After the aircraft had ascended to cruise altitude, the purchase onboard service started. On my previous flight on Vueling, I had noticed that their onboard food and drinks prices were actually quite reasonable, but it seems that they had increased their priced quite significantly. 3 yrs ago, it was only 1 euro for a coffee, but now it has increased to 2 euros!

Onboard menu


Cabin crew went down the aisle selling food and drinks. About half the passengers purchased something. Crew were professional but not overly friendly, unlike my last Vueling flight where the crew were like high on pills and extremely chatty and friendly with passengers.

Cabin crew service


As I was a bit hungry, I purchased a caesar salad meal which comprises a salad and a orange juice for 7 euros. The juice was nice but the salad was just average. Coffee was another 1 euro extra as part of a meal "upgrade" and water was 2 euros.

Meal


Salad. Portion could be bigger for the price.


After service, trashed were picked up and the crew disappeared into the galleys to have their own catered meals. I saw them eating pasta in the rear galley while on way to the lavatory.

Cabin view from rear. Not a full flight.


Leather seats


Alone the coastline of France.


Genova city and airport


Very soon, we started our descend into Venice. Crew prepared the cabin for landing. No sweets were distributed unlike 3yrs ago when the crew gave out sweets during approach. All these small little gestures are now part of history.

Descending


We landed about 15min early.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RtIjr0Cz34

Taxied to the gate. We parked at the last gate of the terminal. Venice Marco Polo Airport looks just like a small regional airport. I counted less than 10 aircrafts within the airport, with the biggest being the just arrived Emirates A332, whosh os also currently the biggest plane to operate to the airport.

Taxi to gate, with EK A332 in the distance


Interesting baggage carousel painted like a roulette.


Welcome to Venice!


Vueling has definitely lost its magical touch as one of the best LCCs out there. Maybe because of the Clickair plane which did not offer the standard Vueling amenities, but the small touches which made Vueling unique, such as sweets during landing, seemed to have been lost. Vueling felt just like any LCC carries out there now. Was a bit disappointed after the great experience 3yrs ago. But nothing to worry, as i have arrived in Venice, one of my most wanted to visit places in my lifetime!

 

Flight 6
15 July 2009
British Airways
BA 2585
Venice (VCE) - London Gatwick (LGW)
A319
G-EUPA
EuroTraveller aka Economy Class

After a fantastic day in beautiful and romantic Venice, we proceeded on to Dublin. Initially we had planned just to go to London but due to some H1N1 flu restrictions in place, we changed our plans to Dublin and thus added 2 more flights to our itinerary. Would by flying BA to London and changing onto Ryanair to Dublin.

Arrived at Venice airport 2hrs before the flight and the check-in queue was quite long. Did not check-in online before as we had no internet access in Venice and the internet rates were atrociously high (Venice is really an expensive city!!).

After check-in, proceeded straight through security and grabbed a light lunch at a cafe. Venice airport's departure hall only consisted of a few shops and nothing much else. Plane spotting was also not too interesting as there were quite few plane movements. The only "interesting" aircraft is the EK A332 which would be departing to Dubai very soon.

EK A332 to Dubai


We then proceeded through immigration to our gate. Just 1 counter is opened, manned by 1 very bored immigration officer and with no queues at all, we were through within seconds. Interestingly, the male immigration officer chopped both our passports coincidently on page "69" when the pages beside were empty. Hmmm...

Our Gate.


We could not see our plane from the gate as it was blocked by another aerobridge. Boarding started 15min before depature and was quick. Finally caught a glimpse of out plane while walking down the aerobridge.

G-EUPA


Welcomed aboard by the purser. The A319 definitely felt much newer than the B757 we took earlier. Cabin was clean and there were overhead LCD monitors installed. Newspapers were also available during boarding at the door. Surprised!

Club Europe seats


Eurotraveller cabin


Seat pitch was about the same as on the 757s and was quite generous.


All the stuff in the seat pocket.


My seatmate had a B737 safety card instead of the A319 in his seat pocket!


The plane filled up quickly and was quite full. There was a big group opf Italian students heading to Southampton. Doors were closed and the safety demonstration was shown via video monitors. The crew just stood in the aisle and posed, pointing out the emergency exits when the video instructed to. There were 4 crew on this flights, 2 serving Club Europe and 2 in Economy. The crew seemed to be much friendlier than my previous flight.

After a short taxt, we took off.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocSXI4X7NYM

Overflying some Venetian islands


Throughout the flight, the flight map was shown on the overhead monitors, which served as my form of entertainment. The sandwich service was started shortly for us in the back. It would be the last few sandwich runs was BA would be scrapping the sandwiches starting Aug 09 as part of their cost-cutting measures. The crew was came down with the sandwich cart and distributed the sandwiches.

Crew serving sandwiches.


Our sandwich. Quite good. But no chocolate bar with the sandwich.


Overflying the Alps.

 

We overflew the city of Zurich!


Zurich Kloten airport


After distribution of sandwiches, the crew came down with the drinks cart, offering the full bar selection, along with coffee/tea.

Crew serving drinks.


Reaching our row.


All our drinks. At least BA is generous with their drinks.


After drinks were done, trash were then collected, followed by the duty free sales service.

View of the galley during visit to the aft loo.


Interesting BA history plague outside the lavatory.


Cabin view.


Soon, we started our descend into Gatwick. Flying into UK.


We were in a short holding pattern due to traffic. Circling over the fields.


As Gatwick is quite a distance south of London, we could only see freen fields and farms during our approach, unlike Heathrow when we could see the whole London city.

Landing into Gatwick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSjglR0uBSo

Taxiing to North Terminal.


We landed a right on time. During disembarking, the real friendly captain was outside the cockpit saying goodbye to the passengers. You would never see this happen on Asian carriers. I asked the captain if we could take a photo inside the cockpit and he allowed and told us to go ahead! Woots!! The captain really made my day! Entered the cockpit and took some photos!

Our plane again at Gatwick.


BA fared better on this flight compared to the previous flight to Lisbon. The crew were much friendlier and the aircraft was much more well-maintained. The sandwiches and drinks were good on this flight and the visit to the cockpit awesome! And BA did not lose our bags this time, lol.

We had a 2hrs transit for our Ryanair flight at Gatwick and proceeded to South Terminal.

 

thanks for the report - great to read! ^

Agree with the benefits of serving meals as they do on Thai - two carts on each aisle meakes service very quick. American Airlines does the same thing and they can serve a while Y cabin on a 777 in about 15 minutes.

Now we can only dream that Qantas could learn from it!

regards

lme ff

 

Flight 7
15 July 2009
Ryanair
FR 1127
London Gatwick (LGW) - Dublin (DUB)
B737-800
EI-DAP
Low Class

Arrived at London Gatwick for the transit onto the Ryanair flight to Dublin. We flew to LGW on the premium airline BA and now flying the world's lowest cost carrier, Ryanair, immediately after the BA flight. What irony.

Transferred from Gatwick's North Terminal to the older South Terminal, where all the LCCs operate from. We had to look for FR's baggage drop and document check counter. FR now have the ridiculous policy that all pax must check-in online and print out their own boarding passes (all at a "low" cost of 5pounds/euros) or be prepared to pay a surcharge 40pounds/euros for checking in and be issued a boarding pass at the airport!! We had already checked in way in advance in Singapore and had our printed boarding passes but we still need to drop our bags and have our travel documents checked and boarding passes endorsed (requirement for non-EU/UK travellers). When we reached the bag drop counters, horrors!! The single queue for bag drop was more than 50 meters long and only 3 counters were opened! Soon they opened 1 more counter and very surprisingly, the queue moved very rapidly! Bag drop agents were very efficient and friendly and ! was really amazed at the speed they processed our check-in bags.

After check-in, we proceeded through security and into the terminal. South terminal is quite old and facilities very limited in quantity. We bought some food to be consumed onboard.

London Gatwick South Terminal


Soon after the departure gate appeared on the board, we rushed to the gate as the flight was free-seating and we did not want to get stuck with seperate seats. Too late, everyone had also rushed to the gate and the queue for boarding was already quite long. The plane had just arrived and boarding started immediately after the last passengers have left the incoming flight.

EI-DAP. Don't be misled by the aerobridge. It was not in use.


There was an aerobridge attached to the plane but it was not in use. We proceeded onto the tarmac to board via the rear door. Aah, the smell of jet-fuel.

Walking to the plane.


Tailfin


Up the steps


And into the plane.


Boarding. We tried to get a window seat but no chances at all. The flight was very full. Surprisingly, I was still able to secure free seats on the flight just 2 weeks before, paying just 25 pounds in taxes and other charges. We ended up in a middle and aisle seat.


The seats are really plasticky with leather cushions and with safety instructions pasted on them. Seats are also non-reclinable and seat pitch was barely passable. No seat pockets and thus no inflight mags / vomit bags etc.

Seat pitch


Cabin view.


Lots of advertisements in the cabin

 

After all passengers boarded, the crew distributed inflight magazines and menus to anyone who wanted it. Following this, safety demonstration was done manually.

Crew preparing for safety demonstration


We pushed back on time and had a short taxi for takeoff. Flight time was announced at 1hr 5 min.

Takeoff from LGW. Photo taken over my seat neighbour's shoulders.


Shortly after takeoff, the crew came down the aisle, taking orders for hot meals. Following that, the food cart was pushed down for sales of food/drinks. Well, I tucked into my "inflight cuisine" of Pret & Manger sandwich, chips and juice which I had bought earlier at LGW.

My "inflight meal"


Hungry?


Thirsty?


Crew doing the food/beverage sales.


After sale of food/beverages, crew came down with sales of Ryanair scratch cards. Due to the short flight, no sales of duty free items were conducted but pax can approach any crew if they wanted to buy any duty free items.

Very shortly, we started our descent into Dublin.


Approaching Dublin


We landed 20min early and had a very fast Ryanair style taxi to the gate. Disembarking via steps again either by the front or rear doors.

Dublin airport


Under the wings


Last look at our plane


Overall, Ryanair is a no frills, you get what you paid for Airline. Considering my all-in fare of only 25 pounds, I have no complaints but some of their surcharges are ridiculously high and would most likely catch unaware and less-travelled passengers by surprise. If everything goes smoothly, Ryanair is a cheap and good choice for short-haul travel but if anything goes wrong, that is another story which many Ryanair bashers can attest to.

Upcoming flight on Aer Lingus, stay tuned!

 

Man, it looks like Ryanair's gone even further downhill since I swore off them nearly five years ago.

Great Trip Report, keep it up! Really enjoying it.

 

Flight 8
17 July 2009
Aer Lingus
EI 174
Dublin (DUB) - London Heathrow (LHR)
A320
EI-DES
Economy Class

After 2 days in freezing Dublin, the D-day has come. It was time to return home and a long journey it would going to be, via London and Bangkok. We checked in online the day before departure but still had to go to the manual counters to retrieve our boarding passes and drop our bags as we were not holding EU/UK passports. Obtained our boarding passes after a short wait in the queue.

Aer Lingus check-in desks


After check-in, proceeded through security into the departure hall. Dublin airport is getting real old and crowded and there is really not much room for the humanity and shops. Luckily a new terminal is currently in the process of construction.

Cramped Dublin terminal


Did some plane spotting as usual.

Aer Lingus A330-300 just arrived.


Aer Lingus vs Ryanair. The 2 main airlines of Dublin.


Proceeded to the gate for boarding about 15min before STD. Boarding was just underway.

Our plane for the short hop to UK, EI-DES


Boarding the A320. Was greeted by the purser at the door.


The cabin of the plane was reasonably well kept and clean, even though it has started to show its age. Cabin crew well also along the aisle welcoming passengers. The crew would be doing DUB-LHR-DUB-LHR today followed by a night's stay in London and operating the next day's morning flight back to Dublin. Aer Lingus's A320a are only fitted with economy class seats.

Seats. Similar to BA's economy class seats.


Boarding in progress.


At the gate with an A330 beside us.


All the stuff in the seat pocket.


Seat pitch. Seats were rather cramped.


Across the aisle.


Soon boarding was completed and the safety demonstration was done manually by the crew. No audio/video entertainment on this aircraft. What impressed me most was that the purser could actually describe the safety demo along with the rest of the crew performing it without referral to any manuals! Flight time was announced to be a short 1hr. We had a short taxi to the runway and took off.

Departing Dublin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCjdrxyHYPk

 

Making a u-turn shortly after departure.


Over Dublin airport. City of Dublin in the distance ahead.


Aer Lingus only offers buy-on-board service on its European routes. Gone were the days when free drinks/snacks were offered.

BOB food menu


Drinks menu


We decided not to buy anything as nothing looks appealing on the menu.

Cabin crew performing BOB service.


After the BOB service, duty free sales was offered. Crew were friendly and polite but nothing more. Feels just like any budget airline service.

Cabin view.


Aft galley


Inflight. Very cloudy below.


After a short cruise, we started our descend into London.


London was very cloudy during approach and not many landmarks could be seen.

Somewhere over London.


Final approach into London Heathrow.


Landing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-usrCjsAk

We taxied to Terminal 1 and parked at one of the dedicated Ireland flight gates.

At the gate.


Overall, Aer Lingus felt like a budget carrier, with no frills offered. The whole flight was uneventful and nothing special. However Aer Lingus do offer quite good fares on their intra-european routes and their LCC model pn their european routes seemed to be quite a success thus far.

Next up, the final 2 flights on Thai back to Singapore.

 

If you thought those seats were cramped, you should try flying DUB-LHR on the A321's EI normaly use on that route, you'll be glad it's only a 1 hour flight (not including the now tradational wait on the ground for ATC clearance and flying in circles in the holding pattern).

 

Excellent report so far. Many thanks.

We did KUL-HKG-LHR in CX F in June, then hopped around on Eurostar to Paris and back, Aer Arran (LUT-GAL) and Ryanair (DUB - STN) before heading back to KUL on CX F. The F experience was great, but the intra-Europe trips were quite OK, despite, as you say, Ryanair's policies. We stumbled on our printed boarding passes on the latter by printing from a thumb-drive, which created a weird format. They had a desk in DUB which pretty much was dedicated to reissuing boarding passes, without any extra fee...I'm not sure they're saving that much with their on-line only policy!

 

Flight 9
17 July 2009
Thai Airways
TG 917
London Heathrow (LHR) - Bangkok (BKK)
B747-400
HS-TGR
Economy Class

After arriving from Dublin, we had a 3+hrs transit at the dump called Heathrow Terminal 3. Checked in at area D for my TG flight, while my friend checked in for his SQ flight at area A. If I am not wrong, TG has taken over the check-in counters vacated by SQ at area D when SQ moved to area A, which is much bigger and nicer.

TG Check-in counters at Area D


As I had checked in earlier online, I just need to have my bags tagged and collect my boarding pass. I had chosen the exact same seat that I had earlier flown on. According to the check-in agent, the flight is 100% full in economy and only 1 seat left in Business! No wonder, it was the start of the UK summer school holidays. After me and my friend had checked in for our respective flights, we proceeded through security into the mass humanity of the transit waiting lounge. After browsing through every single shop in "Heathrow Terminal 3 Mall", we just grabbed a seat and watch all the passengers of different nationalities go by as we waited for our gates to be shown.

Terminal 3 Waiting Lounge


Exactly 1hr before departure, the boarding gate appeared onto the flight information screens. Had a long walk to the gate, which appeared to be newly renovated. Surprised, at the gate waiting was HS-TGR, the exact same plane that had brought me to London 10 days earlier. Exact same plane plus exact same seat onboard! Interestingly, my friend also had the exact same plane, 9V-SKA, that he had flown on to London back to Singapore! What coincidence!

HS-TGR again


The boarding gate was very crowded as expected due to the full flight. And the gate lounge is way too small for a full B744. Luckily boarding started shortly after I entered the gate lounge.


Boarding was done very orderly by seat rows. Newspapers and magazines were available on the aerobridge before boarding. Was greeted upon boarding and proceeded to my seat. Cabin crew were along the aisle welcoming passengers onboard and assisting with storage of cabin bags into overhead bins. This set of crew felt much better than my incoming flight and my hunch was correct. All the crew members were much friendlier and younger and also interacted more with passengers.

At the gate.


A British lady and her child occupied the 2 seats beside me. They were going on a long holiday in Krabi. With the generous seat pitch on Thai's B744s, it did not felt cramped at all even though I was at the window. After boarding was completed, we pushed back on time and had a long taxi for takeoff. Cabin crew also distributed menu cards and earphones. The safety demo was also played on the overhead monitors and front screen. Flight time was expected to be about 10hrs50min. As usual in Heathrow, we had quite a wait for takeoff due to the long queue of aircraft departing. Dusk had also fallen by the time we took off.

Taxi to the runway


No takeoff video as it was dark. Shortly after takeoff and seatbelt signs were off, the crew sprang into action and conducted a full bar cart service with peanuts. Me and my seatmate ordered beer and we got full cans! And yes, the can was opened and beer poured into the cup before serving, ala SQ style.

Heineken with peanuts


Lets have a look at the menu today.


Menu


After bar service was done, dinner service started. Today the stewardess serving my aisle was always all smiles and way better than the one into London. As usual, meal trays with main courses were distributed, followed by a full bar service again. Additional bread rolls were also offered and finally coffee/tea service and drinks top-ups.

I chose the curry chicken and it was very good! The starter was also great! Roll was warm but dessert lacked imagination. Would prefer an ice-cream, hehe. However a surprisingly good meal catered out of Heathrow.


White wine and Campari.


The very nice stewardess on my aisle.

 

Meal service in progress


After trays were collected and everything were cleaned up, it was lights off till breakfast. Everyone settled down to sleep and I actually slept about 5hrs, a record for me onboard a flight! Guess the alcohol earlier and good seat pitch and recline played a part.

Daytime


Crew first distributed warm towels for pax to freshen up followed by trays of juices or water. Following that, breakfast was served.

Breakfast service.


Had the crepes. Just passable. But the croissant and fruits were good.


Cabin view


Thai branded Eu de cologne in the lavatory. The only amenity.


Very soon, we were descending into Bangkok.


Chao Phraya River, I guess?


Overflying Don Muang airport. Bangkok city can be seen in the distance.


Turning for short finals.


Final approach


Landing video. We had a very smooth landing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA-1ZtcqupY

Parked at the gate. 2 TG star alliance planes can be seen.


Overall, this flight was pleasant with friendly crew and good food, even though the flight was full. Throw in decent IFE (only 1 movie was shown) and amenity kits for all pax and it would be comparable to SQ.

Last flight of the trip coming up.

 

Flight 10
18 July 2009
Thai Airways
TG 409
Bangkok (BKK) - Singapore (SIN)
B777-200
HS-TJD
Economy Class

Finally the last flight of the trip. Landed at Bangkok half hr early but as my connection in Bangkok was only a short 1hr05min, it was more than welcomed. The gate for the continuing flight to Singapore was right at the other end of the terminal. Landed at the C gates and have to trek all the way to the E gates. Flight was already boarding when I reached the gate. It appeared that we would be bussed to our plane today as it was parked at the domestic side of the terminal. Thus the ridiculous procedure of riding on the bus to the plane, then climbing onto the aerobridge at the terminal and boarding the plane. Wow, at least can do some plane spotting.

Gate E1A


Swiss and SAS A340s at the remote stands. Us folks in Singapore would miss these planes.


A colourful Bangkok Airways B717


Climbing up the steps into the aerobridge


When the bus reached our plane, I was expecting a B777-200ER as the seatmap shown when I checked in online was that of the ER aircraft, but surprised! It turned out to be HS-TJD AGAIN!!! What are the odds of getting the exact same aircrafts on SIN-BKK/BKK-SIN and BKK-LHR/LHR-BKK flights on a single trip. Even my friend got the same A380 aircraft on his SIN-LHR/LHR-SIN flights. What incredible coincidence! But was disappointed as I was raring to try out TG's AVOD system. No luck this time round but so lucky to get the same aircraft again....

As I was on the last ferry bus to the plane, most of the other passengers have already boarded. Was given a warm welcome by the crew during boarding. When I reached my seat row, I saw that it was occupied by 3 other passengers. A steward, seeing my puzzled look, immediately approached me and asked whats the problem. When seeing my boarding pass, he checked the other pax on the row and saw they were sitting on the wrong seats. However, I offered to take their middle row (3 empty seats in a row!) and the steward apologised to me a couple of times for the inconvenience caused. After all passengers boarded, I spotted the rear window row seats were empty and shifted over. An entire window seat row for myself!

Other than this slight hiccup, everything else was smooth flowing. This set of crew proved to be the best of all the 4 TG flights on this trip and one of the best ever I have experienced. They were friendly, engaging and in all smiles even though it was a "turn-around" flight for them. Nothing was too much of a trouble for the crew. We pushed back slightly late due to late boarding of passengers but only had a short taxi for takeoff.

Cabin view.


Seat pitch.


At the gate


Holding for takeoff. A TG A300 was seen landing.


Video of our takeoff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSGZQDlEhXA

Climbing off the coast of Thailand


Some islands off Pattaya?



After seatbelt signs were off, service started, first wth the distribution of immigration cards, followed immediately by the meal service. Same procedure, a bar cart and a meal cart was pushed out on each aisle. Meal trays were distributed first, with a choice of chicken with noodles or curry fish with rice.

Distribution of meal trays.


Curry fish with rice, with a tuna pasta salad and chocolate mousse cake. The cake was very good!

 

Following the meal cart was the bar cart. As usual, the full assortment of drinks was offered, alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

Cabin crew offering full bar service.




Had a diet coke and again was offered the full can. I was offered full cans for all my drinks on all the TG flights. Kudos to TG on this.


After the bar service was done,further top ups of red/white wine were offered, followed by coffee/tea service before collection of trays. Refreshing towelettes were also offered after the meal service.


I was still very amazed at how much the TG cabin crew can accomplish for the meal service on such a short 2hrs sector. Everything felt unhurried and organised and the meal offerings were pretty generous. Crew were ever obliging to passenger requests, such as requests for peanuts or additional drinks. Duty free shopping was upon request and one just need to write down the item code on the duty free magazine onboard shopping card, passed it to the crew with passport and credit card, and the crew would return would bring the requested item to your seat. The stewardess even gave me a TG branded pen to fill up the card (yep, I bought a B744 model) and the pen was mine to keep. Even took a photo with the 2 stewardess alone my aisle and they were so very obliging and made cute poses too, lol. What a fun flight!

By this time, dusk was falling.


On this flight, the cologne in the lavatory was decorated with orchids.


Very soon, we started our descend. As usual, crew came around to distribute fresh orchids to passengers.

Descending into the sunset.




We were in a holding pattern for quite a while due to heavy traffic. Finally landed at Changi Rwy20C a few minutes late.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBlMnu2NoCw

Taxied to Terminal 1 and parked at the gate. Home sweet home... A JAL Oneworld B773ER parked beside.


Some shots while disembarkation.

Economy seats


Business class


Last look at HS-TJD


Overall, TG offers a solid economy product on the SIN-BKK route. In fact, their meal offerings are more than SQ and service a tad better, probably due to the more organised service flow. However, their long-haul flights are their weakest link, due to the lack of basic amenities. Service was quite good overall (with BKK-SIN being outstanding), other than the BKK-LHR flight which was spoilt by the very cold stewardess (even the coldest SQ stewardess would still fake a smile). Also noticed that TG's B777 fleet tends to be staffed younger and more enthusiastic cabin crew while the B744 fleet were operated by more senior (and probably more jaded) crew. If Thai were to upgrade all the aircraft with the latest IFE and offer more amenities on long-haul flights, they would be a very worthy competitor to the other premium airlines.

Please feel free to leave your comments. Would appreciate it.

Next up, SIN-PEN-SIN on Tiger and Jetstar.