ON A recent trip to British Airways’ headquarters at Waterside, Backchat eagerly accepted some complimentary tickets to go on the airline-sponsored London Eye.
The real benefit of the complimentary tickets was that we could go in February – unless you’ve already booked in advance there’s no chance of getting tickets before March.
You have to be there to appreciate what a fantastic feat of engineering the 135-metre tall wheel is.
It moves so very slowly that you hardly feel anything and the 30min ride is just enough to fully appreciate the fantastic views over London. The ride is truly incredible and an absolute must-do.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing. Well, it was once Backchat got up there – the real problems occurred before we got on.
Arriving at midday, Backchat went to the ticket hall adjacent to the wheel and swapped his complimentary pass for two tickets to climb on board the ride at 12.30pm.
But as the wheel is constantly moving, like a ski lift, how can you possibly have a departure time? It’s not as if everyone gets off at a certain time and another batch gets on.
Outside, the scene was chaotic and Backchat’s fears were confirmed. A long queue, snaking down the path, had gathered. In front of me were people with tickets for 1pm, behind me were people with tickets for 11am and next to me were a couple with tickets for 3pm. Not only that, but the queue crossed over a busy path to reach the wheel and consequently it was easy for people to push in.
Admittedly, the queues will be smaller when all capsules are working – currently many are out of action for safety reasons – and a ‘departure lounge’ is being built for the comfort of passengers. But if you had sat down and thought ‘how can we annoy people before they get on?’, you couldn’t have come up with a better plan.
As Backchat at last reached the wheel, we muttered that the ride had better be worth it after nearly 2hrs of queueing. Thankfully it was.