Here’s a little travel experiment. I set myself the challenge to create a trip report video that lasts less that 2 minutes. It’s harder than I thought to get across all the experiences of the flight in that time. And of course you cannot use electronics during take off and landing so there’s no footage of that.
So here is my two-minute trip report video of a British Airways UK domestic flight from Edinburgh to London Gatwick.
Over to you: I hope I’ve started something here and will find other travellers making two-minute trip reports. If you have one please post a link to it by leaving a reply below.
First Class and Business Class air travel is a very expensive luxury, all very well if your company is paying for it, your name is Simon Cowell or Victoria Beckham, but for most of us, is usually reserved for honeymoon treats or lottery wins,
In my earlier blog “Why I am in debt to frequent flyer websites”I explained how I had learned how to earn enough airline points to travel in big seats for just the cost of the tax as opposed to the very high fares. I signed up for a British Airways Amex card and use it to buy everything. And every year I build up enough points to earn a “companion voucher” which means that I can buy two posh seats with Airmiles.
This year’s destination was Phoenix, Arizona. I knew that British Airways were installing brand new seats in their FIRST class cabin – the so called “New F”, but the chances of travelling on an updated aircraft was still quite low.
Hence why I was utterly delighted to see the aircraft pictured above – the gap between every second window in the nose section tipped me off that this one had the new seats installed.
So I decided to make a little video of the experience. Please click on the picture below to see my BA FIRST Class review, including the lovely “Concorde Room” at Heathrow, fine dining silver service at 35,000 feet, snazzy window blinds and, of course, fully flat seats.
Okay I’ve had enough of this. I have dealt with journalists for over 15 years. I know how to write a decent press release and to get a story out there either in-print or on-line. There is spin and there is super spin. There are true stories and there are tall stories. But the latest RyanAir PR stunts tale is so preposterous I can’t believe anyone picked it up let alone a national newspaper.
I don’t know whether I love or loath Michael O’Leary, the boss of Ryan Air. You often see photos of him looking like a manic gibbon with a smile so wide you could land a Boeing 737-800 in it. And such a photo accompanied this Daily Mail article claiming that Ryan Air will put Porn on Planes. Yes that’s right. Passengers will allegedly be able to rent porn films on their journey.
O’Learly acknowledges that it wouldn’t be fair to put porn on seat back TVs. No it would instead be available on discreet hand-held devices that the porn watching passenger could angle away from his fellow travellers to spare their blushes. Perhaps the device would come in a big plain brown paper bag to add to this discretion. I doubt it.
And anyway in true Ryan Air style the cabin crew would announce it’s availability in their customary style, “Today ladies and gentlemen we have some filthy dirty mucky films for you to hire. Just ring the cabin crew call bell and we’ll bring your own personal porn player to your seat. Only £10.99 per hour and an extra £2.99 for a packet of branded tissue wipes.”
This is of course complete twaddle. But the Mail reported it as fact.
Why are intelligent journalists taken in by this PR posturing? Do the Ryan Air press releases include a footnote informing readers that the word gullible is not actually contained within the Oxford English Dictionary along with a suggestion to go and check. Obviously not otherwise we would have seen a tabloid headline claiming it’s true along side a photo of a giggling Mr O’Leary giving the thumbs up.
They fell for the statement about Ryan Air introducing charges to use to use the toilet on board. They fell for the frequent releases about introducing stand-up seating. Or more sit down seating made available by taking the toilets out completely.
Anyone with five minutes to spare can find that the 737-800s that Ryan Air use are already at their largest capacity under the Boeing certification and various Aviation Authority evacuation rules.
So it would be easy to debunk the stories. But they report it as fact whilst Mr O’Leary sits in his office cackling insanely and having a right good laugh at those he has duped yet again, and revelling in his free publicity – good or bad.
Personally I won’t fly Ryan Air because I was once kidnapped by them. There was a meeting in Dublin I was going to but after a 4 hour delay on the flight there was no point travelling as I’d missed the meeting and it couldn’t be rearranged for later. I asked to get off the plane (the doors were still open) but they refused and I had to travel all the way to Dublin for no reason. And then come back again. As a result if I had a choice between flying direct to Paris with Ryan Air or via New Zealand with another airline, I’d take the kiwi route every time.
The near genius of O’Leary’s PR is that the public know that flying Ryan Air is a pretty miserable experience and that they will get fleeced for extra charges, so O’Leary’s PR stunts fit so well with people’s perceptions of the airline that they almost could be true.
The first flight to Gatwick from Edinburgh is at 06.15, one of the first flights out, and leaves before the flurry of low-cost airlines heading to Spain, and yet the airport was very quiet. There was no queue at the Club bag drop and a very rapid 5 minutes wait at security. After a swift orange juice and chocolate mini-muffin from the BA Lounge, and a quick Facebook and Twitter site check-in we were boarding the first leg of our journey.
The Boeing 737 was G-DOCY and wasn’t as battered as some Gatwick aircraft I have been on recently. Very uneventful flight with the typical BA hot breakfast of scrambled egg, sausage, bacon, mushrooms and a blob of tomato ketchup (which seems to have replaced the real tomatoes these days). Two cups of coffee, no holding at Gatwick and arrival much to my annoyance on an international stand with a bus to the terminal.
Through flight connections centre in 5 minutes and into the BA lounge for an early glass of Champagne. The lounge is now in the Galleries style – and is actually very comfortable – but much reduced in size as there is now no lower level. Still a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours before the long haul departure.
British Airways Club World Review London Gatwick to St Lucia
At the gate priority boarding was given to Silver, Gold and Club Class passengers (as it should be) and to World Traveller Plus. The plane was G-VIIO – a three class Boeing 777-200 with three rows of Club in the forward cabin and 2 more rows after doors 2. I took my seat and a crew member almost immediately handed me a glass of champagne and a copy of The Times. I travelled in this same seat to Grenada on this very plane two years ago, but since then they’ve installed new generation of Club flat beds. The cabin did look a bit battered already, with some of the plastic seat surrounds displaying cracks and chips. But the seat is still comfy and the aircraft was clean.
Although the flight was full we seemed to get away very quickly and soon were waiting at the runway for a couple of landings before we were off. This is a video of the take of from Gatwick and the landing at St. Lucia taken from the rear-facing seat 2A.
As soon as the seat belt signs went out the crew sprang into action, handing out wash bags and menus. I must say that the current Elemis Club wash bag is quite disappointing. They’ve replaced the miniature bottles of the Molton Brown era with sachets of facial wipes and moisturiser. This is another sad example of a downgrading of the overall Club experience.
Drinks came next as the cabin manager took lunch orders. I had another glass of champagne and enjoyed a packet of mixed nuts whilst deciding on what to eat for lunch.
Review – London Gatwick to St Lucia
The menu was as follows:
Starters
Lemon poached prawn salad with herb oil
or
Winter bean cassoulet and bocconcini Mozzarella salad with rocket pesto
Salad
Fresh seasonal salad with vinaigrette
Main
Pan seared fillet steak with thyme scented gnocchi and creamed truffle jus
Chicken tikka masala with saag aloo and mushroom saffron rice
Walnut and blue cheese polenta with herbed wild mushroom and tomato coulis
Chilled main course salad of poached Loch Fyne salmon, roast new potatoes and Pommery mustard
Desert
Caramelised apple tart Tatin with cinnamon creme anglaise
Lincolnshire Poacher and Blue Wensleydale with oatcake biscuits and grapes
Fruit and chocolates
I also looked at the wine list and choose the red wine from Chile. BA have done me proud with red wines in the past and this one was no exception. Very strong, robust and spicy. I had many glasses of this over lunch with the crew filling glasses as they passed in each direction through the cabin.
The wines on offer were:
Champagne
Ayla Brut Majeur NV
White
Chablis 2008 Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard, Burgundy, France
Old Well House Grenache Blanc 2009 Western Cape South Africa
Red
Chateau Barateau 2006 Haut Medoc, Bordeaux, France
Villa San-Juliette Merlot 2007, Paso Robles, California, USA
Chono Reserva Syrah 2008, Elqui Valley, Chile
I decided not to have a starter and simply began with the salad.
Then I had the steak which I thought was quite tender and cooked to my liking. The gnocchi was very tasty and the sauce was delicious.
The desert was very sweet and moist and although I would have preferred it warm it was very tasty.
After lunch I continued to watch “Never Let me Go”, a strangely placid but very dark science fiction film with Carey Mulligan, and then moved to a another film about a brother wrongly accused of murder which completely failed to engage my attention. Perhaps the wine was just too nice and was already lulling me into holiday mode.
Occasionally I would lift the window blind to look at the sea below and the blazing sun as we approached St Lucia.
Afternoon tea arrived next, still wrapped in its cellophane and on a much smaller tray than I remember from earlier Club trips. The sandwiches were fine if a little dry, so needed washing down with even more red wine. By now I was completely in holiday mode.
Afternoon Tea
An individual choice of sandwiches featuring beef with horseradish and mature Cheddar with pickle.
Plain or fruit scones served with clotted cream and strawberry preserves.
Very soon we were approaching St Lucia and I could see the beautiful Piton mountains out of the window as we landed. First off the plane, first through immigration and off to paradise for 12 days.
Over to you: I would love to hear your travel tales. Have you flown with BA in Club World? What did you think of the service. Was it a truly premium experience. Leave a comment, share your thoughts and let me know.
