Tier Point Run to San Francisco in Jan 2022: Day 1 – London LHR to Amsterdam AMS

I arrived on the bus from POD parking into bus stop 28, just outside the lifts, which I took up to level 5 and departures.  T5 didn’t appear to be too busy and within 3 or 4 mins I was standing outside The First Wing (TFW).

I already had my two boarding cards for the flights to and from Amsterdam, but I popped into TFW check-in to get my boarding card for my flight to JFK on Sat.  For some reason BA needed to check my Verifly verification.  It was good to get that sorted the day before the flight, especially if a problem arose – it would be give me plenty of time to deal with it. BA were efficient in overcoming whatever issues there were. They couldn’t tell me what those issues were, so I am non-the-wiser and I can’t proactively do something differently next time. Not the end of the world.

I headed through TFW security where my liquids bag needed to be checked for drugs (I think).  Then through the First Lounge and into the CCR.  No CCR card now, so it’s all driven by my boarding pass.

I settled down into the CCR and headed back into the First Lounge to check out the food offerings – they often have a better selection than the CCR.  Not today though!  So I went into CCR Dining instead, which had an interesting collection of dishes on the menu.

As a starter I had a pork salad with radish and for a main course, I had a tortilla wrap with beef and salad.  I also had a glass (or two) of LPGS (it would be rude not to).

Whilst I was in CCR dining, I bumped into a friend off FlyerTalk.  He was heading up to see his mum in Glasgow, before heading over to Georgia for 9 months – He and his wife were going to have a baby via a surrogate!  Wow – he’s always doing something exciting!

I had a quick wander around the terminal and it was fairly quiet.  Still no replacement for Dixons but apparently InMotion would be taking up the space. My flight to Amsterdam left from Gate A15 – there was no queuing at all – all very pleasant.  In fact within a minute of me arriving, they called for priority boarders and I ambled down the lane, had my boarding pass checked and headed down the jet bridge.  On into seat 01D – not my normal seat, but I assumed the weekly commuters were booked into 01A and 01F.

No welcome back onboard from the cabin crew.  When I get it, I complain about it being embarrassing; when I don’t I miss it! Agh!

After take-off, I took advantage of the afternoon tea on offer, although I only ate the scone, cream and jam – you just can’t turn your nose up at that.  The sandwiches looked ok and the cup of tea they provided was pretty decent.  The flight is only short, so afternoon tea can’t last long!

It’s always a tad nerve-wracking taxiing at an airport when you plan to do a B2B.  Amsterdam is one of those that should be a sure-thing, but you can never be 100%.  A remote stand or some airport issue could scupper things.  This time it all went to plan.

We arrived into Gate D18.  All passengers advised to stay seated until invited to leave the aircraft, although all of business class completely forgot about this, and we all got up as soon as we could.  The cabin crew didn’t stop us either.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to San Francisco in Jan 2022