Welcome to my next (overdue) trip report, this one covering a trip to Scotland in February, 2023. The lynchpin for this trip was to sample Virgin Atlantic’s new A330-900neo Upper Class. That got me to London, but as is custom, I wanted to sample a new destination. After some consideration, I settled on a quick trip to Scotland. While the weather usually isn’t great in February, I could at least knock off a bucket list item while there. That’s touring a genuine Scottish distillery.
This trip report series will consist of the following posts:
- Introduction: A Taste of the Scottish Highlands
- A Scottish Vacation Saved by – Spirit and Frontier?
- Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel
- International Club Lounge, Tampa
- Virgin Atlantic A330-900neo Upper Class, Tampa to London
- Virgin Atlantic Revivals Arrivals Lounge, London Heathrow
- Club Aspire Lounge, LHR Terminal 5
- British Airways A321 Club Europe, London-Glasgow-Paris
- Keep Walking: Seven Miles of the West Highland Way, Scotland
- Carlton George Hotel, Glasgow
- British Airways Lounge Glasgow
- Plaza Premium Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Air France B777-200ER Premium Economy, Paris to Dallas
The Flight Plan
The main event on this trip, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, never changed. Shortly after VS upgraded the Tampa route to the A339, Flying Blue offered plenty of availability in Upper Class in the offseason. I found an award for 88,500 miles plus $194.10 in fees. While not the best deal ever, it wasn’t unreasonable for a new product.
For the return, I originally booked Delta Premium Select from Paris via Atlanta. This was a cash roundtrip fare, with the return scheduled for May for a different junket. However, in early December – not even 60 days from departure – Delta changed the schedule to leave me with a 7-hour layover in Atlanta. Did I ever mention how much I despise schedule changes? Anyway, Delta allowed me to change for free due to the schedule change, so I reversed the sequence. I’d fly Air France Premium Economy home from Paris, and fly Premium Select back to Europe in May. It actually worked out better, as I switched to Delta’s new A330-900neo. I paid EUR 1,276.90 cash for these flights.
To get to Glasgow, and then to Paris, I booked simple flights on British Airways. While fare shopping, I noticed that Club Europe priced out at only GBP 239.01 (~$290 at the time). That was only about $75 more than coach, so why not?
In the end, my flights looked like this:
- 01/31/23 NK 2702 Depart: DFW 20:40, Arrive: Atlanta (ATL) 23:44
- 02/01/23 F9 2551 Depart: ATL 12:03, Arrive: Tampa (TPA) 13:38
- 02/01/23 VS 130 Depart: TPA 20:50, Arrive: London Heathrow (LHR) 10:15 (+1)
- 02/02/23 BA 1486 Depart: LHR 15:05, Arrive: Glasgow (GLA) 16:35
- 02/04/23 BA 1489 Depart: GLA 16:00, Arrive: LHR 17:25
- 02/04/23 BA 326 Depart: LHR 20:10, Arrive: Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) 22:30
- 02/05/23 AF 132 Depart: CDG 10:10, Arrive: DFW 13:55
The Hotel Plan
Initially, this trip required two nights in Glasgow, and one in Paris. Because of my unscheduled departure a day earlier, though, I also ended up needing a hotel in Atlanta. I put this booking off until I was sure my flight would take off. So while literally in the gate area for my Spirit flight, I searched for an airport hotel. I had a leftover Amex Bonvoy free night certificate, which I redeemed at the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel. It’s nothing special, but a satisfactory airport hotel for a night.
For my two nights in Glasgow, I went the local boutique route once again. For this trip, I selected the Carlton George Hotel. Carlton Hotel Collection is a Dutch company that operates boutique hotels in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scotland. I chose this hotel due to its location in the Glasgow city center, and a reasonable price of GBP 122 (~$148) for an Executive Room with lounge access.
In Paris, meanwhile, I just needed a place to sleep for my overnight layover. CDG has some decent airport hotels, and so this time, I selected the Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. I previously reviewed this hotel back in 2015, on our fall trip to Prague and Bucharest. The hotel really hasn’t changed much in that time, so I won’t review it again.
The Sightseeing Plan
With only a short stay in Glasgow, I aimed to cross a long-time bucket list item off my list. That was a visit to a whisky distillery in its native habitat. Not far from Glasgow is a distillery that boasts its place as the farthest south Highlands distillery, Glengoyne Distillery. Glengoyne is unique in that it sits right on the dividing line between the Highlands and Lowlands. In fact, the stills and visitor center are in the Highlands, but the maturing casks are across the road in the Lowlands.
Anyway, Glengoyne also offers a unique experience for visitors. If you book the “Malt Master Experience” for GBP 75, at the end of the tour, you get to create your own blended Scotch whisky, bottle it, and take it home. Which I gladly did.
To get to Glengoyne, I decided to do it the hard way – walk to it along the West Highland Way. It’s actually a fairly easy 6.7-mile walk from the beginning of the Way in Milngavie (on the outskirts of Glasgow). And I certainly enjoyed the scenery along the way.
And of course, my trips always make time for food. It started with a hearty brunch at a coffee shop in Milngavie before hitting the trail. Nothing says Scotland like French toast covered with meat and tomatoes.
Then, after returning back to Glasgow, I enjoyed a Scottish pub experience with a whisky flight at The Piper Whisky Bar.
Finally, for lunch the next day, I headed to The Pot Still for the whisky of the day and a Scotch pie.
I’ve already completed three posts in this series, with the rest coming one by one starting next week. Hope you enjoy!