Tier Point Run to Sofia in Nov 2024: Day 18 – London Heathrow LHR to Sofia SOF

By Nige on November 26, 2024 at 6:00 pm
Type: Post
Story: Tier Point Run to Sofia in Nov 2024 Category: Travel
Tags: British Airways | LHR | London Heathrow | SOF | Sofia | Trips

It was also unusual to arrive at T3 in the light. The front was lit up attractively on my recent visits. A very different feel to the place with the sun up.

Fast Track Security was available, but the queue was long. 3D scanners helped, but the UK is still in that phase of needing to get liquids out of bags.

Ten mins later, and I was heading to the BA Lounge for breakfast. I took advantage of my GGL invitation to first dining, to enjoy a typically tasty breakfast.

But as normal, the mushrooms were a disappointment: unseasoned and tasteless.

I had enough time to do a quick terminal walk, so I headed up to the Gate 40 area, where the Finnair A350 was just about ready to start boarding.

I headed back to the lounge, and I did a bit of work to while away the time. I was feeling a bit stuffed after breakfast.

The flight to Sofia was due to leave from Gate 24, which is the dreaded bus gate, so I headed up that way about 40 mins before scheduled departure.

Not too long a wait in the holding pen, before the ever-enjoyable bus journey to an aircraft sat at remote stand 591.

On the bus, I met Marcus, who I had made contact via Flyertalk last week. Naturally, we compared notes on the normal flying tactics, etc.

On into seat 01F. Note that the bus allowed passengers off via the front door only.

I decided that on these flights, I would try to catch up on Suits: Sidebar – the podcast. I downloaded about 8 episodes.

We pushed back about 10 mins after scheduled departure and didn’t get on to the runway until 30 mins after.

The woman sat next to me was obviously a creative type. She had a large Kindle-type touchpad, and she spent the entire flight reviewing a document and handwriting some notes on a page entitled Independence.

Makes you wonder what she was doing.

And just as I write that, the Flight Attendant asked the woman about her touchpad, and that gave me an opportunity to ask about it. It was a reMarkable Paper Pro. Looks interesting…

A menu was handed out, and I was pleased to see some different options available. The recommended meal was the chicken balti with beetroot rice, which was lovely.

I bypassed the starter (as normal), the cheese and crackers were good, and the mousse sweet was another tasty finisher.

Listening to the first 3 podcast episodes was good fun. Looking forward to another 3 on the way back.

We landed in good time and docked at Gate B5.

This is the gate that on Sat mornings we are forced downstairs and on to a bus.

Well, not today (which seems to be consistent with previous Tue arrival reports).

The airbridge was attached and an easy transfer looked on the cards.

Tier Point Run to Sofia in Nov 2024