Telemachus
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This will be my first TR for AFF. It will relate the end-to-end experience (booking, rescheduling, airports, inflight) of a recent AY-ticketed trip on a revenue fare in J. The goal is more about informing than entertaining so apologies if what follows is a bit dry and falls short of the standard of some excellent TRs I have had the pleasure of reading here in recent months.
Itinerary flown
Outbound (mid-May): SYD-SIN-HEL-LHR with stopovers of ~24 hrs in both SIN & HEL. BA16 SYD-SIN, AY132 SIN-HEL, AY1335 HEL-LHR.
Inbound (mid-June): Reverse of above with transits of 1-2 hrs each at HEL & SIN.
Booking and rescheduling
I booked this trip before the Ukraine war began. I had found AY good value for money on previous trips: not the most premium J experience but good enough and quite compelling on price. Initially I had booked to have a stopover only at HEL on the outbound leg.
A week or so after the invasion AY began rerouting and rescheduling long haul services that had previously overflown Ukraine and Russia. In the first phase of changes notified to me in March, AY protected their HEL arr and dep slots and changed the SIN timings to accommodate the longer route and flight duration. Which meant that the outbound connection from BA16 to AY132 at SIN shrank to 45 mins, so I accepted the recommended switch from BA16 to QF81 for SYD-SIN, travelling a day later than my original booking. The later arrival of AY131 into SIN also reduced my connection time on the return leg but it was still legal and acceptable.
So far, so good enough. The geography has meant that AY has been hit particularly hard by the need to stop overflying Russia. I wasn’t overjoyed at the additional travel time but was sympathetic to AY’s situation, and exploration of other options found I would need to pay a lot more on other carriers.
In late April AY shifted the HEL STD and SIN STA for AY131 to 20 mins later, which further reduced the SIN connection time for my BA15 onward flight SIN-SYD. I couldn’t make my acceptance of this change stick in MMB so after trying and giving up on the AY online chat tool I phoned and spoke to an agent. She fixed the issue but then informed me there was a more serious problem with my QF81 booking (SYD-SIN) which she said had been ‘lost’ (despite previous confirmation and e-ticket) because of an unknown issue at the QF end. While she was consulting a supervisor about options the call dropped out. There was no call-back so I phoned and got another AY agent who offered options of travel in Y on same flight, J the next day or trip cancellation / refund. Having done my homework I proposed reinstating my original BA16 seat the previous day, and taking a 24 hr stopover at SIN before continuing on AY132 as per current booking: this was agreed after consultation with a supervisor.
I found the story about loss of the QF seat highly dubious and rather unsettling. There had been no clue to a problem in MMB so it only came to light because I phoned up about something else. Coincidentally, in a chance conversation while disembarking from AY132 at HEL I found I was not the only AY-ticketed traveller who had been offloaded from QF81 a couple of weeks pre-flight.
SYD check-in and pre-boarding
BA check-in was quick and simple. I had uploaded the required docs to BA in advance and the agent could see that my SGAC for entry to Singapore had been done. The entrance for Express Path to outbound ABF checks was closed and there was no separate priority lane for security screening either. Queue for screening took 45 mins but wait time was reducing while I was in the queue, as they opened more screening points. Still no auto-return of trays at SYD T1 and it was painful to watch while the staff member managing loading of bags walked to the other end of the screening point every few mins to pick up some trays to carry back for waiting pax to use.
With BA16 using Gate 57 or 59 the screening delay meant there was no time to go to the QF int J lounge so I made a brief visit to The House – the former EY lounge to which BA now steers its premium pax – and found it crowded and noisy.
BA16 SYD-SIN
Aircraft on this route remains the B789 with 12 yr old Club World seats in the yin-yang configuration that means for most seats you choose between a rear-facing window seat and have to climb over someone else’s legs, or else a forward-facing aisle seat and have a window pax climb over your feet. I had snared one of the window seats where there is no-one else’s feet to negotiate when getting in/out. Not a common opinion perhaps but I find the BA seats both comfortable and very private once the partition has gone up.
Meals were provided with everything arriving at once on one tray. I thought quality was OK and my only gripe was about the wine list which was vaguely worded and more limited than it used to be.
Arrival into SIN was only slightly late and immigration was efficient but then a very long wait before checked bags came through to the carousel.
AY132 SIN-HEL
The next day I arrived at SIN T1 departures to find the AY check-in desks had not yet opened but when they eventually did so, the queues were long. I had left myself plenty of time to enjoy the QF J lounge and after a shower I dined on prawn dumplings and a rather good chicken laksa. The lounge progressively emptied until only a handful of people remained, and I headed out before the lounge closed. Happily this meant only a short time hanging around the gate waiting for AY132 to start boarding.
AY132 was operated by an A359 with the new AirLounge seats in the J cabin. There have been divergent opinions on this non-adjustable seat. In brief I found it fine for sleeping, if a bit hard, but impossible to find a comfortable position I could sustain while reading or watching the IFE: despite provision of a pillow and a cushion there just isn’t enough support and I missed the variable adjustment options of conventional J seats. More positively, the seat has good privacy – good enough for me to change into and out of PJs in the seat and avoid an outrage to public decency.
Again it was the one-tray approach to meal service but I declined dinner having eaten well enough in the lounge.
Arrival at HEL was on time but I was delayed by a long non-EU immigration queue.
AY1335 HEL-LHR
Early pm the following day I checked in at the new T2 Departures hall. No queue at all at the AY priority check-in desk or for screening. And the new screening facilities include CT baggage scanners which mean no need to remove laptops and LAGs from bags. So I was through and heading for the Non-Schengen Lounge in a matter of minutes. The lounge was new to me and much larger than the one I recall using 4-5 years ago when I was last in transit at HEL. Large, well appointed, quiet and with excellent privacy; and, yes, the bar is rather good.
The flight itself was unmemorable except for a last minute gate change that led to a late departure. A short-haul flight on an A321 where the seats are the same for both J and Y pax, except that in the ‘J cabin’ the middle seat of 3 on each side is blocked off.
LHR T3 Arrival
A long queue for the passport e-gates but it moved quickly. There was then an extraordinary delay (~50 mins) in the baggage hall before I could leave the airport.
Part 2 of the TR will follow shortly, dealing with the return leg and some conclusions.
Itinerary flown
Outbound (mid-May): SYD-SIN-HEL-LHR with stopovers of ~24 hrs in both SIN & HEL. BA16 SYD-SIN, AY132 SIN-HEL, AY1335 HEL-LHR.
Inbound (mid-June): Reverse of above with transits of 1-2 hrs each at HEL & SIN.
Booking and rescheduling
I booked this trip before the Ukraine war began. I had found AY good value for money on previous trips: not the most premium J experience but good enough and quite compelling on price. Initially I had booked to have a stopover only at HEL on the outbound leg.
A week or so after the invasion AY began rerouting and rescheduling long haul services that had previously overflown Ukraine and Russia. In the first phase of changes notified to me in March, AY protected their HEL arr and dep slots and changed the SIN timings to accommodate the longer route and flight duration. Which meant that the outbound connection from BA16 to AY132 at SIN shrank to 45 mins, so I accepted the recommended switch from BA16 to QF81 for SYD-SIN, travelling a day later than my original booking. The later arrival of AY131 into SIN also reduced my connection time on the return leg but it was still legal and acceptable.
So far, so good enough. The geography has meant that AY has been hit particularly hard by the need to stop overflying Russia. I wasn’t overjoyed at the additional travel time but was sympathetic to AY’s situation, and exploration of other options found I would need to pay a lot more on other carriers.
In late April AY shifted the HEL STD and SIN STA for AY131 to 20 mins later, which further reduced the SIN connection time for my BA15 onward flight SIN-SYD. I couldn’t make my acceptance of this change stick in MMB so after trying and giving up on the AY online chat tool I phoned and spoke to an agent. She fixed the issue but then informed me there was a more serious problem with my QF81 booking (SYD-SIN) which she said had been ‘lost’ (despite previous confirmation and e-ticket) because of an unknown issue at the QF end. While she was consulting a supervisor about options the call dropped out. There was no call-back so I phoned and got another AY agent who offered options of travel in Y on same flight, J the next day or trip cancellation / refund. Having done my homework I proposed reinstating my original BA16 seat the previous day, and taking a 24 hr stopover at SIN before continuing on AY132 as per current booking: this was agreed after consultation with a supervisor.
I found the story about loss of the QF seat highly dubious and rather unsettling. There had been no clue to a problem in MMB so it only came to light because I phoned up about something else. Coincidentally, in a chance conversation while disembarking from AY132 at HEL I found I was not the only AY-ticketed traveller who had been offloaded from QF81 a couple of weeks pre-flight.
SYD check-in and pre-boarding
BA check-in was quick and simple. I had uploaded the required docs to BA in advance and the agent could see that my SGAC for entry to Singapore had been done. The entrance for Express Path to outbound ABF checks was closed and there was no separate priority lane for security screening either. Queue for screening took 45 mins but wait time was reducing while I was in the queue, as they opened more screening points. Still no auto-return of trays at SYD T1 and it was painful to watch while the staff member managing loading of bags walked to the other end of the screening point every few mins to pick up some trays to carry back for waiting pax to use.
With BA16 using Gate 57 or 59 the screening delay meant there was no time to go to the QF int J lounge so I made a brief visit to The House – the former EY lounge to which BA now steers its premium pax – and found it crowded and noisy.
BA16 SYD-SIN
Aircraft on this route remains the B789 with 12 yr old Club World seats in the yin-yang configuration that means for most seats you choose between a rear-facing window seat and have to climb over someone else’s legs, or else a forward-facing aisle seat and have a window pax climb over your feet. I had snared one of the window seats where there is no-one else’s feet to negotiate when getting in/out. Not a common opinion perhaps but I find the BA seats both comfortable and very private once the partition has gone up.
Meals were provided with everything arriving at once on one tray. I thought quality was OK and my only gripe was about the wine list which was vaguely worded and more limited than it used to be.
Arrival into SIN was only slightly late and immigration was efficient but then a very long wait before checked bags came through to the carousel.
AY132 SIN-HEL
The next day I arrived at SIN T1 departures to find the AY check-in desks had not yet opened but when they eventually did so, the queues were long. I had left myself plenty of time to enjoy the QF J lounge and after a shower I dined on prawn dumplings and a rather good chicken laksa. The lounge progressively emptied until only a handful of people remained, and I headed out before the lounge closed. Happily this meant only a short time hanging around the gate waiting for AY132 to start boarding.
AY132 was operated by an A359 with the new AirLounge seats in the J cabin. There have been divergent opinions on this non-adjustable seat. In brief I found it fine for sleeping, if a bit hard, but impossible to find a comfortable position I could sustain while reading or watching the IFE: despite provision of a pillow and a cushion there just isn’t enough support and I missed the variable adjustment options of conventional J seats. More positively, the seat has good privacy – good enough for me to change into and out of PJs in the seat and avoid an outrage to public decency.
Again it was the one-tray approach to meal service but I declined dinner having eaten well enough in the lounge.
Arrival at HEL was on time but I was delayed by a long non-EU immigration queue.
AY1335 HEL-LHR
Early pm the following day I checked in at the new T2 Departures hall. No queue at all at the AY priority check-in desk or for screening. And the new screening facilities include CT baggage scanners which mean no need to remove laptops and LAGs from bags. So I was through and heading for the Non-Schengen Lounge in a matter of minutes. The lounge was new to me and much larger than the one I recall using 4-5 years ago when I was last in transit at HEL. Large, well appointed, quiet and with excellent privacy; and, yes, the bar is rather good.
The flight itself was unmemorable except for a last minute gate change that led to a late departure. A short-haul flight on an A321 where the seats are the same for both J and Y pax, except that in the ‘J cabin’ the middle seat of 3 on each side is blocked off.
LHR T3 Arrival
A long queue for the passport e-gates but it moved quickly. There was then an extraordinary delay (~50 mins) in the baggage hall before I could leave the airport.
Part 2 of the TR will follow shortly, dealing with the return leg and some conclusions.
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