V-Flyer

Having had a couple of pleasant days in a chilly but sunny Warsaw, it was time to head out to the airport. The last day was odd, as it was All Saints Day, so most of the shops and restaurants were shut. Warsaw is a good city for a weekend break - most of it appears to be very modern as it has been rebuilt after WWII but in keeping with the original building designs. Having had a nightmare with a 'taxi' that ripped us off big-time, we had to use a card to pay on return and use a hotel taxi (cost more than a proper local taxi, but it was a very nice Merc). Dropped off at the new Terminal - the BA stuff says Terminal I, but for this read Terminal 2 (Terminal 1 is the old Warsaw airport terminal, that is connected to the new Terminal, but is now looking very dated). Found the check-in desks to find them unoccupied and the ticket desk had a note saying that check-in opens 2 hours before the flight (no self-service check-in here and we hadn't been able to print boarding passes at the hotel). So we had a quick wander around and then drink before a queue started to build at the desks. We wandered over when the employees returned and lined up in the Club Europe queue. Having been given our boarding cards, we headed off to a deserted security (there is a separate queue for business when it is busy).

Once through, we had a wander through around airside before finding the lounge. There are three Warsaw Airport lounges (none of them are airline specific) - one in 'Terminal 1', one in 'Terminal 2' and the final one through passport control and in the 'A' gates area - the latter is the one used by BA. There are fewer shops through here if you need stuff. The lounge is downstairs and has a view over the apron and the runway. A good selection of drinks (including chilled vodka of course), nibbles and for the more hungry some Polish pot-noddle things (not too bad!). Free WiFi and some newspapers - not too bad a place to wait for the flight.

As there are no annoucements, we wandered up not long before the gate closed and the flight was very soon boarding. It was a much busier flight - only three rows of club (50% full) with a pretty much full Euro Traveller. Departed on time and after a very short taxi, we were off and heading back home. Drinks served - champagne of course! Dinner options seemed to vary as the purser moved through the cabin - we were offered chicken in white sauce with pasta or a large ravioli with pancetta served with blueberry mousse and cheese. Other rows were offered vegetarian options or chicken with rice. Maybe they had 'odds and sods' uploaded for the flight. The chicken choice was very tasty indeed, and the mousse not bad. Settled down after this to read my book with a drink in hand. There appeared to be 2 crew looking after club most of the flight, and in total 5 crew on the flight - more than I have had previously.

No delays or holding on the approach to LHR and we landed on a westerly approach, meaning a short taxi to the Terminal - unfortunately we were held for a bit as the gate was occupied, and then it was a long walk from the plane to immigration and off to battle with London Underground to get home.

Again, a very pleasant flight in Club Europe with good food options and attentive crew (when it works well, it is a good product).

Thank you for the return TR.