Podgorica to Belgrade, Serbia on JAT, Metropol hotel

 Airports, Flights, hotels, Montenegro, Serbia, Tajikistan Moscow Serbia and Montenegro  No Responses »
Dec 272013
 

Check-in, security, and immigration were a breeze in Podgorica.  The airport is so small there’s no real gates, just one large room on the other side of immigration with multiple doors leading out to busses.  There was a VIP lounge as well, but unfortunately (for some odd reason) Air Serbia had no agreement for business class passengers to use it.  Yes, I said Air Serbia.  So what happened to flying JAT?  Well, for once, I trusted my travel agent (who knew JAT was gone) that I was JAT, but they’d actually rebranded several months prior to Air Serbia when Ethihad took a 49% ownership stake.

Air Serbia flight 173
Podgorica, Montenegro (TGD) to Belgrade, Serbia (BEG)
Depart 15:40, Arrive 16:30, Flight Time 0:50
Airbus A319-100 Registration YU-APE, Manufactured 2007, Seat 2A

15:40 came and went, and no sign of boarding, although the area leading to the door outside was a madhouse.  Finally 5 minutes after scheduled departure, the floodgates were open, and everyone madly rushed our plane:

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I was expecting the usual crappy Euro Business by this point, but it was proper 2×2 US-style seating up front…quite nice!

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Quickly was asked for a pre-departure, and I asked if by chance they had sparkling wine.  She went to the galley, and brought it on a tray with my glass to pour in front of me, and OMG it was Veuve!  Now THAT is seriously impressive on a 50 minute flight gate to gate!

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Vienna to Podgorica, Montenegro on Austrian in “business” and visiting Podgorica

 Airports, Austria, Flights, hotels, Montenegro, Restaurants, Tajikistan Moscow Serbia and Montenegro  No Responses »
Dec 252013
 

Taxi back to the airport in the morning took over an hour thanks to traffic, adding another 10 euro to the meter from the previously ridiculous fare that I had from the airport.  Can’t seem to win!  Check-in, security, and passport control were all a breeze – this is the first time I’ve been through Vienna since the remodel, and I was seriously impressed how efficiently things seemed to run.

The new Austrian Senator lounge was quite nice, with a good variety of munchies and drinks, but given the hour I behaved and stuck to water and munchies pre-flight.  Soon it was time for the walk to the gate, which turned out to be a bus gate.  Being a prop plane they fit everyone on one bus, and off we went.  Turned out the plane was completely full, except “business” class, which consisted of 2 rows of 2×2 seats, thus 4 possible to sell.    Felt kinda bad coach was completely full and I had the front eight seats to myself, but I guess there’s some consolation to having paid for business class on a short prop flight.

Austrian (operated by Tyrolean) flight 727
Vienna, Austria (VIE) to Podgorica, Montenegro (TGD)
Depart 12:50, Arrive 14:25, Flight Time 1:35
Dehavilland Dash 8-400, Registration OE-LGH, Manufactured 2002, Seat 1A

Takeoff was quick, and I was curious to see what the food would be.  Being a prop, I expected the same cold sandwich I saw economy getting, but nope…it was the full real deal.  Kudos to Austrian and Do and Co catering!  Nice little meat pie, some bubbly, and a tasty desert – not bad at all all things considered!

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It’s no Dom, but I was beginning to actually enjoy the Austrian sparkling wine, and it worked well with the dessert…at least that’s what I was telling myself!

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Amazing views over the mountains as we descended into Podgorica:

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