Well that was a lovely week! My niece and I had concocted a plan whereby she would bring her parents away for the birthday weekend and I would surprise him. There was a slight glitch when he changed his mind about going away but we managed a plan B which worked like a dream and rendered him speechless for an hour!! Some of you may well have seen the video of it on Facebook. From there we spent a lovely weekend in the Drakensberg Mountains where the scenery was stunning
I then spent the rest of the time at my brother’s home before flying back after an all-too-short visit.
My brother and sister-in-law dropped me off at King Shaka Airport and I made my way to the BA check-in area where there was small queue at the desks for Club but I didn’t have to wait long. I requested my bags to be checked through to Cork and also asked for a seat near the front of the aircraft on the LHR-ORK leg as I had not been able to do OLCI for that leg. The bags were through-checked but try as he might, the agent could not check me through to Cork. I had had something similar happen in Las Vegas but they had finally managed to check me through. However on this occasion, it was not to be and I was advised to try in JNB.
Slightly miffed I made my way to the SLOW lounge which looked like a haven of tranquillity from the outside but inside it was absolutely jointed! With difficulty I found a spare seat just as the guy in the seat opposite decided to knock over his large glass of orange juice. Fortunately I was able to move out of the way in time as I really didn’t want to spend the next several hours redolent of oranges and sticky to boot! Once it had been cleared up, I settled down and went in search of sustenance. There was a good selection of canapés, cheese and biscuits as well as a couple of hot dishes - although I can’t remember what as I wasn’t really interested. I helped myself to some cheese and biccies and a glass of white wine. The place was noisy! Nearly everyone was on a laptop and/or a mobile phone and behind me a couple of elderly gentlemen were watching a video on a phone! A bit ironic when you realise that the wifi password was “silence”!! Things eased off a tad with the call for a Cape Town flight which was followed shortly by an announcement of a delay to the JNB flight. Thankfully it was only a short one of about 15 minutes.
At the gate I was directed to join the line on the right hand side on the ramp leading down to the jet bridge while another line formed on the left. I wondered if it was for priority boarding but when the doors were opened both lines surged forward! This time I was in 2F in Club which had a 2-3 configuration, although no-one ended up in any of the middle seats. Champagne was offered before take off and gratefully accepted. We pushed back about 30 minutes late but I had plenty of time before my onward flight and soon we were soaring over the Valley of the 1000 Hills and the Drakensberg Mountains which I had visited so recently. A drinks round followed shortly after take-off and soon I was in possession of a G&T and a bag of nuts with a rather obvious warning!! I can’t remember what the food offering was but it obviously something I wasn’t interested in - and nor, it seems, were others as there were very few, if any takers! I was offered (and accepted) another G&T before we landed in JNB where a line of international carriers were waiting to be towed to their gates ready for the journey home.
In summary, it was a very good flight - in fact compared to others of comparable length taken in Club Europe, it was excellent. My only crib was that, unlike my recent flights on EI and BA, you are still required to power off tablets and phones for take-off and landing.
especially from a helicopter!
I then spent the rest of the time at my brother’s home before flying back after an all-too-short visit.
My brother and sister-in-law dropped me off at King Shaka Airport and I made my way to the BA check-in area where there was small queue at the desks for Club but I didn’t have to wait long. I requested my bags to be checked through to Cork and also asked for a seat near the front of the aircraft on the LHR-ORK leg as I had not been able to do OLCI for that leg. The bags were through-checked but try as he might, the agent could not check me through to Cork. I had had something similar happen in Las Vegas but they had finally managed to check me through. However on this occasion, it was not to be and I was advised to try in JNB.
Slightly miffed I made my way to the SLOW lounge which looked like a haven of tranquillity from the outside but inside it was absolutely jointed! With difficulty I found a spare seat just as the guy in the seat opposite decided to knock over his large glass of orange juice. Fortunately I was able to move out of the way in time as I really didn’t want to spend the next several hours redolent of oranges and sticky to boot! Once it had been cleared up, I settled down and went in search of sustenance. There was a good selection of canapés, cheese and biscuits as well as a couple of hot dishes - although I can’t remember what as I wasn’t really interested. I helped myself to some cheese and biccies and a glass of white wine. The place was noisy! Nearly everyone was on a laptop and/or a mobile phone and behind me a couple of elderly gentlemen were watching a video on a phone! A bit ironic when you realise that the wifi password was “silence”!! Things eased off a tad with the call for a Cape Town flight which was followed shortly by an announcement of a delay to the JNB flight. Thankfully it was only a short one of about 15 minutes.
At the gate I was directed to join the line on the right hand side on the ramp leading down to the jet bridge while another line formed on the left. I wondered if it was for priority boarding but when the doors were opened both lines surged forward! This time I was in 2F in Club which had a 2-3 configuration, although no-one ended up in any of the middle seats. Champagne was offered before take off and gratefully accepted. We pushed back about 30 minutes late but I had plenty of time before my onward flight and soon we were soaring over the Valley of the 1000 Hills and the Drakensberg Mountains which I had visited so recently. A drinks round followed shortly after take-off and soon I was in possession of a G&T and a bag of nuts with a rather obvious warning!! I can’t remember what the food offering was but it obviously something I wasn’t interested in - and nor, it seems, were others as there were very few, if any takers! I was offered (and accepted) another G&T before we landed in JNB where a line of international carriers were waiting to be towed to their gates ready for the journey home.
In summary, it was a very good flight - in fact compared to others of comparable length taken in Club Europe, it was excellent. My only crib was that, unlike my recent flights on EI and BA, you are still required to power off tablets and phones for take-off and landing.