It started with an Instagram post.
Christopher Tin is composing a new ending to Turandot?? Anyone for a trip to Washington in May…? I have to know…!!
Despite his excitement at a new twist on one of his favourite operas, I don’t think that my good friend Andy’s suggestion of travelling to DC to check it out was entirely serious. But I am always on the lookout for a hook to hang a trip off of, and whilst I had heard of neither Tin nor Turandot, I had unfinished business in Washington after last year’s visit was marred by poor weather. So I proposed that we use our respective AmEx point stashes – and one of my staff concessions – to make the idea a reality.
A seven thousand mile round trip just for an evening at the opera seemed a step too far, however, so we settled on a week-long visit which would allow for exploration of both the capital and its neighbouring states. To that end, we sandwiched a five night AirBnB rental in Shaw between stays at the Hilton Washington Dulles airport (actually in Virginia) and the Garden Inn in Bethesda, Maryland. This last night was a late addition to our itinerary after I realised we had little hope of securing non-rev travel home on the Friday.
For the outbound flight I found a few novel options via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – either direct on their own metal, or via Amsterdam on KLM – but BA proved simplest and cheapest, especially once I added a Barclays upgrade voucher. That, 42.5K avios, and £175 secured me a seat in Club World from Heathrow to Dulles, vs the standard rate of 50K points and £425. With the flight operated by an A380 we’d be in the old yin-yang config rather than the newer Club Suites, but I’d argue they’re more sociable with a companion, and for Andy it was definitely an upgrade on previous flights.
I expected to fly us back in similar style, and indeed at online check-in we were seemingly confirmed into Club. So – having not endured longhaul economy since 2012 – I was horrified to be handed new boarding passes at bag drop for seats in World Traveller. These were pretty much the worst possible, the middle two of a middle four. Thankfully the gate agents were expecting me, and explained we’d lost one of our assignments due to a broken seat in First requiring a passenger to be downgraded. The system apparently won’t split bookings across cabins, so we’d both been shifted, but they could separate us manually. I thought this meant one in CW, one in WT, a horrible choice – but actually they were offering us the now vacant spot in First! The catch was it could no longer be turned into a bed, but that’s always true of economy seats…
This, then, marks my second time turning down an operational upgrade to First, holding out for a proper debut experience in the future (with Concorde Room or Chelsea Lounge access, and as a day flight). Besides, the enhanced food and drink offering is of more use to Andy than me, and whilst I’ve made a habit of premium cabin travel this might be a unique opportunity for him. So we swapped boarding passes and he turned left, whilst I settled in to a familiar home: a rear facing Club World window seat. I therefore maintain a “strictly business” record for staff travel, but this was a reminder it’s never guaranteed.
