I opted to fly back using the BA service from Basel Airport (full name: EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg) and bagged a bargain £69 fare to Heathrow. The option to upgrade to Club Europe was offered during the booking process, for a price of £567 which I naturally declined.
After booking my Y flight, that upgrade was mysteriously offered to me for about £60, so I snapped it up.
Getting from Freiburg to Basel was a bit of a schlep, involving a Regional Train to Basel DB (German Railways), a connecting train or bus to Basel SBB (Swiss Railways), then a bus to the airport. However we had heaps of time, and... the DB station had a glitter ball!
TOP TIP
When you stay at hotels in the Black Forest, all local trains and buses are free. So we only paid £3 for the travel in Switzerland.
Here is the station in Hinterzarten.
And here is the train.
We got to the airport a tad early and waited for BA check-in to open.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Then it opened and two distinct queues formed - Club Europe and Euro Traveller.
BA use the Club Europe desk as their General Enquiries desk so the agent was stuck helping a passenger. Eventually the Y check in agent noticed and called us forward. That was a bit annoying but in the big scheme of things not a worry.
There was a massive queue for security but this was easily bypassed as they had Fastrack access for CE pax.
We headed up to the Skylounge. I'd seen pics of the lounge on Priority Pass website and it looked great. I was not disappointed.
Hot food consisted of tomato soup, quiches and mini pizzas while cold snacks were crisps, olives, cheeses etc.
I had my first drink, which I called a "Sealink's Downfall" - triple G&T.
Then I found this:
BEFORE
AFTER
Our flight was delayed by about 15 minutes, but I wasn't really worried.
Boarding was quick and the staff were great.
Take off was smooth and soon enough were we soaring over the Black Forest, and then through the clouds where the sun was shining.
Captain announced that our timetable 95 minute flight would be around 65 minutes, yet they still served a full meal.
Which looked like this:
There was a further drinks run, where I had my second bottle of Champagne.
Tea and coffee service was not provided due to turbulence, however we were offered other drinks. So that was another bottle
.Then, over Kent, tea and coffee was offered, which was a nice touch as really, they needn't have bothered.
So three mini bottles of Champagne in a 65 minute flight. That's a record for me.
And yet another great CE flight from BA, at a bargain price.Last edited by Sealink on 18 Sep 2013, 19:29, edited 1 time in total.
Awesome flight!
