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Katowice Trip – Ryanair (Stansted Airport to Katowice)

I have yet to grow bored of walking down airport corridors such as this, they’re something of a endless stretch of anticipation and mild anxiety. I think it’s the excitement of people watching.

More time spent on the tarmac.

I always remember now to take a photo of the aircraft registration, just so I know if I’ve flown on it before. Me and my list ticking….. It’s EI-DHG and I don’t think that I’ve been on it before. It’s a Boeing 737 which has been in the Ryanair fleet since 2005 and the age does show compared to Wizz Air aircraft, which just feel more functional in terms of the internal fit-out. As a minor example, Ryanair tray tables are wonky, it’s an endless challenge to try and keep my phone sitting on them.

Safely in Katowice with my professional imagery making it look like the aircraft is defective. I took this from the shuttle bus which takes passengers about 75 metres to the airport terminal. I forgot to mention on my first version of this post that the aircraft had a failed landing, it was all quite exciting to hear the engines roar to get it back up again. It wasn’t ideal that the announcements weren’t audible in the part of the cabin that I was in, as I was hoping for some updates from the pilots, but I thought it added a little something to the experience. I mentioned this to a few friends who apparently wouldn’t consider this to be uplifting to their experience (note the very clever pun there) though.

48 minutes it took me to get through border control now I can’t use the EU lines….. This I consider to be sub-optimal.

October 2, 2024
Katowice Trip – Escape Lounge

Continuing with my run of posts with just one photo, this is because I hadn’t expected to get into the Escape Lounge with Priority Pass as I thought it would be pre-booking only. Anyway, I did, which was very fortunate as it made my three hour period before the flight rather more pleasant. However, I’ll rectify this lack of photographs omission in future posts as otherwise my two loyal blog readers don’t have much to look at. The lounge was probably at around 75% occupancy, so I’m not sure that they had many more seats to play with to allow walk-ins.

The breakfast options are cereals, pastries and some hot options, as visible in the only photo that I evidently bothered to take. As hot options go, they were fine, with the sausages being meaty, the bacon being slightly crispy, the potatoes having a firm exterior with a fluffy interior, whilst the tomato tasted like a tomato. The beer is Cruzcampo, which is generic rubbish if I’m being honest that is about as premium as Netto.

I’ll limit myself to simply noting here that I didn’t have any wait to get into the lounge and so it’s worth checking if there is availability. I always have low expectations of getting in, but I shall no doubt witter on about this several more times over the next year. More on this lounge in future posts.

October 2, 2024
Katowice Trip – Camden Bar and Kitchen

I will stress here that I’ve revisited Camden Bar and Kitchen this week and have more photos of the venue, but for my first visit here, this is all that I have. I was using my new Priority Pass card where I can get £18 restaurant credit and hence my rapid visit here.

The welcome was immediate from the greeter standing at the door, although customers here aren’t taken to a table as with some other airport locations, but they are pointed in a vague direction on where to go. I found a table and it was clear that they wanted customers to order via a QR code rather than have table service, although they could go to the bar. I couldn’t access the menu as the Stansted Airport wi-fi was playing up and my mobile signal was too weak, but I had to go to the bar anyway as I needed to get my Priority Pass card validated. There was a wait of around six minutes in the queue, but the team member was helpful and polite.

To stay within the £18, I ordered a latte and an Eggs Benedict. The total came to around £17, which if I’m being honest I felt was a little steep for what was delivered. The presentation of the food didn’t look great, the ham looked a little plasticky and the Eggs Benedict didn’t appear entirely vibrant in their looks. The taste though was better, the eggs were runny so I had the oozing treat I wanted, the muffin was firm but fresh, whilst the sauce had some flavour. The ham was reasonable in terms of its taste, but the whole arrangement could have looked better. I wasn’t expecting an artwork, but JD Wetherspoons deliver it at least looking appetising. The latte was large and rich in taste, so felt a little more acceptable. Maybe though I’m being too picky and as I wasn’t paying, I wasn’t overly concerned anyway about getting value for money on this occasion.

I felt rather perched on a table by a busy customer throughway, so I decided against lingering and thought I’d risk instead trying to get into the Escape Lounge. For my two loyal blog readers, there’s a fuller post about this bar which I’ll get to soon enough…..

October 2, 2024
Katowice Trip – Getting to Stansted Airport

Another week, another adventure. And yes, it’s all relative, I’m not Bear Grylls and so my adventures don’t require me to jump out of a plane or anything similar. This time it was a return to Katowice, one of my favourite cities in Poland. Liam kindly agreed, once again, to pick me up on his way to London, and initially I was planning for him to take me straight to Stansted Airport. However, the potential lack of sleep before the morning flight didn’t feel entirely optimal, so at the last minute (which required me to call Liam when he was ten minutes ago asking him if he fancied a trip to Braintree) I booked a Travelodge as it was an affordable price. My room overlooked my chauffeur, who isn’t allowed to leave until I’m safely checked-in.

A comfortable room at Braintree Travelodge, all quiet with no internal or external noise disturbances, it’s a reliable hotel this once. I’ve only been twice, so maybe I don’t have enough data points, but I’m happy with it so far.

Leaving the hotel, just after 06:00 in the morning.

Fortunately, the coach station is just outside the Travelodge, so it was not a long walk.

There we go, the X20 service to Stansted Airport which is operated by First Bus. The service costs just £2 because of the bus cap, something which made this whole little diversion to Braintree feel more affordable.

And safely on board. And, although I rarely stray into politics, I’m unimpressed by Louise Haigh who is the new Transport Secretary. She has refused to say whether there will be an extension of the bus cap, despite it being painfully aware that this should be confirmed by now and numerous figures in the transport industry have been asking for some clarification. Short-termism is detrimental to any sort of planning and this feels very unfair on the bus companies and risking showing contempt for the travelling public. And, yes, that was quite political, but I’d add that it’s just Haigh in the Cabinet that has significantly disappointed me with almost childlike media appearances. I really will now return to the main matter, which was that the bus arrived on time and was reasonably clean and tidy. It’s a very handy service operating across Suffolk, running around every 60 minutes for 24 hours a day.

October 2, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Luton Airport Back to Newmarket

I had initially planned to repeat my travel plans of the previous week, which was to stay at the Pret Landside at Luton Airport, then get the 04:30 National Express service to Cambridge and then get the first train to Newmarket. It was in many ways a sub-optimal journey. However, thanks to a particularly impressive early arrival from Wizz Air, a border with no delays and my ability to walk quickly, I was able to make the last National Express service of the day that would get me back to Newmarket.

And here she comes. Are coaches female? I don’t know, let’s say it is, I suppose there’s a comparison about a mother hen gathering up her chicks, just as National Express pick up passengers. I think that might be stretching the logic though and I’m digressing once again. I had paid £5 to transfer my coach ticket to this earlier service and that didn’t feel unreasonable for the convenience.

It wasn’t the busiest service I’ve been on.

I’m not sure if I’ve seen a request from a coach company about tipping drivers, even in the United States. Although I don’t envy drivers, dealing with this massive vehicle and edging it through traffic, battling roadworks and dodging kamikaze pigeons, all the time listening to the cacophony of coughs, sneezes and rustling crisp packets from passengers. They probably deserve a little extra every now and then.

The bus arrived at Parker’s Piece, perhaps most notable for being where the football games governed by the Cambridge Rules were played, the forerunner of how football is played today. It was pragmatic, there were plenty of students coming to Cambridge from various decadent private schools and it was only sensible that there were agreed rules on how to play the game.

I had to wait for my second coach, so it was time for a Titanic Cherry Porter in the JD Wetherspoon pub, the Regal. The beer is always a delight.

The gleaming beacon of cleanliness, it positively blinded me with its radiance, it must have been bathed in the tears of a thousand angels.

Changing to the next coach which turned up early, the driver seemed to take a dislike to another passenger and a shine to me, something to do with how I didn’t hassle him with my bag. I like being the favourite customer on board. It meant that I arrived safely into Newmarket at around midnight which was all rather lovely given that I had expected to arrive nearly nine hours later.

October 2, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Wizz Air (Gdansk to Luton Airport)

Ready to go through the Schengen gates, I was pleased that the random seating Gods had given me an aisle seat. King Sigismund II Augustus, the former Grand Duke of Lithuania, would have no doubt been pleased for me.

Passengers piling up at Gate 31, the wait here often feels like a tragicomedy of sorts, a drama of human existence.

Ready to board and listening to the usual symphony of sighs and slightly impatient shuffles from other passengers. And once again, I gazed slightly bored at the floor and wondered how the tarmac that my friend Liam helped put down at Heathrow twenty years ago is getting on. Indeed, I bet I’ve thought more about this than he has.

Another airline nearby. I had to look up which airline this was, it’s Smartwings who are a Czech airline with 37 aircraft.

And off we go. The aircraft is 9H-WNE, an Airbus A321 which was only delivered to Wizz Air in March 2024 so it’s still nice and shiny. Once again, the flight itself was without any particular note, everything was efficient, I was comfortable in my aisle seat and the cabin crew were polite although seemed a bit stressed on the flight. It was likely their third or fourth flight of the day, so I imagine that I’d be a bit stressed as well if I was doing the same job. The flight was particularly notable for me as I needed to arrive on time, but more on that in the next riveting post.

October 1, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Wizz Air (Luton Airport to Gdansk)

This was smooth in terms of customer handling, I arrived at the gate and had a wait in the queue of only around five minutes before boarding. I almost felt as if I had purchased priority boarding with this level of efficiency.

Boarding underway.

Aircraft registration SH-WDO, I don’t think that I’ve been on this Airbus A321, but it’s only just over a year old so that’s not entirely surprising. Out of interest (to me anyway) I looked up how many aircraft that Wizz Air have had and they had 55 planes in 2015 and 120 just before Covid struck. It’s now 215 aircraft, so they’re nearly twice the size that they were four years ago. Ryanair have 605 aircraft though, so there’s some way for them to go. British Airways have 244 aircraft in their fleet, so it’s likely Wizz Air will soon catch them up.

The hopeful passenger next to me declared at this point that it looked like a quiet flight. I was privately sceptical, Wizz Air and Ryanair usually have very good occupancy and so it transpired when the second wave of passengers boarded, filling just about every seat. As with most flights, it was uneventful. The random seat Gods had given me an aisle seat and the flight was under two hours and there were no issues that I remember, so that’s just how a flight should be. It’s all very formulaic, they’ve got this really well sorted now in terms of their operation.

Safely in Gdansk. I had hoped for a smooth border control as the hotel that I was going to was so near the airport and it was late that I just wanted to get there. The not being in the EU is slowing things down somewhat, if I had been an EU citizen I would have likely left the airport within ten minutes of the flight landing. It took me 29 minutes, which is hardly a disaster, but it’s a little bit of a faff.

And finally leaving the airport. The flight cost £10, it’s hard to fault the value offered from Wizz Air. And, I have to say, it was great to be back in Poland.

September 24, 2024
Gdansk Trip – My Lounge at Luton Airport

Well, this is sub-optimal, I’ve got behind once again with this blog. I shall have a posting burst today to catch up. Talk about surprising and delighting my two loyal blog readers and the three people who stumble on here every now and then. I once again wasn’t confident that I’d get into My Lounge at Luton Airport, but they said there was no queue and I was welcomed in with my Priority Pass card. I found a seat at the rear of the lounge, next to one of the plentiful power points, and collected my average beer and a heap of nachos. I would personally prefer proper seating at a table than these low chairs, but each to their own and I’m sure others will differ.

Focusing on the food this time. Well, who would have thought? It’s average, I think we should point towards that and I mentioned that last week. At the end are some jacket potatoes which can go with baked beans, coleslaw and butter. It’s not decadent, this is the cheapest hot food I suspect they could think of. It might be transformed by a decent chilli or something to put on the top, but this is a weak offering for a lounge. They kept it topped up, even though I was there until nearly the closing of the lounge at 21:00.

The lounge authorities then seemed to sit and work out what the cheapest cold food option they could have was, going for nachos. I actually like these and have no complaints, but it’s not going to win many prizes on the creativity scale.

As a lounge it’s comfortable, but I wouldn’t pay for it with my own money if it wasn’t on Priority Pass, as the drinks offering is weak, the food offering is weak and it’s not actually that quiet in the lounge. One reviewer noted recently:

“Don’t waste your money unless you’re a party animal who wants a party vibe. If like me you want peace and quiet, ability to work or just relax. This one isn’t for you.”

I have some sympathy to their complaint. However, there are plenty of power points and I like those, with the snacks being entirely edible and the drinks not a disaster, but I wonder whether they could take things upmarket just a little bit here and there. Although I suspect they’re limited by the number of customers who are trying to get their money’s worth by hammering the free alcoholic drinks. It’s usually £34 to pay to go in, that feels like quite a lot of money to me.

The staff here are friendly though and the welcome at least feels authentic. They were pro-active about the closing process, a staff member went around and told everyone at 20:00 that they were closing the bars at 20:30 and then the lounge at 21:00. I like a bit of clarity in my life. There are plenty of staff going around the lounge and clearing tables, with the whole arrangement feeling clean and organised. I did wonder whether it was entirely prudent when two staff members were talking to each other about how they were hammering the lounge company for overtime money at the moment, which might explain the cost cutting that’s going on.

And far be it for me to comment on this, but the lounge promises “enjoy premium beers”. It has one beer, which is Birra Moretti, which isn’t premium. It’s like saying that Aldi own brand Jaffa Cakes are premium. I mean, they’re fine, but they’re not seen as a premium option. What the lounge could do with is a delicious pale ale, preferably a hazy one. I might be too focused on beer though, that has been commented on before by a high percentage of my two loyal blog readers. But, I digress. At this point, it was time to meander over from the lounge to the Wizz Air gate for Gdansk to get this little adventure started.

September 24, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Avalon at Luton Airport

This week’s arrangement at Avalon thanks to Priority Pass. I didn’t try and buy this much, but once again the staff members suggested topping up my purchases to get the maximum benefit. I’m not sure that the scheme is designed for this, but that’s what they offer and so that’s what I had. The mango and granola thing was delicious, although veering on being slightly healthy. The BLT sandwich is quite heavy on the tomatoes and the bread gets quite soggy, it’s an interesting arrangement. There are also smoothies, coffees, cakes and toasties available at the outlet, which only has around eight tables although the turnover is quite fast.

Without going off on a tangent, I find customer behaviour quite intriguing. Avalon is one of the first food outlets that is visible airside and the number of customers I’ve seen here who say something along the lines of ‘here’s a coffee place, let’s sit here’ is much higher than I might have expected (not that I’d given it much thought in advance). My customer behaviour (when not bouncing around lounge options) is to meander around, find the best value and then check Google Reviews about the matter. I don’t think that I could live my life with the amount of jeopardy of “let’s sit here” without weighing up all the alternatives. I accept that some customers are not price conscious, are tired and don’t have time to faff about, but I’ve once again digressed into irrelevance.

September 19, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Big Smoke at Luton Airport

Thanks to my new Priority Pass card, I started my time at Luton Airport with a visit to Big Smoke. After last week’s little debacle, I was seated at a more traditional table and the team member kindly found me one which was near a power point. I felt that the service was always efficient, but I suspected before they ordered food that they were going to have trouble with a customer who was seated nearby.

The chicken tenders, they’re a little expensive at nearly £10, but that keeps me under the £18 Priority Pass budget. Tender with a crispy flavour, they’re perfectly competent efforts, although I accept unlikely to send the venue into the Michelin Guide.

The beer is the Medicine Man from Big Smoke Brew Co, it was hoppy with a tropical edge, but the flavour didn’t much linger.

Anyway, to add to the excitement of my meal, the customer next to me got her meal and she then called a team member over as she wanted vinegar. Then she called them over again as she wanted salt. Then she called them over again as the chips were cold. Replacement chips in a bowl were brought over promptly. Then she called them over for vinegar for the new chips. Then she called them over saying they had left her with the original cold chips, so the team member said he’d bring another bowl. She then asked how she was expected to eat her meal half off a plate and half out of a bowl. The team member said he’d bring a plate. She said she didn’t want two plates. The team member asked what she did want. She wanted the manager. The manager came off and was initially beautifully direct about the situation, but then the customer told her to shove the meal and the manager thought she’d better be polite. The manager said she’d replace the whole meal. The meal came over. The customer called the team member over for vinegar. I left at this point, I had seen enough drama but could I just give a comment of great thanks to everyone working in the hospitality industry.

I like this venue, it’s clean, comfortable and fast. It’s not really the greatest value going, but airports aren’t cheap and it seemed competently delivered. I’m very pleased with my £18 dining credit with Priority Pass every time I visit, I will eventually work through most of the menu I suspect (well, the bits that won’t involve me going over £18).

September 19, 2024