Exploring the Latest in Passenger Experience… In a Rush
To Aircraft Interiors Expo with British Airways
- Planning is Overrated. Other People’s Plans, Doubly So
- Flixing over to London and the joy of the Elizabeth Line
- British Airways North and South lounges
- BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg Airport (Club Europe)
- Into Hamburg, The IBIS Budget, Hamburg St Pauli/Repherbahn
- When technology goes wrong…
- Stuff you might have missed from AIX 2024
- Back to Hamburg Airport and the Hamburg Airport lounge
- BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow (Club Europe)
- To the Late-Night Coach
- Desk Rabbit Life
Editors Intro
Welcome back dear reader to the land of long-haul writing. Not long-haul travel (I’ll have to see if I can find a summer or late summer escape somewhere along the line), but the kind of writing I enjoy when I have time – long-form writing. If you prefer headlines, I write Snapshots, which fills a spot.
With everything that’s gone on, time hasn’t been on my time to write this – heck, there are bits of this trip report that have yet to have been completed at the time of first publication that need to be finished. Thus, like my post-AIX coverage, this will be run at a much lower speed than usual.
That being said, It’s time to head to Hamburg and see what’s new in the world of passenger experience, whilst the world around me continues in its own chaotic way.
And I mean special levels of chaos this time. Not your average levels of chaos that I’m known for.
Regular readers will know this, but this is for new readers. I put the following lines in, and then everyone promptly ignores it.
Whilst I am using Grammarly a lot more than I should (dyslexia is a pig and gets me most days of the week), my usual detractors will moan about my spelling and grammar. You can read this press release I wrote a few years ago about this inconsistency and how I deal with it.
Let’s get with this chaotic trip – before I’m back on the floor being a desk rabbit.
Planning is Overrated. Other People’s Plans, Doubly So
Life is complex. We all know this. Other people’s plans can throw giant-sized wrenches in the works which can be… entertaining.
Yes. Entertaining. Any other word I would use could land me in some interesting temperature water.
For example, I’ve been working on an office move (which seems to be taking my waking moments) that starts to reach its climax in… you’ve guessed it – the week I’m off to Hamburg to be a journo.
I was bouncing back and forth between timings and how long I needed to be away. Whilst I trust my coworkers… there comes a point where I’d prefer to be hands-on and ensure everything is working correctly.
And in the background, there was a lot of planning, replanning, negotiation, open bookings made – the works.
I’ve been playing with dates for Aircraft Interiors Expo, originally planning to do the full week. Initially, I tried to think this down to Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday – however, all the reward seats sold out, meaning I would have to dig into my pocket.
It was to the point where I was planning to be onsite for the first day (Monday/Tuesday) and do everything else remotely. It’s not an ideal way to cover a show where a lot of the time is spent researching, but whatever works.
After some deep discussions and planning with the stakeholders of the office move, I was greenlighted to take my full leave, without things going down the pan.
It also meant I had more documentation to write and photograph than anyone should do as I headed into a break. Because in IT – documentation is everything, as well as keeping my work phone on me. And no doubt, spending time checking in on the office email and messages more than I would like.
I’ll live with that compromise.
This is the simplest of simple trips, so I’m keeping costs down where I can, whilst trying to keep it entertaining.
For flights, it’s time to hit British Airways up and burn a 19500 Avios and £50 for a return flight to Hamburg in Club Europe.
Unless I have a specific purpose, (eg earning tier points), for European flights, I prefer to use my Avios Balance, with cash, rather than paying £200+ for a flight (or more if I want Club Europe, which is what I went for this flight).
For hotels, I’m going to keep it extremely simple – because on this sort of trip where time is essential, and being able to go on autopilot to do things is more important than the joy of comfort, niceties and such. Thus for me, it’s a simple choice – the Ibis Budget St Pauli near the Reeperbahn.
Let’s play a game. What’s wrong with this picture? I’ll have an answer for you in the hotel review.
On the plus side, I left my booking late this year because of the diary… shenanigans… yes that’s the word I’ve been going through, prices dropped from £440 to £401 for the base price.
Even if the scaling price of hotel rooms should make anyone scream.
This is what happens when a trade show comes to town – prices for even a 1* hotel go through the roof.
Although I paid for flexibility in the end for an extra £20, I don’t know what surprises my other life will hold, so this is insurance rather than anything else.
There’s also the sell-up for hotel breakfast. I’m going to be honest – I’ve counted the times I’ve used the hotel breakfast in the past, as well as the times I’ve missed it because I slept in.
And I’d be better off going to a local bakery first thing in the morning – or relying on trade show industrial strength coffee.
For a slightly luxurious buffet, I’d be tempted. This? No chance.
A continental breakfast buffet isn’t worth the £11.53 a day. When it was nearer £10 a pop, I could be tempted. These days, bakeries and other things exist.
Thus, I popped in the Amex card – well, I screamed like I always do when booking this hotel – it’s the most expensive part of the trip.
Finally, to marry up the annoying part of getting to and from London.
To get to Heathrow, I’ll be cheating a little – I would be taking a FlixBus from near where I live in Birmingham to Central London, then a tube/train to Heathrow and for the return, a late night National Express Coach back to Digbeth Coach Station and an Uber home.
With that, it’s time to move in on up, moving on up, nothing can stop me.
Apart from what some of the aviation press call “The Curse of AIX”. It’s a law that if something is going to go wrong, it probably will and in spectacular fashion during this show.
And in the past, it’s hit me in multiple ways.
What would go wrong for me this time?
Next: Flixing off to London. Or. What is that alarm sound… oh…
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