V-Flyer

The no. 1 had treated me to a mini break in Stockholm between Christmas and New Year - lovely idea and a surprise. Briefly, Stockholm is a lovely city, eye wateringly expensive, but a very pleasant way to spend a few days - we stayed at the Grand Hotel (excellent and a large good room with views of the water and palace), saw La Traviata at the opera (very good performance if odd staging) and ate very well and liked the Swedish food on offer (Elk, Reindeer and lots of fish!.

For the flights, there are a few recent BA trips commented on so I'll try to be short. The no. 1 used some old fashioned air miles for the flight so we were in economy. Out on an Airbus 320 and back on a Europe-configured 767. Some tips - BA configure the front rows with flexibility to convert between Club and Economy, so on the Airbus I think rows 1-9 and on the 767 the same. This means these rows have 34' pitch rather than 31' and on the 767 the A-B and G-H pairs are wider when they are used as economy seats - worth remembering because I often think BA Club Europe is really not worth the extra ...

This was, unbelievably my first time at T5. Unlike many others I was totally underwhelmed. OK first mistake was to check in in the A zone when with my EC Ag I could have used another area, which meant queues and an awful security experience. BAA muppets with no CSEs directing passengers through tensa barrier mazes meaning we ended up queuing for near 30 minutes ... and what are those scanning machines with everything in a basket and so slow to boot (and don't get me started on all the people who reach the scanner with belt on, coat on, etc. then express surprise that they may have to remove something!).

The terminal is vast, not really that bad but I strongly prefer the concept as at HKG or Madrid to the very large box layout. At least the flight was on time and not having time to do anything else we headed for the gate, sat in 7 B and C and the plane was full and doors closed 5 minutes before scheduled time. Then we sat for 19 minutes with nothing happening and magically pulled off the stand 14 minutes after scheduled time - a ha, BA can claim an on time departure then, except we then moved 200 metres and sat for another 40 minutes. Twerps methinks, we're not all that dumb. Not impressed with the BA ground operations experience here and virtually no cockpit communication.

But at least we had a good view of taking off planes including a Singapore A380.

Flight time out was 2hrs 20mins and it's all very efficient if not overdoing with the charm and humour. An economy lunch of stale cheese sandwiches is doled out as quickly as possible to leave maximum time for the duty free. There's a good flight map on the overhead monitors and with no delay we arrived into ARN terminal 2. A strange little airport but quite efficient and we're out and into a car.

On the return, a much better crew, a 767 almost entirely configured in economy layout apart from the very front two rows and full too. Having been cleared out of funds by Swedish alcohol prices we leapt on the offer of BA quarter sized red wine bottles (not bad Cotes de Rhone and a few more followed), had the same sandwich and breakway bar box (fresher this time) and spent the 2hrs and 15mins reading Hello and Business Traveller lightly lifted from the lounge [:I].

Landed into the very farthest gate in the B complex at T5 - the whole place was very quiet but we marched, and marched, made our way up seemingly dozens of escalators and eventually to the baggage hall. You feel like you are walking forever but not actually getting anywhere in this complex, including from the baggage hall to the outside, given its compact plant the architects decided to make every corridor bend and turn back on itself and take far to long, when in reality you probably only 'travel' a short distance. Actually I hated it! But we got out, our driver awaited and with no traffic we're back home to get the champagne out of the fridge and enjoy a quiet New Year!

BA is not so bad, OK the 767s are old and tired but I generally like the crews and the service - sometimes they work very hard on short flights. The Mannions Singapore trip has wetted my appetite for another long haul CW trip, so I may forego a coming VS plan to compare anew!

I have no idea what goes on a T5 departures: sometimes it's plain sailing, other times it's a zoo. The BAA goons are becoming increasingly irritating, but this isn't just at T5. Maybe it's just at holiday times when there's a large proportion of B&S on their occasional trips who aren't quite a savvy as the frequent business type. You know the ones - those that get to the end of an escalator and promptly stop causing the innevitable domino crush behind them. I often wonder if they just enjoy queuing as part of the excursion.

FWIW, there's a couple of 767 configs, and occasionally they even run the CW versions short haul. There's also a version that has non-converting seats with the front cabin setup in a permanent 2-2-2 config with extra legroom and ISTR only about five or six rows for CE so you get significan extra legroom.

Arriving back at T5, at least you got a terminal stand. They still occasionally have to bus you. As you suggest, the B satellite is a maze of assorted escalators and the train thing. For such a short journey a travelator would have been better, but knowing BAA they'd be u/s for half the time. Also when the C terminal shows its face I suppose the train might be more value.

Stockholm is a relaxing place to visit, once you've got over the booze sticker shock as you say. The Grand is pretty good for a large hotel I think, with modern conveniences and as you suggest the rooms are enormous by London standards.

Cheers, H.

quote:Originally posted by Howard Long
You know the ones - those that get to the end of an escalator and promptly stop causing the innevitable domino crush behind them.
Cheers, H.


You mean that's not what you are suppose to do? [}:)]

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
[quote]Originally posted by Howard Long
You know the ones - those that get to the end of an escalator and promptly stop causing the innevitable domino crush behind them.
Cheers, H.


You mean that's not what you are suppose to do? [}:)]

de rigueur at Gatwick in my experience[}:)]

buns

Thanks for the TR slinky - interesting comment on the 'on-time' departure [:w] And I agree, Stockholm (in fact Sweden in general)is not the cheapest destination in the world [:(]

Lovely treat from the NO 1. Stockholm is a wonderful city, but not a particularly cheap one (even if you subscibe to an abstinence from alcohol).
DL

quote:Originally posted by Howard Long
Stockholm is a relaxing place to visit, once you've got over the booze sticker shock as you say. The Grand is pretty good for a large hotel I think, with modern conveniences and as you suggest the rooms are enormous by London standards.

Cheers, H.


Thanks Howard and all. Yes - booze ... small servings too, I felt like asking for 3 martinis at once to pour into a glass and pretend I was having a real one, but then realized that would cost me fifty quid!

The Grand is good, and like many hotels they will do a good deal. The no. 1 charmed a reservations person and we were upgraded to a lovely junior suite with breakfast for the cost of a something smaller!

Now looking to Salzburg for our next mini break (in the best Bridget Jones manner!).

Thanks for the TR![y]