Well BA managed to leave on time and on the right day this time. They also got us to Heathrow without (much) incident. Yet it wasn’t all that smooth – BA still has some work to do to be super slick. More later.
Last night we’d both hoped for a quiet evening; a light meal, a few drinks and early to bed but that was thwarted somewhat as we were invited out by our hosts, Merittrac.
Night out
We were driven out to a restaurant that was worryingly authentic and worryingly close to flying time. I’d had a slight tummy upset that morning so was especially careful to choose what I ate. In the end, it looks like I chose well as I’ve been fine. There was a buffet there that filled me with dread but I was relieved to see, once seated, that part of the experience was to enjoy grilled meats ‘cooked’ in front of us. Well, re-heated!
Our tables were set with holes into which the staff placed buckets of burning coals, covered with skewer supports upon which an array of cooked kebabs were placed. We were offered fish, chicken and prawns – all delightfully seasoned and spiced. We took these from the grill as and when we fancied them and they were replaced with different flavoured examples, which just kept on coming (until we lowered a flag at the end of the table – surrendered). Interspersed with this array of grilled meat and fish, waiters brought tasty, tender drumsticks and lamb kebabs.
And that was only the starters! [MORE PICS LATER WHEN UPLOADED] – See next blog post for slideshow of pics.
I tasted a little of everything but not much more than that. The meats were spicy but not too much so. When everyone went to the buffet for ‘mains’ I just had a tiny amount of biryani and a little sauce to wet it. As I say, I have survived.
The place was a madhouse. In the same way that Italian restaurants celebrate birthdays with a huge song and dance; here they did that literally. Waiters would come to a table and gyrate in front of it while singing to everyone. It was fairly scary I can tell you.
British Airways
Anyway, back to BA. Following last year’s debacle [ see ] I’d decided that having sold my car recently (we’re dropping from two to one) I would endeavour to come back from India in ‘Pod’ class. We tried to arrange this before setting off from the UK but they refused to entertain us unless we did it through the booking agents (£800+ each) – so knowing that others had regularly upgraded with BA whilst in India (last price paid, by Alison last year, just short of £300), we decided to wait.
Well, for a full fortnight, every time I checked ‘My Booking’ the price offered to me for upgrading was £1,900+. I’ll say that again – ALMOST TWO THOUSAND POUNDS! Well they can cocoa! Alison meanwhile was being offered the chance to upgrade for £400 – a special offer for her only. Grrrr.
As Alison is not known to rise before the sun is well into the sky, and the check-in opened at 7:00am, we agreed that I would book us in and secure our seats in Premium Economy. So once I woke up on our last day in Bangalore and went to the website, I was immediately surprised to be offered an upgrade, as was Alison. Whoopee. However, she had seemed uncertain about upgrading the previous evening and we’d not discussed this option, so having sent her a message I waited until later, hoping she’d wake and read it. By 10:30am, I was still being offered the upgrade but Alison was not. So, even though I’d decided to make the executive decision to book ’em and be damned, I couldn’t.
So I simply checked in and thought we’d tackle upgrades again at the counter.
The downside of this was that they had allocated a seat to me, but not to Alison. Which could have been a good thing, inasmuch as if the Premium Economy seats are overbooked someone has to be boosted to Pod Class. After all, that’s what happened on the way out – to my benefit.
So we arrived at the airport is morning, in good time and Alison went to the counter first, she having had no seat assigned. She left the counter – still with no seat assigned and having her offer to purchase and upgrade refused point blank. I then approached the counter and was immediately offered and upgrade for £399. I could only smile, but Alison was FURIOUS. I discussed the situation with the stewardess and she said she couldn’t do anything but if I purchased an upgrade, then Alison would probably get my seat in Premium. I did the gentlemanly thing and declined. Hopefully, this way, Alison, still without a seat would get bumped up.
Well, that didn’t happen.
I was bumped up and Alison was given my now vacant Premium Economy seat. 🙂