British Airways BA777 Stockholm Arlanda to London Heathrow (EuroTraveller)
Summer adventures to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
Contents
- Seriously – Take a holiday!
- Morning Manoeuvres in the dark, Terminal 5 and Galleries South
- BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
- Exploring Stockholm on the cheap (Travel Plus!)
- Back to Arlanda, Stockholm Arlanda Lounge
- QR168 Stockholm Arlanda to Doha (Hamad International Airport) – (Business Class)
- Six Hours in at Al Mourjan Doha’s Lounge
- QR944 Doha – Singapore Changi International (Business Class)
- Intercontinental Singapore
- Exploring Singapore by boat
- From the Top of the Marina Sands
- Back to Changi T2, SATS Lounge
- MH624 Singapore to Kuala Lumpur International Airport
- Into KL, Holiday Inn Express KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
- Adventures in KL
- KL Tower (or yes, Kevin is in yet another tall building)
- Back to KLIA
- MH611 Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Singapore Changi
- Exploring Singapore again with a tweep
- Back to Premium, dnata lounge, Singapore T3
- QR947 Singapore Changi to Doha (Business Class)
- A Dash through Doha…
- QR169 Doha – Stockholm Arlanda (Business Class)
- From Premium to Economy
- BA777 Stockholm Arlanda to London Heathrow
- To have flown, To Wait.
- I need another break…
I headed down the air bridge to the waiting A320, and was welcomed aboard the flight.
With the formalities done, I headed to my seat – on the exit row. Well – there’s got to be some advantages of being a Silver – getting an exit row seat.
The seat is the B/E Pinnacle Seat that I’ve grown to hate over time (and the same one used in Club Europe) – least of all – it isn’t a great seat. It’s not remotely comfortable, and poorly pitched. It’s just about bearable in Exit rows, but you can forget about doing work in these seats.
They seem to be a missed opportunity.
The leg-room in the exit row is the only thing going for it in the exit rows.
And just to confirm, I was next to the emergency exit.
Loading took its time, with the plane packed out for the trip to London.
Although I know people who would commit various non-describable act for this pillow. I’ll be honest though – I not a fan of them – I can never seem to get into the right position to be comfortable with them.
With the packed-out plane, I saw the animated monstrosity of the British Airways Safety video for the last time (it’s been a video that’s had so many nips and tucks, you can see where the animation style changes – it’s been replaced though… and we’ll catch up with that in the next trip report)
With the video done, our A320 pushed back. Traffic around Arlanda was busy as it always seems to be.
UPS Boeing 767
The Jumbo Hostel near Arlanda Airport – one of the better uses of a Boeing 747.
SAS Boeing 737
SAS ATR 
And another SAS 737… notice a theme here?
Soon it was time for our BA777 to take to the sky, with our Airbus A320 powering up.
BA777 climbed into the welcoming sky, leaving Stockholm and Sweden behind.
With the flight airborne, it was time to explore the in-flight entertainment option. Yes, there’s the overhead map, but there’s also something new for me to explore.
Cabin during climb.
Allow me to explain – since the Buy On Board service has been introduced, I’ve been flying Club Europe all the time (mainly because I can find the available redemption seats).
This time I couldn’t – so I’m in EuroTraveller. That means I get to see the menu. Let’s explore together shall we?
Well, whilst it was entertaining to read, it was more entertaining watching people realise they have to buy products on board, and not get them free.
A pretty fast education for those who think British Airways is still mouthing “To fly, To Serve”. (although if they’ve been flying SAS in SAS Go, this would be exactly the same…).
In any case, whilst there were a few card transactions, there were very few transactions for Avios that I noted – maybe British Airways frequent flyers have cottoned on how bad value it is…
… or maybe a lot of the passengers didn’t have BA Executive Accounts…
I just enjoyed the company of the bulkhead and the views.
The map showed we had crossed the North Sea, and was closing in on London.
With the cabin secured, it was time to enter a stack. Why? Because this is Heathrow. We know nothing but stacks for awaiting traffic.
Conditions were a little wet on the ground as we were approaching London – impeding views of the city.
Welcome back to Brexitana. It’s Grey.
After exiting the stack, our plane begun its river approach to Heathrow
The O2 and Canary Wharf.
The City of London.
BA777 made it down to Heathrow with a bump, bringing the flying part of this adventure to an end.
With the taxi, I settled back to view the waiting sights.
Qantas Airbus A380
Emirates A380
Virgin Atlantic Airbus A320.
A Qatar Airways Airbus A320 sneaking in at London Heathrow during the mixed fleet strike.
With the plane approaching Terminal 5 – and more importantly – the “A” Gates at T5, the crew disarmed the doors, and the plane game onto gate
BA777’s engines powered down, and it was time to leave.
After getting though this bunch of people first.
Overall: Whilst the crew maybe used to the buy on board service, passengers still aren’t – and are expecting a full service cabin. Whilst the crew managed the process well, and managed the expectations, there were some minor grimaces.
And that saddens me – least of all the staff want to deliver a great service. However, if they’re hampered by their management – there isn’t a lot you can do.
Next: To Have Flown, To Wait for my Luggage…
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