Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Heathrow T3

Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (British Airways – London Heathrow to Gothenburg)

We had spent some time in the lounges and the gate was already boarding when we got there, so it wasn’t clear just how efficient the boarding process was in general. However, for us, it was fast and well managed, with the team members being personable and friendly.

There are jet bridges to board the aircraft so everyone went by the front door. I like stairs for the simple reason that I can see the registration of the aircraft without looking it up, which in this case was G-DBCG. This is an Airbus A319 that has been in the BA fleet since 2012 and before that it was operated by bmi (owned by Lufthansa but sold to IHG in 2012) from 2006.

I was in the aisle seat at the rear of the aircraft and I noted the rather rickety nature of the seats. That seat in front was reclined during the flight which is impressive as the seats don’t actually recline. The aircraft was rather hot during boarding, but was I pleased to note that the temperature became somewhat more comfortable after take-off.

Boarding was a little chaotic. The crew members behind me were saying to each other that the overhead lockers were now full and so they were having to be creative. The passenger sitting next to me had a large bag and was walking up and down the aircraft trying to find a place to put her bag, so I ended up standing in the aisle for five minutes watching the confusion unfold. And the crew didn’t check the lockers as one flew open when taxiing which felt a little sub-optimal. But we were ready to depart pretty much on time.

However, onto the positives, the crew were very friendly throughout and there was a free biscuit and water on BA which is at least something. I was surprised and delighted to have access to WhatsApp during the flight, this was something of a bonus to me. However, in a separate post, I’ll do a comparison between Wizz Air and British Airways as to who I thought was the better carrier.

And safely in Gothenburg. There was disembarking from the rear doors and that meant I managed to be the first off the plane into border control. That is exciting, but is always stressful in terms of working out where to go and I had to wait for Richard anyway.

The border was particularly friendly, a very positive first impression of Sweden. It also meant that I have now visited every EU country, which excited me….

March 10, 2026
Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – American Airlines First Lounge)

Here’s Richard with his luggage.

Sorry, wrong image. Anyway, this is the posh bit of the American Airlines lounge and again I’ve only visited the standard bit before so many thanks for Richard guesting me in.

The staff member checking us in wanted to see my passport to check that Richard wasn’t guesting in some member of the lower classes, before joking that she needed to decide which lounge to send us. However, after seeing all of Richard’s bags, she thought she’d better send us to the premium bit and here’s the menu board outside.

Apologies about the complete lack of useful photos in this post, I was too excited about the trip ahead. The beer selection was woeful, American Airlines hadn’t managed to get any American beer in, which would have least shown some willing.

We didn’t go for the table service as we’d just had a three course meal, but I had a healthy salad with a generous amount of bacon bits from the self-service area. This tasted perfectly acceptable for a salad, with the Peroni 0% tasting thin and dull as ever.

I should have really explored the lounge a little more to write a fuller report, but time was starting to get short and I was getting distracted. There could have been more power points available, but we found some by a seating area, but a wider provision would have been useful.

There were some pre-packaged sandwiches in the fridge which I assume they didn’t mind if passengers took, but I decided against it. I did take some crisps for the evening though as I saw numerous others doing that.

I felt that this was the weakest of the four lounges with the whole arrangement being a little lacking in atmosphere, power points, food and drink. The ceiling was also leaking and it didn’t have the calmness of British Airways, the informality of Qantas or the luxury of Cathay Pacific. However, the staff were helpful and the surroundings were generally clean and organised.

Richard was very kind to guest me into the lounges, it’s been some time since I’ve been to Heathrow Terminal 3 (now I use Wizz Air to go just about everywhere) but it was all an interesting experience.

March 9, 2026
Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – Cathay Pacific First Lounge)

The next lounge for our little visit to Heathrow T3 was to Cathay Pacific, which I’ve visited numerous times before but not to the posh bit. This is the seating area of the First area of the lounge, with the table service restaurant off to the back left. We went over, but there was a fifteen minute wait, so I sat excitedly whilst Richard sat on the phone doing business things.

There was a friendly welcome at the reception desk, it felt authentic and personable so my first impressions were very positive.

The dining room area which all felt clean and comfortable.

The self-service drinks area.

The beer selection was the best of all of the lounges we visited in the day.

The full drinks list in the table service area.

The food menu with some tempting options. With the food and drink, I appreciated the effort to offer some Asian choices as well as some European choices.

Richard with his salmon starter.

My burrata starter, which was delicious although I felt that the burrata could have been just a little creamier and I’m not sure why a second one was provided. It was nicely presented though.

The dim sum selection which is available in the main lounge, but I thought I’d have this for my main course as I don’t ever get to come here any more. This was as tasty as ever, one is shrimp, one is vegetable and the other is pork.

I ordered a pork bun as well as I got muddled up when they asked if I wanted anything else.

The cheese board selection for dessert and this was perfectly pleasant, but only the blue cheese had much in terms of the depth of flavour.

It’s unlikely that I’ll come to this part of the lounge, namely the posh bit, again so thanks to Richard for guesting me in. I’ve always liked this lounge in general and it was a very positive experience to visit it again. The posh lounge area was quite compact and we had a bit of a wait to be seated, but it all felt professional and I hope I can get in the main part of the lounge again at some point in the next few years…..

And with that, we thought we’d pop to the American Airlines lounge.

March 9, 2026
Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – British Airways First Lounge)

Thanks to the decadence of Richard and his kind guesting offer, this was the first time in years that I’ve been able to visit the First Lounge of British Airways at Terminal 3. There was a friendly welcome from the BA staff who seemed upbeat and personable.

This is the informal section of the lounge with Richard modelling the Christmas look.

There’s a relatively wide spirits selection and three beers, including one non alcohol option.

BA still has the order by phone option, although there is a self-service area as well. This was the really quite delightful toasted tomatoes and avocado with some chilli on top. Very decent indeed, served alongside the Brewdog Speedbird OG Transatlantic IPA, a hoppy and fruity little number.

The breakfast on the self-service counter and this was cleared away at around 11:20.

The cheese selection.

The lunchtime hot food selection was brought out at 11:30.

And the cold selection.

I solely tested it for the purposes of this blog, but the beef & onion pie with beef dripping gravy was very agreeable.

And the rest of the options.

I accidentally ordered the pastrami and it was pleasant although it felt a bit like a cheaper supermarket option. But, I don’t want to be critical, it’s an airport lounge and not a Michelin starred restaurant or Greggs.

This is the dining and work area of the lounge, which was my favourite area of the whole arrangement. This was a little cooler than the rest of the lounge, which was more preferable for my requirements.

For those arriving at breakfast the options are more limited, but the lunchtime selection was much more decadent. There was an effort made with the alcoholic drinks, less so with the non-alcoholic drinks. I like the Brewdog tie-up and have done for some years, although I suspect now they’re owned by a US company that this might slowly come to an end. The lounge was all spacious and clean, with the team members all seeming friendly.

But with that, we were off to the Cathay Pacific lounge for lunch.

March 6, 2026
Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – Qantas Lounge)

Excuse the poor photo, but it’ll have to do. I’ve written about this lounge before, so I won’t witter on endlessly…. Or no more than normal anyway.

We arrived at 09:10 and the ground floor restaurant area wasn’t open until 09:30, so I had a starter in the buffet area upstairs. It was busy, but not uncomfortably so. There were some pastries and yoghurts laid out, with a small hot selection of bacon and sausages.

The brunch menu in the downstairs table service area.

And the salt and pepper squid, my favourite thing on the Qantas menu. This was certainly acceptable, although it didn’t reach the usual melt in the mouth standard they’ve offered before. But, it was nicely presented, other than for the rickety old marked plate.

Richard ordered his Eggs Benedict and received his Egg Benedict. He ordered another one though, so he didn’t miss out.

The Qantas lounge doesn’t have a split between gold and silver (or their Oneworld equivalent) members, it’s all one offering. I’ve always liked the set-up at Qantas, an informal table service restaurant downstairs alongside the self-service set-up upstairs. The team members were friendly and agreeable, it was a lovely start to the day.

And, Richard, who has been reading these blog posts, I feel deserves some praise. So, thanks very much for guesting me into the Qantas lounge, I might not be back here for a while….

March 6, 2026
Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Bus to Heathrow Airport and Checking In)

Rare evidence that Richard can use public transport. Although my usual complaint is that it’s not possible to walk into Heathrow Airport, because the authorities have removed that facility. The travel zone used to be free, but they’ve got rid of that too.

The driver was particularly friendly and upbeat, all very positive.

The bus was at the stop when we arrived and that meant we were at the airport just five minutes after setting off.

We then went to the check-in desk even though we had nothing to check in, but Richard likes being thanked for being gold. I didn’t say anything, well, not much. I will admit, his being able to guest me through fast-track security was handy.

And that’s really why we’re doing this, it’s Richard’s last month of being gold and that means we can lounge hop around Heathrow Terminal 3. This is a very good idea of his and it’ll make for a relaxed day of food, drink and blogging…. I used to do the lounge hopping when I had status with BA and when I worked for them, but I’m a Wizz Air person now and this golden age of decadence is behind me. But not for today….

March 6, 2026
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (Terminal 2 to 3 at Heathrow Airport and a Quick Couple of Lounge Visits)

I don’t often do much transiting at Heathrow, but today I was going from Terminal 2 where my Aer Lingus flight landed to Terminal 3 where my American Airlines flight was departing. I had four hours or so deliberately in the schedule when planning this (so that I could enjoy the lounges), and despite the potential delays from the Queen’s funeral, that schedule worked out.

Here’s the transfer bus stop within T2 with a sign saying that there are regular buses every ten minutes. Anyway, 24 minutes later the bus arrived. Another couple were getting edgy as their flight was quite close in terms of time, whereas I was losing lounge time. Obviously mine was the most important situation that needed resolving, but I didn’t say anything.

Wooo, here comes the bus. The process was all quick from there, with another security check required because that’s what UK airports do, but there was a minimal delay with that and I was through and into the lounges within fifteen minutes of that bus setting off.

I do take decadent photos to surprise and delight readers…. This is one of the bathroom units at Cathay Pacific, which also has shower facilities. Note all the complimentary stuff in the little boxes, but I decided to just take the toothpaste as I’ve decided to keep my bag as light as possible during this trip. Fully refreshed, it was time for food.

I’ve written about the T3 lounges many times before on this blog, so a search will help any readers wanting to read my previous missives. In short, Oneworld status passengers can use the BA, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges regardless of which Oneworld airline they are travelling with, although the American Airlines one is currently closed. This is the menu from the Cathay Pacific lounge, where food is cooked to order, although there’s a self-service British section as well.

I went for the BBQ fried pork rice although with my regular order of the Mix Dimsum basket. As ever, it was delicious, as was the Guinness which is the first time I’ve seen that in this lounge.

I then rushed off (there’s no time to waste on days such as this) to the Qantas lounge as I’m just a little obsessed with their salt and pepper squid, but here’s the rest of the menu options. I’m not travelling next year so will lose my silver Oneworld status, but I’ll likely be getting it back soon enough in 2024 as I can’t miss out on the delights of menus like this. Yes, there’s more to life than this, but this is a bloody useful contribution to it.

Beautiful, melt in the mouth stuff…..

I remained in the Qantas lounge until it was time for my flight and I was slightly surprised to see that the majority of everyone there was watching the build-up to the Queen’s funeral on the lounge’s TVs. By nature of the lounge, most of the people there seemed to be Australian and some people had built themselves almost like little nests packed with food and drink where they could watch proceedings from. It was a reminder to me of the level of interest that people around the world have in the life and work of Queen Elizabeth II.

It was a lovely few hours, but I had a plane to New York to catch…..

September 21, 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
Thursday : From Prague Airport, Walk Across London at Night and Back to Norwich

Carrying on from the previous post, this is now late Wednesday evening. After a hot day of public transporting around Prague, I arrived four hours early at the airport, ready for my 21:15 flight back to London Heathrow with British Airways, albeit operated by Finnair.

The security process at Prague Airport is just before boarding, so I was able to get to the Mastercard Lounge quickly and without delay. The staff member politely mentioned that entry was only allowed two hours before my flight, but then she asked who I was flying with and when I said British Airways, she said I could enter immediately. I don’t know whether BA offer a higher rate than lounge pass schemes such as Priority Pass, but I was very appreciative.

I was here a few months ago with Richard, but that was a morning flight and this was one of the last flights of the day, so there was a different feel to the arrangements. It was all clean and organised, there’s a self-serve soft drinks machine, snacks in the fridges and self-pour alcohol. They had a separate beer fridge with a couple of choices in it, nothing exceptional, but perfectly acceptable given it was free. I’m not at all picky when stuff is free, I’ve noticed I’m more inadvertently generous on Untappd. Nathan would no doubt tut at my lack of consistency….

The two hot options were pasta and chicken drumsticks. It seemed an odd choice for a lounge, as the chicken was a little greasy and they were going to end up with bones dotted around the place on places. However, I wasn’t let down with the taste of the chicken, although the pasta was a bit bland.

The food menu and the meat platters were rather lovely.

It’s a relatively large lounge, although it wasn’t particularly busy when I was there. They have very few power outlets, although I was fortunate to find one as I did need my devices fully charged given that I might not get chance later on. They had views over the runways, although no power points in those areas of seating. They also have unlimited popcorn…..

The seating was comfortable, it was practical for those with laptops and the like, although there were some more comfortable chairs for people who prefer just to relax and not always sit and stare at a screen as I seem to.

The flight was showing as delayed by one hour, but after three hours in the lounge I thought that was enough, so I meandered over to the gate. There was plenty of seating available, with a few power points dotted around.

The boarding process was efficient and customers were called in group order.

There’s the Finnair aircraft, which BA are wet leasing as they seem to have managed to not have enough of their own, a situation which seems far from ideal.

And as it was the Finnair aircraft, I opted for my favourite seat with lots of legroom.

Excellent crew again, although the Finnair cabin crew nearly always seem very professional and personable. I had the entire row of three exit row seats to myself. Whilst I was in the lounge, I had received a message from British Airways saying that there would be no catering on board the flight due to operational reasons. I had another chicken drumstick to fill me up in case there was no mini bags of crisps and water on board. It transpired they had water, but no crisps, which I could manage without, although I’m not sure that the Club Europe passengers would have been quite so impressed as they get meals provided. The crew said that the catering lorry couldn’t reach the aircraft due to a crash at Heathrow, which meant that they didn’t have their food either, so they were wondering where they could eat at nearly midnight at Heathrow.

We arrived into C Gates of London Heathrow about thirty minutes late, although I was in no rush. It’s not ideal to be at C Gates usually, as it’s quite a walk as the internal trains don’t run when it’s close to midnight. But I was in no rush and I like walking.

The UK border was moderately busy, but their automated machines were rejecting a lot of people, including myself, which meant a bit of a queue as there weren’t many border control officers. They were doing some quite detailed checks on some people entering the country, but I was waved through after a cursory check of my passport. I tried to look and act as British as I could in case they thought I pinched someone else’s passport or something.

As my flight was arriving late, I decided against a hotel in London, which at the moment are ridiculously priced compared to what they were. I had a great idea of just getting the 06:00 train from London to Norwich, which was £10, and getting the night bus from Heathrow into central London. That meant I wanted my devices fully charged, so this was the arrangement I set-up for myself, I found the chair and moved it towards the power points and refused to leave (not that anyone asked me to) until everything had full battery. This travel isn’t as easy as people think when there’s a fear of devices without power….

The arrivals floor at Heathrow T5, not very busy at night. For anyone who wants to stay the night at the terminal, it’d be on this level, they remove people from the departures floor. It’s not particularly comfortable, but there’s power, wifi, toilets and I think one of the shops stays open overnight.

I was pleased that the weather was overcast and not too hot.

Heathrow still have no date of when pedestrians can walk into the terminal, something they’ve currently banned from doing, although cyclists can cycle in from next year when the tunnel reopens. The free travel zone has been scrapped and they’ve introduced this new drop-off fee, all adding to the expense for many people. But, Heathrow have shareholders who need cash…..

I’ve never caught the night bus N9, but it’s a bargain really at £1.65 to get from London Heathrow to Trafalgar Square.

The bus timetable if anyone should want it, but the services are regular throughout the night and it’s an 85 minute journey from one end to the other.

On time and not very busy.

The passengers who boarded were just using the bus to get to T3, so I was on my own on the bus for a while after that. Well, with the driver obviously as I’m not sure what my bus driving is like…. (although, I have driven a bus without incident when the driver let me near Cromer, but I’m not sure that was entirely within the rules so I best not go too far down that line). It was a very peaceful journey and it’s actually really quite nice to be able to watch the city go by without stopping at literally every bus stop. There was a mixture of night workers coming back from work, going to work, some early morning commuters, party-goers and travellers.

Sad to see the Admiralty pub like this, certainly different to the last time I was in it a few months ago.

The pub was badly damaged by fire a couple of weeks ago and it looks very serious in terms of the repairs that will be needed.

It was gone 03:00 by this time and I was surprised just how many people were still around Nelson’s Column and Trafalgar Square. It all felt safe and non-threatening, although I was careful taking photos as I didn’t want any mugging incidents.

The Royal Courts of Justice. I had intended to pop into the 24 hour McDonald’s on the Strand to kill an hour, but it was at near capacity and I didn’t want all that raucous noise and party excess. I’m over 30 now and can’t be dealing with that.

St. Paul’s Cathedral and it was a real treat to walk across the city when it’s so quiet, it feels like such a different place. Buses still shuttle around the city, so it seems alive and energetic, but yet with a sense of calm.

The Royal Exchange.

It took me around 40 minutes to walk across London, so I arrived at London Liverpool Street at 03:45. I’ve never seen the railway station all locked up, but the side entrance to McDonald’s was open so I thought that I’d get a little snack.

Back in the day, there used to be seating in this McDonald’s, but this is it now, just self-ordering kiosks. They were all switched off and I wasn’t sure what to do, but a security guard came up when I looked confused and got a crew member to come and take my order at the counter.

McDonald’s probably wondered what they’d do with the £1.80 I gave them for two burgers….. But just as I had finished, the gates of London Liverpool Street railway station swung open at 04:00.

It’s not often the concourse is so quiet.

By now it was 04:02 and the first train out is at 04:40 to Stansted Airport, which is where most of the waiting passengers were heading I think.

It’s very hard to get a photo of this statue as there’s often rubbish on or around it, and it’s also used as a seat or somewhere to lean against. I don’t entirely like this sculpture here, it’s not prominent enough and I hope they can rearrange things a bit. Note the uncomfortable seating behind it designed to avoid anyone homeless sitting on it.

Für Das Kind, or For the Children, designed by Flor Kent, which I’ve written about before.

I sat down for an hour in view of where the new Greggs will be opening soon.

There was nearly no-one around after the first train to Stansted Airport had gone.

I was pleased to see that this wasn’t the Stansted Express with no tables.

This wasn’t a busy service at all. I managed to fall asleep as soon as the train departed, but was conscious that the train guard was checking tickets nearly straight away as there were so few of us on the train.

And safely into Norwich Railway Station at 08:00. The blog will be quite quiet for the next month, with the exception of some odd random and irrelevant (not that they ever really cross the boundary into relevant) posts which I’m sure I’ll feel the need to make, as I’m doing nearly no travelling. Expect a few bits about the LDWA AGM weekend, the Summer Poppyline and some pub photos, but not much else.

July 31, 2022
Thursday : Heathrow T3 to Krakow with British Airways (operated by Finn Air)

After the excitement of being at Heathrow T3 through the night started to become marginally less exciting, I decided to walk through the bright lights of the walkways to get to the main terminal. It’s surprising how quiet Heathrow is at 03:00…..

I was ready. I was ready around 835 minutes before the flight to be fair.

They could probably do with some more seats on the first floor, but it was starting to get a little busier before the security lines opened at 04:30. I was confused why around 40 people were standing in what I thought was an odd place for the security line, at an overflow area. I decided these savvy travellers must know what they were doing, but I was hardly in a rush, so I stood in the normal place. Fortunately, I managed to find myself at the front of the queue and so was the second person (or second non-staff member to be more accurate) to enter airside.

Peace and quiet at duty free.

I’ve never really understood who buys all this stuff, it’s a huge retail area and nothing seems particularly good value to me. I don’t know whether it’s a mix of people buying presents and those who just get excited when they see alcohol for sale. Now, if they had a decent craft beer selection then I might be interested.

Slightly blurry, but there’s no shortage of seating if you go to the airport early. Who needs a hotel? An unnecessary decadence.

I have no idea how I’ve managed to take such blurry photos, but there’s the very quiet oyster and champagne bar or whatever it is. It’s not somewhere I’ve felt the need to spend much time. Actually, as an aside, I don’t really understand it, it’s expensive and I’d have thought if you can afford to go there, you’d likely have airline status to go to a lounge. And it’s a very open place to sit. But there we go, perhaps people like being seen when they’re being decadent.

I’d arrived before any of the shops had opened as well.

The BA lounge opened at 05:00. Well, it’s meant to, the bouncy and happy staff member went to open the First Class section at 05:00 and then she realised there was no-one at the main entrance. At 05:05 an harassed member of staff turns up and the lounge whirs into action. Fair play to her, what a time to get to the airport and the staff have to go through security every day, it must be tiring. Anyway, the First entrance is to the left and the Club entrance is to the right. Two of the customers in front of me were entirely the wrong place, they were going to the Aspire Lounge or whatever it was, and seemed annoyed at BA that they hadn’t made clear it was the BA lounge. The signage on the wall is a clue.

I must have been tired, these photos are dreadful. Anyway, the BA lounge main seating area.

Looking towards the rear, the little business section is to the right. No beer again in the lounge, just Heineken.

The BA order to the table app seems to have been removed, everything is on display again and it’s fair to say that’s it’s beautifully presented when no customer has mauled it all about.

The sausage and bacon rolls, which seem to be a waste of food if I’m being honest. A fair number of people ditch the rolls, including myself, to eat the bacon and sausage. The muffins were soggy and the rolls were hard and inedible, it just seems a waste of BA’s money. They must be able to deliver something better than this. I’m not specifically complaining, well no more than usual, for me, just that they’re spending all this money and delivering a product which is evidently inferior to the lounges around them (although I’d add the First section of the lounge is better, but I haven’t had access to that for years).

I asked a couple of times when the showers would be opening with no-one being sure, and the lovely lady on the First desk (not that I had access to that lounge, it’s just next to where the showers are) was confused why they were shut. She went off to find out and came back very apologetic to say the showers were closed for the week, but she hadn’t been told. I appreciated her help and assistance, but fortunately, there was a solution to this, the Cathay Pacific lounge which opened at 05:30. The staff try so hard in the BA lounge, but the airline doesn’t always seem to want to help them.

Cathay Pacific had showers which were immaculate, so that was that solved. The staff try so hard in the Cathay Pacific lounge and the airline does seem to want to help them. It wasn’t busy, and indeed I was the only person in the lounge for a few minutes, this is the part of the self-service breakfast selection. Spotless as ever.

And the other bit. There’s a selection of sausages, bacon and the like for those who want hot items.

But, yet again, I decided I wanted to order from the chefs at the Asian food counter and got my standard order of Thai coconut and vegetable soup, the Mix Dim sum basket, Fanta and beer. What a time to be alive…. And compare and contrast to the BA lounge. The flight time meant I didn’t really enough time to visit the Qantas lounge for some calamari as it opens a little later, but I was refreshed and ready for the new day after leaving the Cathay Pacific lounge. I’m disappointed to say I won’t be back in T3 for a while, as the flights I had departing from the terminal have been moved to T5.

It was unclear whether there was a priority line at the gate, but I wasn’t going to go hunting for it. The man behind me didn’t have the same restraint, I heard a series of “I will go and look”, “no, we’re entitled to use it” and the like, as his what I assume was wife tried to calm him. He stomped over in the end and asked where the priority line was, before shouting back to wife “we can enter the priority line here”. I admire his determination to sit in the gate slightly quicker than the others, although I have to confess to them following him. I tried to look as embarrassed as the guy’s wife.

The flight was booked with British Airways, but they’ve run out of aircraft, so they’re using Finn Air on a wet lease arrangement. So the pilots and cabin crew are all from Finn Air, whilst the service standard is British Airways. This has the advantage of this seat with lots of leg room, which as far as I’m concerned is the best in the economy part of the aircraft. I think I dozed off for a chunk of the flight and there was no-one sitting next to me, so this felt very spacious.

The mid-flight snack, a smaller bottle of water and a Nutrigrain bar. There was a man in the aisle seat, and we must have both dozed off, as the crew had just left them on the seat for us. The crew were excellent, friendly, personable and engaging, Finn Air should be very proud. Apparently they spend five days in London being put up at hotels, which must be costing BA a fortune, before returning to Helsinki for a few days.

Oh good, a bus to the terminal. Not that it matters, I’m hardly ever in a rush. I noticed that it was too hot.

Although getting a bus did give me time to take a photo of the aircraft, which is OH-LZU, an A321 which Finn Air have operated since it was manufactured in 2018.

It didn’t take long to get through border control, and I decided to use my limited Polish to the border guard. He replied, in Polish, asking if I was Polish as I would have then been in the wrong queue. He soon realised from my garbled answer that I wasn’t. Here’s the front of the terminal and it was evident to me that it was already too hot. I may have mentioned that.

The train from the airport to the city centre, which is over twice the price of the one from Warsaw. That’s the problem with these tourist cities.

I bought a ticket from the machine and then waited excitedly to board. The train was quite busy and unusually, you can buy tickets on board despite there being ticket facilities on the platform. One person showed their bus ticket, but the train guard was having none of it, they had to buy a rail ticket.

I’ve visited Krakow numerous times before, but here’s a quick photo from the city centre as I walked to the hotel in the searing heat. Krakow is a beautiful city, but it is very touristy, so I prefer visiting other cities in Poland, but it’s nonetheless a delight to be back.

Grrrrr, I didn’t entirely like the room, it’s one of these damn Ibis changes to make it feel like a nursing home. I’ve stayed at Ibis Krakow Centrum before, and they had better rooms with a desk and chair. I did query with reception if they had any of the older rooms, but they said they didn’t. Their answer was “we don’t put chairs in rooms any more”. I’m not entirely sure how that is seen as a good idea, as although I understand not everyone has the same requirements as me, a chair isn’t beyond Ibis Budget, let alone Ibis. This is, I think, an upgraded room, as there’s a coffee machine. I didn’t understand the point of that as they gave me two coffees for a five night stay, but those two were delicious I suppose. There’s also water provided, which I appreciated as it’s too hot. The window opened so that was positive, but the air conditioning in the room sort of worked, not to make the room as freezing as I’d like, but sufficient to be comfortable.

I appreciated the note though, that was kind. I’m not really into red wine, but it was a gift and that was very nice of them, so I did drink it as I didn’t want to be rude. I’m selfless like that.

Wwith that, I was back in Poland, although I had some sleep to catch up on.

July 4, 2022