Homeward Bound - The First Leg - Manchester to Dubai

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With our flight departing Manchester at a very civilised 2.00pm there was no need for us to rise at a ridiculous hour. We had done most of our packing yesterday before dinner and finished it off before bed so we were able to shower and dress and have our breakfast in a leisurely fashion. Once we’d cleaned our teeth all we needed to do was pack our toilet bags and we were ready to go, which made us happy ... and sad ... at the same time. It will be great to get home to see Finbar and family and sleep in our own bed, but it is always sad saying farewell to good friends. Kath and Albert do not currently have any travel to Australia booked so we are not sure when we will see them again but, hopefully, it won’t be too far in the future.

After playing cards last night we stowed our money jars in the spare bedroom ready for the next time Australian (or New Zealand) friends are visiting Kath and Albert. We have left the money jars in a very healthy state for whoever may be using them next to fund their card games with Kath and Albert! It is simply unheard of to play cards on their turf without stumping up cash to play with.

After hugs all round it was finally time for us to drive the Golf back to the Avis Depot at Manchester Airport. Once again the SatNav proved that it is such a boon for couples traveling in unfamiliar places! One small mistake was made on a roundabout just before the Hire Car Village but, with no angst at all, Siri calmly recalculated and we took a slightly different route to the Avis Depot than the one she had originally planned.

Wow, there were so many hire cars being dropped off on the Saturday morning of a Bank Holiday weekend. Who would have thought?! So, it was busy, but not busy enough for the Avis attendant to miss that we had taken a stone hit on the windscreen. We were going to fess up about it anyway, but we never had the chance because he was onto it while we still had our heads in the hatch unloading our bags. By way of consolation (?) he told us that it was the fifth car he had checked in that morning that had copped a stone on the windscreen while it was hired out. What does that say about the state of the roads in the UK?

We dragged our bags over to the bus stop to catch the shuttle to Terminal 1. After a short ride in the bus we were deposited at the terminal building. There was almost a bit of excitement when the driver was about to drive off with a young girl’s case still on board. Poor dad had to get all the cases for the family off the bus without any help so the driver nearly took of before the last bag was unloaded. The little girl was just about to go into full meltdown - wailing ‘my bag, my bag’ -when dad managed to attract the driver’s attention. He grumpily opened the doors and dad was able to retrieve the last case to avert a disaster.

We made our way into Terminal 1 and Bernie was scanning frantically for the Departures Board to see whether we needed to go to Check-in Area A or Check-in Area B. But why? I asked because the signs (to me) clearly said that Area B is for Jet2.com flights and Area A is for every other airline operating out of Terminal 1. I don’t know why, but airport terminals have this way of turning the usually cool, calm and collected Bernie into a psycho. So we went through the sliding doors where it seemed the only way to get to Check-in Area A on Level 3 was via the lifts.

Eventually a lift arrived and we made our way in. Then, all of a sudden Bernie decided that the lift wasn’t going to take us to the right place so he told me we needed to get out. Completely uncertain of what he had seen or heard to make him think this I got out of the lift with Bernie on my heels. Then he took off ... back out the sliding doors. When I caught up with him I asked where we were going and calmly pointed out again that the signs said that passengers with every airline, except jet2.com, needed to go to Check-in Area A.

So, back in through the sliding doors where the queues for the lifts were now much longer. By this stage I wasn’t game to say another word because Bernie was talking at me through gritted teeth and basically making me feel like, somehow, it was all my fault?!

Still well before check-in time for our flight, we made it to Level 3 and found the counters checking in this afternoon’s flight to Dubai. Thank goodness, once we had our bags checked in, normality was restored. Despite all the greeting cards packed in my case it still weighed in at less than 20 kilos. Bernie’s bag was also under 20 kilos so we were utilising less than 40 kilos of our 63 kilo allowance. Damn, I knew I should have bought more cards!

Next we tried to check-in to the Emirates Lounge. Hmmn, based on past experiences I wasn’t sure that this was going to be possible, but Bernie was sure that the last time it was a problem it was because our boarding passes had QF codes rather than EK codes. Today our boarding passes had the Emirates flight number ... and still they couldn’t admit us to the Emirates Lounge in Manchester. I think we now have it clear in our heads that as a Qantas Club member Bernie is only eligible for reciprocal lounge rights at the Dubai Hub, but not at any of the Satellite airports. And the easy way to tell is to check what is printed on his boarding pass. If you are invited to use the lounge it is actually printed on the boarding pass ... if you know what you are looking for, of course.

When Bernie checked in on-line he was not happy with our seat allocation for the Dubai to Melbourne sector - window plus middle again rather than on an aisle! He didn’t query our seat allocation at check-in because he was planning to sort it out in the lounge. Although we had been denied access to the lounge he still asked the person on the desk if there was any chance of changing our seat allocation between Dubai and Melbourne. Fortunately the staff member was happy to help us with this and we left the desk with slightly improved seating for the long flight between Dubai and Melbourne. Still on the side of the plane, but middle plus aisle.

We had a bite to eat and drank nearly a litre of water each before boarding, trying to make sure we were reasonably well-hydrated after being so dry on the flight over. Boarding commenced at 1.20pm and we found our seats were at a bulkhead with HEAPS of leg room BUT the possibility that the people seated beside us might arrive with a baby because we are talking about the bulkhead where they hang the bassinets. We were mightily relieved when a middle-aged couple arrived to take up the seats beside us. NOW we could begin to revel in our good luck at being allocated such good seats ... for this leg of the journey at least.

On the whole we enjoyed a very comfortable and uneventful flight to Dubai. The only small inconveniences were: the rude and inconsiderate man who stumbled over our feet not just once, but twice, as he cut though the cabin at the bulkhead and the lack of meal choice by the time they were serving lunch/dinner (?) to our row. Hmmn, Bernie was happy - he got his choice of chicken, but I would have preferred to have the beef meal that had run out. Oh well, first world problem, I know. The extra leg room more than made up for it.



Steps: 7,305 (5.54 kms) Not too bad considering we were cooped up on a plane for nearly eight hours.

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Photos

The money jars
Left to right: Albert, Kath, Tracey, Bernie