Time for another snapshot, this time focusing on the passenger experience between Hamburg and London Heathrow on British Airways 957.
In case you’ve forgotten how we do travel write-ups on Economy Class and Beyond, I have two major travel writing styles:
- Trip Reports – These are full deep-dive reports taking you into the experience and the small things… as well as the big things!
- Snapshots – These are bite-sized reviews that show you the basic product in some nice gentle headlines (and normally, only images shot on the phone).
Today, we’re on the Snapshot. The full in-depth review is a work in progress (and I mean that in the nicest sense – you haven’t seen the pipeline I’m working through…).
Check-in
The check-in queue was rather substantial at Hamburg airport when I went to check in, with two agents handling a full flight (as the earlier flight had been cancelled months before), taking around 20 minutes to clear the queue.
My bag was accepted for travel and a boarding pass issued
Security
Fast Track security was closed this day, with normal security taking around 15 minutes to clear.
Lounge
British Airways utilises the shared airport lounge at Hamburg Airport.
Entry is confirmed via boarding pass. The lounge is also a Priority Pass lounge for those who hold this membership.
Food offerings were all help-you-self, with drinks free-flowing.
Boarding
Boarding was in the Non-Schengen area, with the aircraft departing from Gate B37.
The usual “boarding to the jetway” standard that Hamburg airport does was in full effect.
The Aircraft
It’s a British Airways Airbus A320ceo that would be lifting us to London that evening.
Seating
The seats are once again the Collins Aerospace Pinnacle Seat. This variant of the seat has a mains electrical outlet installed to charge electronics..
Wi-Fi/IFE
The aircraft was provisioned with the British Airway .air system.
This is based on the European Aviation Network (EAN) connectivity service, also hosting the onboard shop and donation pages the airline offers through its portal.
It was priced at £4.99 to access during the flight. Due to the flight length and exhaustion, this option was not taken up.
Catering
Two salads were catered – an Aubergine salad and a Beef and Potatoe Salad offering. This was accompanied by bread, an avocado side salad and a chocolate mouse.
Landing
The aircraft landed at Heathrow Airport and was directed to a stand, where there was a 30-minute wait for ground staff and guidance onto the stand.
From the stand, a bus finally arrived to take people from the aircraft to the terminal.
Immigration and luggage
Immigration was busy, with the e-gates not working for me. I chose to use the manual clearance lanes and was cleared to proceed.
Luggage delivery took its time, with priority tags ignored, taking a total of over 1 hour and 15 minutes from landing to exiting the secure area.
From here, it was a matter of racing to the Train station for a connection back to the Central Terminal Area for the return coach back to Birmingham.
Some outside photos
The full trip report soon!
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