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

[Keith009]

Sector - MLA-LGW
Flight number - BA6939
Class - Economy
Seat - 12D
Aircraft - A320

MLA is a smallish airport, with barely anyone at check in nor security. I got airside within 20 minutes.

I was politely informed by the dragon staffing the Valetta Lounge that as a BA whY pax my AA sapphire status wasn't sufficient to get me into the lounge since it's a contract lounge, and that I'd have to be flying J or have BA status. He did however make an exception for me, and was most friendly in doing so.

The lounge was small but surprisingly well-stocked. They also had complimentary high speed internet terminals.

There seemed to be no aerobridges at MLA. A walk on the tarmac is necessary for deplaning and boarding. I'd managed to grab an aisle seat at the emex row for this flight, with an empty middle seat.

The set of crew we had on this flight was a lot better than the previous one. They seemed to have more cabin presence throughout the flight, and even asked me whether I wanted extra bottles of wine when they came around to clear trash.

The catering wasn't too inspiring - some chicken sausages. But I could've eaten a horse and so at least there was hot food.

Arrived at Gatwick pretty much on schedule and took an extremely long walk to passport control as we had a gate at the 'wrong' end of the airport...

 

[Keith009]

Yotel Gatwick
South Terminal, London Gatwick Airport

I had to overnight in London as the flight connections didn't work out so well. It seemed a bit of a stretch to travel to Central London for a mere few hours of snooze time, and I was too knackered from Malta to pull an all night clubbing session in London.

It also seemed more sensible to head to bed early and wake up bright and early on a Sunday morning for the bus to Heathrow with minimal traffic on the roads, rather than waiting till 0200 for the next National Express service to Heathrow or pay for a cab. Thanks to the various forumers who gave me hints on this.

I've always wanted to check out a capsule hotel, so when the opportunity presented itself I booked myself into the Yotel at Gatwick Airport. Even though the bigger room was not that much more, I decided to go for the standard to get a real feel of staying in a capsule hotel. It'd be something different. And even if I'd get HH points for staying at the Hilton I did not feel comfortable paying that much for a few hours of shut-eye.

It was quite easy to find Yotel as there were signs leading all the way to the hotel. You then step into the very space-aged yet no-nonsense reception-area. The place was lit up in purple coloured lighting. You'd need either your confirmation number or your last name and time of reservation to check in.

I got a cabin with an upper bunk, which came with an ensuite bathroom. The entire set up fit my suitcase and I rather nicely, but cozily - there wasn't room for anything else. The overhead rack was too small for my suitcase and hence I had to put it on a stool. There was a fold out step to assist in getting on to the bed.

The cabin actually came with rather nice trimmings. The bed was very comfortable, there was a flat screen tv, and wifi was free.

The bathroom was pretty cramped and there was barely room to turn around. I keep reminding myself that I was paying for something basic. The showers were nice and strong. They'd ran out of dental kits, and that was when my airline amenity kits came in handy.

Overall, very good value for money for an overnight stay at an airport. Definitely a lot more luxurious than your standard capsule hotel!

 

[Keith009]

Recap

So far I have covered, in chronological orders:

Flights
- QF29 MEL-HKG J
- CX504 HKG-NRT J
- JL719 NRT-SIN J
- QF9 SIN-LHR J
- BA109 LHR-DXB J
- BA108 DXB-LHR J
- BA558 LHR-FCO J
- BA2541 LGW-FCO whY
- BA8119 LGW-AMS whY
- BA8116 AMS-LGW whY
- BA2490 LGW-BCN whY
- LX1953 BCN-ZRH whY
- LX1736 ZRH-FCO whY
- BA559 FCO-LHR J
- BA6938 LGW-MLA whY
- BA6939 MLA-LGW whY

Hotels
- The Hilton Tokyo
- Sheraton Dubai Creek
- Hotel Eden Rome, a Royal Meridien Hotel
- Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam, a Luxury Collection hotel
- Le Meridien Barcelona
- Sheraton Park Tower London, a Luxury Collection hotel
- The Westin Dragonara Resort Malta
- Yotel London Gatwick

City sights
- Nottingham
- Dubai
- Rome
- Amsterdam
- Barcelona
- Malta

To prevent this thread from getting too unwieldly, I feel that this would be an appropriate juncture to spin off the next part of my report into a fresh thread.

I hope you've all enjoyed the report thus far and may it be of help to those planning their travels. Thank you for all the feedback - they really mean a lot. Please do continue to follow the report in the following thread:
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/trip-reports/qf009-visits-us-12373.html