Tier Point Run to Los Angeles in May 2024: Day 8 – Malaga (AGP) to Helsinki (HEL)

Malaga airport looked OK. Nothing special, but it had a Starbucks and a Giraffe restaurant, and that’s just based on what I could see around Gate D42.

Boarding was not well organised, with minimal physical signage, so unless you knew the way boarding worked, you would be scrambling to get into the right place when the first announcement was made.

Boarding used both Gates D42 and D43. D42 was for those in the first 15 rows. D43 was used for those at the back of the aircraft.

The cabin crew were expecting me back on board. They didn’t really understand what on earth I was doing, but they laughed politely at all the right times.

I was desperately looking forward to getting a Starbucks in Helsinki. Timings should work OK as long as the queue at Passport Control wasn’t too long.

On board into seat 01F. I got my blanket out of my bag (the one I stashed from one of my flight on the previous day), and additional blankets were handed out by the cabin crew. So I was well set up for a warm flight back.

My mobile battery was at 85%, so I had plenty of energy to use on the way back to Helsinki.

We pushed back on time, but it was another 15 mins before we were on the runway.

The captain suggested that the flight would take 4 hrs and 5 mins, and the scheduled arrival time at the gate was 6:45am, so it looked like we were about on time.

Breakfast was served fairly quickly after take off. Yes, breakfast at 2am! There was no separate drinks service.

The breakfast was pretty decent, actually. The hot plate came with a hash brown, mushrooms, roasted cherry tomatoes, and big beans.

There was also a continental cheese, ham and lettuce plate, and a plate of cool, fresh melon and pineapple.

It was time for some shuteye! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep, and the food had started to stimulate my senses.

I kept myself busy for the rest of the flight. Yes, it was 4 hrs each way, but it didn’t drag that much. For the TPs earned, I’d absolutely do it again.

We arrived into Gate 15 about 5 mins late. I wasn’t quite sure when my next flight was due to depart.

I thought it was about 9am, which would have given me time to have a shower in the lounge, but having checked on flightaware.com, it was actually 8am.

That meant I had another relatively tight connection. I had about an hour to get from Gate 15 through Passport Control into the non-Schengen area and up to Gate 52 (next to the lounge).

I was off first, and it was another rush job…

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