Tier Point Run to Tucson in Oct 2024: Day 1 – London Heathrow LHR to New York JFK

Having whizzed up to The First Wing (TFW), I found the place eerily quiet. TFW Security was quiet and interestingly, I forgot to take my liquids out, as per the new UK government decree. But none of the staff said anything, so it couldn’t have been a problem!

I almost lost my reading glasses. They were the last item I placed into my tray, and somehow, they managed to end up in a different tray!

I took everything from the tray I filled, and I walked off. When I tried looking at my boarding pass, I realised I didn’t have my glasses.

I headed back to TFW Security and checked my tray again. At that point, a lady asked whether I was looking for some glasses, and we were reunited! I’m glad someone was on the ball!

Back into the CCR, I dumped my stuff, updated the blog, and then popped into the First Lounge for a spot of light lunch. I didn’t need a CCR sit-down formal lunch.

Back into the CCR, and who should I bump into? None other than Jamie, aka FilthyMonkey!

It was good to catch up. He was doing a B2B at Jersey, followed by a trip to Hong Kong and onto Jakarta. I do miss my trips east!

Jamie was talking at the bar to the guy that I was sitting next to on the flight from Dublin earlier! He was on the way to Seattle. It really is a small world.

My flight to JFK was due to leave from Gate C54, so I decided I would head down to the B Gates lounge for a change of scenery before continuing down the Transit Walkway to the C Gates.

At the gate, it didn’t look like it was going to be a busy flight based on the lack of passengers in the gate area.

A few passengers were gathering at the tensa barrier waiting to be let in. Another less than perfect example of BA’s controlled boarding process!

It was a little bit of a farce, although not as bad as some. As normal, once the flight and cabin crew walked through the tensa barrier, they left the barrier down.

Consequently, a number of pax then followed them down into the queuing system.

A crew member eventually came to man the tensa barrier and invited Group 0 passengers to come through.

Waited about 10 mins before we were allowed onboard. On into seat 02A and was warmly welcomed by the cabin crew. Sue was assigned to look after me.

After being forced to cope with business class to Toronto recently, Sue highlighted how much better First Class service was!

A drink was served quickly along with some nuts; there was a hot towel; a menu was offered, and my order was taken before we pushed back. Sue wanted to find out where I was going and what I was up to. All the little things that make a difference.

We didn’t take off until about 50 mins after the scheduled departure, although the captain assured us it was going to be a fast crossing.

More champers flowed as hoped. It’s interesting to think that my main source of alcohol nowadays is through BA flights!

Dinner was served soon after take off. Tge starter comprised a terine, which was pretty tasty, especially the sweet sauce that it came with.

The main course was an Indian inspired lamb rack, which was also very pleasing to my tastebuds.

Throughout dinner, I was waiting for the wifi to become available, so I asked Sue whether it was going to make an appearance.

Eventually, the Entertainments Manager (?) on board made an announcement that was the most confusing I’d ever heard. It took about 2 mins of waffle, when all he needed to say was, « The wifi doesn’t work, and we don’t believe we will be able to fix it. »

I asked Sue whether they would make an announcement to the effect that passengers could claim compensation from BA. She acknowledged that that was unlikely to happen.

The pudding was a chocolate torte, which was stupendous. BA knows how to do puddings!

Sue made up my bed, and I managed a couple of hours of shuteye.

I decided not to indulge further in any of the food on offer. There were plenty more meals expected over the next few days, so there was no need to load up now.

The last hour went pretty quickly with a mug of tea in my hand.

It was very cloudy on the way into JFK, but for a change, there was no flying over Long Island and turning back to land at JFK. This time, it was straight onto the runway, which would have saved 15 mins at least.

Taxiing took a while as we navigated arojnd JFK. We finally arrived into Gate 18 of Terminal 8.

I was up quick and sneaked through to door 2L, ready to get off first.

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