BDGoldManUtd06 - Complete Listing

Collection Listing
Click on the "View Now" or "Open Now" links to view or open the file, or on the "Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi" link to jump to the file's page.

Return to Lobby

Name	Statistics	Comments

Image073.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 32.7 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And so, to set the scene, Willard has been invited to one of bmi's increasingly rare "Gold Cardmember Events" (actually, Ken and Pat were invited, but we're always having difficulty explaining to the little fella that these invitations aren't addressed to him!). Having had the last event cancelled on us at the last minute, due to sudden budget restraints, we were especially keen to take up our "home" airline's offer of an evening at Manchester United Football Club, watching England play Sweden. - And so, if you are a regular reader, you will know that Willard is currently with Ken working on the South Coast, and so this trip starts with a flight out of London Heathrow to Manchester, and Willard (and Kens) first expereince of BD's much maligned "Modular Service". Like any such trip, this starts with the (compulsory) self check-in kiosk. Hoewever Willard is happy to report that this process has gotten a lot better since it was first introduced, and he managed to get a self-printed boarding pass (and a reciept!) with relatively little trouble.
DSCN3645.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 26.3 kB Date: 08/20/2006	At least as BD Gold Willard is still allowed to use the BD lounge at T1 Domestic (If BD had not backed down on this I think that their HQ would have been set-upon by a lynch-mob of angry BDGs - probably led by AJameson!*). Here he is checking in at the desk like a good little bear. This is probably also a good time to point out that Willard felt the need to be patriotic and dress up for the occasion!
DSCN3646.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 28.2 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And he didn't think he'd get a chance to have another ride on a BD A330 on this trip! Yeeeeee-Haaaaaaaah, Yeeaaaaaaaaa-Hawwwwwwwww!
Dscn3641.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 32.0 kB Date: 08/20/2006	So it's up in the lift to the virtually deserted Diamond Club lounge. At one point, even at this time of the day it would have been pretty full, now Willard has his pick of seats.
Dscn3642.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 43.0 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Since it's been over a year since he's been here, Willard takes a look around the facilities. He's sad to see that the drinks are no longer on free-pour, and, generally the range of snacks has diminished!
Dscn3644.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 39.2 kB Date: 08/20/2006	But the staff are still as friendly as ever! And very glad to have a celebrity Bear at the bar!
DSCN3647.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 45.2 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And since our flight is somewhat delayed, we have a chance to go downstairs into the business lounge and do some comparisons. As you can see, it's pretty much the same set up as upstairs now, and it's also pretty empty. Oh how the times have changed....
Dscn3648.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 47.7 kB Date: 08/20/2006	At least Willard gets a chance to do some spotting - he thought this was our ride to MAN (but it turned out he was mistaken!)
Dscn3649.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 42.9 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And so, we got onto the plane, and found it was actually an A321, but with all of the Premium passengers crammed into the first 4 rows, and a smattering of other passengers at the back (total capacity of a BD A321 - 186, actual load on this flight, around 30). We quickly moved back a few rows to give Willard his own seat, and let our full-fare paying seatmate spread out a little.
DSCN3650.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 40.7 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And when we get to the other end and disembark, we look out of the window at the bus that has just brought us in, and find it's actually one of the Star Alliance specials, so Willard thinks that's worth a quick picture - much to the amusement of the people in the foodcourt!
DSCN3652.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 39.3 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And after meeting up with Pat and braving epic traffic jams on the M60, we end up at Old Trafford, arriving just in time to join the VIP tour of the ground - As you can see Willard is very excited!
Dscn3654.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 600 Size: 68.5 kB Date: 08/20/2006	He even gets to sit in the home manager's dugout, and gets that same view of the turf that Sir Alex gets.
DSCN3655.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 47.9 kB Date: 08/20/2006	This view - to be exact! But the tour moves on, and our group of Manchester based frequent flyers is off to the home players lounge, where footballers wives sip Krug and Cristal whilst their husbands earn their meagre wages.
DSCN3657.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 34.6 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Willard looks at the roll of honour - every Utd. player that has represented his country - with a few new names to be added soon, he thinks!
DSCN3658.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 29.2 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And Willard takes a seat in the changing rooms, and wonders what class a football clubs mascot travels in (we checked, Willard - Overhead Bin class I'm afraid).
Dscn3659.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 26.3 kB Date: 08/20/2006	On the way out, Willard takes a quick peek at the "spa facilities" in the home changing room - lavish indeed!
Dscn3661.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 544 Size: 32.3 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And our tour ends with us strolling down the tunnel with the (recorded) shouts of tens of thousands of Utd fans ringing in our ears.
DSCN3664.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 41.6 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Before the match starts, bmi has organised some entertainment in the form of reminiscence of the good old days. Amusing in places, but most of the jokes, like the presenters, were from the era of baggy shorts and 10 bob appearance fees!
DSCN3667.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 42.2 kB Date: 08/20/2006	But bmi have arranged a good spread here in the Europa suite, and this is the first of Willard's many trips to the buffet. If only they could cater UK domestic like this...
DSCN3668.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 28.5 kB Date: 08/20/2006	And we should also introduce you to our guests for this evening, Jane (who helps put Ken in touch with his business clients) and her partner Len. As we can see, Ken and Willard are in the middle, and already in the spirit of the occasion, and Pat has wisely chosen to stay behind the camera!
DSCN3670.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 45.0 kB Date: 08/20/2006	But there are serious issues afoot! The gane has started, and Wilard is intent on the big screen. After Ken joked that if he left the table to "use the facilities" it was inevitable that he would miss a goal - guess what happened? Oh yes, as soon as he left, England scored their first goal! Suddenly the assembled mass of bmi management were plying him with beer bin the hopes that he could repeat the feat of "Modern Voodoo"!
Dscn3672.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 42.6 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Willard marvels at the magical pitcher of lager - every time he looks away it's full again! Soon, he thinks, there is likely to be twoo of theem....
DSCN3673.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 34.1 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Willard knew he wasn't the only Flyertalker here! We met up with MAN Flyer and his partner, enjoying BD's hospitality.
Dscn3674.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 450 x 640 Size: 28.7 kB Date: 08/20/2006	The Bear and the Boss! Willard meets up with Juliet Hutchin, the head of bmi's frequent flyer programme, Diamond Club. He was keen to discuss accelerated Gold status for small bears who don't occupy seats....
DSCN3676.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 31.6 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Next morning (much later, thankfully) Willard finds himself checking into the lounge at Manchester airport. Strange - he's only used to seeing the world moving slowly around after he boards the plane....
Dscn3675.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 27.0 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Ohhhhhhhhh, into the Diamond Club lounge, and time for a soft drink! He's not felt like this since that fateful day after a bottle of Krug and a whole birthday cake, last year at the Sheraton Hong Kong!
DSCN3678.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 22.6 kB Date: 08/20/2006	It's no use - Willard curls up and hopes the room will be more stable when he comes to again! Meanwhile he missed out on meeting up with Adrian from bmi again, who was looking a lot less green than us, and was off on the Chicago flight (which, unlike ours, still has a business class).
Dscn3681.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 480 x 640 Size: 50.6 kB Date: 08/20/2006	So, Willard is back in the front row on our short flight to London, but he's not used to seeing this seat - he's sure there only used to be a small bear-sized seat here at 1B last time.
DSCN3683.jpg View Now Willard goes to Old Trafford, courtesy of bmi	Dimensions: 640 x 480 Size: 31.2 kB Date: 08/20/2006	Willard is pleasantly surprised to find a menu for this short flight to London - things are surely looking up after all! Menu's in short haul business class are a good sign right? But Willard cannot understand this - why are there prices next to everything? Perhaps this isn't a good sign after all......