You’re in luck! One of the three pay to enter lounges in Terminal One is landside, allowing you to spend some time in comfort before getting on the free shuttle bus between terminals and waiting in what has been described as the worst airport in Europe. But what is it like?

Finding the Sala Respighi Lounge is relatively easy: it’s on the airport maps around the terminal and eventually you run out of terminal and therefore it must be there. And it does have signage – what looks like an elevator door with the logo above it. But no button to open the doors. and no handles. Nothing to indicate how to enter. Strange. I eventually walked close enough for a sensor to detect I was there and the doors slid open like for Agent 86 in Get Smart.

Inside is a single open room with a few armchairs in front of tables. And not much else. A row of check-in desks against the far wall are manned by airport staff who also take care of the entry formalities. A strange set up.

I’m picking that there is no kitchen – hence all the food is the plastic wrapped pastry variety with the exception of the fruit salad, yoghurt and little mini quiches. A wide variety of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic try to make up for the paucity of food selections.

I make do with freeing a bun from its plastic enclosure, smothering half with a patty of butter before emptying a whole mini-jar of jam on it and smearing a babybel cheese on top.

I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on Sala Respighi – the toilets (a single cubicle each for men and women) were clean and there was plenty of space, and the bank of screens on the wall displayed both arrivals and departures, but only for Terminal One. More importantly they didn’t blink at allowing us in three hours before flight time when apparently their policy is only to allow two hours of lounge time.

Either way we gave ourselves an hour to walk back to the free shuttle bus, make the fifteen minute transfer and navigate the labyrinth that is Terminal Two, before going through Passport Control. It turned out to be more than enough time as the incoming flight was delayed, but even without the extra twenty minutes we had plenty of time.

The post Review: Sala Respighi Airport Lounge, Milan Malpensa appeared first on etrip.tips.

Spotted around the periphery were a number of drinks stations serving coffee and juices, in addition to fresh fruit and a small selection of beer and wine.

A meal station stood forlornly near the entrance, a limited selection of salad items sitting in the shadows (although you really can’t go wrong with coleslaw). There was a pot of lentils and a stew accompanied with rice as far as hot foods went, so fair warning – there’s not a lot to choose from.

But if you need a break from the crowds or want to sate your thirst, there are worst places to spend an hour or so.

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After checking ourselves into the Aspire Lounge near gates 1 – 4, we walked down the long corridor, past three computers at cubicles on the right and into the main bar area.

While Ange set up opposite the bar, I wandered off to explore the rest of the lounge.

Around the corner a large seating area featured floor to ceiling windows allowing natural light to flood the room, and to give a commanding view of the bus stop outside.

Another window allowed you to see those waiting beside the toilets at gates 1-4, but why you’d want to look at bored people waiting for their partners to finish their business I don’t know.

Anyway, the seating area had low slung arm chairs with the odd stool at the window. When we were there it was almost empty and, while the numbers fluctuated through the day, it never got too full.

But what was the food like? On a side table sat some fruit and cakes, including sultana scones with clotted cream and jam.

At the bar was a cooled section complete with a salad selection, some cheeses and cold cuts. Enough to fashion a makeshift sandwich from one of the attendant buns.

In terms of hot food, there was rice and stews including a very serviceable pork and mushroom offering, but my favourite was the automated pancake maker complete with maple syrup.

A little hard to find, it was perched in plain view on top of a drinks fridge but hidden amongst the other coffee makers and assorted food preparation equipment. Worth the push of the button though!

This particular Aspire will be undergoing a refurbishment which will hopefully address the lack of toilet facilities (you have to leave the lounge via a side door to use the public toilets and then return through the main entrance).

Other than that, a perfectly serviceable lounge.

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The entrance opened up into a long hall with seating overlooking the concourse below. At the far end were various seating arrangements, some with views of the big screen TVs. The food area was tucked between the lounge areas and although there wasn’t a huge selection, there was plenty of healthy stuff with fresh vegetables and salad.

And after you’d eaten your fill of healthy, there were plenty of less healthy snacks including crisps and my favourites; the pastry and cupcakes selection.

If you were interested in a few drinks before your flight, there was a self serve bar with top shelf spirits and mixers, plus softdrinks as well.

All the food selections were kept topped up while I was there and the lounge never got too full – maybe 40% at the most which made for a very relaxing stay. Just what you need.

So I can definitely recommend the Aspire at Calgary – lovely spot. And very handy to the gate I was leaving from.

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We’re travelling on the Monday following the weekend that they opened and as such they’re happy to extend our stay beyond the three hours traditionally allowed for Business lounges. Being so soon after their opening does come with some downsides, and we definitely notice some of the teething problems that they’re still working out.

The area has been divided into five parts: as soon as you walk in you have a workspace on your left: power outlets and magazines on long benches (not shown in the picture above – it’s just behind the row of plants).

Opposite this is the kitchen area with a concisely arranged selection of foods: not a huge range but enough to tick the boxes (vegetarian, gluten free etc). The hot options were rice and pasta dishes on stoneware under heat lamps – unfortunately the lifting point retained the heat exceptionally well making for some burnt fingers and comical juggling. I particularly liked the range of salads and fruit.

The soda fountain was out of order, so a barman distributed both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages on request. I’m not sure whether it was the hidden location or the newness, but the numbers inside never caused too much of a wait for a drink. The two coffee machines (one near the lounge area, the other beside the dining area) worked fine and served a damn fine hot chocolate.

Beyond the kitchen area the remainder of the Lounge was divided into three seating areas: an eating area, a more relaxed lounging seated area and a business section with individual work pods.

I sat myself down at one of the business pods and there was a clang as a metal plate from the underside of the seat fell onto the floor. A guilty look around indicated no one had heard, so I shuffled across to a different seat. A small fold out shelf revealed a power outlet but proved inadequate to hold a laptop, so I couldn’t figure out how they thought it would be used.

Never mind. The separation from the main seating area meant there was a bit more quiet back here: maybe that would be enough to get some work done? The seats weren’t quite comfortable enough to sleep in…

The lounging area had some quirky seating with a curtain which I couldn’t figure out: it couldn’t be for privacy as you could just stand up and see over it or around it and it wouldn’t dampen too much noise. Maybe it was to address a particularly problematic sunlight reflection from a nearby building?

The teething issues continued when I asked what the password for the wifi was and was told that there wasn’t any and we should use the free airport wifi. I must admit my jaw dropped when I was told this: you opened without wifi?

In the bathrooms a layer of building dust remained on the vanity and in the cubicles and they hadn’t affixed a toilet roll holder so the toilet paper stood on end on the floor. One of the soap dispensers was empty also.

I’m sure they’ve probably rectified these issues, probably even by the time I’m writing this, but I just admit that the layer of dust and lack of wifi was a surprise. They don’t take Dragon Pass or Priority Pass, and charged £28 each which was £4 more than the other lounges in the terminal, but were more than happy to let us stay for a little over four hours, which would have cost an additional £10 in the other lounges.

The trouble with visiting so close to opening is that they haven’t quite ironed out the kinks, so I look forward to visiting them again when they’re more in the swing of things.

The post Review: Club Aspire Lounge, London Gatwick South appeared first on etrip.tips.

I was travelling back to the Northern Hemisphere from New Zealand and had decided to try the QSuites Business class offering from Qatar Airlines, and could either have a zero turn around time in Doha to catch the QSuite equipped flight to London, or could wait 15 hours instead.

I elected to have the long wait and didn’t regret it at all.

I arrived after an 18 hour flight from Auckland on a lie flat business class seat and surprised myself that I got zero sleep. Like a zombie I made my way through security and noticed some fellow passengers from my flight heading towards a lift.

Correctly surmising that they were heading to the Qatar Airways business class lounge, I followed at a respectable distance. The reception area was well staffed and I waited maybe two minutes before the gentleman behind the counter greeted me and asked for my onward boarding pass.

Quiet Area cubicles

Upon seeing that my flight left at 3pm (it had just gone midnight), he immediately said that he’d get me a cubicle and got on the phone. I nodded like I knew what he was talking about and made generally encouraging noises “mmm yes cubicle” as he talked to a colleague.

Hanging up, he said that they had none immediately available but that I could sit on a couch until one became available,. I smiled and thanked him, got directions (around the corner, all the way to the end and then on the right) and headed through.

The place was huge. Enormous ceilings because its an airport, multiple areas to sit and a cafe type food place at the end, but nothing called cubicles or signage. I frowned and was starting to head back towards the entrance when I thought I’d just ask someone.

The first person stared incomprehensibly at me as I tried to explain. I’m pretty sure it was their lack of English rather than my zombie slurred speech, because the second person I spoke to pointed me to an easy to miss gap to one side of the sandwich bar.

Past the toilets the corridor bent right and then left and then I was at a counter in a darkened part of the lounge. I explained that the guy at reception had indicated that I should come for a cubicle and the receptionist’s eyes lit up with recognition. Ah yes, one room is available now, but I should have a better one ready soon – maybe fifteen minutes he said.

Again I smiled and nodded in fake understanding and then he lead me down a darkened corridor between little open offices and into my very own cubicle.

It was a little room with two chaise lounges facing a TV with departure times on it. Nice, I thought: I should be able to get some sort of sleep on one of these. My new friend bid me sit down and then headed off. I slumped onto one of the chairs and sat staring a the TV. He came back maybe five minutes later and said that the better cubicle had become available and to follow him.

This room had a much larger couch along side a comfortable looking chair with a table beside it. Ooh! I thought – that’s definitely going to be easy to get some sleep on! Before leaving, the receptionist asked if I would like a blanket and some water. Yes definitely thank you I said.

A few minutes later he brought me a 1.5l bottle of Evian and a glass of ice, and a little later a blanket in a plastic bag. I grabbed the amenity bag from my flight and dug out he earplugs and eye mask, and settled in to sleep.

A little sign mentioned that no announcements would be made so to make sure you set an alarm. I smiled wryly and thought if I slept for 14 hours something was very wrong, but still made sure to set my alarm, placing the phone on vibrate as well.

While the darkened area of what I later discovered was called the Quiet Area achieved the desired effect of subdued whispers from most of the visitors there were some guests who couldn’t fathom that maybe not everyone wanted to hear their conversations. It was tempting to let them have it, but I knew I was just being cantankerous because of the lack of sleep.

Maybe four or five hours later I woke up from a deeply needed sleep and felt somewhat more human.

Showers

I wandered out to the reception area and asked about the shower situation. Two doors were behind the reception desk and I had noticed them when I had come in. Ah, said the gentleman, there’s a twenty minute wait. No problem I said, I’ll grab something to eat and come back, and wandered out to the sandwhich bar I had come through on arriving.

Upon my return I was told that there was a shower ready to go and I walked into the shower area. To tell the truth I still dont know how many showers they have back there, but I was lead to one and told that there were towels and soaps and shampoos available. I thanked them and looked around. [edit – I subsequently looked up the evacuation poster and there are 9 showers in the men’s section and six in the women’s.]

The shower consisted of four pretty much equal areas – a luggage area with hooks for jackets was immediately opposite the toilet, and a well lit mirror and shaving mirror over a sink were just outside the shower, which sported frosted glass and two shower heads.

The water was hot and had good pressure which really helped soak away some of the sore muscles of the trip and sleeping on a couch. The towels were clean and I felt vaguely human after my brief visit. I got dressed and went back out to my cubicle.

I spent a little while back in my cubicle, recharging both my own and my phone’s batteries. Occasionally one of the reception staff would pop in (the cubicles did not have doors) and ask to see my boarding pass. I’d ask if they needed the cubicle and was told each time that I was able to have it for as long as I wanted it, so never felt rushed.

A few hours before my flight I decided I should probably see the rest of the Qatar Airways business class lounge and decided to head out for a substantial meal and a nosey.

Exploring the lounge

The place was huge. I’ve been to a couple of lounges, and they pretty much are one of two sizes. There are the “we don’t fly from here so will group together with other airlines and offer a lounge” types like the KLM/Air France lounge in San Francisco. An OK size. Let’s liken them to a standard shop in a shopping mall.

Then there are the slightly larger lounges which are the flagship of whichever airline run them – think BA lounges at Heathrow. These would be like a department store in a shopping mall – one of the larger shops there. Al Mourjan was like a whole wing of a shopping mall – an order of magnitude bigger again.

Looking down the length of the lounge was amazing – they’d broken it up with various types of seating areas in part I think to stop people from getting lost!

Starting from the Quiet Area end of the lounge, there was a median strip bordered by greenery with bamboo privacy screens separating sections off. Around the periphery low slung leather seats clumped around tables with what looked like iPads embedded in them. It was all very tastefully done with sections allowing you to select the type of seating you wanted to fit the size of your travelling party.

At the furtherest end form the Quiet Area, just beyond the entrance was a giant pool. I should call it a fountain though because spotted around it were jets just below the surface. Sporadically these would shoot a little jet of water up like an archer fish aiming for a bug and the sound of the water landing back in the pool was soothing. The silver finish of the ceilings reflected the light off the water making a very aesthetically pleasing feature.

If you were after natural light, then positioned around the periphery between the pool and window were even more seats. I paced the exterior of the lounge, insistent on getting a full understanding of how big this place was.

Around the corner were different coloured chairs, no longer the low slung leather, bow a bright blue fabric chair, again with a tablet embedded in the table beside it.

I should have paused to investigate what was on the tablet, but I was hell bent on discovering the layout. The map below gives a bird’s eye overview.

Food and drink

Scattered around the lounge were coffee and drinks stations accompanied with sweets and cookies stacked high, but I was after something a little more substantial so ascended the staircase to what I assumed would have to be where the food was. A chandelier of enormous proportions dangled above the pond int he centre of the curved staircase, illuminating the stairs.

And there it was: A huge buffet restaurant within two tables sporting catering dishes with meat and vegetables, small bowls of salads, plates of breads and a tureen of soup. The offerings leaned towards vegetarian, but so very tasty!

I tried the paneer curry and had to go back because it was so good. There was definitely something there for everyone, and so much of it too. A steady stream of staff kept the dishes full and when I sat down with my plate groaning, one came over and asked what I would like to drink. He later popped by and got me a refill as well.

I have something of a sweet tooth and. The delightfully arranged desserts certainly appealed. I was very restrained though, and made sure I didn’t have too much.

I’d secured a seat by the window and took the chance to take a photo which illustrated the size of the Qatar Airways business class lounge – far in the distance on the right was the Quiet area, but you couldn’t even see it, it was so small.

Meal over, I decided on one last circuit to see if I had missed anything and thus discovered some cool rooms I had totally missed!

Games Room

There was a Games Room, consisting of a couple of Play Station controllers, a racing simulator actually built in to the front of a F1 car, and a glass Foozeball table.

Business Centre

Tucked down an alcove was the Business Centre – a huge room with three lines of desks and built in computers allowing you to catch up on what needed doing.

Beyond the Business Centre were more seats, this time reclining ones which, were they not right beside the windows, would have been fantastic for sleeping. I guess if you had eye masks and ear plugs it might work!

The conclusion

And that was it. Fifteen hours in the Qatar Airways business class lounge Al Mourjan in Doha. I am so glad I was there for so long. Sure, I could have gotten to my destination quicker, but the fact I got some sleep, and a shower, meant that I was able to enjoy my QSuites flight instead of being a sleepless zombie.

The fact that I wasn’t rushed to give up my cubicle was fantastic and meant that despite some incredibly loud obnoxious people (clues in the name, people: quiet area), I was very well rested.

What I loved the most though was the guy at reception when I arrived. He immediately saw that I was there for a long time (this was at midnight), that I had just got off a long haul flight (I suspect I was probably not looking my best!) and took it upon himself to arrange a cubicle for me. That was nice.

The post Qatar Airways Business Class Lounge – Al Mourjan Review appeared first on etrip.tips.

Just past the security and duty free on the right before the gates, the escalator promised three lounges catering for all the non Air New Zealand passengers.

The Qantas international business lounge itself was big enough for the guest numbers while I was there, but I worried that during peak times they would run out of seating.

There was a range of seating options from larger tables for families, all the way through to comfortable arm chairs and more cafeteria style seating.

A wide wall of windows allowed a sliver of natural light to shine through and an uninspiring view over the roof of the terminal – the view of the actual planes was blocked by an intermediary building.

But nobody sits in a lounge looking out the window, do they? Well maybe not here – I was more interested in the food situation!

A well stocked fridge sat beside the spirits station, but the single food dispensing island opposite was where I spent most of my time. It wasn’t huge, but there was some thing there for everyone and I particularly liked the fresh plates of coleslaw, cold meats and vegetables and pasta which allowed a healthier option.

Bread and soup meant that you could get something hearty if that was more your style and the prepared snacks included little filled rolls and wraps along with their vegetarian equivalents, along with sweet slices.

My favourite (and I may have gone back for seconds… or thirds) were their little rolls with salami and brie accompanied by caramelised onions. Delicious!

On the way out I popped my head into the business centre which was almost totally empty. The wide curved screens were unattended, and the only noise came from one guy using the room as his telephone cubicle having a very important phone call.

He glared at me as I walked in, obviously wanting privacy. I grinned uncaring as I took my photos and left.

The Qantas international business lounge is pretty nondescript, and in any other airport it would not really be worth writing about. At Auckland Airport due to the lack of seating and construction, it gets bumped up a notch. It’s nice to have a comfy chair and not have construction sounds reverberating near you, so certainly value there!

The post Review: Qantas International Business Lounge Auckland Airport appeared first on etrip.tips.

Some Business Class offerings stand out as being cheaper than the rest – most notably in my experience the Chinese carriers (China Southern, China Eastern and Air China) but also Philippine Airlines.

I wasn’t an enthusiastic booker. My research had brought up that the seats weren’t 180° lie flat which made me imagine sliding off the seat during the night and the cabin being full of passengers slumped on the floor by the time breakfast came around.

There were also mixed reviews of the Business Class offering with scathing comments about the seats on the Airbus A321. So I was glad when I checked out the flight on SeatGuru and found that the MNL-AKL route was served by an Airbus A330-300 with the Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration – definitely not the A321.

Manila Domestic Airport Terminal 4

I made soooo many mistakes in the build up to the flight. We had arrived on a domestic flight into Manila’s Terminal 4 and were just about to leave the terminal after collecting our luggage so that we could find the shuttle bus to the international terminal (Terminal 2), when it occurred to me to ask a security guard where the shuttle bus departed from.

The apron outside the security check point was crowded with people so it was a relief when he indicated we should go back inside the building and talk to a staff member inside. We were directed to a small waiting room separated from the runway by a paper thin wall so that I was convinced a plane would come through the wall, they sounded so loud.

Almost as loud as the children playing while their parents wearily slumped on top of their suitcases, waiting in their seats for their transfer to one of the other terminals. The air con was made for a much larger room and so I made sure to sit in one of the few seats that weren’t directly in front of one of the units. And so we waited. And waited.

Eventually the staff member came past and took away the family and some other passengers joined us – as the staff member left he turned to us and let us know if would be another 20 minutes before our transfer would be there. We had plenty of time and I kept telling myself that worst case scenario we could walk the few kilometres to the other terminal.

Thirty minutes later we were lead out past the luggage reclaim to the exit and along the footpath, ducking all manner of materials being placed in the x-ray machines which served as the pre security screening. I made sure to keep our guide in sight and as we approached a bus he turned slightly, told everyone in our group that the bus was for Terminals 1, 2 & 3 and then headed back to the air conditioned comfort of the terminal building.

We, along with the other passengers, got on board and crammed ourselves in.  With a slamming of doors and a slight lurch we headed out into Manila Airport traffic.

It quickly became apparent how foolish it would have been to walk. First of all there were no real footpaths, second of all the heat was unbearable and third of all the  traffic had a logic all of its own. I was thankful that we’d researched the situation before hand and had built in enough of a buffer to accomodate the transfer in terminals, even though the distance as the crow flies was only a few kilometres.

Manila International Airport Terminal 1

I was feeling pretty happy with myself up until we dropped off all the other passengers at Terminal 1 and the driver came back to where we were sitting and asked us where we were going. Smiling we said Terminal 2.

His face dropped. I do Terminal 1 and 3 he said. There’s a different shuttle for Terminal 2. Ange and I looked at each other and shrugged. I turned back to the driver and told him that the guy from Terminal 4 had pointed at his bus and said Terminals 1, 2 & 3. He looked frustrated and told us to move our luggage to the front of the bus and to sit close to him.

We shrugged and complied and then watched as he opened the doors to the passengers getting on at Terminal 1. It was amazing as the security guards handling the queues allowed the passengers on one at a time and the bus driver accepted their luggage and stacked it expertly into a tower almost to the ceiling.

In the early evening heat he soon worked up a sweat from the luggage handling and we could see why he had gone to great pains to ensure that our luggage was separate from the new passengers. Eventually he indicated that he could not squeeze anyone else in, and the queue boarding halted.

Manila International Airport Terminal 2

We then went back out in the the traffic and headed over to Terminal 2. This shortest of trips took the longest with the traffic coordinated by shotgun wielding security guards and much honking and hollering. With an exasperated sigh the driver yanked on the handle and we were deposited into the seething cauldron of people welcoming new arrivals, farewelling relatives and taxi drivers touting for business. It felt safe but busy – a more compressed version of a UK airport but with climate akin to walking through a warm bath.

Another mistake – I didn’t notice the lifts up to the departures level from where we were dropped off on the arrivals level. This necessitated us navigating our way from one end of the concourse to the other through the crowds until we found some escalators heading up and then walking the same distance on he correct level to the front doors. By that time our elbow room when it came to time buffer had evaporated and we were only three hours before flight time.

Yet another mistake: I didn’t notice the separate gate for all Business Class passengers. Apparently it was right in front of the entrance in the most obvious place imaginable. Nope: I missed it, found which check in desk was for our flight and then proceeded to walk again the full length of the terminal to the gate. And then waited in line with everybody else before being told that we could have gone straight through if I had seen the entrance. To add insult to injury, then Business Class lounge was all the way on  the other side of the terminal.

Philippine Airlines Business Class Lounge – Mabhuhay

Now closer to two hours before our 10 hour flight to Auckland, so we tried to settle into the Business Class Lounge, have a bite to eat and enjoy our last tastes of the Philippines. It proved harder than it sounds: the Mabuhay lounge was on the small side so we had to wait a while before seats became available. My research had indicated that the lounge was on the… more budget end of the spectrum and this proved to be the case.

Limited food and drink options, few seats and initially at least a crowded jostling vibe meant that it was only just more relaxing than it had been outside. OK that’s unfair – but until the lounge started to empty out it was very hard to relax.

Business Class on the Airbus A330-300

So you can imagine my surprise when the actual flight was really really good. Getting on board the plane was quick and easy and then we saw the seat. OMG the leg room was amazing.

You could have put nine economy class seats in the space our two took. And the seat controls even had a vibrating lumbar setting!

Ange straight away tried the full recline and found it very comfortable.

I gave it a go as well but instead of folding down flat, my seat just kept raising higher and higher, much to Ange’s amusement.

I decided to stop playing with the seat and put it back to an armchair mode while the air crew served fresh juice and helped the other passengers stow their luggage.

I was just starting to look around for the entertainment system when the crew came around with an iPad and personal headphones. My first time with that sort of set up, but I did appreciate not having a restricted set of viewing angles, which you tend to get when the screen is fixed to the back of the seat in front or attached to an arm on your own seat.

More hilarity ensued when we were given slippers for the flight. One size fits all is a joke for both me and Ange – her because the slippers are inevitably too big, and myself for the opposite reason. I had to snap a shot to illustrate this.

Amenities Kit

The hilarity soon changed to excitement for Ange as the amenities kit came out and she found it was L’Occitane.

The kit included:

• an eyemask,
• toothbrush and toothpaste,
• 3 little tubes of L’Occitane cosmetics (skin creme, moisturiser and perfume)
• plus a folding hairbrush which I, being follicly challenged, very kindly offered to Ange.

Dinner

The food was scrummy and there was a lot of it – starting with a cold platter of Chicken Galantine and Marinated Prawn Salad. Then came a Chicken and Prawn Baguette.

For the mains Ange chose the Prawn Cakes while I selected the Roast Pork in Maple Glaze and we shared the dessert of the Mango Crepe Samurai accompanied by a delectable ice cream.

Certainly no complaints here!

Lie Flat Bed

After dinner the lights in the cabin dimmed and most people attempted to set themselves up for bed.

The person across from us tried without success to get their bed to fold down, but like mine had previously it refused to behave. The air crew came over and took the cushions off the seat and tinkered with it and it worked after that.

So I called them over and asked if they could do the same for mine. It turns out that the layout of the cabin was a little old and that the seats would periodically need resetting, and that the only way to do that was to take the cushioning off them and hold down a button for a couple of seconds.

The comparison with the BA flight we’d taken only a few days ago was stark. The Philippine Airlines seat had more length, more width and although was on a slight angle, certainly didn’t feel like I was going to slide off. More importantly whereas the BA seat seemed to be designed to punish anyone over 6 foot tall, the Philippine Airlines one felt like there were enough options in terms of how to position one’s body so that a good sleep was possible.

Before I knew it, it was four hours later and the lighting in the  cabin was slowly growing, people were getting up to use the bathrooms and the crew were coming around with juice and hot towels.

Breakfast

While accepting the juice and towel, I remained reclined, burrowed into the blankets – still trying to hang on to the last warm comforts of sleep. Until the breakfast came around of course.

Ange didn’t go any further than the fruit platter and cereal (still being full from dinner).

I elected to try both the selection of breads plus the Kielbasa sausage and poached egg which came with caramelised onions and potato rösti. Nom nom nom!!

Soon, with the dishes cleared away and seats in upright mode, we were approaching the coast of New Zealand.

The Filipinos are known for their hospitality and service and the crew had been nothing but professional and attentive. Even the more demanding of our fellow passengers had been given great service with a smile.

Final thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the flight – I’d always looked down my nose at slightly angled 180 degree seat arrangement, seeing it as a substandard offering. With the proof of the pudding well and truly tasted, it was great to have Philippine Airlines as an option for cheap Business Class flights into or out of Auckland.

The post Cheap Business Class Flights? Philippine Airlines: Manila to Auckland appeared first on etrip.tips.

A very enjoyable summer, and made even more enjoyable by planning the flights carefully so that I could collect points by flying BA and using my British Airways American Express to pay for it all.

By hitting the spending requirements, I nabbed a Companion Fare which meant that we could then pay for any flight in any cabin on BA tin (i.e. not a code share flight) and Ange could come along in the same cabin for free as long as we paid the taxes.

While we couldn’t get all the way from London to Auckland, we could at least get to Bangkok flying BA business class with the points we had accumulated.

BA Business Class Lounge – Heathrow

The flight started three hours earlier with the BA lounge. We’d stayed at a Heathrow airport hotel the night before so had plenty of time to make our leisurely way to Terminal 5 and then into the lounge in the southern end of the terminal.

Up the escalators we went, the last time I had been there had been as a guest of Ben my companion when I had been to China, and while the place hadn’t changed much, this time around it was a lot busier.

The food and drink situation was good – an adequate selection of dishes in small bowls which were kept topped up by efficient staff meant that you were never waiting too long.

If you were only after a snack and the rice-based curry dishes didn’t appeal, there were salads and pasta, plus cafe style muffins and crisps nearby.

An impressive selection of top shelf spirits accompanied a variety of wines and non alcoholic beverages, coffee, teas etc. so there was definitely something there for everyone.

The lounge was big enough to enjoy a range of seating options, from an eating area just inside the doors, to a more comfortable armchair area overlooking the tarmac.

There was a media room which had its TV turned off allowing the couches to be used as makeshift bedding. We eventually found seats together, though the place was so packed we couldn’t help but overhear the pre-business trip briefing of a trio of businessmen heading over to Europe. Enough time to do a bit of work ourselves before it was time to head to the gate for boarding.

I haven’t earned enough points to be able to use the Priority queue for boarding – the only time I can skip to the front is when I have a business class ticket, and it’s always nice not to have to wait in the queue and just board straight away.

Judging from the look on Ange’s face she was enjoying the experience as well!

BA Business Class Cabin

Our Boeing 777-200 had its BA business class seats in pairs, one facing forwards and its neighbour facing backwards.

A sliding screen separated them but it was disconcerting when it was lowered for meal times and when arranging bedding. Eye contact with the neighbour a continual awkwardness!

Speaking of bedding, a thin mattress, blanket and pillow competed for space in and around the seat, so that even after you had settled in there was paraphernalia everywhere, and nowhere to put it all.

There was a slide out drawer but it didn’t hold much. The fold down foot stool near the entrance to your little cubicle held the magazines and safety cards.

The seat controls were on a strip below the privacy partition, with numerous presets and special controls for neck and lumbar support.

The instruction booklet went into quite some detail on how the seat/bed operated  and while it was a little narrow for my ample frame, it was quite comfortable while sipping on the complimentary wine and juice.

The amenity kit was by The White Company (as was the bedding), and contained what you would expect:

• socks
• eye mask
• earplugs
• a pen
• toothbrush and toothpaste
• a three pack of cosmetics (SPA brand).

All in a fetching little sponge bag/wallet thing.

The foot stool folded down to allow it to be used as a foot rest (more on that later), though it took me a while to get it to stay up.

There was a trick to it but it seemed to me that it might have been broken.

Ange laughed at my attempts to make it work – and I felt like one of the apes discovering how to use tools from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Hmph! Finally able to get it to click into place, I elected to try and lay the bed flat. This I was able to do, but as I am a little taller than most, I immediately discovered that the bed wasn’t really built for someone of my size.

Even with my legs bent, my feet were flush with the wall above the footrest while my body was jammed pretty solidly into the bed.

And if I straightened my legs, my head dangled off the edge of the seat, unsupported. I elected to try and shorten my neck so that my head could rest on the pillow, but I could see how this flight might start to get quite uncomfortable.

Still, no use prejudging it – there were meals to eat, after all!

BA Business Class Food

I had the crayfish followed by the beef and Ange had the beetroot salad followed by the deep fried chicken.

No complaints there!

To finish, the custard tart with a raspberry and basil confit. Très délicieux!

After dinner we elected to try and get some sleep. That’s when I discovered my suspicions were proved correct.

I was longer than the bed was, and the angle of the upper part of the bed meant that my either my neck and head popped out the top and were unsupported, or else my legs were folded in on themselves with no space to move.

In the end after hours of tossing and turning, I ended up folding the footstool up and having my feet on the ground with my knees bending at an awkward angle. Not much fun and not much sleep to be had.

In the morning I tried to cheer myself up with a full English breakfast, while Ange had the Continental.

But I had been looking forward to being able to get some sleep on the plane so my inability to achieve that really made the rest of the day catching the connecting flight a grumpy grumbly affair.

It turns out that Ange hadn’t really got much sleep either though she tried to perk herself up with a cup of tea!

We did get preferential treatment in Bangkok though – a special queue to get through to International Transfers that we almost missed because of the signage. Credit to Ange’s superior eyesight for that one!

So the verdict?

In a word – disappointing.

I had high hopes for the UK’s national carrier. The BA business class seat just wasn’t designed for tall people, so my expectation of sleep was well and truly unfulfilled. We were also blessed with a crew member with a real chip on her shoulder – obviously the exception rather than the rule because the other staff in the cabin were fine.

I’d be keen to give one of the other cabin layouts a go, one with a more up-to-date seat perhaps. Maybe next time!

The post Not So Comfy BA Business Class: London to Bangkok Flight Review appeared first on etrip.tips.

No1 Lounge at Gatwick Airport

No1 Lounge at Gatwick’s North Terminal is a large lounge on the 2nd floor, the second lounge you see upon passing the WH Smith just after security.

Upon entry and getting your pass checked you turn left and walk up a slight rise to the entrance to the lounge proper. Skirting the (admittedly well stocked) bar, we headed into the main section of the lounge.

This corner was a large open lounge area with open booths along the periphery and leather couches in the middle of the room. Small tables and chairs dotted around the room and each couch style seat offered dual power points just below the seat cushion: handy for recharging. Weirdly enough, the lounge windows face back towards the terminal, with only an oblique view out across the runway.

In the far corner is the kitchen where the plates and cutlery are returned for washing. Unfortunately, either due to the enthusiasm of the staff or a quirk of the acoustics, the clattering of the dirty dishes and cutlery reverberates through the lounge and we end up having to move because it’s so distracting.

Back near the bar there’s another door beside the entrance which heads towards what’s deemed The Library where children are not allowed. We’re tempted to head in that direction where there are slightly more intimate seating arrangements, but there doesn’t seem to be any air-con through there and temperature is through the roof.

If we tried to work there we’d end up nodding off and missing our flight. The good news is the windows there do overlook the tarmac – at least there’s something to look at! Also in the Library is a board room with cool top hat light shades.

It’s glass all round though so must be an absolute pressure cooker with the lack of air-con. The Library generally feels more like a Private Members Club rather than a lounge – refined relaxation being the vibe.

Back out in the main area, theres another sub-area beside the bar with a big screen TV showing the news, but the loudness of the conversation of the guys at the bar makes that a non-starter also. We end up shuffling along the benches away from the corner with the clattering dishes and find ourselves under a withering soft breeze of relatively cool air.

We’re just congratulating ourselves for picking the perfect spot when Amanda Holden (Britain’s Got Talent) comes in with her coterie. Sigh. To be fair they aren’t incredibly noisy, but their sporadic shrieks of laughter do compete with the loud lads stories of the guys at the pub for top distraction.

No1 Lounge Food

Anyways, onto the food. There’s a good spread of hot food: macaroni and cheese, a potato and coconut curry, a spicy sausage casserole and mushroom rice – pretty much something for everyone. The cold food offerings are good also, with coleslaw, salad and mixed vegetables in sufficient quantities.

And for afters? Fruit, chocolate brownies and some sort of a fruit slice. Nice. There are also a few jars with snacks in them and we fill a little dish with the chilli nuts and rice crackers combo. OMG: the chilli is a bit on the hot side – I finished eating them ten minutes ago and am still feeling the burn!

If the bar doesn’t appeal, you can wash down your chosen meal with a wide range of self serve drinks ranging from a soda fountain, through to bottles of various juices and a pair of coffee machines.

Beyond the food the lounge just kept going with a restaurant area cordoned off. The view from that must have been the most dire – you were literally looking out at the wall of the building opposite  – maybe 20 metres away.

So was it worth it?

Yeah I think so. It’s a weird combination, having to choose between having a relatively calm but stifling hot area or some sort of air-con and a constant barrage of pub noise, loud laughter and clattering dishes. But let’s face it, it’s better than waiting out in the main confines of Gatwick on uncomfortable seating and trying to navigate the dodgy internet.

The post Review of No1 Lounge at Gatwick’s North Terminal, London appeared first on etrip.tips.