Introduction
Goodness, you know you’re excited about a trip when you decide to arrive at the airport so early that you feel like your about to go Back to the Future. With only British Airways Galleries Club South to keep us occupied, maybe I hoped to be the Englishman that went up a mountain, rather than the one who came down a hill. Had it really been four years since we’d last had a trip worthy of the name? Yes, there had been adventures in between; we escaped lockdowns, battled strikes, enjoyed some wonderful stays in luxury hotel suites and delicious lunches at fantastic Michelin starred restaurants. However, many of these adventures followed familiar trails from London to Lyon and back again. This trip however would be different! After much deliberation we were about to begin a voyage to distant lands and check another country off the list. We were off to Poland and I couldn’t wait!
So how did we end up going to Poland? Whilst hardly unknown lands, Poland probably doesn’t kindle up images of the typical summer by the sea or city break in old Europe. Well, we had an Ambassador weekend night, an IHG Credit Card free night, £200 of AMEX Travel credit, a BA AMEX Companion Voucher and the desire to spend as little of our hard earned cash as possible whilst still living the high life for a week. Excel was opened, tables drawn up and colour coded, whilst I charted every Intercontinental hotel across Europe. Everyone loves to RAG so after colouring in the precious cells for the times we could travel the list was hastily narrowed down. Originally we intended to pay cash for our flights but it turned out we had about as much idea how much a flight would cost as a Tory politician does a loaf of supermarket bread. Just six months prior things looked pretty reasonable, though this time round we couldn’t have been more wrong. We then looked at redemptions and the only place left that met all our criteria was Warsaw. We knew as much about Warsaw as quantum physics, so we hoped we would be on the verge of discovering something new.
Unlike impossible to shift Crypto, booking with points or using refundable rates makes change easy and penalty free. Thanks to our flexible friends we decided to add a side trip to Krakow using Poland’s excellent EIP high speed train. Rather than a rushed day trip with an ungodly start and unhappy ending we swapped one out one of our hotel nights in Warsaw for one in Krakow (saving a bunch of points in the process) and the trip was almost complete. All that was left was to place the strawberry on the shortcake and book an appropriate airport hotel due to our late arriving return flight. A delay of an hour or more plus the typical wait for luggage would have left us in a mess to get home so I cashed in a soon to expire free night award for the Intercontinental Park Lane which was selling even its boxiest rooms for close to £1000 a night! Yes, it was too good to an opportunity to turn down.
So all in we had the following itinerary:
- London to Warsaw – Business Class Flights booked for 29,250 Avios, £100 cash and a BA AMEX 2 for 1 voucher
- Raffles Warsaw booked for £313.81 with a £200 Amex travel voucher bringing it down to £113.81
- Intercontinental Warsaw using Ambassador free weekend night for £201.29
- Warsaw to Krakow on the EIP for £134.55 (One way in 1st Class, one way in standard)
- Hotel Indigo Krakow for 26,000 IHG points
- Intercontinental Park Lane using an IHG Creation Credit Card free night voucher
All in all we paid around £500 cash for what was selling for over £2000 cash at time of booking. There’s no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to playing miles and points but they can let you travel in luxury for the price of a budget get away. Now that I’ve got the intro out of the way let’s Fly to Take Over the World!
Trains: Southeastern Highspeed/Elizabeth Line
Depart: Canterbury West 11:23
Arrive: Heathrow Terminal 5 13:21
Seats: Unreserved (Standard Class)
Locomotives: Class 395 Javelin Top Speed 140mph/Class 345 Top Speed 90mph
It was finally time to get up and go. Whilst we were not exactly on the trip of a lifetime, it was still one that had been four years in the making. Our bags were over packed, our gadgets charged, money changed, guide books readied and our passports were in hand. We locked the house and dragged our cases through town on a June morning so beautiful, it almost made us reconsider our plans. We zigzagged through the building site that was temporarily masquerading as Canterbury High Street and reached the station having successfully avoided flattening any of the Walking Dead; it was tourist season and boy did we know it. In a sign that we’d used up all our luck at the beginning of the trip, our train to London was bang on time. We were left with just one vital decision to make after our Javelin took off for London, which way to the airport.
Having booked too late for the £5.50 Heathrow Express fares that are becoming as elusive as an endangered animal, we fired up TFL Go which filled us with more dread than dementors circling the Hogwarts Express. The Piccadilly line was suspended from Acton Town to Heathrow, and there were severe delays on the Elizabeth Line, leaving just the HEX running with a good service. This was supposed to be a cheap trip damn it!
As the old saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That was exactly what I did as I spent the majority of the journey refreshing the departures from Stratford whilst picking up a bonus diagnoses of OCD to go along with it. Luckily enough the delays worked in our favour, so we weaved through Westfield and made it safely to Stratford Station where all that was left was to haul our cases up the stairs to the typically crowded platform. Happily, we arrived just moments before our train to Heathrow Terminal 5 pulled in. Whilst this was not our first time on the shiny new Elizabeth Line, it was our first time taking it all the way from Stratford to Heathrow. When the timing is right, it’s definitely game changer. Yes, it costs a little more than the Piccadilly Line and isn’t always much faster due to the service frequency but it’s a much, much easier journey, with the single best thing being able to count the number of stops on both hands rather than running out of toes.
On arrival at Terminal 5 we whooshed up to departures by lift and out into the main hall. Although it may not be new anymore, Terminal 5 still feels a world away from dated and thankfully quite a distance from historic. From the calming blue lights of the station to the bright, airy departures hall it still feels like a building made for the future.
Fast track behaved and we soon popped out the other side of security and made our way to the lounge.
British Airways Galleries Club South
Access: Oneworld First Class, Business Class and Emerald or Sapphire Status
One day I will try Galleries Club North, though when that day comes I do not know as the handy indicator always says it’s rammed. If the sign really is an oracle of the truth then it must really be as grim up north as they say, as the less busy South Lounge was jam packed to the point that even our usual seats next to the cinema were occupied. In days gone by various frequent flyer forums would refer to those without lounge access as the great unwashed. How times have changed; as more and more of us endure the hardships of premium leisure travel, the great unwashed simply refers to the piles of plates filled with half eaten food in the lounge. It seems that due to customer feedback BA has replaced the paintings it sold during the pandemic with abstract art. After a full circular we plonked ourselves down in the canteen area and got some lunch.
Since our last visit things were sadly back to pre-pandemic normal again and the lounge had reverted to a full self-service set up. Whilst busy there was at least an order to the chaos, with the exception of the wraps which were devoured by the ravenous guests almost as soon as the tray was put down. During our stay I tried a few bits and pieces:
Somehow the hours vanished in front of our eyes along with much of the crowd. As calm descended upon the lounge we sat back and blissfully scanned our guidebook for last minute ideas to compensate for the ever changing weather forecast in Poland.
Our gate finally appeared on the screens and lucky us it was A10, the dreaded cattle bus gate.
Flight: BA878
Class: Club Europe (Business)
Depart: LHR T5 17:30
Arrive WAW T1 20:55
Aircraft: A320-200 G-TTOE Delivered 11/04/2002
Seats 1D and 1F
However, the best thing about being sat in row 1 is that once airborne you soon forget there are over a hundred people sat behind you. In fact you are barely aware of anyone more than your row mates and the occasional premium person heading to the lavatory. Better still we were on an A320 CEO rather than the NEO which meant middle tables, and thankfully unlike our last Club Europe flight we weren’t on one of the clapped out ex BMI birds decorated with duct tape, scratches and home to sloping tray tables.
We departed a touch late taxiing past Terminals 2 and 3 and their menagerie of exotic big birds preparing to migrate far and wide.
After our aircraft made a brief climb, the meal trolley made its way down the aisle and dinner was served. Sadly missing was a pre-dinner bar and snack run. On a longer Club Europe flight it’s nice to have a pre-meal G&T or glass of champagne before tucking in. Sadly, on this flight our friendly crew just wanted to serve us as soon as possible. Having averaged at least a couple of Club Europe flights a year over the past decade we have at least become used to the variances of service. We now know when you need to order one drink at a time and when to ask for the entire contents of the bar cart with a coffee for later!
I enjoyed my creamy barley salad, Anne-So less so. We both liked our mains, I thought my Thai curry would not have been out of place in the chilled section at Waitrose, so it was one of the better Clube Europe meals I’ve had! The Red Leicester cheese on my cheese plate was thoroughly unpleasant and would have struggled to hold it’s own in a children’s lunch box, let alone as part of a premium product. The crackers, apricot relish and Oxford blue were at least rather pleasant. For dessert it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate mousse and thankfully this was more Gu than Sainsburys Stamford Street. I’m confident I had some post dinner champagne but I can’t be sure any longer, and unusually for me there is no photographic proof to settle the debate. I finished my meal with the usual disappointing cup of coffee, at least the cup was nice!
It wasn’t long before we came into land.
We had finally made it to Poland. What would Warsaw have in store for us?
Fly to Takeover the World 