This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
A chance came up with work for a trip to Bangalore and Mumbai. BA fly direct to Bangalore, but it arrives at 4am and I didn't fancy going straight from the arrivals hall to a meeting. If I was going to travel the day before, then I preferred to arrived at a more civilised hour, like the Virgin flight to Mumbai. I booked a Z class seat 6 weeks before the flight for ~ 1300, which didn't seem too bad for a 9 hour flight. If it had been my money, then I might have gone for something cheaper, but I wasn't going to complain if I can go UC instead. Besides I'll get 10 tier points to keep my Silver card which was going to expire at the end of next month.
Extra stops in Ahmedabad and Delhi got added into my itinerary, and I had planned to stick to carry on luggage for the week. This would have meant a limit of 8kg in one bag for the internal flights in economy. I had my packing list sorted out, and everything was going fine. Then a few weeks ago, the Indian government banned all liquids and creams from carry on luggage. I didn't fancy having to rely on getting toothpaste and deodorant at one night stays in hotels, so I took a checked in bag instead. It turned out that each hotel has had a complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste, but none have had any deodorant or mosquito repellent. Perhaps I would have been able to get them if I had asked, but I think a checked in bag was less hassle.
The weather in India has been nice - mostly 25-30C and not too humid. I needed enough warm clothing for arriving back in London in February. This hasn't been a problem with a checked in bag, but if I had only had a carry on bag, another alternative might have been to store warm clothing at. I suppose the logistics of getting somewhere that you can access from both arrivals and departures might be a problem, and it wouldn't help if you got diverted.
I picked seat 5A and booked a haircut at the Clubhouse. I've never turned up at an airport before I had to just for the lounge, but having read the trip reports here, I arrived an hour earlier than I would have otherwise done. I checked in online, but when I arrived, there wasn't a queue so I checked in at the desk as well. I was told the number of the lounge, but managed to forget it and then wandered around the departures area for a bit before I found it. It would be good to have directions to the Clubhouse on the boarding pass.
I didn't feel that I could write a trip report if I didn't try one of the Clubhouse burgers. I did, and it was very nice as was the haircut. Then I had a couple of cocktails and settled into one of the sofas.
On board, I spent most of my time working. There wasn't that I wanted to watch on the TV. I had the Indian starter, as a snack and some water. I slept for a couple of hours, woke up and had a manicure and then had a bit more sleep. I woke up a few minutes before the fasten seatbelt sign which left just enough time for a cup of coffee and a muffin.
I picked up a few of the Cowshed toiletries. I'd rather have a good quality sealable clear plastic bag instead of the shoe bag, that I could then use for carry on toiletries.
Once I got into Mumbai, there were no problems getting my bag. I had a 4 hour gap before a Kingfisher flight down to Bangalore. The guard at the exit of the International terminal let me out to go to the cashpoint, but then let me back in so that I could get the bus to the domestic terminal around the airport perimeter.
With some cash I could then get a sim card from the Airtel booth that is just near the exit for the International terminal. This means that phoning home costs ~ 10p/minute instead of 1.50 a minute for my UK phone. Receiving a call from the UK costs about 5p/minute instead of 1.40 a minute.
I've got an Orchid Dialer http://www.orchid-electronics.com/Diallers/v4.htm that routes calls from my home telephone through 1899.com which means that calls from my home phone to my Indian mobile number cost 9p/minute.
In the last week, I've had flights within India. The tickets have all cost around about 25 and were on Kingfisher (twice), Jet and SpiceJet. The Spicejet flight was for 2 hours, but the only food and drink on offer was a bottle of water and a couple of biscuits. Even if they were going to charge for it, I would have thought that they could have offered a bit more. The other flights were shorter but had a decent meal. With Kingfisher you also get a seat back TV with half a dozen channels and a skymap, as well as a pouch with earphones, a pen, pad, and a few sweets. The flights have been fine although there have been a few delays from congestion. The terminal buildings have been a bit more run down.
The service in the Clubhouse was excellent. I didn't really need much from the cabin crew onboard, but the contact I did have was good. I'm flying back in a few days time. Its a daytime flight and the films look like they'll be of more interest. The only downside is that the revivals lounge will be closed.
