Standing at Heathrow T5 waiting to board the plane to Hong
Kong this is the start of my adventure as a member of a growing community of
male trailing spouses.
I was thinking about air travel and the hierarchy it
creates. As a reasonably frequent traveller (for both business and pleasure)
and I have reached the dizzy heights of BA Executive bronze...which, as far as I can see, offers no
benefits apart from making you want to strive for silver!!!
However, travelling with the wife can be both more and less stressful
at the same time. Firstly, she is a BA Gold card holder and she achieved this
mainly by flying economy (so a huge amount of flights).
When travelling with a Gold card holder it is like you have married
into the aristocracy. Suddenly, you can walk straight up to the first class check-in
desk, use the lounge, fast-track through security and board the plane when you
want (even if you are flying economy).
I am not use to this, and get uncomfortable
at the sideways glances you get from your fellow travellers who have to queue.
Furthermore, as a frequent traveller she knows all the shortcuts, how late
to leave it to check in and go to the gate, even when the screen says “now
boarding” this is only a suggestion to the wife.
The less stressful part is that I can be "dumped" in the Lounge,
surrounded by free food and drink, magazines and papers under the watchful eye
of the BA staff whilst the wife does a bit of shopping. This is a perfectly
amicable agreement as I hate shopping and the wife hates taking me shopping.
Well
back to the flight, I'm travelling on my own this time so arrived at
the gate with plenty of time. It is a fairly full flight and there are a
significant number of middle aged men in red Rugby shirts heading off
to support the Lions in their first game in Hong Kong. More on that later.
