Xeque
30th Jul 2004, 05:06
I discovered something the other day that has me confused.
Next week I shall be flying BKK to LHR via BAH on GF. I return to BKK, again via BAH, three weeks later.
I make it a personal policy to only fly sectors of 7 hours or so. I then break my journey so that I can spend a night in a bed with a shower and shave and a change of clothes the next morning when I continue on the next leg of my journey.
The only exception I will make to this rule is if there is a suitably priced direct flight from BKK to London and return. I can accept the additional 5 hours flight time if I know that it will all be over in one go.
I had to wait a couple of weeks whilst GF shortened their waiting list but eventually managed to get the reservations I wanted allowing me an overnight break in Bahrain (where I stay with friends) in both directions.
Then my travel agent informed me that the GF computer would not finalise the booking and allow the tickets to be printed because I was only allowed to break my journey once either outbound or during the return.
Is this something new? It has never been a problem before. I have to be in the UK next month so I could not afford to lose the reservations I already had and I reluctantly accepted a return flight where I kick my heels at Bahrain Airport for 5 hours then board another A340 for the last sector to BKK.
This means that my journey time will be around 19 hours. Add travel time to and from the airports and a 2 hour checkin and I will have been on the go for more than 24 hours. I am going to be completely wrecked by the time I get home and that is the very thing I always try to avoid by breaking my journey.
I am very mindful of my health and whilst I accept that 5 hours at Bahrain Airport does give some thing of a break between the 7 hour sectors sitting cramped in my Economy Class 17 x 28 inch box (less if the person in front elects to recline their seat), it is nowhere near the comfort of a proper 8 hours sleep, a wash and change of clothing.
At a time when we are all concerned about DVT and the unnecessary stress and strain of air travel, I would have thought that GF would have been more understanding.
Is this the same for other airlines?
Next week I shall be flying BKK to LHR via BAH on GF. I return to BKK, again via BAH, three weeks later.
I make it a personal policy to only fly sectors of 7 hours or so. I then break my journey so that I can spend a night in a bed with a shower and shave and a change of clothes the next morning when I continue on the next leg of my journey.
The only exception I will make to this rule is if there is a suitably priced direct flight from BKK to London and return. I can accept the additional 5 hours flight time if I know that it will all be over in one go.
I had to wait a couple of weeks whilst GF shortened their waiting list but eventually managed to get the reservations I wanted allowing me an overnight break in Bahrain (where I stay with friends) in both directions.
Then my travel agent informed me that the GF computer would not finalise the booking and allow the tickets to be printed because I was only allowed to break my journey once either outbound or during the return.
Is this something new? It has never been a problem before. I have to be in the UK next month so I could not afford to lose the reservations I already had and I reluctantly accepted a return flight where I kick my heels at Bahrain Airport for 5 hours then board another A340 for the last sector to BKK.
This means that my journey time will be around 19 hours. Add travel time to and from the airports and a 2 hour checkin and I will have been on the go for more than 24 hours. I am going to be completely wrecked by the time I get home and that is the very thing I always try to avoid by breaking my journey.
I am very mindful of my health and whilst I accept that 5 hours at Bahrain Airport does give some thing of a break between the 7 hour sectors sitting cramped in my Economy Class 17 x 28 inch box (less if the person in front elects to recline their seat), it is nowhere near the comfort of a proper 8 hours sleep, a wash and change of clothing.
At a time when we are all concerned about DVT and the unnecessary stress and strain of air travel, I would have thought that GF would have been more understanding.
Is this the same for other airlines?