My Tier Point Dash to Dublin - Why Flying Business Class from London City is a Bad Idea....
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2024
- I recently attempted a tier point run to Los Angeles and disruption to the return leg meant I ended up 40 tier points short of Gold. It was cheaper to make a separate trip than it would have been to fix the flights that were in progress and this is the story of that trip.
For me it made sense to buy a business class ticket, but in this video I'll explain why its usually a terrible idea to buy a business class ticket from London City. And BA's services from City are operated by their CityFlyer subsidiary, and I'm occasionally asked what that means in practical terms.... In this video I'll explain what CityFlyer is.
And the Republic of Ireland and the UK are in a "Common Travel Area" which means you can travel freely between the countries without showing a passport. It's not obvious that this is possible when you arrive into Dublin as you're directed to passport gates, so I decided to take this trip as an opportunity to prove you can indeed enter Ireland without a passport.
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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
3:22 - London City Airport
6:35 - What is CityFlyer?
8:08 - London to Dublin
11:24 - Dublin
12:52 - Dublin to London
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I was actually on the LCY - DUB flight Matt so was looking out for this video! I was in the first economy row 7 C and noticed you filming after boarding ! As a gold member they kept the seat beside me free as there was a light load in economy so definitely better off flying in that class as you say. I couldn’t catch up to say hello unfortunately but glad you got the points needed ! Thanks for the great content
Thanks so much and sorry we didn't get to meet! And the points got me to Gold so all was well in the end!
Always love your videos Matt! Great style and delivery.
Thanks for watching!
Loved this video! Loads of good points and tips made as always. I’ve flown into LCY in Club and I felt like my case got off the plane before I did. It serves a purpose!
LCY is a great airport to arrive into!
When coming in from AMS I’ve got to the belt only for the door to open and the handler to put my case at my feet as no one else on the flight had a checked bag (usually early morning mid-week flights).
Hi Matt, very enjoyable tier point run series. Hope you are doing well otherwise? Safe travels.
Thanks for watching. All good away from TH-cam - monitoring things every quarter and all's quiet for now!
Love your vlogs x
Thanks!
Watching this by the fire pit in my Folkestone garden, a stones throw from Central. Love your videos Matt and would love to bump into you in one of our many fine establishments around the town !
Wowser! Another Folkestonian.... I hope we meet too! I'm easy to spot in a crowd as I'm 6 foot 4 and quite bald!
Nothing beats a good pint of Guinness! Thanks for the info + video!
Absolutely - it had to be done!
3:33 but Matt, the airport IS your office :D Incredibly detailed video as always, great idea to run the no-passport experiment.
Cheers Steve. It was a "no luggage" experiment too but I wasn't staying overnight so had no pants laundering to worry about!
Love the convenience of LCY and it's a pretty special take off and landing experience, lack of lounge is pretty poor.
Its a great little airport - especially if its early or you're not thirsty!
Hi Matt,
As usual, great video! The sarcasm in this video was cracking again! Hope you are well, and look forward to further videos.....PS was hoping for a little bank holiday extra treat......guess not😂
Thanks Thomas - 52 videos a year is my limit!!!
@@MattsPlanet it's a great number.....B52......what a plane that is!!!
Great video, as always.
I've worked it out now, whom your dry humour reminds me of.
I once did an 'inaugural' BA to Jakarta c 1993 with Alan Whicker & Lord King. It is Alan Whicker's humour you remind me of; and he had style, too.
That's a fantastic compliment - thanks so much for sharing it. I don't set out to emulate him (I'd dress a lot smarter if I did!!!) but if that's what comes across I am flattered!
Good stuff Matt. I’ve only flown out of LCY once and it was a hassle-free experience. In addition to the compact size and efficient staff, the type of clientele makes a big difference to the experience compared to other airports; generally frequent travelers and few young families with all the accoutrements they bring with them. Similar to Teesside which is my local. I’m travelling through Cairo tomorrow and am braced for a very different experience…
Not many leisure travellers through LCY.... "Thoughts and prayers" for your transit of Cairo.... Great city, less great airport!
I flew for the first time out of London City in November with BA euroflyer in economy. I really enjoyed the experience from the quick access through the airport to the much smaller cosy cabin experience and as you said the fact I got a sandwich, crisps and a beer on route also helped.
Its a little gem! A great airport to arrive into too
Well done mate - I flew to Prague Business class from City Airport - really missed the lounge
There's talk that there may be a lounge when the expansion is completed but my breath is not held!
Great video, once again Matt, yes, I may fly out of LCY one day, just for novelty value. As I have never flown from there or to there before. Taken "on board" the poor value of BA business class offerings, with other operators there offering better value. Welcome back to the "Gold" of BA.
No Concorde room at LCY! No lounge at all!!!
Such a relaxing airport. Was dating a girl that lived in Luxembourg and got there to drop her off really late with checked luggage about 20 mins before the flight and they were totally cool about it, didn’t even tell her to rush!
On another occasion I showed up something like 45 mins in advance before a NYC flight on BA1 and again they were super chilled. Used to be fun having the lounge in the BA1 gate.
Good tip re the priority pass discount at the bar, have spent a lot in there over the years!
Great vid - shows it can be pretty straightforward to get 80 tier points if you are short.
Thanks - I did BA1 a few years back and it was a special experience... Shame it is no more
It’s a real shame that real desserts have been enhanced on cityflyer , great video as always Matt
Ah - BA's relentless march towards "enhancements"....
Great video
Thanks!
The erj's are being reconfigured in economy so leg room behind the overwing exits will now be reduced... Dont forget extra baggage and priority boarding if you dont have status... Also using avios there is often only availability in business. Sadly the catering has declined recently in club. Great vlog Matt
Thanks - I've seen some intel on the reconfigured planes and the good old legroom days may indeed be over....
Passport was an interesting idea.....shame you couldn't have had a few days in Dublin to use for another video. Thanks for another fine video.
Cheers Tim. I do really like Dublin so it would be no hardship to "stick around"... Its really quite expensive these days though!
I used to fly regularly domestic BA from and to London City. I agree with your comments and I'd emphasise the relative comfort of the seat and configuration in economy. Much better than the short haul BA offering from other London airports. I'd also suggest restricting yourself on hand luggage as space is tight in the overheads.
Good advice. Just flew BA business in an A320 with 3 inches less legroom than the Embraers from LCY. For now at least....
You are so right about cityflyer and euroflyer. I used to work at LGW and LHR and oh boy i can tell you they way staff are treated is very different
I think BA tweaked terms and conditions during the you-know-what so the differences have narrowed.... But they don't seem to have trouble recruiting people at these low wages
Thank you for the information in the video, as you say, if it’s a tier point run and a cheap j class ticket is available then it’s worth considering.
Thanks - that's the message!
Flying business class from City on Friday. But don't regret it as with points it was the same as an economy class
Get stuck into the champagne on board!!! Have a great flight
Hi Matt. Lovely informative video. I flew to Dublin two weeks ago and Munich last week. I travelled Business but the experience was rather a glorified economy one. The food is atrocious on both the flights , the seats are very uncomfortable and you don’t get the premium experience you had hoped for . I’ve attained Silver Status (second year now), and thinking of maintaining it and probably going to achieve a better status in one of the other Airlines alliances. I’m travelling to Istanbul for a couple of trips and probably will fly Turkish airlines
Turkish has a good reputation and if you pick wisely you can get on one of their widebodies which is always nice....
I would love a series on building status on Miles and More now they have completely burned the scheme to the ground with their new system.
I wonder if there are any cheap methods to getting senator.
Great video
Thanks - I prefer to make videos about things I've personally done as I think that makes it more authentic and I'm less likely to make a mistake.... And I'm not in the Miles and More scheme so it'll be difficult for me to do this.... Its on the "investigate" list!
Arrived into City from Amsterdam in 2022 and although I had to go through the Border Hall obviously, they had eGates by then and those were pretty speedy indeed! I might tier point run in Europe this fall, if only to tick those required BA or Iberia flights and reach Silver before the winter holidays.
Even when you do need to complete arrival formalities, its still really quick. Can be a very cheap and efficient way to get those qualifying flights
I don't fly from LCY very often, but I have done plenty of arrivals into LCY. I did do the BA Club Europe on a trip to & from Edinburgh in 2019, but it was to celebrate 5 Years of my Channel. I'm excited to be returning to LCY later this year, but I'll be in economy class.
Arriving there is a delight!
The beard is coming on well 😂
It's last outing before the big summer shave....
Thank You ✈️
Thanks for watching!
you should fly to Jersey. The view of the plane from the Lounge is amazing, it literally comes up to the lounge like its a taxi!
I went years ago - I don't recall there being a view from the lounge but it is a cute airport
@@MattsPlanet maybe I got lucky and the BA plane I had pulled up at the lounge. But they opened the doors from the lounge to outside so you could be boarded directly from the lounge to the bottom of the plane stairs. You can access that lounge with a business class BA ticket or a priority pass.
In 2015 I did a TP run on the Baby Bus A318 all buisness class , flight No BA 1 (old concorde flight number) to achieve GGL, routing was DUB-LCY-JFK-LAX-HNL-LAX-JFK-LCY-DUB, 1340 TP's for £1100, (ended that year with over 6000 TP's) all the long haul segments were 210 TP's each until BA realised what was going on and subsequently changed to the normal 140 TP's on AA flights (BA 1 always was 210 TP's), and there used to be a small little lounge with snacks and drinks at gate 24.....US pre clearence in Shannon where the plane picked up more fuel, return no stop needed as you had the tail winds....weird arriving in the US as a domestic arrival....these days good TP runs are hard to find and the devaulation earning Avios due to the recent changes based on spend, makes BA for me less interesting, close to GFL now, but when the price is cheaper I will fancy trying LH's new Alegris , looks really good, cut above BA's Club Suites, and there F lounge in Frankfurt is head and shoulders better than the Concorde room in LHR, plus AF long haul hard product is good, lounges not so much though
Cheers Glenn. I was lucky enough to get on BA1 in 2017 and it really was a great experience. Just a trip to NYC that time - £1,100 to HNL is a real blast from the past - those days are long gone sadly.... And I am scheming about how to get on LH, AF and LX F but I don't want the channel to just be a clone of Trek Trendy!
@@MattsPlanet I unsubscribed from Trek Trendy because of the unsufferable pretentiousness and arrogance - who is he anyway to have such a high opinion of himself?!
yeah, same here, also unsubscribed from TT, his videos really became unbearable. Noel is also getting close IMO….
@@marcd6897 Also Wingin it - I think the success goes to their heads tbh...I like Matts down to earth approach to things and its also very informative.
@@herenow6953 yep, 💯
Great video. I remember having an argument with you in a previous video about flying from city to dublin in a 2-2 config, you seemed to say all BA from city were 3-3?
The Embraers are all 2-2.... I am quite old and can make mistakes!!!
@@MattsPlanet young people make more mistakes 😜
I recently found myself in a similar situation, 40 TP short of Silver (all I'm aiming for), and bizarrely a couple of weeks ago also chose to book myself in the pointless business class LCY-DUB (and back to LGW in economy) to grab them cheaply. Will be flying in a couple of weeks! Hoping they load that salmon as it looked yummy!
Fantastic! That salmon was quite good - fingers crossed!
I do like your erudite commentary Matt. It compares most favourably to the unscripted, on-the-fly and annoyingly repetitive travel babble from the 'Texan from Chesterfield' whom I am finding it harder and harder to follow. Paul in Oz (ex-UK)
Thanks - the "Texan from Chesterfield" is someone who inspired me to do this, but his content is now personality driven rather than review driven. Which is working for him, so good luck to him even if it loses him some of his original followers. I script and record my commentaries after the flight as I don't know what I want to say at the time.... It takes much longer to make videos this way but I think you end up with a better product. Thanks for noticing!!!
@@MattsPlanet I did follow the TfC for quite a long time, and I am one of the original followers - now essentially lost. I am old school journalism - I wrote for Lonely Planet for 13 years .. [Matt's Planet :-) ] What I like about your take is it 'to the point' relativity and well-made video takes. The TfC lost me when his video takes took on the Tik-Tok style of teenagers - fast, furious and lose-me-if-you-can ... As a hard-core former travel writer I don't have lot of room for squishy personal reviews. (Sorry, NP). Like many You-Tubees I do drift around the YT scene looking for something that stimulates rather than assaults my already overloaded senses. I will be enjoying your back catalogue. Do talk to us however, I like to hear live commentary now and then. Paul in Oz.
One of the worst days of my life, flying to Dublin out of LCY and my flight was cancelled. Couldn't reschedule my journey, so had to wait for the next flight ... EIGHT HOURS LATER!!!
8 hours at LCY would be a challenge....
@@MattsPlanet Oh, it was, it was. The one thing not touched on in the video is that the LCY terminal outgrew itself years ago. There only has to be the smallest delay to flights and the place starts to burst at the seams.
LCY is my most used airport doing regular LCY-EDI hops for biz. Travel policy is Economy but have found easy way of collecting 40 TP for a leg with upgrades. Not excellent value per TP but useful if one doesn’t have time to do an actual TP run.
Indeed - can be a reasonable cost per tier point to upgrade, especially if work is paying for the base ticket
just got back to NY from a 'round the world' sabbatical trip and one leg was thru LCY to Frankfurt to position for a flight to Singapore. Got suckered into wasting cash on an upgrade and now wish I had not bothered :) I did however get to use my Priority Pass in the terminal. You live and learn I guess!
Can't have been a great expense....
Guinness! My kind of traveller. Fascinating day trip. Paul in Oz
Gotta do it! It's a schooner of new when I'm in NSW - don't judge!
@@MattsPlanet hah! New South Welshman can't make beer! ;-) The best craft ale is right here in South Aussie.
The BIG benefit of London city when travelling to Europe is flights generally avoid delays at Heathrow. Usually no holding needed inbound and very little if any delays outbound. Flights can be ca. 40 minutes faster than having to negotiate Heathrow delays.. I use City more than Heathrow. Only downside is no lounge, but not really a problem.
Good point... Seems to get less foggy at LCY than LHR too although I have no data to support that!
Does Gatwick being Euroflyer mean that it's Euroflyer for BA's flights to Bangkok now?
Got a surprise recently when I found out that BA no longer flies to Thailand from Heathrow, only from Gatwick...
Short haul from Gatwick is Euroflyer.- long haul is "regular" BA, although they fly their worst planes out of there. BA left BKK to Qatar for several years so it is good to have it back on the roster, even if it is from Gatters.... Not a business heavy route for them so hard to make a profit. And Qatar Air doesn't seem to care about making a profit!
The biggest advantage at LCY is the 2x32KG checked bags should you be travelling with luggage. The £80 for the extra bag will offset the price difference I would think. It would for me anyway.
Indeed - I tend not to think about luggage as I so rarely take any!
What about the front row seats on the right hand side? Huge leg room.
Indeed. I have a big bag of camera gubbins so never take those seats these days as I need to have my bag with me for take off and landing - but if you can snag those seats they are radically better!
Flew RTM - LCY a few times in business class. The benefit is you board early and if you have a nice FA you'll get a few bottles of champagne. The downside is everything else.
Arrival into LCY is a delight....
I'm flying a same trip in one day return in early July to get the last 2 sectors I need on BA flights to get my silver status. £53 return! I'll do late lunch in Dublin lol
Doing a 6 day trip to see family end of the month flying BA to Brussels, eco out, bus back.
If you need the qualifying flights its a great option in Economy
I just had the same to Edin to get my points. The joys of
Its all worth it when the status shows in the account!
Matt, I'm a yachtie, but that intro made me somewhat seasick 🙂
An 80 TP flight might swing it, and that's the point you make - unless you have money to burn, you're paying for the TPs.
Ha ha - I have full stabilisation on in my camera!!!
Brother, I have flown air China a lot in the past year to Japan. Air China website so terrible csnt even sign up to their loyalty program. Is it possible to sign up to another star alliance and then claim all these flights? Even without flying with that airline ever?
Absolutely - all airlines in an alliance allow you to collect points when flying another airline in that alliance - that's the purpose of alliances!!! Some will not give you status unless you do at least a few flights on them (eg Aegean) but if you only worry about the points, any other scheme will work
The spot where you filmed the intro looked very familiar to me. Recently I was watching an episode of "The Professionals" from 1978 and Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins filmed a scene in what could be the same spot (or near to it). The internet says that the location was the old King George V Dock. The episode is on TH-cam with the relevant bit at 05:17
th-cam.com/video/JBEDi8ix2_Q/w-d-xo.html
That's a blast from the past! Used to like that show! Not sure they'd make it today...
If you are flying the LCY-DUB-JFK flight you’ll have no choice but to take business. I kind of like the convenience of that flight even if the business class seat and IFE are slightly subpar vs the ones from LHR.
If you mean BA1, that was via Shannon and it stopped flying years ago... If you're connecting in Dublin to Aer Lingus then that's another story
@@MattsPlanet, I meant LCY-SNN-JFK...
I think that you need some form of ID to fly to the Republic of Ireland,indeed anywhere by plane,but if you enter by land or ship you don't.
Indeed - I think its reasonable for an airline to required something to prove who's flying
I think there is an oddity with PP in that only 'real' Priority Pass holders get the restaurant credit - those with PP gained from Amex Plat don't - I think. Or did you mention that?
I didn't and I should have... Only the Amex Plat issued PP doesn't have the restaurant benefit (although I think it still works in a couple of places).
Hi Matt was that 40 points each way ? Cheers Jay
It certainly was!
Priority Pass benefits aren't available in you got your PP via an Amex card. Also back half econ seats are being squeezed together. Otherwise a good video as always.
Thanks - a very good point to make. And I have seen some stuff about these planes being "enhanced" with denser seating....
Another advantage of Biz is the checked luggage allowance. Having rejected multiple prompts to upgrade for £99, I was rather irritated to face a £75 checked bag charge in economy though my own ignorance and stupidity.. This would have been £35 had I realised and booked it before arriving at the airport.
Excellent point.... I genuinely can't remember the last time I checked a bag so its off my radar....
@@MattsPlanet It was the first time that I had luggage on a cash (vs Avios) HBO flight, so it rather caught me out. I'd wrongly assumed gold status included this regardless of fare rules. Lesson learnt.
Actually BA have said that you need a passport for all flights now
Not correct - only need ID for a domestic or Ireland flight. www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/passports-visas-and-api#:~:text=You%20do%20not%20require%20a,licence%2C%20either%20provisional%20or%20full
No extra leg room, no airport longue access ....slightly bewildered by that thinking
Indeed. There's usually a debate about whether business class if worth it short-haul if you have status - that debate is even stronger with a LCY departure
For Ireland and UK Travel, If your from the UK/Ireland its considered a domestic flight and drivers or any kind of Photo ID such as Gov ID or Driver might do. Passports are not needed, As it's considered the common travel area, Its a pre B word ..... agreement between Ireland and the UK
Its always felt like Ireland still really wants to see a passport, hence this experiment!!
Certainly wouldn't fly club unless its for the same reason
Absolutely
I'm thinking why on such a short flight why would you worry about business class....yes.....a long haul ...but not such a short flight
Absolutely - only if you need the points! Or if you're corporate travel policy is trapped in the 1980's....
I thought BA had changed terminals at DUB
They're planning to I believe....
If filming compromises your security then you don't have any security.
I'm really not sure what they're trying to protect....
You were terribly cynical today Matt 😄
I do my best!
It s a bus drive worth the 40 TPs, beats my YUL LHR earnings.
Indeed!
should they not be charged under the trade description act ? charging more for the exact same seat as economy, that is surely theft by deception.
The service and ground experience is quite different so you wouldn't get far....
I have flown out of LCY on Club Europe twice, and vowed NEVER to waste my money by doing this ever again. I should have learned my lesson the first time. BA should really incentivize Club Europe passengers, by offering double tier points on flights only out of LCY, and dont get me started on the entitled passenger next to you, who feels they have the divine right to hog both armrests.
Thanks - that double TP idea is a really good one actually - there's precious little benefit from flying club from there!
Flying in business class for any airlines from London City airport is insane unless someone else is paying for it.
Absolutely - and even if someone else is paying for it you should probably resist!
Paying people less to do the same job should be outlawed 😮
I would suggest any savings BA make would go towards the companies profits and not towards a cheaper ticket
Everyone on the minimum wage is what these global companies would like 🙄
I couldn’t consume that amount of alcohol without falling asleep 😉
Indeed - there's still a line of people wanting to do the job though... As for the alcohol point, irresponsible of me to say this, but my advice would be.... Practise!!!
Like minded weirdo’s 😂😂😂
Welcome aboard!!
@@MattsPlanet I also like trains!
I'm surprised they dare to call that a recline 💺😅
It is somewhat comical! Save the weight of the mechanism and abandon it, I reckon!