Silver Retained. But New Battles Await
Miles to Bucharest

Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me. And I’ve got my fair share of shame after this trip. Let’s dive into the wrap-up for this trip report.  

In this adventure

• The Last Gasp of Silver (or British Airways did us all dirty)
• Off to Heathrow and the wonder of Terminal 3
• Lounging around Terminal 3 with Cathay Pacific and Qantas
• BA886 London Heathrow to Bucharest Henri Coandă (Club Europe)
• Exiting Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport and into the City – Of Trains and Trams
• The Mercure Urinii – An Accor ALL Hotel
• A Nighttime Walk with an iPhone
• A Morning Exploration around Central Bucharest
• Back to Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport and the Visa Satellite Lounge
• BA887 Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport to London Heathrow (Club Europe)
• Two Trains, A Tube and a Bus to Home
• Silver Retained. But a New Battle Awaits

Whilst a two-day trip going there and back to a new country is… wasteful, I’ve done more wasteful in my times (but sadly at less cost). But it did what it needed to do – get the 160 points to push me to Silver for 2025/26.

Except… it didn’t. It got me Silver… to March 2025, as British Airways had realigned the earning years… meaning I need to earn 80 Tier Points before the end of March.

What’s the term I’m going to use in Darth Vader’s voice?

“I am altering the deal, pray I don’t alter it any further”.

Although, if I’m blunt… that has been the feeling of this entire realignment and new Tier Point Earning programme, with it best described as a mess, where only BA’s accountants win.

In my next trip, I’ll be lucky to earn 40 Tier Points for a transatlantic run – and thus desperate measures are being considered. Incluidng my BA exit.

Because, that is coming.

Time to skip to the summary.

Heathrow Airport

Pleasant enough to pass through, even if it’s a shopping mall with jetbridges some days.

Cathay Pacific Lounge Terminal 3

Still one of the nicest lounges at Heathrow…. period.

Qantas Lounge

Its a pleasant environment to spend in for time before a flight. Better than the BA and AA lounges, but missing a little something to it.

British Airways Medium Haul

With time to play with (compared to my usual 1 hour serve and dash flights), the crew were relaxed in their service delivery, with some reasonable meals both ways.

Sadly, there are small detail things that are being missed, like failing to reset headrests, power out on seats as well as the state of the seats they have (which bottoms have seen better days, to put it mildly).

Henri Conarda Airport, Bucharest

Lots of portals are my prevailing memory.

It’s a reasonable enough gateway, but don’t spend too much of your time in the lounge – you will be wasting time, when you could be exploring, walking or doing anything else.

The Mercure Urinii

An interesting property, with comfortable bedding, a muzak system that haunts my dreams and plenty of 230 volt labels as far as the eye could see.

And Bucharest?

A friendly city. I hope my travels will send me back there one day.

And that is your lot for Miles to Bucharest. 

Next

So, you might have guessed from the title above that I’m off to the USA shortly, to catch up with friends in Chicago. Maybe take a few photos… and maybe not a lot else.  But I might have to add another couple of flights to lock in status. What a pain.

On top of that, it’s fast coming up to Airlines Interiors Expo in Hamburg, with all the delights that Hamburg brings. Or in my case, the hotel, conference halls, the airport and the supermarket late in the evening for dinner.

So there’s plenty of content in the offing, be it several snapshots., lots of airplane art, or news and views

And who knows, maybe a little fun on the way. Who can tell?

Until next time, Happy landings!

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.

Our Social Media pool has expanded. You can find us across most networks such as @economybeyond on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon and Instagram!

Also, remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.