Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Airlines

Berlin Trip : Berlin Brandenburg to London Stansted (Ryanair)

I’ve already mentioned the limited gate size at Berlin Brandenburg, but the Ryanair side of matters was efficient and timely. There was a delay on the aircraft which worried me slightly as I wanted to catch my bus to the bustling rural hotspot of Braintree, with a wait of nearly two hours if I didn’t catch it. However, that 30 minute delay was clearly communicated and the boarding process was efficient.

The aircraft is EI-IJN, I don’t think I’ve been on it before, although it’s relatively new as it was only delivered to Ryanair in January 2024. The flight was, once again, not particularly worthy of note as everything went as it should and the flight caught up a few minutes en route. The random seating Gods had given me a middle seat, but it’s a relatively short journey.

I’ve never been so pleased to see a bus to Braintree. I caught this with just a few minutes to spare, I was fortunate that we weren’t delivered to a gate at a satellite terminal and that the border was relatively quiet.

The fare from Stansted Airport is just £2 thanks to the ticket cap, which is unfortunately rising to £3 in January as the new Government continues its attack on public transport. To be fair, for this journey, that’s still very good value and I mustn’t get political.

We were delayed just slightly as they were putting Christmas lights up, but it livened the journey up a bit.

I seem to have had a run of Travelodge giving me rooms with extra beds. Anyway, safely at Braintree Travelodge and that’s the end of the Berlin trip…… All really rather lovely and my little birthday treat to myself.

December 20, 2024
Wizz Air – All You Can Fly Subscription

This is certainly a brave and innovative model launched by Wizz Air today, it would be tempting if I was able to take a few more flights at the moment. For just under £450 a year, customers can get any flight for just £9 per sector. It sounds a rather good deal, some tickets routinely go for £150 or more, so it’s potentially a marvellous arrangement. However, there are quite a few caveats built into the model, not least hidden away that Wizz Air are reserving the right to restrict the number of tickets available to those who have the pass. This sounds like something more akin to the British Airways limits with Avios, just having a limited number of seats per flight that can be booked that way. Customers with the pass would need to be very flexible given the limitations offered.

If it transpires that the only limitation is a need to book less than three days out, then it looks like a tempting offer for digital nomads, travel junkies and anyone who commutes regularly. I rather suspect though that there might be some issues ahead here, but if there aren’t, I might well be getting a pass next year….. I know Wizz Air don’t have the best reputation at the moment, but I’ve never experienced any issues with all of the flights that I’ve taken with them.

Although, and in a more environmental friendly sense, it’s a shame that there isn’t a version that allows travel by train for just £9 per sector.

August 13, 2024
Bucharest Trip – Day 1 : British Airways Flight to Bucharest

I mentioned in a previous post for my two loyal blog readers that I was on razor thin timing for my flight, having left the hotel just 2 hours 30 minutes before take-off. I considered the reality that it might take over an hour to walk to the bus stop, get on the bus and then arrive into Heathrow Central bus station. In reality, it was 11 minutes. But, that meant one thing, I was safely at Heathrow Terminal 3 ready for my British Airways flight to Bucharest. For all of its faults, I’m still keen to use British Airways and I opted for them to get me to Bucharest. Steve had used BA the previous evening, whilst Bev, Susanna and Thim had decided that Ryanair was for them. Bev would use a cattle truck to get there if she could, but I’m surprised that Susanna and Thim weren’t a little more decadent. But, naturally, I didn’t say anything about the matter.

Back to the flight though. The boarding gate process was handled well, there was no wait and there was a seat whilst they called the groups forwards. All very organised and calm, this felt well managed. It’s always pleasant when the boarding process feels calm, sometimes it all feels a little chaotic and stressful.

Here we are on board. I say we, but I primarily mean me and the other passengers. It was an Airbus A320 aircraft, registration G-EUUF (although I need to check this, as two sites have different aircraft registration codes for this flight which I haven’t seen before). Assuming it was G-EUUF, BA have had this plane since new when they purchased it in 2002 and I don’t think it’s one that I’ve been on before (but my records are quite patchy, I didn’t know I was going to become interested in recording this for some time). Once again, I should really get out more…

One of the vestiges of my status with British Airways is that I can still book these for free, so I got an emergency exit row seat. I’ll be back to silver status early next year (the lowest status I can get which gives me lounge access), required given that I do like visiting the airport lounges as I get excited by free cans of Fanta. Also for my comfort, there was no-one on else this row which was quite handy. Especially given that Thim was reporting he had a somewhat less comfortable experience on the Ryanair flight he was on. The seating area was clean and everything worked as it should,

Satisfactory leg room and the cabin crew were pro-active and friendly. There were also working power points on the service which proved handy. The pilots were the usual middle to upper class sounding British Airways flight crew, sounding reassuring and competent. Not that other pilots aren’t competent, it’s just that the announcements made by British Airways crew seem to be so quintessentially British that it fits their brand well.

There were no delays on departing and the passengers all seemed sensible and efficient which meant no issues with people trying to shove large bags in awkwardly to the overhead lockers.

The free snack and water, which I still think is a positive touch rather than the previous effort they had which involved giving passengers absolutely nothing.

And safely into Bucharest, twenty minutes earlier than expected. There was little to report from the flight, which is a positive thing as too much drama on board is often sub-optimal. I had mentioned to Bev that I didn’t want her, Susanna and Thim waiting for me as they got in 90 minutes earlier, but that was good since they didn’t bother anyway. Once again, I didn’t comment negatively on that situation. On the matter of the weather, it looked just a little bleak, but the temperature was fine for my needs and the rain wasn’t too bad.

I won’t go on about the European Union as my thoughts on this are well known to my two loyal blog readers (and for anyone else, #iameuropean) and EU citizens were able to breeze through passport control. Those from the UK had a much longer wait which was sub-optimal. Anyway, I was again impressed with British Airways, everything worked as it should, everything was clean, the crew were friendly and the service was efficient. The flight cost £42 each way, which I think is very reasonable, especially as I used Avios from previous flights to reduce that to £24 each way. All rather lovely.

November 12, 2023
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 1 (The Ryanair Flight to Gdansk)

All this telling me to relax is very stressful. I just want to know when and where the aircraft is going from, I like being in a state of heightened tension before a flight and certainly not relaxing. Things have moved about since I was last at Stansted a few years ago and my favourite seating area has gone, but I found a quiet seating area a level below the main terminal which was rather peaceful and delightful. Or as much as these things can be anyway.

Safely at gate 49 and I have to comment positively that Ryanair are incredibly efficient when things go right. The signage is clear, it’s obvious where to stand, the process is managed well and they do this better than British Airways which often is either organised chaos or not organised at all.

The big long queue to board, but the wait was for only five minutes or so.

At least with no airbridge I can take a photo of the aircraft. The aircraft is SP-RNA which was brought into use in 2008 and has a few weeks ago been transferred to Buzz, which are a division of Ryanair. What I find fascinating is that this aircraft will be used for seven flights today, from Stansted to Gdansk to Prague to Gdansk to Oslo to Gdansk to Dublin and back to Gdansk. They get their money’s worth out of these Boeing 737s.

The flight was nearly full and I cannot fault Ryanair for the service today. The cabin crew were pro-active and polite, the pilots made clear announcements, the aircraft was clean and everything was organised and on time. This flight cost £25 and I have to note that I’ve been surprised and delighted by Ryanair. I was asleep for most of the flight, but I received exactly what I paid for which was simply a glorified bus journey and they don’t pretend that it’s anything more than that. I’ve never actually had any problems with Ryanair after over a decade travelling with them, but when things go wrong they do have a poor reputation of fixing the issues.

Safely at Gdansk Airport where three shuttle buses swept passengers away to the main terminal.

Where we had to wait of course because we’re not in Schengen and the border guard, who was very amenable, spent some time adding up the number of days that I’ve been in the European Union. But it’s good to be back in Poland and the weather is warm and frankly too hot. But I don’t complain.

May 10, 2023
British Airways – Using Avios for BA Holidays
I was interested in this announcement from British Airways that passengers can use Avios to book BA Holidays, which is something new. As there are currently double tier points on BA Holidays until the end of the year, and rumoured for even longer, I’m tempted to complete some flights between November and December 2023 in what would be the start of my Tier Point year. I’ve lost my silver status which was handy for lounges, so I might well save some Avois during the year to help in getting that back in 2024.

Anyway, the copy of the press release is below:
- From today, British Airways Executive Club members can pay with loyalty currency, Avios, when booking a holiday package with British Airways Holidays
- Avios can also be used as an alternative to a cash deposit to secure a holiday booking
- Executive Club Members travelling before 31 December 2023 will continue to earn double Tier Points on packages of five nights or more
- Members can collect Avios on everyday purchases, including more than 1,500 retailers on the British Airways Avios eStore
British Airways Executive Club Members now have more choice than ever when it comes to using their Avios, with the new option to redeem them towards the cost of a British Airways Holidays booking.

Customers choosing a flight and hotel and/or car package with British Airways Holidays, can now use Avios towards the total price of a holiday when making their booking. After selecting their preferred package, customers will be able to pick one of up to nine different Avios payment options at check out, allowing them to choose the amount of cash and Avios they wish to spend, with the cash amount starting from as little as £1, subject to holding a qualifying Avios balance. Examples include:
- Return flights and two nights’ accommodation in Barcelona from £1 + 67,650 Avios for two people sharing (50p + 33,825 per person)**
- Return flights and three nights’ accommodation in New York from £1 + 246,275 Avios for two people sharing (50p + 123,188 Avios per person)**
Alternatively, customers can secure their holiday with a deposit just using Avios, paying any remaining balance with cash in as many or few instalments as they like, provided the balance is paid off in full four or five* weeks before travel for short haul trips or seven weeks for long-haul.

British Airways Executive Club Members will also continue to earn Double Tier points with British Airways Holidays. To qualify they need to book flights and hotel, or flights and car hire, for five nights or more and travel before 31 December 2023. This includes solo travellers and any holidays already booked.

There are a number of ways for customers to collect Avios to spend on holidays, including spending on the British Airways American Express Credit Card, travelling with Uber, converting Nectar points and shopping on the British Airways Avios eStore. With more than 1,500 outlets to select from, savvy shoppers can earn Avios from any purchase that they make when visiting www.shopping.ba.com.

Claire Bentley, Managing Director of British Airways Holidays, said: “Now more than ever we want to give as many options as possible when it comes to booking that much needed holiday, so we are really excited to offer our Executive Club Members the ability to spend Avios on a package with British Airways Holidays.

“When people book with us, they can do so knowing that we take their holiday seriously. As well as a wide range of holidays to suit all travellers and budgets, we have a dedicated helpline available to customers at any point during their holiday, so they can switch off and relax knowing that they are in safe hands.”

In addition to packages with British Airways Holidays, British Airways Executive Club Members can use Avios to pay, or part pay for flights, as well as seat selection, upgrades and on board food and drink.

Elsewhere, after much feedback from customers, British Airways recently rolled out its Reward Flight Saver to 100 per cent of its network. This proposition allows customers to purchase a Reward Seat at a low flat fee, plus a fixed Avios amount. Members can travel to and from Europe from as little as £1 plus 18,500 Avios, or to a long-haul destination, such as New York, from £100 plus 50,000 Avios.
March 2, 2023
2022 US Trip – Day 25 (American Airlines – Chicago O’Hare to New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport in Main Cabin Extra)
After a pleasant several hour long visit to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge I was pleased to note that the gate area for the flight to New Orleans was spacious and comfortable. The flight was leaving on time and was expected to get into New Orleans at just after 19:00 and as a spoiler, I’m pleased to say that it did with no delays. It had been a relaxing day and I thought quite productive (not just in terms of eating through their menu), but I was getting quite tired by this point despite my little nap in the lounge.

I was able to get an emergency exit row seat, although was sitting in the middle, which I had picked as I realised that there’s something called Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines that had nearly entirely passed me by. These are the seats with extra legroom and also free drinks, and this is an upgrade that can be paid for, but which also comes free with the Silver status that I had with British Airways at the time (now gone I’m sad to report…..).

I boarded fairly early and put my bag into the overhead lockers, a process which is less time consuming than with British Airlines short-haul where it’s like watching a complex game of Jenga as bags are moved in and out. And there’s usually one passenger that tries to fit a bag into the overheads that simply cannot physically fit. It’s entertainment for a while watching the arrangement and seeing the exasperated, but yet ever so polite, looks of the cabin crew. Boarding on American Airlines was efficient and the crew were offering a positively upbeat welcome, it was all very agreeable.

Despite having read up on the arrangement, I still wasn’t entirely sure what I could get on Main Cabin Extra and I was disappointed when the lady seated to the left of me ordered a water. I was hoping to see if she got her drink for free, but as she asked for water then that told me nothing. I asked the crew member if I could get an alcoholic drink and he said that was what I had paid extra for and I most certainly could. I picked the Goose Island IPA which gave me fond memories of my brewery tour in Chicago and that came with a little biscuit snack as well. The lady to my left then said she hadn’t realised she got a free drink, which the man on my right then repeated, leading to a confused crew member as to why three of us had paid for this upgrade that we didn’t understand. In reality, I suspect that the other two just wanted an emergency exit row seat, whereas I was just getting the best free seat that I could.

That’s the best photo that I could get of the A319 aircraft after disembarking. The air bridges make it difficult to get photos, at least with budget airlines they make you walk to the airport terminal which gives an opportunity to take a photo of the aircraft.

And safely into New Orleans airport. I was only planning to be here for two evenings and just one full day because I wanted to visit the national World War II museum. I had missed it on my previous trips to New Orleans as I didn’t have time, but I was determined on this occasion to not just visit, but to make sure that I had sufficient time to see everything. This was my third and final American Airlines flight of this trip and all of them met or exceeded my expectations.
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December 25, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (American Airlines Flight from Heathrow T3 to JFK T8)

Suitably refreshed after visits to the Qantas and Cathay Pacific lounges, it was time to board the American Airlines flight from Heathrow T3 to JFK T8. See, I did tell readers that this trip would eventually get to the US! There was strict adherence to boarding by groups, despite the best efforts of some passengers to try and get on earlier than the group number on their ticket. The staff member said “group 3 now and anyone from groups 1 and 2 yet to board” and a passenger said to her “does that include group 8?” to which she replied that no it didn’t. Boarding was sluggish though, the flight departed 45 minutes late given the slow boarding and stowing of bags.

I had a bulkhead seat which gave me plenty of space and legroom. The aircraft was a Boeing 777-300, registration N722AN, which has been operated by American Airlines since they acquired it new in 2013. I was happy with this seat which I had been able to book for free before the flight, it felt comfortable on what was an entirely full flight. Apparently there was just one empty seat on the flight and that was someone at the airport who had cleared security but gone missing. I could hear the crew member say that he was likely asleep in a lounge and that it was too late to get anyone on stand-by onto the aircraft to replace him. With American Airlines, you can see how many people are on stand-by for each class and they got nearly everyone on board.

Legroom on the other seats looked manageable, but not entirely comfortable, especially if someone reclined into that space. I didn’t have to worry about that issue fortunately and I think the person behind with child was likely relieved that I didn’t recline either.

I didn’t use the in-flight entertainment as not much seemed particularly interesting, despite their claims of hundreds of hours of content with something for every taste. I did though watch an episode of the US version of The Office before getting bored and reverting back to podcasts.

The main meal service, I went for the chicken, green beans and starch option, although I was puzzled as to what that starch was. There was also a salad with dressing, a roll, crackers with cheese and then a carrot cake. I thought it was entirely satisfactory, nothing exceptional and the starch didn’t sound overly appetising, but it all tasted OK and it kept me amused for fifteen minutes or so.

I went for American Airlines over British Airways as they offer Dr. Pepper and have air vents. Simple things and simple minds….

In between naps, I went for Sprite as I managed to run them out of Dr. Pepper. I had quite a lot of little naps during my flight. Fortunately, there were power points on board so I had everything fully charged, and still had chance to lend the charger to my neighbour (on the plane, not in Norwich) as they couldn’t get theirs to work.

The personable crew member came to offer everyone an ice cream, mentioning to give it twenty minutes as it was so hard. He took a long time getting through the cabin as he kept talking to passengers, I got the impression that he rather liked his job, or he certainly looked like he did judging by his interactions. Indeed, all of the American Airlines crew were friendly, informal and they seemed to work well as a team, it give a positive ambience to the arrangements.

The breakfast options were beef or vegetarian pockets. Everyone else seemed to be going for the vegetarian one, but I was brave and went for beef and the crew member commented on my bravery. Not the most encouraging thing to say after ordering a meal, but the food was fine, although it was mostly pocket and not much beef.

A little girl came to talk to me as she wanted to look at my phone and see photos of my children. After checking her parents were content with this plan, which they were as they were trying to deal with a crying young baby, I checked she would be satisfied just with photos of a friend’s children. She was and we then went through hundreds of photos of Liam’s children who she decided that she liked. She thought Liam’s girl was her favourite as she looked the naughtiest.

The problem with airbridges is that it makes it hard to take photos, as opposed to when passengers are allowed to walk down steps. Anyway, the aircraft is in the photo to the left and that’ll have to do. There were a ridiculous 45 minute wait on the ground to get a stand, before another ninety minute wait at border control. They didn’t try any interrogation on this occasion, the officer just checked if I was in the US for tourism or business. I remember when a border control agent asked me a few years ago if I believed in the JFK rumours that he was killed by the secret service, which is quite a tricky question to know how to answer when arriving tired into a new country.

Anyway, the flight had made good time and there were no delays to the services I had taken during the time because of the Queen’s funeral which was potentially going to impact operations at Heathrow. It had been a good day.

This is terminal 8 where American Airlines and British Airways are combining operations, after many years for BA at Terminal 7. There’s a fair chunk of construction work going on at the moment and there’s going to be one large Oneworld lounge, albeit separated into three sections depending on class (of the flight, not of the individual) and loyalty scheme status. This model is likely to become more common I suspect, it feels odd that there are four Oneworld lounges at Heathrow T3, much as I like that situation.

September 21, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (Aer Lingus Flight from Dublin Terminal 2 to London Heathrow Terminal 2)

As is just about visible for anyone zooming into the image to look at the screen, I arrived at the gate at 05:29 for my 06:30 flight. I left the lounge at 05:28 thinking it might take twenty minutes to get to the gate. It didn’t. I refuse to ever be realistic in case the one time that I’m not, I’ll be delayed somehow en route and miss my flight.

Here’s the Aer Lingus flight having landed into Heathrow T2, as I couldn’t get a photo in Dublin. The aircraft was at capacity and I boarded towards the end (no status with Aer Lingus) which didn’t much matter as I had an aisle seat. Nothing is provided free of charge on Aer Lingus in terms of refreshments, but there is a trolley going around selling food and drink. I can’t add much detail to the flight since I was asleep for the entirety of it, but I’m sure it was lovely.

For reference (more mine than anyone else), this was an A320, registration EI-DVE, which Aer Lingus have operated since they acquired in new in 2007.

It felt appropriate to land at Heathrow T2 on the day of the Queen’s funeral, as this is the Queen’s Terminal. Despite dire warnings from Aer Lingus about delays on the day of the funeral, including trying to get me to change my flight, everything went to clockwork in terms of the flights. Although to be fair to Aer Lingus, they did have to cancel some of their flights later on during the day, so the situation probably felt quite fluid last week.

September 20, 2022
Thursday – Crossing London on a Rail Strike and Flying to Newcastle with BA (Part 1)

Starting Thursday having stayed at the YHA at Lee Valley, I was fully rested and ready for the excitement of crossing London during a rail strike. Although I’ve trailed that bit with the title of this post really.

Much of Britain has been a bit short of water recently and this is the River Lea looking the driest that I’ve seen it. Incidentally, it can be spelled either Lea or Lee, or as Wikipedia notes “the spelling Lea predominates west (upstream) of Hertford, but both spellings (Lea and Lee) are used from Hertford to the River Thames”.

The railway tracks for the Greater Anglia services are on the left, but they weren’t running at all from Cheshunt, although there were some trains shuttling up and down the line. The Overground was operating, although it wasn’t going to be the next day, but only from 08:00 which is later than usual. I wanted to get across London as quickly as possible for my 13:20 flight, so I caught the 08:02 service. I’m not entirely sure why the Overground was operating later than usual, but I assume it was because there were difficulties in getting drivers in on time.

The service was busy when I got off at Seven Sisters, but I think that was just a lot of people switching to the underground network who would have otherwise got the train into central London. It wasn’t busy for much of my journey, but I can imagine it was nigh on intolerable for many.

This is how I spent much of my journey, in the peace and quiet of the underground. I arrived at Heathrow T5 at around 09:40, which was as fast as I could have expected even on a day without strikes, so I was more than pleased with TFL.

I don’t often fly on domestic flights for environmental reasons (and my flights will be decreasing sharply next year anyway), but I have to note, it is much cheaper and convenient than using rail. However, I didn’t have many options when I needed to be in Newcastle and the trains weren’t running. A single fare cost £30 on BA, which I thought was very reasonable and compared to the railways, it’s just far better in terms of comfort, speed, efficiency and cost.

They’ve changed the security queueing system around a bit and I was stopped from going to the premium security bit by a staff member who said that there was no access via the way I wanted to go. I asked how I could get to the premium security line and she pointed me the way that I had been going. I suspect my dishevelled look must have slightly disorientated her. The staff were all friendly, but there was a woman complaining that her liquids were being seized. Again and again this happens, surely people must realise they can’t sneak stuff through, although I’m always impressed how surprised people pretend to look.

I had time to visit the BA Galleries South lounge and the breakfast spread here has improved no end recently. I’m not saying this is world class, but it’s more than sufficient and everything has reverted to being self-service once again. I’m pleased that they’ve stopped insisting on putting the bacon and sausages into rolls, it’s now served separately.

How decadent.

There’s now a market table as they’re calling it, with salad items and the like, as well as rolls.

And it’s the first time that I’ve seen nachos in a BA lounge as well.

Some of the hot options, which includes pies, chicken curry, vegan curry, chilli and the like. I was very pleased that the gravy was self-pour. They took the breakfast options away just before 11:00 and brought the hot food out just after 11:15, which I think is earlier than it used to be.

I was pleased to see the gravy was self-serve because that meant I could drown my pies in it, just as I like them. I’m easily pleased I accept. They’ve changed to pea and ham pies this month, and the quality is very acceptable indeed. I could have had quite a few of these. I know that as I did have quite a few of them.

There seem to be a lot of screens down around Heathrow at the moment, although the number of staff seems to have increased.

Boarding was a mess and it took them nearly 40 minutes from announcing the gate was open to letting people through. It’s easy to be critical, but they could have explained what was happening as I could see the annoyance on the faces of some people. And, if I couldn’t, the man next to me shouted down his phone to someone “it’s blasted carnage here”. I’ve changed the “blasted” word to be less rude, but readers (if it’s plural) of this blog can guess the word he used. I privately thought that the word “carnage” was a bit strong for a queue of this length, but sometimes people like to recount their stories of drama.

It transpired, as the pilot mentioned it on board, that the computer system had gone down and the gate staff were trying to fix it. They probably could have just said that whilst we were waiting, but they did look short-staffed and perhaps they were just focused on getting people through quickly. Boarding by group fell apart, although the queue I was in moved quickly and so I boarded relatively early. It was all fine, but it isn’t helped that there aren’t enough seats in this part of the terminal, so it’s not entirely comfortable waiting.

I can’t recall many air bridges that are so long, the terminal building is visible at the rear of the photo.

The flight was impeccable as ever and I had plenty of space and no-one seated next to me. The snack was the same crisps and water as with every other flight, but I’m content with that. Helpful and personable crew, but that’s fairly standard in my experience of British Airways.

Safely in Newcastle in under an hour from taking off. We had taken off 44 minutes late and arrived 38 minutes late, but I wasn’t in any hurry, so all was well. The boarding had been a bit odd as people were trickling on the aircraft for over half an hour, but on a day of a national rail strike, I was just glad to have arrived safely.

The aircraft is G-NEOR which as the registration suggests is an Airbus A321 NEO which BA have had since new in 2018. Of no interest to anyone else, but just for my own interest, I haven’t been on this aircraft before. The weather was colder than I’ve experienced in Norfolk over recent weeks, which to be honest was just a relief.

And I’ll leave this post here, starting off again soon enough with getting on the Newcastle Metro into the city and then checking that the pubs were all still open.

August 22, 2022
British Airways : Random Post – Change to Check-In for Bronze

I found this quite odd at Heathrow T3. I’ve reached the giddy heights of silver (after spending hours finding the cheapest possible way of doing it, since I’m not very decadent with my airline spending, or indeed any spending other than on craft beer which is one of life’s essentials) but BA did allow bronze and silver to use their priority check-in desk. There’s now signage saying this.

And this. It’s a bit confusing since priority check-in is a stated benefit of Bronze statue. I mentioned this as my friend Richard is a bronze member (and spends decadently to reach that) so I will report back any tales if he’s refused a priority service at check-in. How exciting! It’s quality content like this that keeps this blog reaching its dizzying height of two readers.

July 4, 2022