Tier Point Run to San Jose in Nov 2023: Day 1 – Home to London Heathrow

The start of another TP run! San Jose here I come. I am always excited about starting on a trip, but sad I’m leaving my better half behind.

The day started off in our usual fashion with coffee in our cafe. We have workmen in at the moment reconfiguring our master ensuite, so “usual” or “normal” are not words that come to mind right now, but it’s always nice to start off the day relaxing with the cats in our cafe.

A normal day of work concluded with enjoying a bath and dinner with The Vickster.

I headed off to Heathrow in the evening to stay at the Hilton T4 before my very early start to my day with my first flight to Dublin from T5.

The road was surprisingly busy, but there were no specific hold ups on my way to Heathrow. I found a space in the Hilton car park – it was chocker mind you. There was a nice guy manning the car park barrier and helping drivers to get tickets from the machine.

Checking took a few mins – the two Hilton check-in agents were busy with guests, so I patiently waited for about 5 mins, when another Hilton check-in agent came out to help me. By that stage, one of the other two Hilton check-in agents had become free. Why not come out when I first arrived? Agh!

I had checked into my room online: room 460. It was compact, especially compared to the suite we were assigned the last time we were here. But it was comfortable enough.

Some nice touches which I had not noticed on our previous trip: the aircraft logo on the room number display outside of the room; the map of Europe behind the coffee machine.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to San Jose in Nov 2023