Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Jon MW]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-12-22/women-treated-like-rock-stars-after-finding-themselves-alone-on-ba-flight/

''Ushered into business class seats'' lol.....yeah cos there is a huge difference between BA business and economy on their shorthaul flights

That is incredible how boring their day to day routine must be if that really made their day.  That was a funny read.  So funny starting to wonder if the girls are leveling everyone.  They are television producers and a lawyer after all! Surely that can't be as big time as they have ever seen in their entire lives?

It gave me similar thoughts.

I understand the novelty of it and its probably very uncommon in these days of air travel.....but it was a 2 hour hop from southern Spain, not a 14 hour slog from Kuala Lumpur. So you got to have some champagne and a selfie with the pilot, big deal.

And shorthaul business class on BA is shite.

Edit - Ladbible running with the 'story' on FB.....upgrade of a lifetime and stuff of dreams apparently. They obviously don't fly very often.

We were planning on booking a business class seat when we fly away on our honeymoon this April - neither of us fly much short haul either, but we do research.

It was pretty disappointing to find that neither airport has a lounge to take advantage of and the seating is no different, so if we had paid the extra it would have been approximately 4 times the cost just so that we could get free snacks and drinks on the flight.

Only thing to bear in mind with the link though - it's ITV, not exactly the pinnacle of journalism; I wouldn't be surprised if the 'quote' wasn't even what the person said.

[tikay]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-12-22/women-treated-like-rock-stars-after-finding-themselves-alone-on-ba-flight/

''Ushered into business class seats'' lol.....yeah cos there is a huge difference between BA business and economy on their shorthaul flights

Merry Christmas and all that jazz btw.

What? They pull the curtain behind you & you get a posher tray, too.

Incred value.

[tikay]

AND First class passengers get an antimacassar.

Proper posh, an antimacassar.

 

[doubleup]

I used to do a lot of BAing to Heathrow or Belfast at the turn of the century.  Their competitive advantage was that the flyers didn't pay for the flights, their employers did, so meals, entry to the free drink lounge and accelerated silver or gold membership cost them almost nothing but resulted in fully flexible tickets being the norm at £300 plus a pop.  It couldn't last of course, as the gulf between BA and low cost carriers (or even the standard BA flight) was just too large for the accountants at the large companies to ignore.  So my employer at the time (and presumably many others) said this has to stop and introduced huge restrictions.  BA has been struggling ever since and BMI is gone I think.

[tikay]

I used to do a lot of BAing to Heathrow or Belfast at the turn of the century.  Their competitive advantage was that the flyers didn't pay for the flights, their employers did, so meals, entry to the free drink lounge and accelerated silver or gold membership cost them almost nothing but resulted in fully flexible tickets being the norm at £300 plus a pop.  It couldn't last of course, as the gulf between BA and low cost carriers (or even the standard BA flight) was just too large for the accountants at the large companies to ignore.  So my employer at the time (and presumably many others) said this has to stop and introduced huge restrictions.  BA has been struggling ever since and BMI is gone I think.

BMI was originally sold to Lufthansa, who then sold it to IAG (the BA parent company, who also own Iberia)) who then merged it with the BA Operationg Division.

[doubleup]

Ah yes I remember the BMI/Lufthansa link.  Our standard method of travelling from Scotland to various Eastern European poker venues was BMI Edinburgh to Frankfurt then Frankfurt to wherever.

[hhyftrftdr]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-12-22/women-treated-like-rock-stars-after-finding-themselves-alone-on-ba-flight/

''Ushered into business class seats'' lol.....yeah cos there is a huge difference between BA business and economy on their shorthaul flights

That is incredible how boring their day to day routine must be if that really made their day.  That was a funny read.  So funny starting to wonder if the girls are leveling everyone.  They are television producers and a lawyer after all! Surely that can't be as big time as they have ever seen in their entire lives?

It gave me similar thoughts.

I understand the novelty of it and its probably very uncommon in these days of air travel.....but it was a 2 hour hop from southern Spain, not a 14 hour slog from Kuala Lumpur. So you got to have some champagne and a selfie with the pilot, big deal.

And shorthaul business class on BA is shite.

Edit - Ladbible running with the 'story' on FB.....upgrade of a lifetime and stuff of dreams apparently. They obviously don't fly very often.

We were planning on booking a business class seat when we fly away on our honeymoon this April - neither of us fly much short haul either, but we do research.

It was pretty disappointing to find that neither airport has a lounge to take advantage of and the seating is no different, so if we had paid the extra it would have been approximately 4 times the cost just so that we could get free snacks and drinks on the flight.

Only thing to bear in mind with the link though - it's ITV, not exactly the pinnacle of journalism; I wouldn't be surprised if the 'quote' wasn't even what the person said.

You dodged a bullet there! Not sure how BA can justify the prices they charge for business vs the product they offer. To say its economy with bells on would be kind.

Did you plump for another airline in the end or just purchase the economy seats and pocket the extra £££?

[Jon MW]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-12-22/women-treated-like-rock-stars-after-finding-themselves-alone-on-ba-flight/

''Ushered into business class seats'' lol.....yeah cos there is a huge difference between BA business and economy on their shorthaul flights

That is incredible how boring their day to day routine must be if that really made their day.  That was a funny read.  So funny starting to wonder if the girls are leveling everyone.  They are television producers and a lawyer after all! Surely that can't be as big time as they have ever seen in their entire lives?

It gave me similar thoughts.

I understand the novelty of it and its probably very uncommon in these days of air travel.....but it was a 2 hour hop from southern Spain, not a 14 hour slog from Kuala Lumpur. So you got to have some champagne and a selfie with the pilot, big deal.

And shorthaul business class on BA is shite.

Edit - Ladbible running with the 'story' on FB.....upgrade of a lifetime and stuff of dreams apparently. They obviously don't fly very often.

We were planning on booking a business class seat when we fly away on our honeymoon this April - neither of us fly much short haul either, but we do research.

It was pretty disappointing to find that neither airport has a lounge to take advantage of and the seating is no different, so if we had paid the extra it would have been approximately 4 times the cost just so that we could get free snacks and drinks on the flight.

Only thing to bear in mind with the link though - it's ITV, not exactly the pinnacle of journalism; I wouldn't be surprised if the 'quote' wasn't even what the person said.

You dodged a bullet there! Not sure how BA can justify the prices they charge for business vs the product they offer. To say its economy with bells on would be kind.

Did you plump for another airline in the end or just purchase the economy seats and pocket the extra £££?

So far just pocketed the £££'s from economy - if we can find one we might get a limo transfer to our hotel. But there doesn't look like much of a limo service is available in Florence so it might just end up that we use the extra money as spending money to make up for the fall in the euro exchange rate

[MANTIS01]

Love Florence. Statue of David is breathtaking. Have a great time.

[hhyftrftdr]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-12-22/women-treated-like-rock-stars-after-finding-themselves-alone-on-ba-flight/

''Ushered into business class seats'' lol.....yeah cos there is a huge difference between BA business and economy on their shorthaul flights

That is incredible how boring their day to day routine must be if that really made their day.  That was a funny read.  So funny starting to wonder if the girls are leveling everyone.  They are television producers and a lawyer after all! Surely that can't be as big time as they have ever seen in their entire lives?

It gave me similar thoughts.

I understand the novelty of it and its probably very uncommon in these days of air travel.....but it was a 2 hour hop from southern Spain, not a 14 hour slog from Kuala Lumpur. So you got to have some champagne and a selfie with the pilot, big deal.

And shorthaul business class on BA is shite.

Edit - Ladbible running with the 'story' on FB.....upgrade of a lifetime and stuff of dreams apparently. They obviously don't fly very often.

We were planning on booking a business class seat when we fly away on our honeymoon this April - neither of us fly much short haul either, but we do research.

It was pretty disappointing to find that neither airport has a lounge to take advantage of and the seating is no different, so if we had paid the extra it would have been approximately 4 times the cost just so that we could get free snacks and drinks on the flight.

Only thing to bear in mind with the link though - it's ITV, not exactly the pinnacle of journalism; I wouldn't be surprised if the 'quote' wasn't even what the person said.

You dodged a bullet there! Not sure how BA can justify the prices they charge for business vs the product they offer. To say its economy with bells on would be kind.

Did you plump for another airline in the end or just purchase the economy seats and pocket the extra £££?

So far just pocketed the £££'s from economy - if we can find one we might get a limo transfer to our hotel. But there doesn't look like much of a limo service is available in Florence so it might just end up that we use the extra money as spending money to make up for the fall in the euro exchange rate

https://www.blacklane.com/en/cities-florence?utm_content=limousine-service&utm_city=florence&utm_term=limousine%20service%20%2Bflorence&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20EN%20-%20Florence%20%E2%80%93%20EN&utm_adgroup=bm_12_0%20Florence%20%E2%80%93%20Limousine%20-%20Florence&utm_account=a04%E2%80%93SearchEN-EMEA&gclid=CjwKEAiAs_PCBRD5nIun9cyu01kSJAA-WD-rDWS7ZTpcamDAEO22nyfczUapR4xq84xnqahHZ83T4BoCjzLw_wcB

I've not really looked at the site so apologies if it doesn't fit the bill but it could be of interest?

[Jon MW]

...
We were planning on booking a business class seat when we fly away on our honeymoon this April - neither of us fly much short haul either, but we do research.

It was pretty disappointing to find that neither airport has a lounge to take advantage of and the seating is no different, so if we had paid the extra it would have been approximately 4 times the cost just so that we could get free snacks and drinks on the flight.

Only thing to bear in mind with the link though - it's ITV, not exactly the pinnacle of journalism; I wouldn't be surprised if the 'quote' wasn't even what the person said.

You dodged a bullet there! Not sure how BA can justify the prices they charge for business vs the product they offer. To say its economy with bells on would be kind.

Did you plump for another airline in the end or just purchase the economy seats and pocket the extra £££?

So far just pocketed the £££'s from economy - if we can find one we might get a limo transfer to our hotel. But there doesn't look like much of a limo service is available in Florence so it might just end up that we use the extra money as spending money to make up for the fall in the euro exchange rate

https://www.blacklane.com/en/cities-florence?utm_content=limousine-service&utm_city=florence&utm_term=limousine%20service%20%2Bflorence&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20EN%20-%20Florence%20%E2%80%93%20EN&utm_adgroup=bm_12_0%20Florence%20%E2%80%93%20Limousine%20-%20Florence&utm_account=a04%E2%80%93SearchEN-EMEA&gclid=CjwKEAiAs_PCBRD5nIun9cyu01kSJAA-WD-rDWS7ZTpcamDAEO22nyfczUapR4xq84xnqahHZ83T4BoCjzLw_wcB

I've not really looked at the site so apologies if it doesn't fit the bill but it could be of interest?

Cheers, that's similar to the kind of thing we've already found.

We're going to email the hotel to see if they have any suggestions, after that we might have to make the final decision. They're all fine like these just not sure if a fancy saloon car is worth the extra cost - it would be handy if the hotel know any operators with Bentleys

[Omm]

A 101-year-old man has been jailed for 13 years for committing 30 child sex offences.

Ralph Clarke, of Erdington, Birmingham, is thought to be the oldest person convicted in British legal history.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38367103

Heard this on the radio yesterday and initially I thought what's the point in sending such an old guy to prison after all these years. Then they starting quoting the victims and my thoughts immediately changed to it should have been longer.

These stories of historical abuse seem to be coming out daily. I wonder with all of the news and attention they receive now will similar stories still be coming out in say 40 or 50 years or are we now are in a era were people/children do not stay quiet about this happening to them.

Good Lord, all my old friends are suddenly appearing itt.

I do see you posting from time to time Next Door, think you made a donation to Graham's splendid TLB Charity thing last week.

You in better health now?

Playing much poker, live &/or Online?

As to "historical" sex abuse (what a strange term that is), the whole thing is barely believable.

Cast our minds back 5 years or so, who could have predicted that the likes of Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, Max Clifford etc would all be involved? I can still barely believe it all now.   

Health goes back and forth but keeping busy at work and staying positive. Been playing more next door than live and I'm setting myself up for a challenge to make a few quid next year after seeing some of the results on Graham's charity thread, if they can do it so can I sort of thing.

Getting some practice in at the moment and it seems to be going well, boring the life out of the missus though as she has to listen to my poker stories, both good and bad. The cost of doing business is what I tell her, she listens to it all and nods accordingly for the bad beats and then she smiles and holds out her hand when the good beats come along. The perfect recipe really.

Well it seems your health is a little better, reading between the lines. Is it one of those things that is always there, lurking?

Glad to see you are still active Next Door, gl if you plan to play any UKOPS stuff over Xmas.

What was an attack of acute Pancrititus has turned not chronic Pancrititus unfortunately.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_pancreatitis

For some reason I always feel the need to also let people know it was caused by gallstones and not alcohol which the diesease is commonly known for, strange really as when my gallbladder was taken out roughly a year after the first attack they also took out 23 gallstones (not the healthiest of living over the years), the doctors had always said I could never drink alcohol again and I have certainly listened to them as I would never want to go though that pain again, it just surprised me at the amount of people in the same position as me that had been re admitted to hospital due to having "a drink" and they thought they would be OK.

Anyway you are correct, learning to live with a condition that is controllable but generally living a normal life. Actually got the week off work so planning on playing the whole of UKOPS ( although working it out it can become quite expensive if you look at worse case senario of no cashes), really looking forward to it as I've been working quite hard on getting better which seems to be bearing fruit this month.

Really excited about January's promotion as well, had to have a serious chat with the missus about how I might have to play every night during January. That went down well.

[RED-DOG]

Your story has scared me a bit. A few years ago I had some bouts of crippling pain that turned out to be an inflamed gall bladder. I was put on the waiting list to have it removed and my appointment for the surgery came through after just over a year. The thing was though, during that year I had no further pain at all, so when I went for the pre operation check up I cancelled the surgery.

Ironically, I had another bout of pain the following week but nothing since and that's about two years ago.

Had I known that gall bladder problems could lead to pancriatitus I would have definitely gone ahead with it.

[tikay]

A 101-year-old man has been jailed for 13 years for committing 30 child sex offences.

Ralph Clarke, of Erdington, Birmingham, is thought to be the oldest person convicted in British legal history.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38367103

Heard this on the radio yesterday and initially I thought what's the point in sending such an old guy to prison after all these years. Then they starting quoting the victims and my thoughts immediately changed to it should have been longer.

These stories of historical abuse seem to be coming out daily. I wonder with all of the news and attention they receive now will similar stories still be coming out in say 40 or 50 years or are we now are in a era were people/children do not stay quiet about this happening to them.

Good Lord, all my old friends are suddenly appearing itt.

I do see you posting from time to time Next Door, think you made a donation to Graham's splendid TLB Charity thing last week.

You in better health now?

Playing much poker, live &/or Online?

As to "historical" sex abuse (what a strange term that is), the whole thing is barely believable.

Cast our minds back 5 years or so, who could have predicted that the likes of Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, Max Clifford etc would all be involved? I can still barely believe it all now.  

Health goes back and forth but keeping busy at work and staying positive. Been playing more next door than live and I'm setting myself up for a challenge to make a few quid next year after seeing some of the results on Graham's charity thread, if they can do it so can I sort of thing.

Getting some practice in at the moment and it seems to be going well, boring the life out of the missus though as she has to listen to my poker stories, both good and bad. The cost of doing business is what I tell her, she listens to it all and nods accordingly for the bad beats and then she smiles and holds out her hand when the good beats come along. The perfect recipe really.

Well it seems your health is a little better, reading between the lines. Is it one of those things that is always there, lurking?

Glad to see you are still active Next Door, gl if you plan to play any UKOPS stuff over Xmas.

What was an attack of acute Pancrititus has turned not chronic Pancrititus unfortunately.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_pancreatitis

For some reason I always feel the need to also let people know it was caused by gallstones and not alcohol which the diesease is commonly known for, strange really as when my gallbladder was taken out roughly a year after the first attack they also took out 23 gallstones (not the healthiest of living over the years), the doctors had always said I could never drink alcohol again and I have certainly listened to them as I would never want to go though that pain again, it just surprised me at the amount of people in the same position as me that had been re admitted to hospital due to having "a drink" and they thought they would be OK.

Anyway you are correct, learning to live with a condition that is controllable but generally living a normal life. Actually got the week off work so planning on playing the whole of UKOPS ( although working it out it can become quite expensive if you look at worse case senario of no cashes), really looking forward to it as I've been working quite hard on getting better which seems to be bearing fruit this month.

Really excited about January's promotion as well, had to have a serious chat with the missus about how I might have to play every night during January. That went down well.

Crikey, how bad do you run?


The annual incidence of chronic pancreatitis is 5 to 12 per 100,000 persons


Aside from no alcohol, do you need to modify your food intake, too?

How thoroughly dreadful, though I doubt me saying that helps much. Most of us - well certainly me - take good health for granted. We have no idea how lucky we are.

Good luck in the Jan Promo, Bounty Hunter Champion, & especially UKOPS. For my sins, I'll be doing a UKOPS daily blog, name checking those who featured, so I hope you have a few deep runs & cashes. I'm already thinking of likely name based puns for you. The blogs take around 4 hours per day to research & write & have to be ready to Upload by 10am each morning, so a few early mornings in prospect for me over Xmas. Hopefully Plimsoll Man will have to Upload them.

[tikay]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-12-22/women-treated-like-rock-stars-after-finding-themselves-alone-on-ba-flight/

''Ushered into business class seats'' lol.....yeah cos there is a huge difference between BA business and economy on their shorthaul flights

That is incredible how boring their day to day routine must be if that really made their day.  That was a funny read.  So funny starting to wonder if the girls are leveling everyone.  They are television producers and a lawyer after all! Surely that can't be as big time as they have ever seen in their entire lives?

It gave me similar thoughts.

I understand the novelty of it and its probably very uncommon in these days of air travel.....but it was a 2 hour hop from southern Spain, not a 14 hour slog from Kuala Lumpur. So you got to have some champagne and a selfie with the pilot, big deal.

And shorthaul business class on BA is shite.

Edit - Ladbible running with the 'story' on FB.....upgrade of a lifetime and stuff of dreams apparently. They obviously don't fly very often.

We were planning on booking a business class seat when we fly away on our honeymoon this April - neither of us fly much short haul either, but we do research.

It was pretty disappointing to find that neither airport has a lounge to take advantage of and the seating is no different, so if we had paid the extra it would have been approximately 4 times the cost just so that we could get free snacks and drinks on the flight.

Only thing to bear in mind with the link though - it's ITV, not exactly the pinnacle of journalism; I wouldn't be surprised if the 'quote' wasn't even what the person said.

You dodged a bullet there! Not sure how BA can justify the prices they charge for business vs the product they offer. To say its economy with bells on would be kind.

Did you plump for another airline in the end or just purchase the economy seats and pocket the extra £££?

So far just pocketed the £££'s from economy - if we can find one we might get a limo transfer to our hotel. But there doesn't look like much of a limo service is available in Florence so it might just end up that we use the extra money as spending money to make up for the fall in the euro exchange rate

https://www.blacklane.com/en/cities-florence?utm_content=limousine-service&utm_city=florence&utm_term=limousine%20service%20%2Bflorence&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20EN%20-%20Florence%20%E2%80%93%20EN&utm_adgroup=bm_12_0%20Florence%20%E2%80%93%20Limousine%20-%20Florence&utm_account=a04%E2%80%93SearchEN-EMEA&gclid=CjwKEAiAs_PCBRD5nIun9cyu01kSJAA-WD-rDWS7ZTpcamDAEO22nyfczUapR4xq84xnqahHZ83T4BoCjzLw_wcB

I've not really looked at the site so apologies if it doesn't fit the bill but it could be of interest?

oioi, Plump Percy itt.

Think I'll rename this Diary Expedia & the Aftermath.

What are you up to over Xmas, what do folks in York do to celebrate? Buy a loaf of bread & sit round the fire?

How much weight will you put on over the holiday?