Many thanks Andy ... will take a browse through the link:-)

Regards,
Pat

Hi Andy,

Just an update ... deciding against the upgrade from WTP to CW as agent was asking for another £1,700 on top of WTP and I definitely couldn't justify paying that with BA!!

On another note, I have been reading that late departures are common place with BA, and our of curiosity I checked our flight from LGW to Punta Cana today ..... 305 min delay departing!! Is there a link where I can check previous flights with BA from LGW to Punta Cana? Just curious as to how often delays like today occurs.

Regards,
Pat

That's quite a big delay !!! And I would be slapping in an EU261 straightaway !! In all my flights with BA , have never suffered any delay , only a diversion last year from Lanzarote to Fuerteventura which delayed us by about 30 mins approx , in fact I've only ever suffered one delay ever in the Maldives years ago with Monarch .

I only know of a link to the BA source which tells of news and lists planes used for flights , not actual timings , I imagine there is a flight database which does lists timings etc , I suppose a general one rather than just BA specific , something like flights stats ??

Your upgrade quote sounds very high !! as when I checked LGW to PUJ , the flights were about 600pp more to book CW instead of WTP return , so 1200 sounds more realistic , but noticed that prices for CW were particularly high the first part of September compared to rest of Sep , oct and nov , I thought with that quote they were thinking that you wanted First , you really need to get some AVIOS saved up and check availability , as about 40k AVIOS would get you an U/G to CW instead of £1700 , as I don't pay full prices , because 1 , I wouldn't want to , and 2 , couldn't afford to . But you have think and book nearly a year ahead and be a bit flexible too . Both my flights to St Lucia in 2013 and 2014 were WTP to CW and about 1800 total for the 2 of us with accommodation booked separately plus the heli transfers on top .

Your flight out will be fine as a daytime flight always feels more bearable and you get -4 hours on arrival , ( as long as you don't get a 300 min delay !!!) and just because it happened today doesn't mean it will happen on your flight ( fingers crossed ) and the night time returns are always a bit of a drag , wanting just to get home , poor sleep ( whichever cabin ) and jet lag !! At least WTP will be more comfortable and pleasant compared to WT and I really don't think that CW is worth 1700 more ! Plenty of better things to do with that sort of money

Hi Andy,

Hopefully we won't suffer with any flight delays. as a long delay would be my worse nightmare lol!

<< Your upgrade quote sounds very high!!>> Well, that's what I thought? Our holiday is with Hayes and Jarvis with BA flights (all booked through Thomson) When I checked on H&J site the upgrade from WTP to CW was showing up at £968 both ways ... that I would suffer as it's for my husbands 50th birthday. However, I phoned Thomson (whom I booked through) and they gave me the quote of £1,700!! ... thought I must have misread the price online with H&J??

Regards,
Pat

I only roughly checked on BA s website and flights were about 900 WTP and 1500 in CW pp return , so a difference of 600 , so I think 1700 sounds a bit steep , I think I'm right in saying that premium seats have a higher APD charge and that's what makes WTP seats quite expensive , not sure if CW has a higher APD , than WTP but know that the APD for CW and First is the same .

I wonder what my wife will suffer for my 50th ( say it quietly ) next year !! Probably end up paying for my own treat she probably thinks she's had to suffer enough !!

You could always try for a cash upgrade at LGW at check in to CW one way if its available , I reckon 250 to 300 pp and at least you get the lounge as well , would be a nice surprise if possible

Not long now until my sister and I fly out to Barcelona from Gatwick (6th July).

It's just occurred to me I have no idea where to go with our hold luggage coz I have always travelled with just cabin luggage! This time, we're flying Club Europe both ways so can take hold luggage.

So, I'll check-in online, as I always do, but do we then have to go and queue at the check-in desks in the north terminal to get rid of our hold luggage?

Also just realised I'll need to check-in online for the return flight while I'm in Barcelona (with Easyjet, you can check in much further in advance). Will my mobile boarding pass be sufficient for security and check-in in Barcelona, or am I going to have to find somewhere to print off our boarding passes?

Hi Pippy
To drop off your hold luggage you have to go to the BA desks in zone A at the north , hopefully you won't have to queue !! I flew yesterday and had to queue behind one person when checking in !! Never had to queue ever before
Coming back you can just checkin online 24 hours before , you can get boarding pass to your phone which I do via the BA app and I'm sure a place like BCN will accept mobile BPs at security etc , but when you drop off your hold luggage then BA will print off a boarding pass anyway , so no need to search for printers anywhere .
I usually select " pick up BP at airport " on the checkin process , and by having the BA app it also automatically creates a BP by just tapping get BP .

andy66 wrote:

Hi Pippy
To drop off your hold luggage you have to go to the BA desks in zone A at the north , hopefully you won't have to queue !! I flew yesterday and had to queue behind one person when checking in !! Never had to queue ever before
Coming back you can just checkin online 24 hours before , you can get boarding pass to your phone which I do via the BA app and I'm sure a place like BCN will accept mobile BPs at security etc , but when you drop off your hold luggage then BA will print off a boarding pass anyway , so no need to search for printers anywhere .
I usually select " pick up BP at airport " on the checkin process , and by having the BA app it also automatically creates a BP by just tapping get BP .

Apologies for the late acknowledgement of your reply, Andy!

Thanks very much for the info, much appreciated

Hi , no problem , not long to go now for you !! We only got back late on Thursday and had good flights both ways , nice food and drinks and service , if you can get CE at a reasonable rate it's worth it .
Have a great flight and time in Barcelona .

Well, two more fab Club Europe flights done

My sister was very impressed with the food served on real crockery to be eaten with real cutlery and we both partook of the real champagne. She also really enjoyed the BA lounge at Gatwick

Slightly annoyed Gatwick's premium security lane was closed at 05.00 when the airport was really busy, but that's not BA's fault.

Having read reviews of the Joan Miró lounge at Barcelona airport, we weren't expecting much. Actually, other than the floor being in need of a vacuum due to the number of spilt crisps it was absolutely fine and the seats were VERY comfortable. Snacks mainly consisted of small filled rolls, nuts, crisps and olives but these were regularly replenished. The Cava was also very nice.

Our trusty steed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=998375973526700&l=be3a6bcbb0

Outbound meal.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1000555233308774&l=926b7d530c

Joan Miró lounge.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1001662083198089&l=05940cde7d

Lol, got my links in a mucking fuddle there
You got my meaning though, I'm sure!

Hi Pippy , glad you had a real good time and enjoyed your flights and lounges , what's not to like about a cooked breakfast and champagne at an early hour !!
I did an early flight to Jersey a couple of years ago and had to woof that lot down in 20 mins before landing !! Much more pleasurable on a slightly longer flight this year we have a midday flight to Jersey , our last flight back from Lanzarote we had the choice of Salmon rissotto or guinea fowl both dishes were nice and well presented .
The Gatwick lounge can be very busy early on in the day , but it's still comfortable and light with the window views , will be very interested to see how the new lounge will be when they move over to the South next year as it will all be newly refurbed ,
We went through Premium Lane when flying out last time , but it was around 10.00 and there was no one else going through ! But that's the best it's ever been in my experience , it is definitely open at 6.00 , and does open earlier too around 5.30 or even 5.00 , I guess if you had hung around for 5 mins or so it might have opened ?? Even when it's open it's often packed though with passengers flying EZY or TOM who have got entitlement , I think Gatwick should have a dedicated First and Business lane .
Lounges at destinations can vary , some I've been impressed with , others just ok .
Hope your luggage return wasn't a long wait , Swissport who handle for BA at LGW are usually quite poor , to be fair though we didnt wait too long last time , then again the hike over from Pier 6 gave them time to deal with it !!
Liked the photos , will try to add some next time on my trip

Yes, I expect if we'd waited a while the premium security lane would have been open, it's just we wanted to make as much as we could of the BA lounge
No idea how long it took for our luggage to appear as it took about three days to get through passport control! Forty-five minutes, absolutely ridiculous. I say this every time but that is the LAST time I use the damn ePassport line! Oh, and this was at 00.20!

Don't blame you wanting to get in lounge quick ! I used the E gates last time and it was reasonably quick , just find it unnerving waiting for the camera photo to verify its me ! I didn't realise my head seemed to wobble so much I think my hand luggage had got stuck in the gate that closes behind you and I was trying to pull it free ! We came back through about 10pm and its amazing how busy everywhere is .

I'm looking at possibly going to Menorca next year, in July. BA list it as one of their destinations but don't appear to fly there from any London airport....am I right?

Hi Pippy , BA do fly to Menorca ( MAH ) from LCY , London City , they use an Embraer 190 as I have flown this route in the past on BA8749 / 8750 return and its scheduled for Saturdays
However it is only a Seasonal flight and I see the last scheduled flight is October 3rd and apparently they start again in May , but there are no flights scheduled for next year , which is strange and I wonder if they have decided to stop flying there for next year ? As flights should be able to book for May onwards next year , but none are listed or scheduled , I can't remember seeing any info that they are stopping from flying there , but with no flights available to book it does look like they have.
Just seen your post on the ezy thread and I can't remember exactly how much I paid , but think it was around
£250 pp return a couple of years ago .
I remember using Poppy's car hire when we were there and would recommend them if that's any use to you .

Great help, as always. Cheers, Andy

Yes, looks as though I'll be flying with EJ and I see flights are due to go online in 'early October'. I'm on the staff discount of my cabin crew friend so hopefully will get a fairly good price.

A bit of staff discount is always useful !! With the money saved you could book a lounge ? We've only been to Menorca twice and found it nice and quiet , preferred the Cala Galdana resort to Cal n Bosch , but both hotels were very good and a day trip to Ciutadella was very good too .

I've decided to go on holiday on my own, this time. I feel I'd like an entire week of doing exactly what I want to do, with only myself to please. I usually prefer going somewhere with lots of places to explore, but next year, all I want is fairly simple accommodation (half-board) and a nice beach no more than five mins walk away

Of course, I should discuss this in the Menorca forum, but it seems the entire board, other than this forum, has been deserted, lol

I think I've pretty much settled on going here:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/sol-milanos-pinguinos.en-gb.html

Reviews are good enough for me and the beach is long enough to be able to find a quiet spot.