In this post:
Virgin Atlantic Holidays discount
If you want to take advantage of this offer, you better be quick as it ends Monday 27 May. £100 on a £3000 booking is not exactly generous, but if you are booking anyway, you may as well take advantage.
You can save £100 per booking on all new package holiday bookings departing from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff and Glasgow made between 00:01 24 May 2024 – 23:59 27 May 2024, for travel 01 June 2024 to 31 December 2024, where the total booking price exceeds £3,000. The booking must include flight and accommodation or flight and car to qualify for the discount.
The savings apply to the total cost of the holiday, excluding taxes, APD, surcharges, and other compulsory charges which may apply at the time of booking.
The £3000 spend is based on two adults per booking. Each additional passenger on the booking will require a further spend of £425 to qualify for the £100 per booking discount.
You can find more details here.
British Airways new The White Company amenity kit bag
BA started rolling out new The White Company amenity kits on flights to and from the US in March 2024, and the rest of their routes will receive them over time.
I prefer the new bags, with their rectangular shape being more useful for use after your flight. Although I can’t see the white faux leather wearing well and looking grubby very quickly, they do look smart.
There are a couple of tweaks to the contents, but they are by and large the same. There is no longer a pen, and they now have a more sustainable bamboo toothbrush. Also more sustainable is that the earplugs come wrapped in paper rather than plastic.
You also get:
- eyemask
- pulse point balm
- moisturiser
- lip balm
- socks
Look out for the TLFL competition this week, where you can win one of these bags and many other great airline prizes.
Thanks to my friend Ben for bringing me an amenity kit!
Qatar Airways launched air tours of Doha for transfers
If you are heading to Doha for a holiday or simply a long layover, you may be interested in Qatar Airways’ latest venture.
Qatar Airways’ destination management company, Discover Qatar, announces the launch of its exclusive air tour, ‘Discover Doha by Air’, which offers travellers the opportunity to see Qatar’s andscapes and iconic landmarks from a light aircraft.
Each air tour accommodates eight passengers in an air-conditioned cabin of a Cessna 208 Caravan, a single-engine light turboprop utility aircraft, designed with large windows that are ideal for aerial viewing. The onboard headphones will allow customers to clearly hear the pilot’s in-flight commentary during their experience.
Discover Qatar Senior Vice President, Steven Reynolds, said: “Guests are invited to embark on an unforgettable journey around Doha’s skies, soaring above remarkable landscapes and cultural treasures, on the Cessna 208 Caravan. At Discover Qatar, we are continuously working to curate our offerings to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”
With a flight duration of 45 minutes, the aircraft will take off from Doha International Airport Premium Terminal, first flying over Al Thumama Stadium, Aspire Zone and Education City and then move towards Lusail Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium and Thakira Mangrove Forest. The journey will continue with flybys over The Pearl Island, Al Safliya Island, Katara Cultural Village and West Bay. Before reaching the airport, the aircraft will be flying over the Corniche, National Museum of Qatar, Museum of Islamic Art and Stadium 974.
The first tour is scheduled for Thursday, 27 June 2024; booking is now available at discoverqatar.qa/air and priced at QAR 710 (~£150) for adults and children over two years of age and free of charge for children under two years of age. Seats can be reserved for morning and afternoon tours from Thursday to Monday. Guests can also pair their air tour with Discover Qatar return airport transfers to and from Doha International Airport Premium.
The experience is also available for passengers transiting for 6 or more hours at Hamad International Airport with a starting price of QAR 850, (£184) including private return transfers between Hamad International Airport and Doha International Airport Premium Terminal.
9 comments
I received one of the new BA amenity kits on Friday on board a flight to Hong Kong. I really dislike it – unfortunately the white faux leather looks really cheap. It is a white dimpled plastic and I’m surprised The White Company put their name on it. I think if it was a different colour it might look less cheap. The lack of a pen is annoying. When the crew came round with landing cards, they were being asked for pens too as none in the amenity kits. I often keep and repurpose good amenity kit bags but not this one.
Early May I went to Toronto on BA flight. On the outbound flight we had the old black amenity kit and few days later on the inbound flight we had the new white amenity kit. Not sure which one I prefer…
BA washbag excuse me! This white one was issued around the 100th BA Anniversary. I have several. Sadly it does look cheap in every sense of that word.
No pen… one of the most useful items!
I do wish BA would ‘truly’ consider passengers practical wants and needs if/when changes are being made, rather than their usual quintessential old ‘nanny’ approach of parent and child. They are becoming quite skilful at sucking the joy out of flying.
BA have some of the best analysts of any airline anywhere when it comes to costs/pricing. Perhaps they could have an ‘away-day’ from those tasks to focus on ‘true’ passenger experience for once!
I do wonder if having some extra items like pens available on request is the answer.
Indeed Michelle. If it were Emirates et al, this would be a great solution. With BA though, they would not keep a proper or reliable stock. One of the cabin crew on a recent flight confided to me that he had requested not to do service in first any longer as he was tired of apologising to customers for not being able to provide the proper service to them due to missing items or shortage of choices. This is a shame as he is one of their most (smilingly) effective and obliging crew.
Why don’t airlines put useful things in these bags like minature antiperspirant, hairbrush, hair gel, toothbrush, toothpaste. Hand wipes…. I don’t even take them with me any longer !
Arrived in Tokyo today. I had the new BA Amenity bag. I used the toothbrush/toothpaste and eye cover. Wish they would include a pen and a comb. The bag did not look like it would wear well, so I left it on the plane.
We culled our collection recently as we had built up a stock, I want to know if anyone uses the socks as we always have them left over. Toothbrush/toothpaste and eye mask are by far the most useful.
Comments are closed.