QF009 travels the world on a blast from the past: my first DONE4

[Evan]

I have been reading your reports with interest, pity about forgetting to adopt the cute little bear !

Internet in hotels is so amazingly different depending on what city or hotel, I think it should be free in all hotels or atleast low cost, 20 Euro for 24hrs internet is crazy, but what choice do we have !

That pizza is making me hungry !
E

 

[Keith009]

Barcelona!!

This has to be one of the most stylish cities I've ever visited - nice architecture, and smart interiors at many establishments. If you like Modernist architecture (read: Gaudi) - then Barcelona is for you. Unfortunately I got a bit weary of staring at pretty buildings, and there really wasn't that much else to do other than shopping.

I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Spanish cuisine. It's invariably too seasoned for me - either too much salt, or spices.

And unfortunately I found the nightlife highly overrated. The only reason why clubs stay open for so long, till the crack of dawn is because parties only kick off so late! Other than the late hours the clubs were no better or worse than most other major cities.

Of all the stuff I saw in Barcelona, I reckon the following stood out:

The Gaudi Apartment - very innovative design, every room in each apartment has natural sunlight.

 

[Keith009]

Segrada Familia - under construction since the late 19th century!!

 

[Keith009]

La Rambla and surrounds - a very pretty avenue

 

[Keith009]

My European Hoppla part 1 - SWISS economy

Sometime before I ticketed my DONE4, the rules had change to include surface segments in the segment limitation of 20. To limit the number of surface segments in my ticket, I decided to get rid of the FCO//BCN and instead got some repositioning flights to get myself back to FCO and pick up the DONE4 from there.

LX appeared to offer the cheapest deal through the 'throwaway ticketing' technique - EUR138 or thereabouts for BCN-FCO return, except that I'm not going to use the return portion. Their own fault for not adopting more flexible one way pricing policies...

All in I think I spent about 12 hours flying the Hoppla, with some good extra hours contributed by slot restrictions at LHR due to storms in the UK. I also went through the shoe/belt carnival no less than 3 times (BCN, ZRH, FCO)!

Sector - BCN-ZRH
Flight number - LX1953
Class - Economy
Seat - 20A, then 21C
Aircraft - A321

I'd slept in a little and rushed to the airport in a panic, with about 15 minutes to spare until check in closed. My entire itinerary would fall through if I miss any one of my connections so i was massively relieved when I finally checked in.

Perhaps due to my lateness, I was kicked out of my pre-assigned aisle seat. The check in agent assured me that I was still seated in one of the first few rows, and that the seat next to mine has been blocked since the flight wasn't full.

I got to my gate just as boarding had commenced - we boarded from a bus gate. It was a bit of a scrum to get on to the bus as the staff were keen to pack as many pax in as possible, but otherwise everything was in good order as people were calm and relaxed, and there wasn't a whole lot of pushing and shoving to get onto the plane.

I like the stylish charcoal grey interior of the LX A321 cabin - possibly one of the nicest narrow body cabins I've ever been in.

After boarding had completed, I was asked by my seat mate as to whether I'd be willing to swap seats with his friend who was directly behind him in 21C. The prospective new seat was an aisle seat and 21B was free - needless to say I readily agreed. He could talk to his mate in comfort and I get my aisle seat - a sweetheart deal!

We took off and landed on time, and a small breakfast of muffin and juice was served on this short service. The crew on this flight was perfunctory at best.

 

[Keith009]

Sector - ZRH-FCO
Flight number - LX1736
Class - Economy
Seat - 10C
Aircraft - A320

We arrived at the same area as where my onward connection was departing, which was great for my somewhat tight connection at ZRH. I was allowed to use the business class lane as a SEN (though I think it was a favour as the sign specifically indicated premium class pax only), cleared the shoe carnival ended up with 20 minutes to spare before boarding commenced.

There was more legroom on this aircraft as I got the emex row, however the interiors were very worn. Perhaps it's due to the positioning of the emex row but my seat was misaligned with the seat in front. There was also a rather harassed-looking mum traveling with 2 tots diagonally across the aisle - it looked like she'd connected from America. The crew was great with kids, they brought out toys and had time to look after both kids to allow mum to settle down in preparation for departure.

Shortly before departing the crew had a bit of an issue with Miss 10A who steadfastly refused to stow her hand luggage in the overhead compartment; they eventually reached a compromise and allowed her to stow it underneath the seat in front. All through the briefing for emex row pax she was busy reading her magazine - when asked to pay attention she snapped at the crew member. It's a wonder she wasn't asked to switch seats. I suppose the crew was keen to avoid confrontation, but despite the low likelihood of an emergency - I suppose one never knows and these things happen most unexpectedly.

We were served a snack on this service, along with a beverage of choice. The white wine was foul - I wouldn't be surprised if they used it to clean the aircraft toilets during the turnarounds. I quickly moved on to the red which was much better.

I found the crew on this flight to be heaps better than the last flight - the ones I came across were very chirpy and had great charms.

I arrived in FCO in good time for my BA flight to LHR. I've made it, and all was well - or so I thought.

 

[Keith009]

My European Hoppla part 2 - FCO-LHR BA J

Sector - FCO-LHR
Flight number - BA559
Class - Business
Seat - 3C
Aircraft - A320 (i think...)

I'd gone with advice I received from fellow travelers and opted to re-check my baggage at FCO instead of attempting to interline them across to BA. It was a bit awkward at immigration as I struggle to think of an adequate answer as to why I was in Italy - 'in transit to London' seemed to work.

The priority tag worked and my suitcase was the 2nd off the flight - I think it was also because I was a transit pax at ZRH as the first few bags I saw all had connections.

I was wondering about the possibility of moving to an earlier flight to London as there was still adequate time, but my questions were answered when I saw that the LHR departure before mine was canned. My own flight was showing an estimated delay of 60 minutes, and it was no longer possible to jump on to the LGW flight which was departing in 15 minutes. The check in agent explained that this was due to horrid weather in the UK - there was snow apparently!

We ended up boarding approx an hour and 30 minutes behind schedule, and had to sit on the ground for a little bit longer while waiting for ATC clearance. The CE cabin was nearly ful due to the flight cancellation l with most middle seats filled - but my seatmate and I still had the luxury of an empty middle seat!

Those in whY had to go hungry as the sandwiches for this flight were back catered from LHR. As a consequence of the delay the sandwiches were time expired and there was no time to get fresh sandwiches if the flight deck wanted to keep our slot to LHR.

Thankfully no such problems arose in J, which was lucky as I was extremely hungry having only had the small little snack-like meals on LX for the entire day. We had a choice of beef goulash or stir fried chicken with rice - I went with the beef as it seemed to have a nicer smell when the cart came to me. It did end up being quite delicious, but I suppose I'd have found anything tasty at that moment - I was that hungry!

We landed into chaos at LHR - we had a phenomenally long wait for a tow truck, there was a variety of staff meeting the flight to rush pax to onward connections and baggage reclaim was hell with heaps of flights cancelled and angry pax facing long waits to claim their luggage. I think I must have waited for about 45 minutes for my baggage belt number to appear on the screen, and it was about another 20 minutes before bags started appearing - my suitcase was the third to appear. So far so good with the LHR baggage gods - I hadn't had to file a single delayed baggage report yet!

I then finally got into my hotel about 3 hours behind schedule, and a planned dinner with mates turned into late evening drinks.

Next: Sheraton Park Tower, London; BA6938 LGW-MLA whY; The Westin Dragonara Resort, Malta

 

[drron]

Those shoes and jeans seem to have travelled extensively!Must be quite comfortable by now.
Good to see the pics of Barcelona.Will be there later this year.Not a club person and love Spanish food so should be just right.And I will have no tight connections to make.

 

[Keith009]

Those shoes and jeans seem to have travelled extensively!Must be quite comfortable by now.

Those shoes have served me well on my travels - they are the only brand (Merrells) of shoes that do not kill my feet and I'd wear them everywhere if I could. I have weird shaped feet and it's hard to find shoes that do not hurt. However I've found some nice travel shoes while cruising down Robertson so my faithful pair of Merrells will be decommissioned soon. Now I just need new pairs for work, clubbing and uni and I'm set for the new season... Despite facing severe difficulties finding suitable shoes I LOVE shoe shopping.

I actually have several pairs of the same jeans - Hugo Boss in London had a huge sale boxing day dec 2006 and these jeans were SO comfy - comes with huge pockets which I like - so I ended up buying a few pairs of the same thing.

Just checked into the W San Francisco - WoWness!!!!

 

[Keith009]

Sheraton Park Tower London, a Luxury Collection hotel
Knightsbridge

This was one of those LC branded Sheratons, or Sheraton branded LCs depending on your perspective. More likely the latter IMO due to the global significance of the Sheraton branding. I'd needed a one night stay in Central London and was simply looking for the cheapest SPG property - and incidentally this property seemed to be the cheapest when I looked, which was a good thing as apart from the Sheraton Belgravia the other SPGs in London seem to attract very mixed reviews.

The best bit about the hotel is its excellent location - great proximity to some awesome shopping. Harvey Nichols was literally just around the corner, with more great high street shopping down the same road. It was easy to squeeze in some shopping before my flight to Malta on the same day.

At check in I was given a complimentary glass of champers. I was upgraded to the Butler Floor when I checked in, although this took a bit of gentle nudging. Apparently there were very few suites at this property and people actually do pay for suites here - the rest of the rooms are identical in shape and size. Took the points again as my amenity. My luggage took a while to arrive in my room and when it did - it was someone else's suitcase! The porter was most apologetic and I was reunited with my bag soon after.

I quite like the decor - it was a good blend of traditional and clean line modern. My room was a bit curved due to the circular shape of the building. The bed was nice, and there were Molton Brown amenities in the bathroom.

I had no need for a butler but the complimentary room service breakfast was delicious. Had a nice Eggs Benedict but immediately felt homesick as no one does Eggs Benedict like the mum and pop cafe down the road from my apartment in St Kilda!

I quite enjoyed my short stay, but will only return if the price is right since this property can get pretty expensive and nice as it is - I don't think it's worth that much more than what I paid.

Next: BA6938 LGW-MLA whY; The Westin Dragonara Resort, Malta; Pics of Malta

 

[Keith009]

Sector - LGW-MLA
Flight number - BA6938
Class - Economy
Seat - 12F
Aircraft - A320

I was supposed to stay in London for a bit longer but ended up getting talked into attending a bit of the BA Board Knights (and Dames!) of Malta Do. GB Airways, still operating as BA was offering a damn cheap deal to MLA in both Club and Economy, and so BA6938 was quickly established as the official outbound flight. I had to leave MLA a day earlier than everyone else to get to LA in time and so I only did one of the two party flights.

I got carried away with lunch and got to the airport a bit late. PhilH guested me into the Flounge and I had 20 minutes before boarding commenced to sip on the yummy Taittinger Millesime 2000. The Doers were already there in full force, demolishing the champers. It was nice to see some familiar faces again, as well as meet some new ones for the first time.

Most people were flying in Club, and so it was a bit lonely trudging to the back of the aircraft to my seat in whY. At least I managed to snag the emex row, and I had Boddingtons in front of me in 11F.

Had a slight issue with one of the crews, per my rant here. Other than that I thought the other crew members were fine - perfunctory, but at least relaxed and friendly.

We got a hot meal in whY on this flight. I can't remember for the life of me what I ate - I think it was chicken, and it didn't taste at all bad. Maybe some of y'all who were on the same flight in whY can refresh my memory - but in any case I took a pic:

The crew also failed to give out landing cards for non-EU citizens. I didn't know that I'd needed landing cards till I arrived at passport control, since some of the EU countries I entered hadn't needed them - so I didn't ask for them whilst onboard. Consequently i had to fumble for a pen and hastily filled one out at passport control.

My suitcase popped out pretty quickly despite the lack of priority tags.

 

[Keith009]

The Westin Dragonara Resort, Malta
St Julians

Well I failed to take pics of my stay here as I was too drunk when I finally stumbled into my room at 0300ish from someone's suite at the IC (no naughty thoughts please ), so thankfully jhm took a few pics.

Stayed here as part of the BA board MLA do.

I got an identical room to the 2nd room in jhm's review - an Executive Suite, which was literally 2 rooms joined together. I was upgraded weeks in advance of my stay. I suspect that they conveniently upgraded me when they had to switch all reservations to reflect new rates in Euros (Malta has just ditched its old currency for Euros).

As jhm mentioned the hotel is located in St Julians, and is just around the corner from some pumping nightlife. Think Malta's version of Lan Kwai Fong. In other words - the location is perfect!

Upon arrival I was greeted by 2 different staff members who already knew who I was. I was welcomed most cordially, asked how my flight was, and generally fussed over. I was then advised that I'd been upgraded to an Executive Suite. Took my 500 points as Plat amenity. jhm on the other hand got the standard 'hi, welcome, piss off to your room' which was a little perplexing at first, but it turned out that his Plat status was not properly recorded in the system - we only realised what was happening when he asked for his Plat amenity but the check in agent responded that he's Gold in the system. So moral of the story - always make sure your status is accurately reflected in the hotel's systems.

There was a fruit platter waiting for me in my room when I got there, as well as a welcome note from the manager. There were also 2 complimentary bottles of water. The bathroom was spacious and came with a jacuzzi, and as mentioned - had Molton Brown amenities.

The only (minor) complaint i have is being woken up TWICE at 6am in the morning, once by the front desk and another time by housekeeping enquiring when I'd be checking out. My own fault for not properly organising late check out I suppose - but I'd have been more understanding if the call came at the standard check out time (11am me thinks), not 6am!

The hotel was also rather generous with extending my check out time, even beyond the standard 4pm late check out. We didn't get back from our tour of Malta till 5pm and they were more than happy to let me keep the room with no extra charge till 5.30pm.

Next: Pics of Malta; BA6939 MLA-LGW whY; Yotel LGW

 

[superchris]

QF QF009, I am enjoying every comment and picture and please keep them coming!

 

[Alanslegal]

QF009,

This TR is great all the way, so well done.

I like your commentary and love the photos esp of all the food, I am one of those travellers who often take photos of my food. It feels a bit funny at times when I do it but why not? and when I return home and show my family and friends the close up photos of food I've eaten, it always provides a good point of conversation.

Look forward to reading more of your TR.


Ps. Love those suite upgrades with SPG. (I know it is a hit and miss sometimes with SPG properties) but I'll be SPG Plat in 3 more stays =D

 

[Commuter]

Terrific report QF009. It's giving me lots of hints on where to go and where to stay!

 

[straitman]

Thanks QF009. A great report.

Could save a few people (me included) a bunch of research time.

 

[Keith009]

Malta!!

A very pretty country, and I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I only spent a night there.

Note to self: Always adjust the time manually. I've always relied on my phone to adjust itself to the local time but that didn't happen when I arrived in Malta. As a consequence I was operating on UK time for a few hours on the 2nd day and missed the tour coach by an hour...

Massive kudos to krug for a very well-organised Do!

Marsaxlokk, where we had lunch:

SeeYa, AndyFlyer, and myself

SeeYa, RoseFPS, AndyFlyer - we wondered about the significance of that sign...

Random old dude - he seemed a real character so I took a pic

 

[Keith009]

Our tour coach:

krug - our defacto tour guide

Valletta:

 

[Keith009]

 

[Keith009]

Valetta was all decked out for a carnival and we saw some pretty outrageous costumes!

Next: BA6939 MLA-LGW; Yotel Gatwick