LOVED this place, I cannot recommend it enough for a fun night out doing something a little bit different with mates/family/colleagues/randoms. My friends are used to me doing anything other than straightforward drinks in a bar for my birthday, and this time I was about to book karaoke when I heard about this place. It was sold to me as 'like Bounce but with darts instead of table tennis', and that's quite apt. They have a decent bar and bookable areas for darts which you'll need to reserve in advance - take this as the first and only rule of Flight Club (badam-bam-tssssh) as similar to tables at Bounce, it's impossible to get one on the night unless you get very lucky with a last min cancellation.
I'd booked an 'oche' (playing area) for a two-hour slot on my birthday - at £25 an hour versus triple figures for a karaoke booth, it seemed like a no-brainer in terms of value for money. We arrived a little early to load up at the busy bar first, then were led downstairs to our oche. Each one fits max 12 people, and it was lucky that I'd brought the maximum number in the end as what they don't tell you in advance is that the games are played in doubles. So unless you want to fiddle around with uneven teams or have 1 person versus 3, it works far more smoothly if you rope in an even number of people.
Each oche is beautifully furnished with wooden high tables and leather seating (though most people were excitedly on their feet most of the time!). The playing area is clearly marked out with where to stand, while electronic display screens overhead show live scores with fun graphics as the game progresses - similar to when you go bowling I guess (but cooler!). We were all very mature (not) and had plenty of silly fun before the games even started, as the machine takes a pic of each player as they enter their name.
The technology works amazingly - the automated scoring is instant so there's no need for arithmetic gymnastics or learning your 17 times table, and it's easy to see who's in the lead and who's up next. There's 3 different games too, so not only the first-from-301-to-zero style play. I think the most amusing for a large group is 'Killer', with each pair assigned a different number and the ability to knock other teams out by hitting their number three times. It definitely brought out everyone's competitive streaks, to much amusement ;)
The experience was really made by the service though. Everyone I spoke to over phone/email to arrange the booking was refreshingly helpful and the process made very straightforward. I thought the lady at the check-in desk when we arrived was lovely, but even she was surpassed by the very sweet little waitress we had looking after our oche. She took extremely good care of us, checking frequently for drinks orders but what I appreciated more was the way she kept me informed - checking when I wanted the pre-ordered food served and so on. The food itself was very tasty - pizza paddle boards and sweet potato fries are the way to go by the way - and she even brought out a chocolate brownie for me with a candle in to sing happy birthday!
I was really chuffed at how much my friends all enjoyed it. I'd been worried 2 hours was too long, but as always happens with activities like this (esp karaoke) it turned out to be too short. Darts is a great leveller too, as I've got too many pro table tennis friends to go to Bounce ;) I think everyone generally got better as we played but there was definitely a (potentially alcohol induced?) dip in the 'skills' towards the end! On second thought, it was probably wise to call a halt after two hours and before incurring any injuries ;) Thanks Flight Club for a very happy birthday Monday! read more