Is Virgin Atlantic planning to move to 1-2-1 seating in Upper Class?

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• Trevor says:

  7 Nov7 November 06:49

  BAEC membership card? Not sure I’ve ever had one…

  • Catalan says:

    7 Nov7 November 07:02

    Blue membership cards are no longer issued. Use the ‘card’ generated on your BAEC app on your mobile.

    • Trevor says:

      7 Nov7 November 07:52

      Thanks!

    • sunguy says:

      7 Nov7 November 10:23

      Really?? I didnt know that FFS – thats really a great way to start a new relationship – being cheapskates!

      • Rob says:

        7 Nov7 November 11:09

        You really use your cards? If you have a digital version in your phone wallet then why carry them around? The hotels knows your status anyway.

      • David says:

        7 Nov7 November 11:30

        Some outstations seem to be more reassured by a physical card: fast-track security in Turin and the third-party lounge in Gibraltar are two places I was glad I had it with me.

        And for car hire, physical cards make it a lot easier. If I hand over a small pile of my Avis Preferred/Hertz Five Star card, my driving licence and my credit card, they always seem much more efficient.

• Henry Young says:

  7 Nov7 November 07:16

  Just to throw in my bah humbug contribution, this Twickers nonsense in effect discriminates against those who find team based ball sports tiresome, pointless and rather too tribal. Also not all BAEC members live within easy access to the venue. What about some non-discriminatory, non-profiled benefits, perhaps at the airport or on board – something that BAEC members all do by definition, Perhaps better soft and hard products, both of which have become remarkably uncompetitive ? More marketing to compensate for a poor product ? Let me go and gulp down my daily dose of brown coloured sugar water, the gullible marketing soak that I am ! Just yet another reason not to fly with BA whilst the management abuse company money to indulge in their own interests and self aggrandizement, hobnobbing with fellow idiots in their box.

  • Hunter says:

    7 Nov7 November 07:36

    The benefits they’re offering at Twickenham are virtual cost free add ons to their wider (and probably very costly) sponsorship of the stadium, which would seem to me to be a sensible place to advertise considering the demographic.

  • Matt says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:44

    Well that escalated quickly.

  • Andrew says:

    7 Nov7 November 09:12

    We’re you never picked for team sports at school?

    • Anna says:

      7 Nov7 November 09:27

      Is it a problem if he wasn’t?

      • Andrew says:

        7 Nov7 November 16:05

        Not at all, just being a little sarcastic in response to the miserable comment. Cheer up

  • Jon says:

    7 Nov7 November 10:49

    Wow, love the positive vibe from that comment, Henry Young. Well done for being utterly miserable.

    Any perks or benefits that we get from loyalty schemes is always a good thing in my opinion.

• Hunter says:

  7 Nov7 November 07:20

  Potentially good news as new ‘enhanced’ security checks at the ground mean quite long queues / slow to get in now.

• Ben C says:

  7 Nov7 November 07:59

  I was at Twickenham on Saturday. Huge queues at the new BA turnstiles – that were never an issue before.

  As a result of this the “BAEC fast track queue” was a free for all – nobody even checking cards / and nobody presenting them. The “fast track” was also longer or at best the same length as all the other queues.

  Felt like the branding broadly backfired as I overheard the sentiment “massive queue – typical BA” in the crowd many times.

  • Gavin says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:01

    Sounds like not worth using when I got to Twickenham for the BarBars – if it’s still in situ

  • Tony says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:02

    I was at the match too. Arrived at about 2pm, walked up to the far end of the F gate block and straight in – no line at all. This fast track sounds about as good as the T5 experience!

    • BSI1978 says:

      7 Nov7 November 08:19

      You did well in that case – I was at the game also and did my usual of having a few shandies at The Sun in Richmond prior to getting on the courtesy bus to the ground just after 2PM. This usually gives us more than enough time to get to the ground and soak in the atmos etc.

      Some bright spark has decided to replace all of the previous double deckers with single decker electric buses. No issue with the electric aspect but the single decker aspect, along with there being not enough of them (and some roadworks which admittedly probably cannot be blamed on the RFU) meant there were very long queues for both the bus and to get into the ground which meant a lot of people missed KO!

      • Tony says:

        7 Nov7 November 14:27

        Sorry to hear you had a rubbish time getting in.

        I assume you made for the main entrance at the South West corner of the ground? We had tickets in the East stand so made for that side of the stadium – I didn’t see any BA fast track signage, but looks like the top tip is to head of the East side for entry. The “D” gates were deserted when we walked past on the inside.

• Mart says:

  7 Nov7 November 08:05

  O/T Looking at booking a Marriott hotel Singapore just to confirm gold elites have no lounge access ?

  • Genghis says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:06

    Not now, no

  • Roger says:

    7 Nov7 November 19:44

    No, spent a weekend, and no access even though it was booked before the changes were announced.

• Nigel says:

  7 Nov7 November 08:09

  Sounds like virgin will be taking on something similar to the Delta One Suite, which gets good reviews

  • Rob says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:47

    We have a review of this from Anika waiting to go, just keeps slipping back. Might pull my finger out now this story is live.

    • Nigel says:

      7 Nov7 November 17:49

      Looking firward to it

• Eric the Half a Bee says:

  7 Nov7 November 08:25

  O/T as bits: For all the knowledgeable folks on here, what’s the best way to convert (and possibly add to) my Amex PR points, now depleted to 36k, and Marriott points (36k also) to 60k SQ Krisflyer miles? I know about the bonus for converting 60k Marriott, but am unsure which option would give me the best return. Thanks in advance.

  • Rob says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:50

    The best way is to open an AMEX $ IDC card and get the 30% bonus for moving your MR points, then do 1:1 to SQ:

    https://headforpoints.com/2018/05/31/get-30-bonus-membership-rewards-balance-isnt-always-great-idea/

    • Eric the Half a Bee says:

      7 Nov7 November 09:52

      Thanks Rob, I’ll look into it.

      • Rob says:

        7 Nov7 November 11:08

        That card does not come with rewards.

    • Russ says:

      7 Nov7 November 16:43

      Speculatively do we have an idea how Brexit will impact the exchange rate?

• ankomonkey says:

  7 Nov7 November 08:28

  Is the BA box catered? Is it buy-in-box, selling Percy Pigs for £2.40 and some M&S sandwiches? Seats cramped together with minimal legroom, Cruz and Walsh get special seats but still need to climb over one another to go to the toilet, cloakroom full of high-viz jackets for use when the result is going the wrong way…

  • dgsupersonic says:

    7 Nov7 November 08:37

    Last year’s joke… :-S

    • Katy says:

      7 Nov7 November 08:41

      O/T but I hope some of you seasoned travellers may be able to help…I arrive in Shanghai at 1130 and need to find somewhere to shower and smarten up before an afternoon meeting but can’t find details of any landside lounges or day hotels. Anyone got any recommendations? My hotel is too far to make it there in time.

      • Tony says:

        7 Nov7 November 09:36

        Check out the Hilton website. They carry day room inventory. Some bargains in Shanghai (under 200RMB) but it depends where you need to be I guess.

        • Rob says:

          7 Nov7 November 11:12

          Indeed, just make the check in and check out day the same and see what shows.

      • Katy says:

        7 Nov7 November 11:47

        Thank you!

      • Will says:

        7 Nov7 November 11:50

        There’s an airport hotel at PVG on site which offers day rooms.
        It’s a bit ropey but fine for a quick shower, I even managed a few hours sleep there.

        Wasn’t that expensive, can’t rekember how much exactly, certainly under £50.

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