[1nfrequent]

Given that seatplans isn’t automatically linking up with the BT forums, I thought I’d take a leaf out of Pat Jordan’s book and cross-post my reviews here. Apologies to the Mods if that isn’t permitted (and I understand if the thread gets deleted).

I flew BA2582 from LGW to VCE on an Airbus 319 in Club Europe.

I booked the flights using a part-payment of Avios so the cost was £89 plus 11,500 Avios rather than the £220 full price being charged. This is not a good use of Avios but I was in a situation where I had a lot of Avios sloshing about but needed the 80 tier points in order to help reach BAEC gold this year so I was satisfied with the deal.

I had stayed at the Gatwick Hilton overnight (my tip – don’t do that unless the price is substantially cheaper than the Sofitel or the Bloc hotels – it’s tired, the rooms are in poor condition and the sound proofing is diabolically awful) and used the monorail to get to Departures, getting there just after 6.20am and made my way to the BA check in desks. There was a bit of a queue at bag drop but only one person waiting at the Club Europe/Club World check-in desks so I headed over there. I got a friendly greeting from the check-in agent who put a priority tag on my bag and told me that I could use priority security (I had already printed out my boarding pass the day before when I checked in on-line). She didn’t mention the lounge but I already knew that BA was using the No. 1 lounge and because I knew where that was I didn’t bother asking about it.

Gatwick has been remodelling the North Terminal and it was my first visit there in over a year so I was a bit thrown by the fact that security has been moved to a different location. Fortunately a member of BA staff was on hand to point me in the right direction and I was “happy” to discover that despite the move it remained as chaotic and dehumanising as ever. At least this time the security staff were making an effort to help passengers through by telling them what they needed to take out of their bags and what could stay in but there were only 2 machines/gates working for the queue, which meant it did take some time to get through. However I did like the fact that there are little tables after you’re through the gate so there’s somewhere for you to take your stuff and get organised – that’s something that Heathrow should definitely consider as it stops people bunching around the x-ray machine and makes for a speedier experience.

Airside the North Terminal is in a mess due to the construction work. It’s crowded, cramped and there was a fair amount of jostling going on as people went to the gates and shops. Consequently I resolved to just get to the lounge asap and followed the signs. There’s a separate BA desk outside the No. 1 Lounge where you have to present yourself first – they then give you a voucher to give to the No. 1 Lounge receptionists 10 feet away. There was a scrum at the No. 1 Lounge when I got there due to a large group requiring admittance and no queuing system in operation. Not a premium feel.

The lounge itself is a good size split into a number of areas – one for eating, a study and a bar. I found a table in the food area where I could put my bags and went to take a look at the self-service food offering. It was pretty basic but there were pastries, cereal, fruit, yoghurt, cheese and biscuits available together with a coffee machine and jugs of fruit juice. If you want something more substantial then there were menus on each table from which you could order bacon sandwiches, beans on toast, kedgeree, toast and porridge – all of which had to be ordered from the bar. I’d already eaten at the Hilton lounge so just helped myself to a cranberry juice and a cappuccino and watched the sunrise through the excellent view of the strip. The lounge has its own toilets and baby changing rooms – the toilets were clean and well stocked with Aromatherapy Associates products. I think that wi-fi was available but I didn’t try it.

I’d read horror stories of the No. 1 Lounge being cramped and noisy. That wasn’t my experience on the day but I was on an early short-haul flight – I can imagine it getting very crowded as the BA long-haul flight passengers make their way there.

At 7.45am the gate flashed up for my flight as being 570. I wasn’t sure where that was relative to the lounge so decided to make a move. This was probably a good decision as gate 570 is on the opposite side of the terminal and involved a 10 minute stroll, once again having to go through the very crowded shopping area.

The gate area itself was a good size with plenty of seating. Boarding started at 8.05am with a call for Club Europe passengers and BAEC gold and silver and One World emerald and sapphire cardholders. (I believe that BAEC bronze and One World ruby cardholders were called next but can’t be sure). Boarding was via an air bridge and there was a friendly greeting from cabin crew.

I’d selected seat 3A at the time of booking but 2F opened up a couple of days before the flight so I moved myself there. The seats were in the old BA style with blue leather, which was worn and had seen better days but was at least clean. Seating was in a 3×3 configuration with the middle seat blocked out and there were 6 rows in Club Europe, which was pretty full. I found space in the overhead locker for my rucksack and put my laptop bag under the seat in front. Legroom in the seat was a little snug but still perfectly fine for a short flight.

We pushed back at 8.30am and I was a little surprised when a member of cabin crew who had greeted people on boarding then took the seat next to me – not a problem in the slightest, I just hadn’t expected it. There was a manual safety briefing as we taxied and we were airborne by 8.50am.

Hot towels were brought round and I was amused when the member of cabin crew next to me used hers to clean her tray and made a comment about general cleanliness – I did the same and was disappointed by the amount of muck the towel picked up. I wish that BA allowed its cleaning crews enough time to do a proper job on the ground.

Breakfast was served from the front at 9.10am. There was a choice of a cooked or a continental breakfast. I opted for the continental as I couldn’t cope with anything greasy at that time of the morning. The continental breakfast consisted of 2 slices of ham, 1 slice of salami, half a boiled egg, 2 pieces of mozzarella and 2 pieces of cheddar, lettuce, a couple of olives, a couple of slices of cucumber and one cherry tomato. It also came with a warm bread roll or warm pastry and a plastic tub of muesli (which I left because really – who likes muesli?). I thought the breakfast was pretty good but I had already eaten once that morning so wasn’t incredibly hungry anyway. If you like to have something hearty in the morning, you might want to eat in the lounge before boarding the plane to make sure you’re not left hungry. I had my customary ginger ale with my breakfast followed by a cup of tea, which was pretty good (far better than BA’s coffee).

Plates were cleared away from the front at about 9.40am. This was followed by a Duty Free run. The flight itself passed smoothly and I occupied myself by reading my book. I put my watch on Venice time so the rest of this report refers to Venice time.

We got a 10 minute warning at 10.15am and landed at 10.30am. We were off the plane at 10.35am by airbridge. At passport control everyone with an EU electronic readable passport was directed to the egates, which meant that there was a bit of a queue (although it moved quickly) – ironically those who ignored the airport officials and went to the manual check were through more quickly. There was a brief wait at baggage reclaim but the luggage was out surprisingly quickly, with mine being one of the first on the belt. As a result I was out of the airport and on my way to the water taxis by 11am.

I’ve said it before (so apologies for the repetition) but BA’s LGW offering is very much a second-class service and this flight experience did not convince me otherwise. The situation at the No. 1 Lounge is not one of BA’s making and I understand that their new lounge will be opening in January 2017 in time for the South Terminal move so I would be interested to see if that’s an improvement (although given BA’s current race to the bottom mentality, I suspect it will be “enhanced” in a bad way). The crew were fine, the food on the plane was fine, the cleanliness could have been better but the flight was punctual and I had no real complaints. Ultimately I did this trip for the Tier Points and I was satisfied with what I got but I really wouldn’t go out of my way to use LGW unless it was substantially cheaper than LHR or offered destinations not otherwise serviced out of LHR.

1F

[1nfrequent]

I flew BA2583 from VCE to LGW on an Airbus 320 in Club Europe.

I got to VCE’s water taxi stop at around 10.35am and it took around 10 minutes to walk to the Terminal – all clearly signposted and through a very modern building. The check-in desks for BA at Departures were clearly identified. There was a very long queue for the economy passengers (seemed that there were only 2 desks open to process the 2 flights due to leave at around the same time) but there was no one waiting at the Club Europe check-in desk. I got a friendly greeting from the check-in agent who printed out my boarding pass as I hadn’t been able to do it when I checked-in on-line. He put a priority tag on my bags, told me how to get to priority security and also how to find the Marco Polo lounge. He also double-checked that my hand baggage met BA’s conditions and put tags on them.

Priority security was right next to the BA desks and there was no queue at all so I was through very quickly. Have to say that I found the security people to be cheerful and helpful – British security could learn so much from them.

There was a reasonably array of shops airside, many featuring luxury brands. I followed the signs to the Marco Polo lounge on the second floor and found a sign outside it apologising for the fact that it was being remodelled. The lounge itself was very small and crowded due to the large number of airlines who use it (including BA and Emirates).

I got a friendly greeting from the lounge dragon and managed to find a seat (although this did involve having to ask another passenger to move their bags off a chair). There was a food offering consisting of a variety of pastries, crepes, fruit and cold cuts but I was put off by the number of flies buzzing around it so just helped myself to a bottle of water. If you wanted alcohol or a coffee then you had to ask a member of staff. The soft drink offering seemed to mostly consist of fruit juice.

To be honest the lounge was so unpleasant that I ended up leaving as soon as the gate for my flight flashed up at 11.45am. Gate 33 was only a couple of minutes walk from the lounge and there was plenty of seating, although this hadn’t stopped the gate lice from hovering around the desks.

Boarding began at 11.50am with a call for passengers with infants or those with mobility issues. Unfortunately the gate agents did not enforce this and what happened instead was that the gate lice surged forward to try and get through. When the gate agents realised what was happening they then made a call for Club Europe and BAEC gold, silver and bronze cardholders. They did enforce this and I saw them turn back a number of passengers but I still had to shove my way past the gate lice anyway, many of whom really didn’t want to move.

Boarding was by an airbridge and I got a friendly greeting from cabin crew. I had picked seat 2A at the time of booking. Interestingly on this configuration of the A320 there was no bulk head in front of row 1 seats A-C, which essentially made it an exit row with brilliant leg room and there was no row 1 seats D-F – I hadn’t seen that before on other flights so don’t know how unusual it is. Apart from this anomaly, Club Europe consisted of 6 rows in a 3×3 configuration with the middle seat blocked out – the other rows were full and the only spare seat was the one next to me. The seats were in the new, slimmer black leather style and were clean and in good condition. I was easily able to get space in the overhead locker for my rucksack but unfortunately due to a full flight, a patronising member of cabin crew decided to move it under the middle seat in front of me to make room for an economy passenger’s large roller case. That really annoyed me – mainly because of the patronising attitude – but also because there was no way a case that big should have been allowed on as cabin luggage in the first place.

I switched my watch to London time so the rest of the report refers to London time.

We pushed back at 11.15am. There was a manual safety briefing as we taxied and we were airborne by 11.30am. Hot towels were then brought around (I used it to clean the tray, which was cleaner than the one on my flight out) followed by a drinks run and peanuts from the front of the plane. Cabin crew used the drinks run to take orders for lunch – there was a choice of bolognaise with parsnips and butternut squash or a hot chicken salad. I opted for the bolognaise as I can’t stand salad.

Lunch was served shortly after, also from the front. The bolognaise was slightly under seasoned but the parsnips and butternut squash were well cooked and tasty. There was also a warm bread roll and a chocolate caramel mousse for desert, which I thought was very good. I washed it all down with a glass of ginger ale but because it was the end of my holiday I also had a small bottle of the Castelnau champagne, which was perfectly drinkable for something served in a screw top bottle.

I thought that the cabin crew on the plane were (patronising comments aside) good – solicitous and caring and frequently offering top ups of drinks but I did notice that the passenger in row 1 got more attention than anyone else in the Club Europe cabin.

Plates were cleared away from the front at around 12.00pm and although there was a bit of turbulence at times the rest of the flight passed without incident and I buried myself in my book. The pilot gave a 15 minute warning at 1pm but we ended up having a very bumpy landing at 1.10pm. We were out of the airplane via an airbridge by 1.15pm.

For once Gatwick’s arrivals operation wasn’t an appalling disgrace. The line at passport control moved very quickly and I arrived at baggage reclaim just as the first bags were starting to emerge on the belt. As a bonus, my bag was one of the first off and I was out of the airport by 1.30pm.

The crew on this flight were much more proactive and friendly than those on the flight out, although I do think that they sometimes play favourites which can stick in the craw when you’re not the beneficiary. The lounge at VCE is pretty bad – not BA’s fault as they’re not responsible for the refurbishment works but I really couldn’t wait to get out of there. It’s the first time I’ve come into LGW and had everything go smoothly so I don’t know if this was a one-off or the result of investment made in the airport (I hope it’s the latter but I fear the former).

1F

[openfly]

@Infrequent
Surprised that they did a “Duty Free run” on an EU flight!

[esselle]

Bolognaise with parsnips and butternut squash? What will they think of next.

[JohnHarper]

[quote quote=776188]Bolognaise with parsnips and butternut squash? What will they think of next.

[/quote]

Ah, but don’t you see what’s coming?

Meal choices like this are designed so that people dislike them and then they hold a survey where people are asked what they would prefer and the opt for a sandwich over bolognaise with parsnips and butternut squash.

Then they get a poor quality sandwich with no choice so there’s another survey of that sandwich vs M&S BoB….

Then within a couple of seasons BoB is in both cabins on short haul because that’s what passengers have said they want!

Aren’t enhancements promised for ‘Club Europe’ early next year? From my memory of travel which is now about three years ago it would be difficult to enhance the offering any further in its current form unless they are planning to reduce the number of prawns on a prawn salad from three to one.

[esselle]

Or perhaps the option of a prawn free prawn sandwich for passengers who are allergic to shellfish?

[TominScotland]

Great review, 1nfrequent!! Currently in LGW, arrived with Air Baltic – no immigration queues in South Terminal and now in the Clubrooms downstairs in North terminal which is a great space. Security queues were minimal.

Pity a good review is taken over by blindly uncritical fans of BA, reminders of VK of yore me thinks, with their adulation of the national flag carrier. At least they are consistent (yawn….)

[JohnHarper]

[quote quote=776202]
Pity a good review is taken over by blindly uncritical fans of BA, reminders of VK of yore me thinks, with their adulation of the national flag carrier. At least they are consistent (yawn….)

[/quote]

Tom, have you taken over as the Chief BA Apologist here these days?

Good to see you’re approaching it consistently (yawn…..)

[1nfrequent]

openfly:
Surprised that they did a “Duty Free run” on an EU flight!

Me too but they did one.

JohnHarper:
Aren’t enhancements promised for ‘Club Europe’ early next year?

I really hope not. I can’t think of anything left to “enhance”.

TomInScotland – thank you! I’ll be interested to read your thoughts of the Air Baltic flight.

Hopefully this won’t spark another dull snit fest about BA – I really didn’t start the thread to cause arguments. Just wanted to share my thoughts.

1F

[PatJordan]

Excellent review as always 1F. I don’t think there’s an issue with submitting reviews on both sites. In truth, I find that this forum sparks more debate (quite often lively and incisive!!).

[WillieWelsh]

Bolognaise with parsnips and butternut squash sounds pretty revolting. I wonder who dreams these meals up.

[esselle]

Chicken liver smoothie, ginger and sardine energiser, courgette and banana side salad. Is this the Heston leftovers?

[PatJordan]

Esselle, that sounds like something from l’m a celebrity, get me out of here!!

[1nfrequent]

WillieWelsh:
Bolognaise with parsnips and butternut squash sounds pretty revolting.

I was skeptical too (in fact I should probably confess that I’d misheard and thought it was a vegetable bolognaise until it arrived) but apart from the lack of seasoning it was honestly perfectly fine.

I think the time I’ll really worry is when they bring on the bush tucker taster menu … 😀

1F

[TominScotland]

1nfrequent

Air Baltic was absolutely fine. On time departure, extensive de-icing prior to take-off from Riga and arrival early into LGW. Checked my case through RIX-LGW-GLA which was excellent.

We sat in row 4, the first row in Economy with very good legroom. Business had just the one passenger and the remainder of the aircraft was quite full. One BOB trolley run on the flight, rather less intrusive that our FR service from Glasgow on the way out (no scratch cards!!). We did not buy anything on board except one cup of reasonable tea – bought sandwiches in the airport which were better value but similar in appearance.

The pilot was Scottish which was a surprise…..

Would certainly use them again….

[Author]

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