Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Luton Airport

Belgrade Trip – Getting Back from Luton Airport

I had a slightly (very) sub-optimal arrangement to get back to Newmarket from London Luton Airport, although I’ve realised if I can get slightly earlier flights back then I can get a National Express bus straight back. Unfortunately, the final leg of that service isn’t operated a night, so I had a few hours wait at the Pret landside with a 99p filter coffee. They have power and seating, that’s all I really required. I was suitably productive though, so the time wasn’t wasted.

The coach can arrive at any of these gates it seems.

As a slight side issue, why are they being that precise that a coach will be leaving one minute late? And I accept there are more important things to worry about in the world, but when you’re meandering around outside an airport at 04:30 these things provide at least a modicum of amusement.

Here it comes.

Four of us boarded. This route just flits between Luton Airport and Cambridge, obviously much busier later in the day taking passengers from the airport. They need more legroom on these coaches, that’s my summary of the service.

Morning Cambridge!

Then a 20 minute walk to the railway station.

It’s all happening now.

There’s the Ipswich Rocket at platform 5 that took me back to Newmarket.

After a quick sausage roll at Greggs waiting for Wetherspoons to open, I then had the £3 breakfast and £1 unlimited coffees. I quite a few coffees to stay awake, but as Tony Blair said, “that is that, the end”. Well, for the Belgrade trip anyway. I’m conscious I’ve skipped great chunks of the history, food and culture that I thought I’d write about, but there we go, maybe I’ll get back to it another time. Oh, I didn’t mention, that was one of the better Wetherspoons breakfasts so all was well with the world.

September 17, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Wizz Air (Belgrade to Luton Airport)

The delights of check-in started with having to queue up to get a printed boarded pass, as this is one of the airports where I couldn’t check-in using the app. There was a 25 minute queue here, but it was worth it when the staff member at the desk noticed a queue dodger and sent them back to the end of the line. As a British citizen, I obviously rely on people in power to enforce the queueing system as it’s simultaneously important not to see society collapse into a heap, whilst also not being brave enough to mention anything to the individual directly who might be responsible for civilisation falling by not respecting the queue.

The flight was on time, always a delight. The airport is in two bits, the rickety old bit and the more shinier bit which they’ve constructed. They call it Terminal 2, but it’s all joined together, but the budget airlines go from the more rickety bit of Terminal 1.

And another queue to board. But, a golden opportunity to stare at my phone, something I always try and take advantage of. I’m not one for monitoring my screen time, other than to sometimes ponder that it isn’t enough. However, I digress.

If you boarded from the front half of the aircraft you could use the air bridge. If you were in the back half of the aircraft you were despatched outside to walk up the rear steps. I was randomly given a decent seat once again, this time an aisle seat near the front. I don’t pay for seat reservations, but if I did, then I’d go for an aisle arrangement. I boarded the aircraft and some old woman was in my seat in what appeared like a bid to sit next to her friend. I suspect they were about to ask me to swap seats, but since they didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Serbian, I was sitting where my boarding pass told me to. Without sounding middle aged and grumpy, of which I’m only one as frankly I still identify as a millennial, if it’s important enough to sit next to someone then just pay the bloody seat reservation fee. The woman spent the entire journey with her head in her hands propped on the tray table. The guy by the window seat looked as confused as me as to how that appeared to be comfortable. However, each to their own. The fare was again around £10, ridiculous value for money and I had no complaints about any part of the service. Wizz Air don’t have a great reputation in some quarters, but as yet I’ve not experienced any problems. Although, give it time….

This was after landing at Luton Airport, it’s a bit blurry unfortunately but it’s important to show willing….. The aircraft was an Airbus A321, registration code G-WUKV, which had already been to Istanbul and back earlier on during the day. They certainly work these aircraft hard, but it’s not yet a year old as it was delivered to Wizz Air on 29 September 2023.

With that, I just had the expedition to get home and that didn’t allow much time for sleeping.

September 17, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Wizz Air (Luton Airport to Belgrade)

Finally, my ‘riveting’ series of posts about this trip starts to have some relevance to Belgrade….. I’ve never been to Serbia before, so this was a new experience for me. The boarding arrangement was smooth and well managed, I had a wait of only around five minutes in the boarding queue before going down the stairs to board the aircraft, I was suitably impressed. I am aware of the negativity that Wizz Air receives, but so far (and this might change at any time, I fully accept that) I’ve not had any problems with them.

There’s the aircraft, looking ready for action.

And boarding. I prefer not to board with an air bridge as it lets me get a photo of the aircraft and work out the registration number and not have to look it up later. Those with disabilities might have a different point of view on this though.

The aircraft is G-WUKO, which I don’t think I’ve been on, but I don’t always record them which limits how useful these sort of comments are. And I’m not sure if anyone is really too focused on whether I’ve been on a particular aircraft before if I’m being entirely honest to myself. The Wizz Air fleet is one of the newest and this aircraft is an Airbus A321 which was delivered to the airline in May 2021.

I didn’t pay for a seat reservation, so I went for a random one and was fortunate enough to get a window seat. There was no-one sitting next to me, so it was quite an agreeable flight. To put this into perspective as well, the flight cost me £10.49, so it would be hard to be too disappointed here. We arrived into Belgrade on time, the aircraft was clean and the cabin crew were professional and friendly. The aircraft was only around 75% full, so despite the low prices, this wasn’t the most popular of services. This is the sort of flight that I think the unlimited flights pass that Wizz Air are selling will be trying to fill up a bit.

Around 15% of customers bought something from the refreshments trolley, a couple seemed tempted by the perfumes that were being sold, it all made a bit of money for the airline. Unfortunately for Wizz Air, I didn’t much help their bottom line with this flight. I had a look at the air passenger duty that Wizz Air have to pay, and for the economy seat to Serbia, they have to pay £13 to the Government. Anyway, I was very pleased again with the airline, everything went smoothly and I received what I considered to be excellent value for money.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and My Lounge

This is only a short post (with poor quality photos), as I didn’t really mean to visit My Lounge. I used to visit this lounge a few years ago, but it has been modernised and updated now with a new ground floor reception area. I had assumed that the lounge would be fully booked, but I went and asked if they usually allowed Priority Pass walk-ins. He said that it was normally fine and so I thought I might as well pop in and wait for my flight. You find your own table here, unless you’ve pre-booked, and there weren’t many left, but I found a quiet corner out of the way. Incidentally, note the healthy banana I acquired here. There really is no end to my healthy eating.

I’ve written before about the odd situation with lounges in the UK, and it is mostly the UK, where they are less business lounges and more ‘all you can drink before your flight’ rooms. This is why, I suspect, Priority Pass has had to come to an arrangement with some dining options at the airport, as otherwise there isn’t enough capacity. I can hardly comment on what other people drink (I mean, look at the state of https://untappd.com/user/julwhite…..) but I watched several customer groups here trying to get their value for money by constantly visiting the bar and I think they achieved their aims. I opted for just one beer, not least as it was Birra Moretti, which doesn’t surprise and delight me.

This is a bit hopeless as a photo, but I hadn’t intended to spend much time here, but I was trying to show that the surroundings are comfortable and tasteful in their decoration. I’m not sure that’s evident at all from the photo, but luckily I’ve just written it, so that’ll do instead. It did feel relaxing to be fair and there were plenty of charging points dotted around, with everything feeling clean. There were plenty of staff and so empty plates and glasses were being cleared promptly.

I did like their nachos, but the food offering was highly limited here. It was effectively jacket potatoes or nachos, which is sufficient as a snack, but the usual entrance price here is £32 and that’s a punchy price point. So we get into the situation where some customers will try and get their value from the alcohol, which means the lounge has cut back in other areas to facilitate that. For someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, I’d suggest that it’s probably better value to go to one of the restaurants at the airport rather than visit the lounge.

Although the staff member on the door said that Priority Pass customers are usually accepted, I’m not entirely convinced that’s anywhere near guaranteed judging from the reviews. But, I’ll pop in again if I get chance to try and get some better photos than the random rubbish I’ve managed to get here. I was going to get them during this visit, but then I noticed that the gate for my flight had been called.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and Avalon

Following on from my visit to the Big Smoke Restaurant with my Priority Pass card, I walked the short distance Avalon for a dessert and coffee. It’s a relatively small unit with around ten tables and I’m slightly surprised they haven’t put some high tables around the outside to increase capacity. Anyway, the deal here was that I got a credit of £18 to spend on food and drinks.

My plan was to get a coffee and a slice of the Big Rock cake, as that seemed sufficiently filling.

The staff member said that I wasn’t spending anywhere near the allowance and she suggested a sandwich, before then adding other items to come to exactly £18. I wasn’t going to turn this down, so I then had more food than I really needed. However, I’m telling myself that this is an opportunity to try the various Priority Pass offerings, so it didn’t seem like a bad idea. The sandwich was slightly moist from the tomato, but the ham was quite decadent and gave the whole arrangement a pleasant taste. I’m not really a dessert person, but the cookie was chocolatey and the Big Rock cake was more than enough. I took the cereal bar to Belgrade with me for a late night snack.

The service here was always helpful, not least with helping me reach the maximum spend possible. I didn’t want to take a table up for too long and take other sales away from them, but it was a clean, comfortable and relaxed area. My latte was rich in taste and that might explain why I couldn’t sleep when I got to Belgrade, I try not to drink coffee after around 10:00….. The customers here looked rather middle class shall we say (although who am I to judge….), the whole thing feels a little more upmarket with its set-up than some of the other food options.

Incidentally, those on an unlimited lounge card can also go to Nolito for an Italian meal, but I decided that I really didn’t need any more food and I didn’t want to take excessive advantage of Priority Pass as otherwise they’ll end up withdrawing offers such as these. I will though pop into Nolito when I’m next at the airport, which is only in a few days, so my two loyal blog readers won’t have long to wait.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and Big Smoke Restaurant

I mentioned in my last post about my new acquisition of an unlimited Priority Pass card, so my first usage of it was at Big Smoke Restaurant. The deal is that they give you £18 to spend as a dining credit at the restaurant on anything that you want. It’s not a huge amount, so it’s not going to get any traveller a three course meal and a smorgasbord of drinks, but it’s a decent snack. The service element was a bit fiddly, but it didn’t help that I asked to sit at the bar as there were power points and I didn’t want any of my devices low on battery. This meant that they didn’t have any waiter service to take my order, which might have made the process smoother. I tried to order at the bar and I was told they needed to find a staff member from the restaurant area to pre-scan my Priority Pass card, which they did.

I then tried again to order and this was going brilliantly until they realised that had left some breakfast menus out, and I needed to order from the lunchtime menu which started at 11:00. Again, it was sorted quickly enough and everyone was helpful, although this is a slightly fiddly arrangement all round. Here’s the main menu and it’s evident how far the £18 will go, or not go as the case may be.

I went for Smoky Chicken Wings and a pint of Electric Eye. The food took 12 minutes to arrive, it was neatly presented and the chicken was tender and fell off the bone easily. I decided I’d eat the celery for some variety in my life, which was particularly healthy of me. Would it have been worth the £17.20 that it would have normally cost? Probably not to be honest, I’d have likely gone to Boots next door and got three meal deals for less money. However, the dining environment was clean and comfortable, the service was polite and I was able to charge all my devices up which ensured that I wasn’t overly stressed for the rest of the day. I’ve got a new battery pack to avoid issues, but I try and remain fully charged when about to travel somewhere new, just in case something goes a bit wrong.

For an airport location, the prices aren’t unreasonable and I merrily listened in to other customers to see if they were happy. In general, they seemed to be and given the absence of a Wetherspoons here, it’s likely one of the better pre-flight options. As for the Priority Pass, it’s a handy option for those on unlimited passes, but it’s poor value for those on limited visit pass as it’d be cheaper to just pay at the restaurant.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Centre to Luton Airport

Before I start this, I accept that this post is, well, rather niche and a bit prosaic. But, I quite like reading back on the connecting parts of trips and since it’s my blog, I might as well write the stuff I want to remember. I’ve walked from the centre of Luton to the airport on numerous occasions and I have to say, it’s rarely an inspirational meandering through beautiful landscape and undulating hills. I’m quite proud of myself for this photo, which I think is the most beautiful spot along the route. Although, if truth be told, it’s actually in a traffic island (the underpass is visible at the rear of the photo), but it does show the little river that weaves its way through the town. It’s the River Lea, which becomes much bigger by the time it hits London and is also the origin of the town’s place name (Luton I mean, not London).

Last time I walked by here, the Luton DART hadn’t been completed. It’s a ludicrous fare of £4.90 to get to the airport from here, which is a minor walk (for me, I don’t speak for anyone else). When I get a train ticket that includes Luton Airport station, it does though include the DART ride. Not that I’ve had a situation where I’ve needed to buy such a ticket, but maybe one day.

I walked over these steps once before realising it was much less hassle just to cross the road. This is always my sign that I’ve reached Luton Airport. Other major airports have an old plane or something similar on display, but I like this little bridge. One point of this post is that if anyone does want to just walk to the airport, it’s only a thirty minute expedition from the town centre and so for anyone with a backpack and no walking issues, it’s some free exercise before the flight.

And here we are, London Luton Airport. Does travel get more decadent than this?

September 10, 2024
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day One – Getting to Luton Airport)

There was little to report from the other three over in Stansted Airport, but Bev was enjoying being pushed about and thought after her two meals in the JD Wetherspoon outlet that she’d have a Pret to wash it all down.

Whilst Bev was being treated like a celebrity, I’d completed my visit to the White Horse in Luton and I’ve written about that separately.

I didn’t realise that the bastion of journalism that is the Sunday Express has left Luton. Or, perhaps their sign just fell off.

It’s about a 40 minute walk to the airport from the town centre, but I managed to get lost and ended up meandering randomly around, although at least that means I saw more Luton streets than I could ever want to ever again. The reason that I mention this is that I walked by Luton Airport Parkway railway station and they’re near to opening the Luton DART, which has been in testing before passengers can use it from 10 March 2023. Some people have been more fortunate, King Charles III got to have a little ride on the DART last December.

There’s currently a shuttle bus to the airport from the railway station, or it’s around a 15 minute walk. I must admit to being quite astounded that they’re planning to charge £4.90 for this three minute journey on the DART and I can’t quite imagine many more expensive railway journeys for the distance travelled. The costs of construction are ludicrous, it was meant to cost £225 million and has gone soaring over £300 million already and judging by the local newspapers there are some slightly annoyed residents wondering where this money has gone. In the future, any ticket to Luton Airport Parkway will now include the cost of using the DART, but this raises the odd situation that I paid only £2.90 for my ticket from London St Pancras to Luton last week and so they’ll have to charge a fair chunk more for passengers who aren’t going as far (the parkway station is before Luton if travelling from London).

Anyway, I doubt I’ll ever use the DART as it seems completely unaffordable and as I won’t have any luggage, children or other things slowing me down, I’d rather just walk for 15 minutes. Maybe if Bev flies from Luton the matter might be different though.

After getting only slightly lost en route, the promised uplands of London Luton Airport appeared on the horizon. It’s a functional airport, but it struggles to cope with the number of passengers that it’s getting and it’s not really a sufficiently large terminal. To be fair, they want to change matters by expanding the current terminal and building an entirely new one as well. That would see an increase in passenger numbers from 18 million a year which they currently get to a new limit of 32 million. They’re already the fifth largest airport in the UK by passenger numbers and if they want to increase they’ll have to build that new terminal.

Inspired by Bev, I used my coffee subscription and charged my devices at the landside outlet of Pret. And, yes, I am getting onto writing about Lisbon very soon now. The screens were showing that my Wizz Air flight was going to be on time and just as I getting ready to go through security I heard that the others had landed in Lisbon. Leaving them just with one problem, they needed to find Bev a stick.

March 2, 2023
Monday and Tuesday : A Post About One Train Journey

Am I really going to post just about one train journey? Well, yes, I think I will….. After enjoying a healthy lunch of chips, battered sausage and curry sauce on Monday (and being very productive, which is why I’ve caught up on this blog amongst many other things) my Tuesday evening was all about getting the train from Norwich to Luton Airport Parkway. This blog has killer content, it really does, I can imagine the hordes of people wanting to read about such an exciting rail journey. Who needs stories about Amtrak journeys across the United States when you can read about a train journey from Norwich to Luton? Anyway.

The gleaming Norwich railway station at just before 21:00 on Tuesday evening. And to give context, my flight was on Wednesday lunchtime from Luton Airport and it’s an annoying airport to get to in the morning if not driving. There are no cheap rail tickets on Wednesday mornings as it’s part of the peak travel time, so going late the previous evening is really the only way.

This section of the Greater Anglia train always feels to me like part of a haunted house experience, or, at least when walking through it when the train is in motion. I also like the sign “through access only” as if there’s much else a passenger can do in there.

As it notes on the display, this is a service to Cambridge, which was the first part of the journey. I had partly hoped for a delay in the service so that I could claim Delay Repay, but as a spoiler, every part of the journey which involved three trains was on time to the minute.

Cambridge at 22:30, it’s not the busiest railway station at that time, but I like the slight eeriness that exists because of that.

There’s my service, the 22:44 to London King’s Cross. I did have a slight concern about power at this point, or I should specify I only mean mine, I was less concerned about the train’s general power requirements. I had charged every one of my devices at home and on the Greater Anglia train to Cambridge, but I knew that there were limited charging facilities on the final of the three trains and also at Luton Airport. And I knew I would be at Luton Airport for hours and hours.

The Great Northern train from King’s Lynn to London King’s Cross, which had about two people to each carriage.

The carriage had power points, which was a relief.

There’s a joke there about how hard northerners are, but readers can work out their own punchline.

The beautiful King’s Cross railway station. It’s nicer at night when there aren’t people faffing about everywhere.

It’s about a 40 second walk from King’s Cross to St. Pancras, so a delay to my journey here was unlikely.

The impressive station building of St. Pancras.

The final of the three trains, the East Midlands Railway service to Luton Airport Parkway.

No power points…. The guard on this train must have announced six times that passengers mustn’t put their feet on the seats and she then swept through the train warning miscreants who hadn’t paid attention to what she had said. I can see her point, it’s a problem which seems to be getting worse, passengers had their feet on seats on the previous two journeys, but there were no guards saying not to. I must say that the guard did get her way, I couldn’t see anyone breaking her rules. The train arrived in at 00:38, and as mentioned earlier, that was exactly when it was meant to, so no delay at any point for me. Given that I booked this train some weeks ago, and did wonder whether it would be caught up in strike action, arriving at 00:38 felt like a slight miracle.

One thing that isn’t made clear to passengers who get off at Luton Airport Parkway is that they can just walk the 15 minutes or so to the airport. I accept a lot of people won’t want to, especially if they have bags, but it’s very hard to find a way of the railway station at the rear to be able to walk there. There’s a big new development at the station, so it all might be getting easier, but at the moment, they try and get people to pay for the bus to take them to the airport. I got that once, but it’s not necessary for anyone who is happy to walk a relatively short distance. Anyone wanting to walk, just look out for the signs to Kimpton Road.

And here we are fifteen minutes later, the delights of Luton Airport. This will never be my favourite airport, but sometimes needs must….. That’s the story of that, no dramas, all very efficient and everything was clean and organised en route. As a side issue, if I won £150 million on the lottery (which is unlikely as I don’t end the lottery) I suppose that I would have just got the first train from Norwich to Luton Airport Parkway in the morning, but there’s something slightly more magical about travel that isn’t always easy and risk-free. Not that I say this journey was a piece of magical delight, but I do remember these pieces of travel so I must have some attachment to them.

July 7, 2022