Tier Point Run to Hawaii in Nov 2021: Day 1 – London LHR to Paris CDG

The First Lounge was fairly busy – about as busy as I remember it pre-covid. On entering the CCR, I didn’t need to show my CCR card, so that was available from a scan of my boarding pass. The CCR has been spruced up a little with new, slightly more modern furniture. Again, it felt as busy as it was pre-covid times.

I dumped my stuff and had a quick chat with the Vickster, before walking around the terminal. Dixons had closed down, so there’s nowhere to look/play with any gadgets any more. Hope that gets sorted soon.

My first glass of LPGS was fab – it slipped down without touching the sides.

Had a second walk around the terminal, but I still couldn’t see any celebs! Also had a look around the First Lounge. BY this point, the CCR was fairly quiet and overall T5 was fairly quiet as well. Felt like it was quieter than pre-covid times.

Just before 5:30pm, I went in for dinner at CCR Dining which was decent. Fair choice from the menu and I selected the chef’s terrine followed by the braised beef and sticky toffee pudding.

I noticed that there was a gate advisory on the departures board. My flight was due to leave from the B gates. On FlightAware.com, it specifically indicated that the flight was due to leave from gate B36, so I used the transit walkway and popped into the B Lounge – this lounge was quiet as well.

Boarding was an interesting experience. Post covid, everyone is told to wait outside the queuing system, with passengers being invited to board by row number. We had the call for families with kids and those that needed more time to board first. Then, we got the passengers who thought they were late and headed down to the gate staff, before being told to wait outside the queuing area. Then we had an invitation for priority passengers – I think that was also accompanied by a call for Groups 1-3, but only two of us went through and even then, we were asked to wait at the top of the escalator alongside an old couple who clearly needed some extra time to board.

We were finally allowed on before anyone else was invited to board. It felt good saying hello to the crew, receiving a plastic bag and a baby wipe, before settling into my normal seat (01F). Can’t quite see the point of the plastic bag and the baby wipe – just more one-use plastic to throw away.

I also got a special welcome back on board by the CSM, which was appreciated, although a tad embarrassing in front of the other passengers.

We pushed back on time. Since the flight was only about 45 mins, the cabin crew didn’t hang around before dishing out food and drink. As it happens, I dozed most of the way so turned down the offer of champagne and a meal.

Nothing much to see out of my window at that time of night, but it was misty on final approach into Paris so the captain was told to use the automated landing system by ATC – he clearly didn’t think that was required, but had to follow instructions. Bit bumpy on landing.

We arrived into gate C2 of T2A. All passengers advised to stay seated until invited to leave the aircraft. Rows 1-6 were invited first (that was all of business class); I turned left and it was a very long walk through the various concourses of T2 until I reached T3 where I just managed to get on board the CDGVAL that was about to leave. The CDGVAL is the free train service connecting the various terminals at CDG. I got off at Terminal 3 – Roissypole (in the centre). From there it was a short walk to the Hilton.

There were three in the queue for check in at the Hilton. The Digital Key didn’t work and I ended up with a room three floors below the one I checked into online. The Digital Key sounds great, but clearly doesn’t work – perhaps it works fine in some hotels. Anyway, room 411 was big.

Looking forward to my main trip starting tomorrow!

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