Tier Point Run to Sofia in Nov 2024: Day 8 – London Heathrow LHR to Sofia SOF

By Nige on November 16, 2024 at 10:02 am
Type: Post
Story: Tier Point Run to Sofia in Nov 2024 Category: Travel
Tags: British Airways | LHR | London Heathrow | SOF | Sofia | Trips

I woke at 3:45am. with a bit of a jolt. My phone alarm was on full blast; my watch alarm is so much more relaxing. Mental note for next time!

It didn’t take long to get up and out. Today, I decided not to bother taking my rucksack. Last weekend, I didn’t get the chance to use my laptop, and I am pretty comfortable about doing the B2B, so I didn’t think there was any need to take my change of clothes with me.

I dumped my rucksack in the car and walked down the road to Hatton Cross tube station. It was cold and quiet.

I was aiming for the 4:18am train to T2/T3, but I was there early enough to catch the train before. “Arrived way too early” may be the words that are etched on my gravestone when I’m gone.

I’ll also have to have the letters GfL engraved after my name, although I do hope I’ll get the chance to change those letters to GGLfL instead.

I suspect the likely change to TP earning based on price paid will scupper that aim.

I quite enjoy the long walk from the tube station to the terminal. Another quiet walk today; very few people around. The terminal frontage being lit up makes a very attractive photo.

T3 appeared to be quieter than last weekend, but the queue for security was more structured, and queuing had obviously started earlier. Through in no time, however.

I waited for 15 mins for the BA Lounge to open. I was looking forward to a caffeine injection to get my system moving…

It was quite funny listening to other queuing passengers whinging about BA. Complaints about the lounge not opening until 5am, when they had paid for business class, meals not available for vegans, attitude of agents not treating customers well, etc.

Flightaware.com reported that my first flight of the day was due to leave from Gate 29. I remembered that last week, the gate changed late on to Gate 11, so perhaps the same would happen today? I would find out shortly…

In the lounge, I started thinking about the complaints I overhead whilst queuing. It’s the attitude of BA that is most disappointing.

The “we’re not obliged to do this, that and the other.” Sod what you are obliged to do. Make the passenger’s trip better by trying to find a solution. If the underlying problem is a supply chain issue, change your supplier!

I was expecting to bump into Dan today. He suggested he was doing the B2B today. No doubt there would be others doing the same thing.

The departures board suggested that boarding had started 40 mins ahead of departure time, so I headed up to Gate 29 and into the holding pen.

At the boarding pass check, I was wished a happy birthday for Mon, which was nice. First time I’ve heard that from BA.

I’d forgotten about my birthday, to be honest. At my age, other things are way more important.

I bumped into Dan whilst waiting to board. Boarding started 30 mins before departure. On into seat 01F.

Another full business class cabin – about 12 rows.

We were in the air by 6:25am and the captain had suggested the flight time world be about 2 hrs 50 mins, so about on schedule.

We certainly wouldn’t be arriving as early as we did last week.

Breakfast was slightly better today. The scrambled egg was still overcooked, but after trying multiple times, I couldn’t quite get my knife to stand upright in it without support.

I guess that can be marked down as a service improvement!

The rest of the flight was nice and smooth. We arrived into the same gate as last Saturday: Gate B5.

Our little team of three were reunited at the bottom of the steps and we had all been seated in the front row: Gary in 01A, Dan in 01C and me in 01F.

It was another bus arrival, and on this occasion, we arrived behind the Ryanair flight, not in front of it. So we knew it was going to be tight this time.

Tier Point Run to Sofia in Nov 2024