Viva Las BAcon! To Las Vegas with British Airways, American Airlines and Aer Lingus
Trip Report Index (it’s long):
- Viva Las BACon! The second spin of the roulette wheel
- Heading to Birmingham Airport, EI277 Birmingham Airport – Dublin Airport
- HOTEL: Bewleys Hotel, Dublin Airport
- The DAA Lounge, Dublin Airport
- BA831 Dublin Airport – London Heathrow Terminal 1
- An Easy Heathrow Transit and the British Airways Galleries First Lounge
- BA295 London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Chicago O’Hare International
- Tick Tock, Tick Tock – an express connection in Chicago
- AA55 Chicago O’Hare International T3 to Las Vegas McCarran International
- HOTEL: MGM Grand
- HOTEL: Mandalay Bay and BAcon
- One Time Exception: The High Roller
- HOTEL: Luxor
- One Time Exception: A Nighttime walk down an every changing strip
- Back to McCarran Airport, The American Express Centurion Lounge
- AA1239 Las Vegas McCarran International – Dallas Fort Worth
- A quick rush across Dallas Fort Worth
- AA78 Dallas Fort Worth – London Heathrow Terminal 3
- Transit again, The British Airways Terminal 1 Domestic Lounge
- BA831 London Heathrow Terminal 1 – Dublin Airport
- Irish Transit, The Aer Lingus Gold Circle Lounge
- EI276 Dublin Airport to Birmingham Airport
- Another lovely slice of BAcon
With the Aygo of Doom dropped off at the secure flat car park, it was time to switch back to my usual form of transit – bus and train. Why you might ask would I do this, when I have the “freedom” of a car?
Thanks to some idiot this morning who bumped, there are scratches on the back now 🙁
Simple? £49.99 for parking and the stress of driving home versus the simplicity of picking up the train will win every time in my book.
On the buses.
So once again, it was back on the buses to Birmingham city centre, and quick walk over to New Street Station… where the first problem of the day manifested itself – the joy of ticket machines that were on the blink.
I am not a fan of ticketing fraud in the UK (and paying lots of money in the past for a season ticket has hardened that opinion), so queued up for a ticket agent.
There was annoyingly 1) a wait and 2) an express service had gone by the time I had my ticket. Begrudgingly, I took the local service to Birmingham International as opposed to the express service.
This being peak time – the train was rammed to the gills. Oh well. The more things change as they say.
Within 10 minutes, I was deposited at Birmingham International Airport station, and jumped on the AirTrain over to the terminal building, and straight down to check in.
Aer Lingus check in.
Some days you get check-in agents who don’t want to be at work, or are too rushed to help.
Today was not that day, with the agents happy to help. I engaged them in banter, which rewarded me with a choice of window seats – either in row 9 for a quicker exit or row 12 with an emergency exit row.
So of course, I went for the emergency exit row.
A little fast track sticker was also stuck on my boarding pass, and with no bags to check, I was sent on my way.
Birmingham Airport security normally isn’t too problematic (it does suffer from people not reading the signs, or forgetting the liquids regulations). Thankfully, the fast track queue was nice and short, and I was through in about 5 minutes.
The empty fast-track corridor.
Never a bad thing.
And after fighting my way through duty-free, I was back in the terminal area. Time to relax, and use the local internet for a bit.
General waiting area.
As boarding time approached, it was time to head to the International pier, where the Airbus A320 was awaiting its passengers.
To the International pier!
Don’t think I could afford that aircraft model… let along anywhere to put the thing. 
Meanwhile, arriving at the Elmdom side of the airport was a very different Airbus A330 – an Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport.. or what we call the Royal Air Force calls Voyagers
De plane boss!
With a boarding pass beep, I was through, ready to begin an adventure again.
And adventures are fun.
EI277 Birmingham Airport – Dublin Airport
Aer Lingus, Airbus A320
200 Miles flown, 100 points collected (Aer Lingus Gold Circle)
The photos:
- Set 1: http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2014/09/10/to-birmingham-airport-aer-lingus-ei277.html
- Set 2: http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2014/09/11/birmingham-to-dublin-ei277.html
I headed do the stairs and to the outside for an evening blast of Jet1A, and headed up their stairs to the waiting plane
A friendly welcome from the flight attendant, and it was down the back to row 12. On an Aer Lingus A320, this is the first row of exit rows – which means no recline.
Boarding in progress
But if you need recline on a 40 minute flight there are bigger things in the world to worry about.
With a fullish load on this flight to Dublin, our plane taxied out to the wondrously extended runway at Birmingham Airport (that has attracted… 3 extra flights as far as I can work out), it was time for our A320 to head off into the night sky:
Inbound Emirates Boeing 777-200ER landing.
With a quick climb, the plane took the air and begun its short hop over the Emerald isle.
The crew still in smiles for the last segment of the night were in full smiles mode still as the trolley rolled out.
And that’s one thing that has struck me with Aer Lingus crews – always friendly, always smiling and never a frown visible to the public.
Lets look at legroom. For starters, its massive – even by emergency row standards.
The seats themselves are reasonably new for Aer Lingus, with, with the document storage up high as opposed to by the knees – creating legroom.
It’s also the perfect place to put a GhettoIFE system – well anywhere is good for a GhettoIFE system (except bulkhead seats… well, that’s a grey area).
Admit it everyone – you’ve missed this. I know I have! Note the white cable in the iPhone, it’s a power bank. I wrote about these.
The flight itself was a quick one, heading out over Holyhead and over to Dublin at a fair olde pace. The night sky finally gave out some colours as we crossed over into Ireland.
Cabin in flight.
Modern Airbus overhead panel.
The exit view.
Our approach into Dublin was over land and around, as opposed to a direct over city approach.
Coming in over Ireland.
Whilst this sound longer, it actually helps when coming into Dublin – as it’s a much shorter taxi to the gate complex.
Turning into the final approach.
With a quick taxi off the runway, it was time to taxi over the terminal 2 complex, where our plane came to a rest after a short flight.
Etihad Manchester City Special
With the plane docked at T2, an airbridge was attached, and it was time to head off the plane.
Overall: Friendly as always, Aer Lingus did the job of getting me from A to B in comfort. With great check-in staff, great crew and a comfortable cabin, it ticks all the boxes for a short-haul flight.
Next: The Bewleys Hotel.
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