BA2038 MCO-LGW 20 JUL 14 (WT+)

• Family of 5, two adults and three kids age 8, 6 and 2
• Flying from Orlando to Glasgow via LGW for a change

After nearly 3 weeks in the Land of Mouse it was time to go home to Glasgow (with BA via Gatwick for the reasons given in my outbound trip report.) The outbound flight was pretty poor mainly due to last minute aircraft switch, we lost our bulkhead seats and the plane was tatty. I went in 36 hours before departure to check on the seating availability, cabin looked empty but it showed a delay of 2.5 hours. I tweeted BA asking for the reason, they replied that they weren’t allowed to supply this information.

We were out of the villa at 11am and went to DTD for lunch before doing some shopping at the outlets and making our leisurely way to the airport in plenty of time - compare with last years self-inflicted near disaster (blatant queue jumping , excess baggage penalties). We dropped off the hire car (Alamo/VH) with a full tank of fuel and unloaded into the parking lot for the man with trolley to help us with our 5 suitcases, car seat and pram. We once again found a place to bubble-wrap the pram and baby car seat (the boys booster seats managed to fit inside the suitcases) before heading to check-in. BA had an inexplicable queuing system with three lines (CW, bag drop, check in) and 4 desks so we were left hanging for 15 minutes despite being at the front of the check in queue.

We had opted for the later 8pm flight in the hope that the kids would sleep on the way back. We had also hoped to use my Avios to upgrade to Club World however after 9 months of checking online and several phone calls to BA we just couldn’t secure the upgrade. We were forced to call BA to check for updates as BA had moved our flight (see rant on outbound trip report) and so whatever fare class they’d moved us into the IT system didn’t like it. We hadn’t prebooked our seats (at £33 each) but were pleased the check-in lady moved us onto row 12ABDEF – bulkhead seats! Flight was still around 2 hours late.

We hung about near the fountain drinking the liquids while Mrs Fuzzy made a last visit to the Disney and Universal store then made our way thru the quiet-ish security (10 mins) and onto the monorail. No lounge access with our WT+ ticket but we’d been given $9 vouchers each by BA to cover the delay so went into Outback Steakhouse for a burger and beer, pretty good meal actually and an ideal way to fill the time. Wandered leisurely to the quiet gate then got boarded early to let the kids settle. The delay went in very quickly.

Flight took off at 10.30pm and I got the kids set up with a film or playing games. Dinner was served soon after. Now the BA website states that for PE passengers “flying from London… your main course will come from our business class cabin” so what exactly do PE passengers eat on the way home? I would imagine pretty much the same as Virgin PE passengers, probably the same caterer.

I had beef again, it wasn’t as good as the outbound but still ok, wasn’t really hungry though due to the Outback Steakhouse. Mrs Fuzzy had a risotto which she couldn't finish, said it was too cheesy. Again the boys had chicken nuggets and macaroni & cheese no thought gone into the kids meals. My beef came with a bottle of red wine which was a nice touch. The last two times I drunk red wine I was ill afterwards but I chalked it down to bad luck, I drank some of this with my meal but woke halfway through the flight with stomach pains. No more red wine for me.

My eldest fell asleep before his meal and the other two shortly afterwards. The youngest only woke up after we got off the plane, slept thru landing! They were comfy enough in the larger WT+ seats. I didn’t watch any of the IFE and slept as much as I could (asking the gent behind me before I moved my seat back.) I woke up 30 minutes before landing to find dinner cleared away and breakfast sitting on the infant shelf.

Adults breakfast consisted of a granola bar, croissant, jam and dried cranberries. Pretty poor. The kids breakfast box had an oatmeal fruit bar, yoghurt, orange juice, it was much better!

This plane was in much better condition than the previous flight. It still wasn’t as modern as the ones in the brochure/website, still had useless Empower, a very small IFE screen, but at least everything worked and wasn’t broken.

Looking into CW it was mostly empty which is very annoying considering they wouldn’t let me upgrade using my Avois.
The cabin crew were pretty good, I was making one chuckle during the safety briefing, the CSM for CW served us too and helped out with baby bottles etc. Having a quiet flight helped but I was very happy with them.

Landed 2.5 hours late at 11am which was a problem because the Glasgow flight was due to take off at 10.25 but an announcement was made during taxi to say they were holding the flight for us (56 of us), hurrah!

So we rushed off the plane to find that the Glasgow flight had already left and it was the Edinburgh flight they were holding.

Much better than the outbound flight, maybe the kids sleeping helped!
Food 3* adult meals were ok, kids meals had no thought put into them, poor breakfast
IFE 3* Smaller screens, smaller choice than with Virgin
Seats 4* Much better condition, bulkheads ideal for attending to the kids
Crew 4* Ground crew were good, cabin crew were as good as Virgin

Thank you for another interesting read.

I am relieved that the return flight was better.
Good that security was so quiet but how annoying that CW was fairly empty but you weren't allowed to upgrade. ( Breakfast in CW is pretty awful too . )

Shame about the Glasgow flight .....

The 777's they use on the LGW fleet aren't going to be refurbished with the new IFE, WT/WT+ cabins so they are what they are for now.

It's a bit pot luck with BA as to what product and IFE you get.