Alitalia | Airbus A320 | FCO-LHR | Economy

Previous parts

KLM Cityhopper | Fokker F70 | LHR-AMS | Economy
KLM | Boeing 737-800 | AMS-FCO | Business


Airline: Alitalia
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Route: Rome - London Heathrow
Flight number: AZ204
Seat number: 29F
Cabin: Economy
Flight date: March 2016

Check In / Security

Upon arriving at Fiumicino, I was a little unsure of which terminal I needed to use. A quick check of the FID showed that Terminal 1 was where I needed to be.



I walked up to the Alitalia desk and was asked my destination. I replied London and was sent to another desk. I was checked in without any fuss, but then told that the flight would actually be departing from Terminal 3 - how confusing! As such, I had to clear security there. No big deal as it was right next door, but how hard can it be to send you to the right place to begin with?



Security was an absolute breeze. I used the fast track and was met by an official with a hand held scanner. I saw that the scanner came up with a red cross and said I wasn't eligible, however no mention of this was made and I was given the all clear to proceed anyway. Thumbs up for the use of common sense and not just using the “computer says no” approach. Upon reaching the x-ray, I was the only person there and I was processed in just a couple of minutes.

Lounge

Alitalia have a handful of lounges at FCO. The one I used was to the right as I exited security. There was a boarding pass check before heading up the stairs. Next door was the recently (as of March 2016) reopened British Airways lounge.



Into the lounge itself, and it was a little on the small side, spread out over two levels. There was a manned bar and a small buffet area which included pasta, pizza and other small snacks.





Whilst most occupants decided to stay on the ground level, I headed upstairs which was virtually deserted, and therefore quite peaceful.



Boarding / Onboard

When boarding came, it was over to the satellite. A few minutes before boarding was announced, the ground crew sorted the mass pile of gate lice into something a little moe organised. Most were sent to the general boarding line, where as a few remained in the Sky Priority lane. Although it made virtually no difference, as it was downstairs on to a bus anyway.



On board I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected to find a cabin that was a little long in the tooth, however this one appeared to have been recently refurbished.



Legroom was reasonably good and the seat reclined miles. An added bonus was that the load was very light on this Easter Sunday so I had plenty of room for myself.





Service

The service was a little strange. When dishing out the main snack (an aubergine roll, along with soft drinks) the crew member serving the rear of the cabin couldn't look more uninterested.



However, as previously mentioned, I was flying on Easter Sunday and Alitalia had an extra surprise up their sleeve. A pretty big tray of mini easter eggs were handed out and the same crew member couldn’t have looked happier. I grabbed a couple and they shook the tray and gave me a look as if to say “take more”, followed with another big grin. I obliged.



Arrival

As is normally the case at Heathrow, there was quite a bit of holding involved - pushing the flight time to around two hours thirty minutes.



Touchdown was made on to runway 27L, meaning a short taxi over to Terminal 4. There was a bit of a wait at border control as one of the many fail KLM shuttles had just arrived, but I still made it from Terminal 4, to Heathrow Central and over to Terminal 5 within 25 minutes.

Conclusions

Admittedly, I had some reservations when I booked this flight. However none of them were justified and I actually had a decent enough flight. Sure the cabin crew were a little surly but all the other staff I met at the airport were fine. The lounge could have been a little bigger, but I guess its taking the strain until the one in the satellite opens in May, which I should be trying out when I fly through Rome then.

Questions? Comments? Come and Say Hi on Twitter!

Follow @mytripreport

Look out for the YouTube video soon!

KLM | Boeing 737-800 | AMS-FCO | Business

Previous Parts
KLM Cityhopper | Fokker F70 | LHR-AMS | Economy

Airline: KLM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Route: Amsterdam Schiphol - Rome
Flight number: KL1609
Seat number: 1A
Cabin: Business
Flight date: March 2016

Check In / Security

As I was transferring from LHR, I didn't use either the check in or security. Instead I headed straight to the lounge. As Amsterdam is one large terminal, it was quite a walk from where I emerged to the non Schengen KLM lounge. As there was an upgrade offer upon check in, I figured I’d take advantage of this to see what KLM business class was like.

Lounge

Upon arriving at the lounge, I was amazed at how big it was compared to other airlines flagship lounges.














The food offerings were a little disappointing however. These were quite literally the only options.







Nearer the time of boarding, I moved along to the Schengen lounge - the offerings were the same, however the lounge was a lot smaller and much, much busier. So busy in fact that there was an overflow area in use.







Boarding / Onboard

Boarding wasn't brilliant. As mentioned earlier, Amsterdam is one big terminal, despite leaving the lounge in plenty of time I arrived at the gate as boarding was in full swing. There also was no SkyPriority lane in use, so no option but to queue up. A little disappointing.

Once on board, I was the first to enter the business cabin. There were three rows today, and every seat was full. Most other business passengers were among the last to board, so clearly a priority boarding issue. The cabin was set up in a typical European Business layout, with window and aisle seats in use and middle seats left free. As the doors were closed, newspapers were handed out.

Service

Service began shortly after departure. The single meal option was a beef salad. There was a menu card on the tray - which seemed a little odd to me considering you have to accept the meal in order to find out what it was. I ordered a G&T with this, which caused a little confusion. When it did turn up, I suspect was actually vodka and tonic so I stuck to water for the rest of the flight. The crew were quite pro active in offering drinks throughout the flight.







Arrival

Arrival was at the Schengen area of the terminal, so it was simply a case of disembarking and following the signs to the exit.

Conclusions

I must admit I was a little disappointed with this. My previous experiences with KLM in economy had been pretty good, so I had reasonably high hopes for them in Business. From the basic overcrowded lounge, to no priority boarding and the single meal service I feel they could have done a little better. Other airlines offer a choice of meal on sectors of similar length within Europe, so for KLM to offer a quickie salad and nothing else seemed a little cheap to me.

Questions? Comments? Come and Say Hi on Twitter!

Follow @mytripreport

KLM Cityhopper | Fokker F70 | LHR-AMS | Economy

Airline: KLM Cityhopper
Aircraft: Fokker F70
Route: London Heathrow - Amsterdam Schiphol
Flight number: KL1020
Seat number: 15F
Cabin: Economy
Flight date: March 2016

Check In / Security

Upon arrival at Terminal 4, which is reserved mostly for SkyTeam carriers these days at Heathrow, I found the joint KLM and Air France check in area hidden in a corner. There are the standard economy lanes, and two Sky Priority lanes designated with the familiar red signage and red mats. Only one of the desks was manned however and there was a family already at the one occupied desk. Nethertheless, I was processed in just a few minutes, given directions to the lounge and told I could use the fast track at security. On the subject of the fast track, a major week point at Heathrow is just this - Terminal 5 is very hit and miss in this regard and Terminal 4 was a definite miss on this occasion. Despite it being not overly busy, it still took a good 25 minutes to get through. The problem on this occasion seemed to be a major lack of staff. Its an area that I feel Heathrow management really need to address.

Lounge

Before heading to the lounge, I took a look at the View Heathrow observation deck - situated in a former lounge area on one of the upper levels.



I stayed for around ten minutes before heading to the SkyTeam lounge, courtesy of my SkyTeam Elite Plus status. Initial impressions were good. A decent selection of food, clean and airy ambiance and comfortable seating with a good overview of the tarmac. The only minor point was that it was a little busy when I first arrived - however it soon emptied out.













Boarding / Onboard

Boarding commenced at the advertised time and for once there wasn't a mass stampede. There was one elite ahead of me and I was second on board so cannot comment on whether priority boarding was enforced or not.

I entered the cabin and was greeted by one of the two cabin crew on todays flight at the door. This Fokker had the recently updated cabin, which offered some very generous legroom for this 45 minute flight









Service

Service started a little slowly for a flight that was under an hour. The lone crew member handing out snack boxes to everybody, along with a smile. Included in the boxes was a small egg wrap and a cuplet of Turkish spring water. I had wondered if this would be it for the service when the crew member disappeared in front of the curtain shortly after. However, both cabin crew members reappeared with a drinks trolley - although options were somewhat limited. Tea, coffee, juice, water wine or beer.



Arrival

As this was a KLM Cityhopper flight, we ended up at a remote stand. Two buses were ready and waiting to take everybody over to the main terminal. As I was connecting to another flight, I skipped the arrivals procedure and instead followed the transfer signs, which spat me out into the main terminal area. Of note was that there was no secondary security check.

Conclusions

My first flight with KLM since 2012 was a positive one. The refurbishment of the cabin was a welcome one and kudos to the airline for investing in a fleet that will be retired in the next couple of years.

The service had also been enhanced from my last time - from a sweet or savoury snack to something a little more substantial. I don't remember the drinks selection being quite so limited before however.

Questions? Comments? Come and Say Hi on Twitter!

Follow @mytripreport

For all of my latest trip report videos, please click on the videos section above.



The links to the previous written reports can be found to the right.

Cancellations with LOT and an unexpected AB Q400

.

Maps generated by theGreat Circle Mapper -copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
This report starts out with a message I received from fellow a.netter gabrielchew whilst I was in Argentina, back in April. He mentioned that he’d found some great fares to Krakow with LOT over a weekend in June - just £85 in fact. Without much hesitation, I logged on to the LOT website and the flights were booked.


I also splashed out an extra £19 to reserve seats, which is something new since I had last flown with the airline in December 2012.




I guess it was a little pricey, however due to the low fares it didn't make the final price too outrageous. Also the fact that it included seats for all four flights, meant it was still far better value than the £15 per sector that British Airways wanted to charge me for pre booking seats on a trip to Milan in August.

On to the day of departure. I did consider exploring the train, as I was still studying options to get to LHR that didn't involve the coach but I figured as it would cost the same but take double the time I really wouldn’t gain all that much by doing so. So for the first time in a good few months, it was on to the coach.


Upon arrival at T2, I attempted to use a kiosk to grab my boarding passes, however as I'd already checked in, it didn't like it and I ended up having to join a queue instead.




A few moments later, it was through a reasonably busy security, where I was singled out for a random search. Once that was done, I finally met up with Gabriel and we headed over to the very decent United Club for a couple of cocktails.




















After an hour or so in here, we moved over to the SQ lounge.










Tasty food in here


And the Suite style seats looked great


The third stop of the day was the Air Canada Lounge.




More cocktails - must admit this one wasn't all that great.


Again, great food selections






The final stop of the tour was the LH lounge, which was back in T2A.















After a good few hour lounging, it was time to board. Thanks for all the guesting in Gabriel - much appreciated. I’ll have to make the effort to get myself a Star Gold card…







LO280
LHR-WAW
June 2015
Boeing 737-400 / SP-LLF
Seat: 21F / Economy
Scheduled: 17:50/21:20
Off Stand: 17:54
On Stand: 21:27

We made our way on to a very warm and retro cabin, along with a screaming child and some tight legroom.




The cabin filled up reasonably quickly before the boarding complete announcement was given. There was a major downpour happening outside, and my initial suspicions were that this would reduce the flow in and out of the airport.


The captain announced a flying time of two hours, but no delay so I guess we were lucky on this occasion. We pushed back a few moments later and made a slow journey over to 27R.


Once we finally did get going, it wasn't too long before we were into the cloud.


But a few turns later we were out of it again and it appeared we were dodging a few of them.








Before clearing them for good.


The seatbelt sign went off and an announcement was made although I couldn't understand a word of it.


I stuck a couple of videos on my iPad shortly after.


During which time, the BOB service was started - and there were quite a few takers. Once the sales service had been completed, the free service began - which was just water and a Prince Polo. Yet another cut back since I last flew with LO back in 2012.




I stuck with the iPad until we were into our descent into Warsaw.




We made a cloudy descent until touchdown.






It was then off through passport control, through security and immediately into the lounge.












Around thirty minutes before departure, we made our way down to the gate, where boarding started more or less straight away.




LO3911
WAW-KRK
June 2015
Embraer E175 / SP-LIF
Seat: 4A / Economy
Scheduled: 22:45/23:40
Off Stand: 22:36
On Stand: 23:20

I took my seat and very shortly afterwards, the boarding complete announce was given. There were quite a few spare seats around, which was a little odd as according to the seat map upon check in, most seats had been taken.




The legroom on this one was slightly more generous.


Flight time was announced as just 35 minutes.


We pushed back and made our way over to the active.

Departure came, and as soon as the seatbelt sign went off, I ventured back to find Gabriel to see if he wanted to move to the spare seat next to me.


Although as he had the whole of the final row to himself, I took 21D instead. The service was completed pretty quickly and then descent was well under way.


I returned to my assigned seat just as we were passing downtown Kraków.


Not too long later, we touched down, and then spun around on the runway to head off in the direction of the terminal.


It was then on to a bus to make a very short drive over to the temporary looking terminal.

Strange how this was classed as an international arrival

A few seconds later, we were in a taxi heading for the city.


I checked into my very different looking hotel room upon arrival




Then took a walk with Gabriel across the square to his hotel before calling it a night.




The next day, Gabriel made his way back to my hotel and we explored what the city had to offer.


Including some local dancing, complete with noises that sounded like a car crash…


Shopping


Sheltering from the rain in the castle






Local (ish) cuisine


Once we were done in the city, we took the bus back to the airport.


A lot of building work going on here - hence the W.I.P looking arrivals terminal.


Upon arrival, we headed straight for a busy security as we both had a full set of boarding passes.




Security was pretty strict - I ended up having to to put a completely empty bag through the scanner, and Gabriel ended up having to put a pocket full of tissues through the x-Ray as they were apparently setting off the metal detector. Hmm. Once this was done, it was over to the lounge, once more courtesy of Gabriel's Star gold status.






At pretty much the time boarding was due to begin, an announcement was made saying that our flight had been cancelled. So it was back through security and over to the LOT office.




Easier said than done. After around two hours in the queue we were finally seen to. They said that there were no more flights this evening and they initially wanted to put us on LH via FRA or MUC the following afternoon. Instead though, Gabriel had found a routing with AB and BA via TXL in the morning and this was granted without too much fuss. It actually worked out in our favour as we ended up being booked into a pretty high booking class - therefore getting a pretty decent haul of BA Avios/Tier Points. If we had flown with LOT, we would have earned nothing due to it being in such a low booking class.


It was then over to another queue to sort out a hotel. As the Hilton Garden Inn across the road was a very reasonable price, we decided to book ourselves into there instead - rather than have to wait around for them to make a reservation and then take a taxi. The whole process took around three hours.




Dinner, courtesy of LOT. I ended up bringing most of it home with me though, as I wasn’t really up to eating anything.


The next morning, it was back across the road to the terminal. Luckily this time, things were much quieter and we were in the lounge within ten minutes.




We stayed here until boarding was announced.


Despite our boarding passes saying that we had fast track, there wasn't one available so we were at the back of a long queue, before heading down to a bus.



LO3924
KRK-WAW
June 2015
Embraer E195 / SP-
Seat: 8D / Economy
Scheduled: 17:55/18:45




AB8203
KRK-TXL
June 2015
Bombardier Q400 / D-ABQC
Seat: 17A / Economy
Scheduled: 10:50/12:00
Off Stand: 10:54
On Stand: 12:12

We made a slow drive over to the waiting plane and I took my seat - once I had booted Gabriel out of it…




The flight deck announced a flying time of an hour and fifteen, before the engines were started and we made our way over to the active. The initially clear skies soon clouded over.








The crew were a little slow getting the trolley out, therefore by the time I had been served, descent had started.




In fact the rubbish wasn't cleared until quite late into the descent. The weather wasn't quite as good in Berlin, but there were a few views to be had on approach.








We touched down and then took the scenic route over to the Air Berlin terminal - with most of the other passengers getting up and grabbing their bags along the way.


Upon arrival, it was a short bus ride over to the terminal, before heading over to the main building.






We then spent an hour or so on the terrace, where there were some quite interesting movements.


























I ended up taking extra time due to the fact I was singled out for an additional random check - this meant exiting the security area, and being taken to a separate room to have my electronics swabbed. A few moments later I was back at the gate area where boarding began a few moments later.







BA993
TXL-LHR
June 2015
Airbus A321 / G-EUXL
Seat: 33F / Economy
Scheduled: 14:30/15:30
Off Stand: 14:41
On Stand: 15:49

I made my way on board and took my seat, which had the leftovers of the previous occupants lunch on it.




The flight was unsurprisingly full - despite the complaints about BA lately, the "enhancements" are clearly working... And due to this the crew spent a while re arranging bags in the overhead lockers. The captain started his speech, and no doubt he mentioned the flying time, but my attention was drawn to a stroppy elder American woman in the wrong seat and refusing to budge. She eventually did, but made no secret of the fact she would be getting up "at least six times”. We pushed back and headed off into the housing estate for departure.


On our way up, things got a bit bumpy, and we seemed to be in cloud for a lot longer than on this mornings flight.






Also different to the mornings flight was the fact the crew started the service much quicker. It seems that the snacks have now been enhanced to UK domestic levels on a wider selection of European flights now, as on a flight to Frankfurt (which is nearer to London) a couple of weeks previously, I was offered a wrap.


I relied on the iPad for my entertainment on this flight.




Descent began, and the first officer announced that it was a little busy this afternoon, so therefore we had to slow down. But even so, we would still have to hold for fifteen minutes.








We were treated to a great aerial tour of London - probably one of the best I've had, before touching down on to 27R.










It was a slow journey over to T5B before pulling on to stand. Finally back in the UK - around 17 hours later than expected…






It was the usual wait to leave before heading back over to the main terminal, and out to wait for the coach home.






LOT - ugh. Battered old 737, uncomfortable seats, cancelled flight, poor planning when it came to rebooking and despite being told by two members of ground staff that the flight was cancelled for technical reasons, flat out refused to pay any EC261 compensation. At least they were cheap…

Air Berlin were consistent with my other flights with them. Decent enough service pretty good crew and no reason to complain. Although its a bit of shame they have to use that temporary terminal at TXL indefinitely.

British Airways - once more, not much can be said about them. Although its a shame the on board catering appears to have been enhanced once more.