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You are here: Home / Trips / Singapore and More / TRIP REPORT – Taking the long way to Singapore – Oh. The Coach. How Delightful – and British Airways South Lounge

TRIP REPORT – Taking the long way to Singapore – Oh. The Coach. How Delightful – and British Airways South Lounge

27/09/2024 by Kevincm

Oh. The Coach. How Delightful. With Heathrow Terminal 5 and British Airways South Lounge
TRIP REPORT: Taking the long way (and back) to Singapore

Long way to Singapore Cover Image

Some say every journey starts with a step forward. For me, those steps are into a cab and onto a coach. Let us head off to London Heathrow and see how much trouble awaits me… 

In this adventure

  • I needed a break
  • 02:40 on the coach? Nothing changes, with Heathrow Terminal 5 and British Airways South Lounge
  • BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
  • An afternoon in Stockholm featuring ABBA The Museum 
  • Off to Stockholm Bromma, AY840 Stockholm Bromma to Helsinki Vantaa with NoRRA (Economy Class)
  • A Rapid Helsinki Transit and The Finnair Lounge
  • AY099 Helsinki Vantaa to Hong Kong International with Finnair (Business Class)
  • Transiting Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Lounge
  • CX715 (AY5855) Hong Kong International to Singapore Changi Terminal 4 with Cathay Pacific (Business Class)
  • Into Singapore, IBIS Budget Crystal
  • The Mercure Hotel, Bugis
  • Boating around the Singapore River
  • Exploring Hawker Markets and random fooding around Singapore
  • The Best Camera is the One You Have With You – Exploring The Gardens by the Bay
  • Up to the Marina Bay Sands Skypark…
  • …and the fallout of a stolen and returned iPhone
  • Back to Changi Airport the Pokemon Centre at the Jewel and Terminal 4
  • 3K513 (AY6379) Singapore Changi to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Jetstar Asia Economy Class)
  • One night in Bangkok and the Avagard Capsule Hotel, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
  • An early morning at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and The Miracle Lounge, D Pier
  • AY142 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Helsinki Vantaa with Finnair in Business Class
  • Out of Vantaa Airport and into Helsinki… and a little beyond
  • Holiday Inn, Helsinki Airport
  • Early morning at Helsinki Vantaa Airport and The Finnair Schengen Lounge
  • AY841 Helsinki Vantaa to Stockholm Bromma with NoRRA (Economy Class)
  • The slow return to Arlanda Airport (with a military band)
  • D84459 Stockholm Arlanda to London Gatwick with Norweigan Air Shuttle
  • How to get home… coach or train?
  • Sometimes, Simple Isn’t Needed… Or Wanted

Living in the West Midlands means I have to travel down to London Heathrow in the dead of the night.

Nothing changes on that front – mainly because 1) overnight hotels at Heathrow are overpriced and 2) I lack the organisational ability to pack that far in advance – even if it’s a single bag.

So it’s a choice of the usual ugly bunch to get to Heathrow – National Express, Flixbus or Megabus.

And yes, we’re back on the National Express simply because they were the cheapest way of getting to the nation’s civil aviation hub.

Thus at 02:20, I was outside the flat again, with an Uber hailed for the ride over to Digbeth.

Nothing changes.

As usual, it’s a matter of waiting for a rideshare for the short hop, and riding over to the wonder of Digbeth Coach station. At least there wasn’t much of a wait.

Entering the coach station, it was busy – being the Wednesday after a bank holiday, with people heading to various points across the country – even at 2:30 in the morning.

With the coach boarding, I headed to the first of many legs for this trip.

National Express 210 Birmingham Digbeth to London Heathrow Terminal 5

Boarding the coach, it was busy for a morning service, with nearly all the pairs of seats having been occupied. Thankfully, the single seat at the front of the coach (used for accessibility passengers) was free. As there was no reserved sign on it, or a passenger requiring it, I took it.

a green light in a building

And yes, I would have happily given up the seat if needed. As it was, it wasn’t.

The coach would be making a quick run to London Heathrow (and onward to Gatwick), with the only stops booked being Birmingham Airport, Heathrow Terminal 2 & 3, Heathrow Terminal 5, Gatwick North and Gatwick South.

That suited me, considering how much sleep I had – the fewer stops, the more chance I could doze off at least. The coach pulled out of Digbeth a few minutes later than scheduled, but we were soon on our way via the local roads to Birmingham Airport.

a view from inside of a bus at night

It seems that whilst the new security control areas are active, the reconstruction at this place was in full swing.

a building with a sign on the side
And this tent is just embarrassing. 

I can handle that – except this airport has been a hot mess more than once – so skipping the Ryanair flight from here wasn’t much pain (and if I’m honest, there was plenty of low-cost fun ahead).

The coach continued and headed down the M42 and M40 towards London. It was at this point I discovered the first thing I left at home – earbuds.

I sighed. Not much could be done about that – other than paying extortionate prices at Heathrow. Hopefully, I’ll find some cheaper ones along the way. I drifted in and out of sleep on the coach – there wasn’t much else to do.

Eventually, the coach joined the M25 London Orbital Motorway, and after a short run on it, peeled off the M4 and the Heathrow Approach road.

 

a bus driving at night a bus driving down a road

Finally, we made it to Heathrow Central. It took everything I had not to go into autopilot and get off the coach.

Thankfully, the pit stop at Heathrow wasn’t too long, and once again, we were on the road again, this time navigating the local roads that surround Heathrow.

Eventually, the coach pulled into Terminal 5. I grabbed my rucksack from the storage area and headed in.

 

a building with glass walls and a walkway a man walking in a hallway a large airport terminal with people walking

Arriving at terminal 5, I headed to Club check-in to grab my boarding pass. Yes, I could do it with an Apple Wallet pass, but there is just something about a physical boarding pass.

people in an airport with luggage

Call me old-fashioned.

Thankfully, there was no queue for check-in, so I cleared that hurdle straight away. I was informed that a gate had been confirmed and to head to the South Lounge.

With that, I was rather happy – a gate had been confirmed for a morning departure at Heathrow – wonders never cease. I headed through security, which thankfully in the dead of the morning took only a few minutes – even with a bag being pulled aside.

people walking in a large airport
Apparently, The Harry Potter shop has changed… to a Giraffe. Franchisous Moneyos!

I headed to the British Airways South Lounge – as the flight to Stockholm Arlanda would be going from Gate A22 – the far end of the terminal.

I also needed to spend time checking tickets. The joy of travel.

British Airways Galleries South Lounge

a sign in a building
This is a rare sight – trust me. 

Heading into the lounge, I was greeted by Horse Lamp first, and then by a member of staff.

a horse in a room with a plane in the background

With the formalities done, I found a quiet spot (and yes, there were plenty of quiet spots in the lounge for once – that’s nice to see after seeing how rat-run the place gets).

It also seems the airline has done some work in the lounge – with a lot more new furniture placed in the place. Whilst it doesn’t add much to the capacity in the lounge, at least it improves the ambience of the place.

people sitting at tables in a room with people

a group of chairs in a room

After settling in, it was time for traditions. Mornings mean breakfast – and if the BA Club lounge can do one thing, it’s a very good breakfast.

a buffet with food on the counter a buffet with bowls of fruit and sauces
Fruits

a table with food on it
Carbs

a group of bowls and bowls on a table
Cereals 

a group of drinks dispensers on a counter
Smooth(ie) operator… 

a trays of food on a counter
The hot stuff. 

And I might have stopped by the bar too.

a bar with bottles and glasses
Not this one…

a bar with a long counter and chairs in a room
This one…

a hand holding a glass of beer

With food secured, I went to check the Finnair site to start the check-in process. And nearly used all manner of swear words out loud when I found out what the website did.

I had put in a load of good seat reservations before the flight – and the system removed them all, as it put in my Finnair Frequent Flyer number, as opposed to my British Airways one.

Thus, I had unassigned seats to Helsinki and Hong Kong, as well as the return.

After feeding the system my BA number again, I was able to assign seats without cost (as Finnair loves to monetize everything).

More annoyingly, I could not change any of the seats for the return flights, as Finnair removed those assignments too.

Am I of the conclusion that Finnair’s IT is worse than BA’s? You bet.

Dealing with that frustration meant I didn’t have time to stock up on seconds at the lounge. Annoying, but getting the seats I wanted for these long-haul flights was a little more important.

a window with a view of an airport and airplanes

With time running down, I packed up the laptop and bag and headed to the gate.

people standing at a reception desk a model of a horse in a building
I might see you again this year Horeslamp. Remember, Avios are fattening. 

Annoying, but hopefully I would be able to sort a lot more of this out further down-route.

Heading to Gate A22, it was a quiet boarding scrum – enough people to indicate it would be a full enough flight, but at least people were keeping away from the gate area.

a hallway with blue barriers and signs

a man standing in an airport

a group of people sitting in an airport

Priority boarding was enforced, with British Airways using Group 0, then Group 1. I headed to the podium at Group 1 and blipped my way through.

an airplane on the runway

It was time for an adventure to begin.

a view of an airport from a window

Next:

BA776 to Stockholm – Club Europe time


Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.

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Filed Under: Singapore and More, Trip, Trip Reports, Trips

Comments

  1. ffi says

    28/09/2024 at 9:15 am

    Keep these reports coming, Even if I am the only reader posting comments.

    • Kevincm says

      28/09/2024 at 12:06 pm

      I’ll try to 😉

  2. CraigTPA says

    30/09/2024 at 7:39 am

    That’s some spectacularly bad IT on Finnair’s part. But it’s always good to see Horselamp.

    • Kevincm says

      30/09/2024 at 7:40 am

      Here’s a big hint. It only gets worse from here on in for Finnair IT….

      Horselamp looked like they enjoy dining on the souls of Avios past and future.

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