand? |
I love Kosice airport! Off the plane and landside in literally ninety seconds! We came off the plane,, into the baggage reclaim, straight to the airport and out the door. A straight line from plane to kerb.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bdaa0a4c7.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6e7cf78b8.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...331af8f3e.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e5101da4d.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...37676c590.jpeg I’m now on a cab on the way to the hotel. There were a surprising number of taxi drivers outside and in the end I had to use one as there was absolutely no Ubers, let’s see if this turns into a ripoff. |
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37264565)
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Originally Posted by Br5968
(Post 37265313)
Spent a few hours in that lounge with my 12yo son last November. He’s very well behaved, but mainlined that haribo… they had some German flag gummies that he particularly liked. I thought the beer selection was decent…
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The taxi was 25 euros which felt a bit steep but not gouging, the uber was 10 euros if had ever turned up. When I arrived at the hotel, the crew were checking in so I could save himself a taxi trip if I’d asked them where they were staying . :D
A nice upgrade at the doubletree from bottom room to suite https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8d63e14aa.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1d47e8f03.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f6f36abe4.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...91c581a51.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bdaf87e05.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ee84dfff3.jpeg And a little look around the reception whilst it is deserted https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3833259dd.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...804ffb2ee.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4b77cd055.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...668a98ed3.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...29a10e1cb.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...751f8713a.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a874adeea.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c4ed013d9.jpeg It’s now pushing on for 1am so time for bed. I’m in no tearing hurry in the morning as the tour doesn’t start until 1030 but I do need some sleep and I wouldn’t mind some breakfast tomorrow morning. I’ve not actually eaten that much at all today. Most of the dishes you’ve seen were left half eaten. At least I have a cookie to tide me over :D |
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37265288)
I love Kosice airport! Off the plane and landside in literally ninety seconds!
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Good morning from Kosice! It is rapidly approaching 8:30 am and I’ve made it down to breakfast. To be honest, despite my protestations of hunger last night, actually not much much of a breakfast person. A couple of slices of toast should do the job at least fuel me into the morning.
The breakfast spread is very typical what you would expect in a mid range hotel. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...41991e041.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1bc9cba3a.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...db4166123.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c15d57e5f.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...93faba5cd.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ea6701494.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c604cd211.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0f82a48ef.jpeg On the way to the breakfast restaurant I spotted the Kosice departures board. I’m impressed that they can keep an airport running at that volume. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d5f0b8993.jpeg The start point of the walking tour is around ten minutes from the hotel so no need for rushing around this morning |
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 37265288)
I love Kosice airport! Off the plane and landside in literally ninety seconds! We came off the plane,, into the baggage reclaim, straight to the airport and out the door. A straight line from plane to kerb.
I’m now on a cab on the way to the hotel. There were a surprising number of taxi drivers outside and in the end I had to use one as there was absolutely no Ubers, let’s see if this turns into a ripoff. Uber is not active in Kosice. Use Bolt. |
Start point of the tour. If the rest of the architecture is like this I’m in for a treat
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...687211e60.jpeg This is a free tour from guruwalk and our guide Ester is a hoot! |
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