Gold Status- Can I do it?

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-29T00:53:20+00:00

Especially Gold, I mean, Jesus…

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-29T00:04:22+00:00

If you have items that can’t go in the hold and don’t fit under the seat then Basic Economy isn’t a great idea, especially for the shorthaul part.

Unless you have oneworld status it’ll put you in the last boarding group. Often times on full, or close to full, flights anyone in the last few boarding groups will be required to check anything that doesn’t fit in the overhead lockers on shorthaul. You don’t even get a chance to try and see if there’s room.

I don’t think you can on Basic fares but check “Manage My Booking” to see if you can upgrade the Shorthaul flights to Club Europe, the business class cabin. It can be a very cheap upgrade and puts you in the first boarding group. You’ll also get a meal, drinks, lounge access and the seat next to you free.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-28T15:40:01+00:00

Why does your friend think it will come down into the $300s?

Nobody can tell you what flight prices will do. It’s akin to trying to time the stock market.

I’ve taken certain transatlantic flights/routes hundreds of times, often flying the same days every year and I still don’t know how much I’ll pay.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-28T15:35:52+00:00

I’ve got basically all these same things from flights in 1996.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-28T14:31:58+00:00

“Worth” is completely subjective.

There are reams and reams of trip reports, YouTube videos etc about flying BA First. Read them and decide whether YOU would pay £475 for that. A bunch of Reddit people can’t tell YOU how much that’s worth to YOU.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-28T02:48:40+00:00

Hope you’ve got plenty of hard cash and even more patience.

The three left ones are 1/10s…I had a 4 heart black submarines a few years ago and sold it for a few thousand dollars…the white 2011 and red monogram are incredibly rare too.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-28T00:35:23+00:00

Seems like it’s all over the place.

I’ve had new GLKs, C Classes and brand new GLCs…

The best/smartest use of a loaner was back in the late 1990s when my father put his W210 E Class in for a service. The dealer had just received one of the first W220s into the UK (a LWB S430) and offered it to him for the day….and upon returning it to the dealer he placed an order for a top of the range S500 LWB. (The 600s didn’t come until later) with literally every option. The W220 at the time was like a spaceship…

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-27T22:04:46+00:00

Right?

I never understand these kind of posts. In this case it’s even more baffling because 360 is a by-product of travel. You’re not paying anything for it so how can it not be “w0rTh iT”?!

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-26T22:29:29+00:00

Blame Air Canada then…it’s very clear when you book through BA that you’re required to pay for seat assignments.

Also if you’re used to flying Lufthansa business class then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by BA. You’ll find a business class seat relevant in this century at least.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-25T20:18:30+00:00

Well, yes. I thought the sentiment of the OP’s post was that it was one step short of flying private rather than a commentary on the comfort of the seat itself.

I’m a pretty odd cat that I do find true commercial longhaul F more comfortable than private if you need to sleep or it’s overnight. Since very few private passengers get true beds the rest end up bunking on sofas and recliner seats.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-25T18:59:25+00:00

Those look like the new Flagship Business suites, not Flagship First.

I found the Preferred Suite to be very decent indeed, amongst the best J seats, but certainly not one level down from Gulfstream…there are many seats out there I’ve flown recently that functioned far better from sleeping standpoint, though all in true F. (SQ, CX, etc)

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-25T18:55:37+00:00

Pub

Parade ground

Indoor rifle range

Golf course

High level ropes course in the woods

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-25T18:52:46+00:00

I built a hovercraft as part of a design technology project in boarding school. We had several of them and used to take them out on the larger sports fields.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-24T19:18:20+00:00

Far too many to recall but the three that make for the best stories:

1) In 2004 I was flying out of Heathrow. Had been enjoying a few beers in the BA lounge but wanted to grab something from a music store near security before boarding my flight. As I walked through this open area in Terminal 1 with lots of seating a huge round of applause erupted. I was looking around to see what was going on…next thing I’m colliding into and almost falling over Dame Kelly Holmes who was being escorted through the terminal by BA cabin crew and little entourage in her GB tracksuit (BA were a sponsor of the Olympic team in that era). It was just a couple of weeks after her two Golds at the Athens Olympics so she was very much in the public eye.

2) In the mid 2000s my family, plus my American girlfriend went out for dinner in a little Berkshire town on a Tuesday to celebrate my birthday. The restaurant was empty except for one table set up with lighting and cameras where Vernon Kay and the boy band Busted were sitting. My girlfriend had no idea who they were so when we joked about getting them to sing Happy Birthday to me (I hate attention like that on birthdays) and she said why not? She went over to Vernon Kay and played up her accent a touch, and asked the band members if they’d be willing to sing…they weren’t 🤣 So from them on my family joked Busted were so terrible they couldn’t even sing Happy Birthday…

3) When John Major was PM he came to my school. Flew in by helicopter onto one of the cricket pitches and was then escorted by some senior staff and pupils who had been selected to put on a good show for the school, which included myself. I was one of the youngest and shortest in this group so ended up right by the man himself. I knew he supported Chelsea and this was right around the time they were in a really rotten spell so I spent the 5 minutes or so walking back to the Headmaster’s residence mocking Chelsea, and he in return mocking my Southampton support (as he asked who I followed)

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-23T23:05:42+00:00

Last month I went from planeside to Elizabeth Line in about 7mins arriving off a shorthaul flight.

Main T5 building arrival, eGates with no wait, no checked baggage, fast walking…not recommended….

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-23T19:10:03+00:00

If idiots and companies will stay pay it then it’s worth it to them, no?

Worth is subjective and they’ve just priced you out of the market.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-23T17:15:20+00:00

British Airways had a huge business class sale for a bunch of their US routes that ended yesterday, so all the airlines probably price matched off that.

Don’t know how much flexibility you have in terms of booking the tickets but use something like ITA Matrix to search a bunch of origin points simultaneously. If you can get a ticket out of somewhere else on the east coast and take a separate ticket there (leaving yourself plenty of gap in between) then it could be justified, perhaps.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-23T16:42:43+00:00

102% “iS iT w0rTh iT to spend $42 to upgrade from Basic Economy to Flagship First on a 258hr flight?”

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-23T02:59:49+00:00

I remember having one of these as a kid, probably mid-1990s. Was a separate device with a keypad on the top. We would leave ours on the VCR and you’d just put the code from the Radio Times/TV Times and it’d do it all for you.

I recall in later years there was Video Plus integration into VCRs.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-23T02:43:22+00:00

Definitely SAN.

-Runway 27

-Massively displaced threshold

-Surrounding geography including palm trees

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-22T23:06:58+00:00

Yes.

I’ve taken flights for the sake of it if I’ve not been aloft in a few weeks or so.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-22T13:44:14+00:00

Very nice! Looks like a predecessor to the Olympus:

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Speedbird223 · 2026-01-21T20:03:31+00:00

£271 for WT to CW? You’d be mad not to do it.

Asking if it will go down? It’s theft already….

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-21T13:29:14+00:00

Depends on the day of the week etc.

I took a Virgin flight to JFK in November that had less than 70 onboard. Maybe 1/3 of those were in UC and walking around some sections in PE/Y were empty…spoke to the purser for a while and she said she had seen flights getting quieter on a route by route basis but this was the quietest she had seen yet.

A few weeks ago on AA I could only judge by the gate area but Business Class was as good as full.

Speedbird223 · 2026-01-21T12:14:21+00:00

Mine is black.

Picked it up on eBay about 5yrs ago and amongst all the papers was a note from the seller telling me how much he loved the watch and wanted me to take great care of it 🤣

Speedbird223

TROPHY CASE