#939836 by pjh
23 Nov 2017, 18:37
I'm not feeling the narrative that would compel me to pen two TR's, so instead here's a random set of thoughts on my BA experience in Y. Bear in mind that some of my opinions are based on the difference between the very low bar set by Jet the last time I did this trip.

1. On arriving at T5 I was happy to see that BA are experimenting with abandoning the "3 hours and not a minute before" for checking hold luggage. I found that having to irritating on previous trips where my natural caution and conservatism about the trip time to LHR lead to me having to sit around with my luggage.

2. The public areas of T5 seem quite tired and in need of refurbishment, with a lot of power points not working.

3. This time I managed to get into Aspire lounge for a decent bacon roll. It's quite small (way too small for T5) and an odd, thin, L Shape. Good views of the tarmac though.

4. The tiredness of T5 is reflected in the hard product 777 that was used both ways. Very poor IFE with the stupid design of the controls on the armrest (the clue is in the name - a rest for your arm) which leads to you switching lights, call bells and the IFE on and off with your elbow. Seats battered and grubby. I was quite surprised how small the Y section seemed to be.

5. Service in both directions was very good. Very active crew members, generous with the drinks, checking the loos every half hour.

6. Food was fine, as long as your are happy with veg curry (which I was)

7. Taking the day flight in both directions felt more relaxing than the overnight, as I didn't feel the need to force myself to sleep. The return did feel very boring later in the flight, once I'd finished watching "Baby Driver" and "Scarface".

8. What wasn't relaxing was immigration at Mumbai on the way in. Very close to two hours to get through at just after midnight local time. Quite fun watching the queues though as various people worked scams to move up the queue. I still haven't worked out how the two women that were a dozen groups behind me at the start finished up a dozen groups ahead.

9. After 8 days working without a break and seeing only the insides of the airport hotel, Suzuki Swifts and our office I was ready to head home. After negotiating the slippery slope of no status ("Is sir flying First ? Business? Gold card?) I was directed to the only check in agent with no queue, where I was offered a deal-of-a-lifetime to upgrade to WT+ for £250 or Club for £750. Despite this likely being my last long haul for work before retiring, and having had domestic sanction to splurge on an upgrade I remembered what the respective cabins felt like (four in the centre in WT+?) and thought I'd save my money and given my outbound would probably feel quite comfortable in Y. I then sloped off to find the Loyalty Lounge, complete some tasks and have a pre-flight snifter. Much, much quieter than the last time I used it.

10. Boarding was called early, and as we passed through the aircraft Club and WT+ proved to be full. Ho hum I thought, hope I have pleasant seat companions. When "boarding complete" was announced the Y cabin turned out to be sparsely populated (perhaps the sales spiel at check in had worked on others less hard hearted than myself) and everyone either had a row to themselves (as I did) or could leave the middle seat free in each set of 3. And so passed a very comfortable, if slightly boring at some points, trip home. Over northern Europe and then London I took to the window seat to gaze out at the lights.

So all in all, not as uncomfortable an experience as I had feared. Back to easyJet next week.
#939909 by starquake
28 Nov 2017, 13:20
Thanks for TR...

Mumbai arrivals are never fun from prior experience. The queue on arrival has been this way with both the old airport, and the new one, since it started - the queue is faster at the new one though (the old one had a room that couldn't even hold all the pax). However, they don't (or havn't for some time) check status or boarding cards on the business line, so it's often worth just queuing there (although it can be longer doing this if another flight ahead). I've literally got to front once, and 5 staff all at once just stopped processing their queues for 30 mins whilst they had dinner - and India, being India we were not moved.

I personally wish VS were still on this route - BA in comparison was a very tired 747 or 777 on every flight I had on the route. Air India are awful, Jet are okay though if you want VS miles. But the route clearly didn't work for VS as they're tried it what twice now?

The day flight back is usually empty outside of Indian holiday periods in Y on BA from past experience - the night one is rammed in all classes in comparison... Personally I prefer the day flight to BOM, the night back as you can usually get some sleep on the return, and this seems to avoid the jet-lag for me - VS PE was really nice for this - and you then don't lose a day on the return leg - only on the outbound. (My trick was arrive, got to hotel (usually arrive 2am) , sleep, go to work for 10am local time).
#939913 by pjh
28 Nov 2017, 14:37
starquake wrote:I personally wish VS were still on this route - BA in comparison was a very tired 747 or 777 on every flight I had on the route. Air India are awful, Jet are okay though if you want VS miles. But the route clearly didn't work for VS as they're tried it what twice now?

The day flight back is usually empty outside of Indian holiday periods in Y on BA from past experience - the night one is rammed in all classes in comparison... Personally I prefer the day flight to BOM, the night back as you can usually get some sleep on the return, and this seems to avoid the jet-lag for me - VS PE was really nice for this - and you then don't lose a day on the return leg - only on the outbound. (My trick was arrive, got to hotel (usually arrive 2am) , sleep, go to work for 10am local time).


I prefer the day flights both ways as that's on my employer's time, and not mine... :)

SlimpyJones wrote:Jet have always caught my eye. I'd like to try them at some point.


My opinion about Jet in Economy can be summed up in two memories - (1) asking them to throw away a glass of wine (the only alcohol available) as it was undrinkable (2) having to take painkillers to numb the pain caused by their seat.
#939915 by SlimpyJones
28 Nov 2017, 15:12
pjh wrote:My opinion about Jet in Economy can be summed up in two memories - (1) asking them to throw away a glass of wine (the only alcohol available) as it was undrinkable (2) having to take painkillers to numb the pain caused by their seat.


Haha.... oh dear, I think that has sated my curiosity!!
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