8 flights - 9 days. Part 1

By: *ALLIANCE - 10th July 2009 at 19:39

So, its time for me to write another report. I’ve been quite busy up in the blue in the last few weeks, so decided to combine two trips into one report. Again, these trips were taken purely for the love of flying and the associated adventures that one encounters along the way.

A few months ago, my Girlfriend informed me she would be working away for two weeks. Instantly I saw an opportunity to hit the skis again, and with about 80k miles in my bmi Diamond Club Account I got to work on putting a route together. As some of you will know the Lufthansa-bmi “thing” is dragging along slowly, but my main concern was that my Diamond Club Account will be pretty much worthless if and when merged into Lufthansa’s Miles and More (Miles+Less). To cut a long story short I spent time looking into award seat availability using the ANA Tool, and even more time on the phone to the bmi Indian call centre snagging seats. After messing around with various routes I settled on the following…….

TK1994 Manchester-Istanbul A320 Business Class
TK1993 Istanbul-Manchester A320 Business Class

(Four days back at work)

LH4853 Manchester-Frankfurt A320 Business Class
SQ26 Frankfurt-New York (JFK) 747-400 Business class
AA4655 New York (JFK)-Raleigh/Durham E140 Economy (not award ticket)
AA4537 Raleigh/Durham-New York (JFK) E140 Economy (not award ticket)
LX15 New York (JFK)-Zurich A340 First Class
LX394 Zurich-Manchester A319 Business Class

Flights on dates between 20th June and 29th June.

Onto the report: During the trip I took various photos which I will share with you.

I arrived at Manchester Airport on the morning of the 20th June to check in. As I approached the Business Class desk, I could see no one waiting in line. The check in lady greeted me and I handed over my documents. After a few minutes I was given a lounge pass, a fast track pass for security in Istanbul and my boarding cards for the outbound and return flight the next morning. The girl at check in was really friendly and chatty and left a good first impression of the Airline.
Up to the lounge and the usual snacks/drinks selection was on offer. I just grabbed a Pastry and a glass of OJ along with a paper to relax before the flight. Some good views of aircraft can be had from the lounge which also helps keep things interesting.

Now I don’t want to waffle on too much because this report may end up too long to keep it interesting, so I will omit some of the more mundane details.

Boarding was called and I made my way the gate as boarding was almost completed. Excellent. This 320 was probably one of the newer ones, as it had the different reading light and crew call buttons on the over head panel. As I settled into seat 2F I was offered Champagne or Orange Juice. “Champagne for me please”.

Soon after take off from 5L menus were handed out.

The First Course. Shepard Salad and full bottle of bubbly was offered.

The Main Course. KULBASTI grilled beef. Very nice indeed.

Dinner was cleared away, and I just sat back as usual watching the world pass us by. We encountered some Light/Moderate chop for about half an hour en-route but after this it smoothed out again nicely.

Getting a bit more lumpy down there causing a few near drink spilling moments.

Overall, good in-flight service with an Airline I knew little of before this trip.

Fast forward now to Istanbul Airport and the Fast Track Pass worked a treat after paying my £10 visa fee.
No way was I ready for the carnage that greeted me outside the airport. The heat was intense and there were people and Taxis strewn all over the place. I was to spend the night at the Radisson SAS Airport Hotel, but I could tell trying to locate the shuttle bus would be next to impossible, deciding instead to jump in a cab. The usual erratic driving style while texting his buddies was the order of the day for Mr Taxi Driver.

To keep it brief again, the hotel was quite nice with a Grand Lobby area leading into “average” but reasonably clean rooms. My room had distant views of Aircraft departing off runway 36 (I think). I nipped out the hotel for a bit of a wander around for an hour or so then grabbed a beer at the hotel. “HOW MUCH”? jeees about £8 a pint!!!!! Refreshing though. I should have learned by now…….

For the return leg I got the shuttle bus back to IST for a 08.05 departure. Flight back home was uneventful and of the same standard as the outbound. I only took a couple of pictures in the impressive C.I.P Lounge and the A320 at the gate on the return.

Nice start to the day. Carrot Cake and Cherry Juice (not red wine….honest)

A320 TC-JPE for the return trip.

I had seat 1F for the run back to Manchester, which took 3hours 50minutes to cover the 1,675 miles distance.

Back in Manchester, and for once a return to some lovely weather. I was taking the train back to Halifax for the first time after deciding not to bother with the car, so the sunshine made life a bit easier. I think I was at my front door in a little under two hours after landing. Not too bad really.

Back to work now then for 4 days. I was expecting time to drag along really slow due to the excitement of my next adventure, but it wasn’t too bad really and gave me a chance to get organised.

Onwards again to Friday 26th June: Arrangements had been made a few weeks prior to be picked up by a local Airport Transfer company and, as usual they were bang on time to pick me up. Light traffic for this Friday morning made the trip over a breeze. The driver dropped me at T1 ground level check in for my Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. I was checked in and back in the lounge in under 10 minutes. As it was the start of a longer trip I decided to forget the Orange Juice this time and “get on” the Red Wine. Again I was happy to catch up on some news and watch over the ramp as I sipped my Vino.

LH4853 to FRA: Previous experience with Lufthansa told me not too expect anything but an on-time service with this flight. Nothing was to change my views. The bare minimum was offered in the way of catering, and the cabin crew were “just doing there job”. No spirit or enthusiasm. No engaging with the customer. I’m just happy to be flying and won’t moan about this, but let’s just say it’s an observation I have made over the years. The Business Cabin was quite full and there were Four LH Flight Deck Crew Deadheading back to Frankfurt taking up some extra seats.

I arrived in Frankfurt mid afternoon and took the Courtesy shuttle bus to the Steigenberger Airport Hotel. After checking in and opening my room I noticed it hadn’t been cleaned, so I went back to reception to inform them. I was given a new room but, yep you guessed it, same problem. Back to reception and I was in upgrade blagging mode. To be fair the Receptionist was very apologetic and, more importantly agreed to my upgrade request. Room 1001 in the Executive Tower was to be my “pad” for the night. Very nice.

I had a bit of a restless night, probably just excitement, but I was wide awake at 02.00. Not good, as I worked out if I got up now it would be a good 26HRS before my next hotel stop!! Anyways, I bit the bullet, got up, had a power shower (so powerful my eyes were nearly blown out of my head) and kicked about my room for a bit.

The Courtesy Bus was outside at 06.00 so I jumped on back to FRA. I had my boarding card already and seat 14A was mine on the amazing 747-400. I hit the United Airlines Red Carpet Club Lounge about 90 minutes before departure and watched for my ship commin in.

There she is amongst other International departures

At the gate there was some confusion over my Boarding Card, in that Manchester had taken no Advanced Passenger Information from me. This was soon sorted out though as I was taken to one side to give the staff the relevant information.

Boarding was delayed by about half an hour and quite a huddle had formed around the gate. I was glad of priority boarding for sure this time. Once onboard and the usual friendly service from Singapore Airlines began. I was addressed by name and directed through the Business Class Cabin to the foot of steps for the upper deck cabin.

Looking back down the stairs.

Quick shot of the forward section.

Legroom shot

I took a Tomato Juice as a pre takeoff drink, and we were soon pushing back. The captain made a short announcement, and informed us he expected to make the lost time up as we had a less than usual headwind.

Once airborne I brought up the Kris World system to display the route map

Shortly followed by the Breakfast Fruit Course.

Nice tender beef again for the main.

After my table was cleared I ordered a Singapore Sling. That sure pepped me up.

The crew were amazing on this flight, and ready to interact with passengers in general chat. They said they will miss the 747 as SQ continues to retire them in favour of long range, fuel efficient twins.

A picture of the seat in a position I found comfy for general lounging about.

Seat Controls

After a few glasses of Champagne I decided to watch a film and settled for 17 Again. I really enjoyed it to be fair, and think I will buy it as a reminder of my trip.

Time to eat again… A Duck Salad, tasty as usual.

“Room for anymore Mr *ALLIANCE”? You bet!!!
A very filling Ham Pannini.

We followed the usual routing once we made landfall, Providence, Boston and down the coast, and touched down as promised on time. I thanked the crew for an outstanding service and made my way to Immigration where I expected to have to explain my short stay in the U.S in some detail to the TSA.

That’s all for now folks, so I will return with the second instalment as soon as I get time.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

Cheers Lee