G-BOAC

So, it had to happen sooner or later and I was determined it would be sooner I had flown every BA cabin on both shorthaul and longhaul (in fact, each cabin in both paid form and as OpUps where applicable, now I think back!) since I started flying for work about 6 years ago. Except FIRST that is (well, and Concorde, which will now remain a regret for the rest of my life But that's another story). It was definitely high time I combined all those miles I'd earned but never spent and an AmEx 2:1 voucher to treat myself and, as it turned out, a friend who had relatives in Vancouver to visit. I wanted to find a route which had good F (or, rather, Z class ) availability and which was a decent length of time to enjoy the flight. YVR was perfect on both counts - especially so because I wanted to visit a friend who'd just moved out there too. So in late August this year I was on the phone to BA and the tickets were duly booked. A slight cock-up with the surname name of my friend had me panicking for a while (the e-tickets had already been issued by the time I checked 'Manage My Booking') but I phoned as soon as I noticed and BA fixed it for free, issuing new ticket numbers with the correct names ^

Since it was my first FIRST, I thought I'd write up the trip report. Be warned, as usual for me this is long and contains lots of minor details and thoughts. If you don't like long reports, click away now

BA085 LHR-YVR 16th November 2005 (Depart 16:35, Arrive 18:05)
I met my friend at Waterloo around midday and we hopped in a cab to Paddington (I loathe even attempting the Tube with luggage) to catch the HEX. London traffic delays (an omen for the rest of the day...) meant we didn't get there until the 12:55 HEX but we settled in quite nicely, both excited about the upcoming FIRST trip - both the flight itself (a first for him too) and about visiting Vancouver (a first for us both). Unfortunately, "trespassers on the line" held us up considerably and there was nothing 'express' about this journey! My idea of "just run the .......s over, that'll learn 'em" sounded appealing at first, were it not for the fact that would have delayed us even more Anyway, we were on holiday and plenty early for the flight so I (for once!) relaxed and stopped getting annoyed. We eventually made it to LHR T4 and were at the (empty) FIRST check-in area by just gone 13:40.

Since we'd already OLCId and provided our API, check-in was swift. I explained to the girl that it was my first FIRST and asked if she'd stick a tag on my bag for me. She laughed and said "You know they make no difference really" and I said "Don't I know it! But I may as well have the full experience!" She chuckled again, added one and asked me if I knew what the agents called them. I said I didn't, but wasn't too surprised when she said "snob tags" I said I didn't mind being a snob for the day and she said that the name kind of falls down a bit because they even refer to the Traveller ones in the same way! With that, she stuck fast track stickers on our BPs (1A and 1K, nabbed at OLCI the day before after pre-assigning 2A and 2K at booking time) and off we trotted, still smiling after some fun banter with the check-in girl to start to the experience

Item number 78263 on "things bound to get me pissed off at airports" then arose: slow track. Despite check-in only taking minutes, 'fast' track security took at least 30. Well done BAA. Not. As usual, one bloody machine open, one sitting totally idle. Ridiculous. I rant in hindsight, but at the time I was again determined not to let it get to me! Either way, after a spot of shopping for my friend in Canada from her "list of things I can't get here", I joined my travelling companion in the Concorde Room around 14:30. This was my first visit to the CR and I guess the BA Board experts are right - it's probably not what it used to be (I assume), because now it's virtually identical to the normal F lounge I'm more used to, except a bit quieter maybe. The only other nice touch I noticed was a decanter of Whisky in the smoking room. So, to anyone planning their BA F award trips who thinks "being able to use the CR" (i.e. going ex-T4) is a factor - forget it! You'd miss nothing big by going from LHR T1 where the F lounge is just as good IMHO.

The Champagnes on offer that day were the Heidseick Rare and the Bellefon Rose - thankfully none of the Cazenove rubbish they've been sticking in F lounges (and on board ) of late. The Bellefon I'm actually rather partial to and it's not been in the LGW F lounge on my last 2 visits, so I tucked in to that. With my friend on white wine (I forget which), we were both getting very hungry so had a bacon baguette each. With plenty of time still to go I then had the carrot and coriander soup as he tucked in to a second baguette

Although no delays were announced, the fact the flight didn't show a gate until near the original 'Gate Closes' time on our BPs gave the game away to me that we'd be somewhat late leaving. A slow walk down to Gate 4 from the CR confirmed this - with boarding still not having begun. Hanging around getting bored for 20 mins would normally get me a tad irate too...but not today And in the end boarding commenced at 16:30 (with a proper Priority Line, so we were one of the first on). Now the real 'fun' began, with (what I am led to believe) is a textbook quality F experience.

We were given a warm greeting from the CSD by surname and he showed us to our seats, introducing us to our F crew on the way (we boarded via 2L). As soon as he turned to leave the absolutely lovely Alison appeared to help us stow our bags, hang jackets and help us settle in with some polite and welcoming chat. I explained I was excited as this was my first time up front and she said she'd make sure she looked after us well ^ No sooner had I plonked my ample behind in the comfy F 'demi cabin' (although it has to be said, the rumoured new £100m investment in upgrading F and J seats is certainly overdue for F - my PTV took some man-handling to lift from its housing, and several areas of my seat fabric were badly frayed) than she appeared again with my FIRST BAg and FIRST PJs on a tray and took my pre-flight drink order - a G&T. That arrived soon after with some cashew nuts and the offer of a newspaper, so I selected the Torygraph to flick through until the movies began later on. Hot towels were dispensed and it suddenly hit me, I had no idea at all of anything going on behind me! Not of the boarding (no pax walking through the cabin past me like when I'm in W or lower-deck J) nor even of the F cabin itself. 1A is truly the prize seat it seems, with excellent privacy. So much so that only the push back at 17:15 made me realise we weren't even on our way before! A quick look around as I was handed my menu revealed only about 6 pax in F, although I believe the rest of the flight was quite full. The re-assuringly posh (as always!) Captain used the PA to apologise for the delay, saying that our 744 was towed in on-time from maintenance but there had been a delay uplifting the catering (bloody Gate Gourmet again! ), but that with a short 8:55 flight time we should be OK for an on-time arrival. Well, that was until he spoke to us again soon after to inform us that baggage trolleys behind us were preventing us moving any further from the stand! Thankfully his dulcet (and pleasingly sarcastic ) tones were heard again about 10 minutes later ("The ground crew have arrived to move the trolleys. They apologised for being late, which was nice of them.") and we were off! I didn't make a note of the exact take-off time, but I recall it being over an hour late, so somewhere after 17:35.

As soon as the seatbelt sign went out, Alison was back! She took my drink order (they had both champagnes on offer that day, so I opted for the Heidseick, see below) and then returned with the champagne, a glass of water (which was kept topped up without asking throughout) and soon after the canapes (one salmon, one chicken, one cheese). At this point I quietly requested the extra inserts for the BAg and she promised to bring them around Gary (the Purser) asked me if I wanted to order a meal, and when would I like it served. At this point I decided to 'go for it' and pig out in honour of my first trip in the nose I asked for it "as soon as you're ready to start serving, but no rush". The menu (all of it, wine list included) was:

---Begins---
LUNCH
Welcome to the FIRST dining experience, where you are in control of when and what you eat. Please create your own menu combination, from a light snack to a complete meal.

STARTERS
Lobster and crayfish with passion fruit dressing

Potato and truffle frittata with rocket and sherry vinaigrette

Spicy butternut squash soup with harissa dressing

Fresh salad leaves with your choice of piquillo pepper dressing or Blue cheese and walnut dressing

MAIN
Rack of lamb with a herb crust, buttered potatoes fondantes and a natural jus

Green herbed chicken with cumin and pine kernel potatoes, creamy black lentils, spicy wilted spinach and basil poori

Sauteed fillet of beef Stroganoff with pilau rice

Poached Loch Fyne salmon, asparagus and potato salad with lemon dressing
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REQUEST AN ALTERNATIVE SELECTION OF VEGETABLES FROM THE MENU

DESSERT
Warm fig tart with vanilla ice cream

Fresh berries lasagne with Mascarpone cream

SNACKS
Bacon roll served with tomato ketchup

Penne pasta with your choice of creamy Parmesan cheese and spinach sauce or olive, caper and tomato sauce

Duchy of Cornwall biscuits

A selection of cheese and fruit

CHEESE PLATE
Lancashire - This cheese contains a long tradition of mild, flavourful English farmhouse cheeses.

Peyrigoux - Hailing from France's Perigord region, this creamy cheese is made from cow's milk.

Gorgonzola - Arguably the most famous cheese of Lombardy. Gorgonzola is a blue pasteurised cow's-milk cheese with an earthy flavour.
UNPASTEURISED CHEESE MAY POSE A HEALTH RISK TO CERTAIN GROUPS OF PEOPLE INCLUDING PREGNANT WOMEN, THE ELDERLY, THE VERY YOUNG AND THOSE WHOSE SYSTEMS MAY BE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED.

A basket of fresh fruit

Your choice of
Espresso, cappuccino, coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea or herbal tea

AFTERNOON TEA
SANDWICHES
Roast beef with whole-grain mustard
Smoked salmon with cream cheese
Chicken Caesar with Red Leicester cheese
Mature Cheddar cheese with tangy pickle

Savoury Danish pastry

PATISSERIE
Plain or fruit scones served warm with clotted cream and strawberry jam

Moist ginger cake, strawberry mille-feuille and chocolate tart

---Wine List---

CHAMPAGNE
Charles de Cazenove Grand Apparat Brut Champagne
This is a first rate, buttery, Chardonnay-dominated deluxe Champagne - vinous, serious and demanding with a toasty aroma and a rich, mouth-filling flavour.

or

Piper Heidseick Cuvee Rare
Piper's deluxe cuvee, one-third Pinot Noir and two-thirds Chardonnay, is explosively fresh on the nose with a creamy, toasted brioche flavour.

WHITE WINES
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Chenevottes 2002, Joseph Drouhin
The wines of Chassagne have a mineral complexity that combines well with the richness and depth of great Burgundy

Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim 2002, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
This superb Alsace Riesling has an extravagant aroma of intense citrus peel and an opulent, throat-tingling flavour.

or

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Riesling 2004, Margaret River
A delicate floral aroma leads into a much fuller flavour of lime, elderflower and soft peach - a delightful expression of the noblest white wine grapes.

Renwood Select Series Viognier 2004
The Viognier grape is hand-picked from selected sites to give a rich style with a dominant flavour of fresh white peach.

RED WINES
Chateau Branaire Ducru 1995, Grand Cru Classe St Julien
Branaire has an open blackberry nose, is well-structured with a ripe soft fruit flavour and a real touch of class.

Chinon, Clos de l'Olive, 2003, Couly-Dutheil
2003 was another lovely vintage in the Loire Valley and the Cabernet Franc grape achieved full maturity. This wine is soft and rounded with beautiful primary fruit aromas and flavours.

Gordon Brothers Syrah 2001, Columbia Valley
Washington State is a very serious wine producer nowadays and the Gordon Brothers sun-drenched vineyards overlooking the Snake River are some of the best, producing deliciously rich but balanced wines.

DESSERT WINES
Opitz Goldackerl Trockenbeerenauslese 2002, Austria
The effervescent Willi Opitz, from his tiny vineyards in Illmitz near the Hungarian border, produces some of the very best in the country.

Warre's 1998 Coleita Port
Complex, sweet, nutty flavours offer an admirable after-dinner glass.

SPIRITS, DIGESTIFS AND LIQUEURS
We offer a complete range of classic and timeless spirits, digestifs and liqueurs including Gonzales Byass Sherries, Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch Whisky, Tanqueray No. Ten Gin, Smirnoff Black Label Vodka, The Glenlivet 18-year-old Single Malt Whisky, Woodford Reserve Kentucky Whiskey and Camus XO Cognac.

SOFT DRINKS
A selection of traditional and modern drinks including Coca Cola, Highland Spring still or sparkling mineral water.
---Ends---

Phew. It takes a lot longer to transcribe those than the ones in J Just after I gave my order, Alison returned with the extra shaving insert for the BAg and also the 'girly' insert too with the comment "well, you may as well have them all, you can put it on eBay if you don't like it " which made me laugh...maybe she's a secret FTer? Right after that the CSD came around with the manifest to introduce himself personally again (another nice touch) and asked if I'd mind completing a survey (which, of course, ended up being probably the most complimentary one I've ever turned in).

Whilst waiting for my meal I turned to the IFE - mainly to check out 'Wedding Crashers' on channel 2. Unfortunately that wasn't working throughout the plane Instead I watched the rather good 'Batman Begins' throughout the meal which was not only the full food + alcohol monty, but served to the correct (I am led to believe) FIRST standards too - table lifted out for me, tablecloth set, metal cutlery, side-plate, napkin, salt + pepper shakers and butter plate placed carefully and then the food begins Everything is served on fine china and, of course, the cutlery is replaced between each course. I was on my 3rd glass of Piper (oddly, I thought the champagne glasses in F were smaller than in J?) by this point, but decided to sample more of the wine list with each course - and after I'd explained I was on holiday, "and why not?" was Alison's entirely sensible line of reason Her liberal and attentive topping up regime was the best I've experienced so I rather lost track of how much I had, but I do know refills abounded...

The lobster and crayfish were a lovely light starter and tasted fantastic, washed down with some Montrachet, which I stuck with on to the salad afterwards too. The roast lamb was one of the best mains I can recall having in the air - it was actually cooked fairly well and still almost pink inside which was a good sign. The vegetables were definitely perfect IMHO and it actually felt like a quality meal. I have definitely eaten worse on the ground in restaurants! With the main, I switched to the Gordon Brothers which was even better than the sister wine from the same vineyard I've had several times in J.

After a 10 minute or so break to let that all settle and my Syrah run down (I had to refuse another top-up!) I tackled the excellent berry lasagne with a glass of the Opitz - something I was determined to try after seeing it recommended by Frequentflyer99 and fbgdavidson, and I wasn't disappointed ^ I have a rather sweet tooth and it was delicious, although too sweet for the crew's liking I was told when they saw me enjoying it And well, by this point, it would have been rude to not have the cheese and a few glasses of port with my coffee, really, wouldn't it (especially since one isn't made to feel guilty about it being an 'or' choice with dessert in F!)? I have to admit I couldn't finish all the cheese and was stuffed by that time, but that's hardly surprising! A big box of Lily O'Brien's chocolates was passed around the cabin, but I declined those too - they were left to rest on the small table between 2A and 2K for the rest of the flight anyway.

Feeling nicely over-indulged and about as far from sober as we were from the ground at the time I finished off the movie on the IFE and filled in my small card to request a tape from the FIRST library. I had requested number 23 ('Layer Cake') only to be apologetically informed that numbers 22 onwards hadn't been loaded from London Since I didn't really fancy much else, I sat through the rather un-memorable (although that may have something to do with the booze too...) 'Interpreter' (number 2) instead. The IFE was, perhaps predictably, the only small blemish on the trip as usual - another sign that investment here in AVOD is well overdue.

A couple of G&Ts to keep the thirst away during the movie (was it just me, or is that a loooong movie?) finally had me feeling a tad sleepy so I fired up my iPod and gazed in to the darkness out of the window. At this point, I felt really rather relaxed! Happy. Pleased. Very satisfied. I don't know what it was specifically, but I always like flights which make me feel something and this was one of them. For as long as I can remember as a small child dropping my father off at LHR to go on business trips, I rather fancied a job which involved travel too. As soon as I started to travel for work nearly 6 years ago in World Traveller (LHR-SFO, February 2000 was the first one), I wanted to travel further forward. When I was Blue, I wanted Silver. When I was Silver for 3 years or so, I wanted Gold. And as I worked my way up and onward at work (and discovered FT, natch) I succeeded in all of those little milestones and now I was right at the very front of the plane, all down to my own hard work and nothing more. It may sound arrogant, but that's a nice feeling, simple as that. So nice in fact that I drifted off to sleep for a couple of hours without really ever planning to (I like to stay awake going West normally), but I can't see how any other outcome would have been possible given all I'd drunk

Waking up a couple of hours out of YVR and making use of the fancy windowed toilet (shame it was dark all the way) I got chatting to the crew on my way back to my seat. Alison expressed surprise that a Gold hadn't flown F before - which, if nothing else, was a nice little bit of ego boosting The CSD also joined us and we discussed a few things BA which was interesting (well, for me at least, I hope I wasn't pestering them too much!). I was also surprised to find out that both SEA and YVR count as 'East Coast' for BA so the crew only get a one night layover which I thought was a bit mean! Returning to 1A I requested a pot of tea but declined any of the afternoon tea food service (even I didn't have any room for food still by that point!). Nevertheless, the full table setup was done once again and my personal restaurant in the sky (well, that's how it felt) was open once more Refreshing hot towels soon followed.

The rest of the flight seemed to pass quickly, and we landed in to YVR around 10 minutes late given the unfortunate delays at LHR. We disembarked through 2L again so we weren't exactly the first off since the lower-deck J pax managed to leg it before us, but still rapidly made it to immigration. There were about 10 people in front of me at the queue for foreign nationals and in the 5 or so minutes it took us to reach the front, we watched a queue of several hundred build up behind us with the rest of the BA85 and what appeared to be another flight too. Thank God for being near the front! Then, the biggest surprise of the trip...baggage arrived within a couple more minutes...and the checked F and J bags seemed to be the first off for once! I nearly fainted! We were soon outside and in a cab to the Crowne Plaza Hotel Georgia downtown (about 20-25 minutes).

Before this trip I recalled a thread from earlier in the year from esteemed BA Board regular Raffles on how he was underwhelmed by his first FIRST. With that in mind, I had expectations it would be "better than J" but not some entirely orgasmic experience (can I say that here? We'll see...) and I think that's a fair approach to take. It's not a life-changing, earth-shattering experience, but on a good day (as this seemed to be one), it is very good and certainly an excellent way to travel (cards on the table though, I am very much a BA-regular and my experience of competing F/J products on longhaul is small). Lots of little details about the service and cabin (things I didn't mention yet are the big comfy pillows and duvets like in a real bed, virtually no cabin announcements at all, etc.) just make it 'feel' very pleasant. All in all, this was a fantastic experience for me with a very comfy, private seat, excellent catering and a truly lovely, attentive crew who delivered exemplary service (so much so that I nominated Alison via 'Crew Idol' on BA's site). I was left feeling very happy and extremely satisfied that I'd not only done F finally, but felt I got value for my hard-earned miles (the vast majority of mine are earned sitting in a plane so I count that as 'hard-earned'!) too. Big thumbs up ^^

G-BOAC

Harbour Air (H3) 1131 CXH-YCD 21st November 2005 (Depart 11:30, Arrive 11:50)
An interesting one I felt I just had to do My first seaplane ride, from CXH ("Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Vancouver Harbour Airport") to YCD ("Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada - Cassidy Airport") which I decided was the only way I wanted to get to Vancouver Island! It was operated by Harbour Air (IATA code H3). The cost was $59.00 one way (plus tax, plus $1.50 Nanaimo Port Authority Fee, plus $3.00 fuel surcharge - sound familiar, BA Board? ) which in total came to $67.95. I planned to get this and then one of the 'HarbourLynx' ferries back.

Alas it was the seaplane that never was Having had some lovely weather Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (so good on Thursday we managed to get to the top of Grouse Mountain for some fantastic views and a beautiful sunset ^), a sinister fog began to take hold of the city (well, it wasn't really sinister, it was just thick - but 'sinister' sounds more like the movie ). From Saturday onwards it was pretty much constant. After calling on Sunday and being told they'd all been cancelled, I booked on this flight and kept my fingers crossed...but it wasn't to be All of the flights were cancelled on Monday too, and even on Tuesday - so a last-ditch attempt before I flew back to London was out as well.

This was the only disappointment of the trip, but there you go. And as Jenbel pointed out to me on the BA Board, it's a good excuse to go back

G-BOAC

BA084 YVR-LHR 22nd November 2005 (Depart 20:30, Arrive 13:35)
When I booked the tickets in August, the Gold seat allocation bug was in full force, so the best I could get on each leg was 2A/2K, with Row 1 being blocked - I never knew I could ask for a request to go to Seating Control (see, you learn from FT every day!). Anyway, since that bug has been fixed, I checked 'Manage My Booking' once I was in Vancouver and saw 1K free to me, but 1A taken. Just in case that was a flexible F ticket which got cancelled, I kept checking back. And, lo, a few days later both 1A and 1K became free so I immediately moved us ^ This was good because I was going to a gig on Monday night my friend had gotten us tickets for since she was a big fan of the band, so OLCI at T-24 would have been out. Or so I thought. The gig was fantastic (Montreal band 'Stars', who signed off with a goodnight and saying they were flying 'to Europe' the next day...) but the drinks flowed very freely and I didn't get back to my hotel room until nearer T-19. Still, I had the presence of mind to OLCI anyway and was glad I did! When I fired up the booking, it tried to check me in to "2A (pre-assigned seat)" I couldn't understand this, since the change to 1A/K showed in MMB, www.checkmytrip.com and I also received the e-mail confirmation from BA. Thankfully, 1A/K were still free so I quickly checked us in fully to those - but had I not been so uptight about OLCI we may have lost those seats, which would have been a shame since MMB should have 'guaranteed' them really (given they weren't taken by anyone with a shinier card than me either, or anyone more famous/important than me!).

Anyway, after a lie in and 1pm check-out (although the hotel offered me 3pm as a PC Gold which was nice of them! They seem to be very good to PC members there, we each got welcome bags when we checked in too), it was time for a final sushi lunch with my friend (her local favourite, but I have to say sushi is fantastic in Vancouver - I think I ate more there than in Japan!), we killed a few hours walking around drinking lots of coffee before finally heading to YVR early (but not too early we hoped) at 17:00, arriving around 17:20. The BA desks were clearly marked with several for Traveller and some queuing ropes, a couple for Club/Silver and one for FIRST/Gold (for the record, there was no dedicated WT+ desk here). There was a small queue at Traveller but one of the Club desks was free so we used that - a very friendly agent who went through all the motions with a smile, and automatically FIRST tagged our bags (I wasn't going to ask this time, the novelty was over !) I was then given a small card with lounge directions and wished a good journey ^ At that time, YVR was virtually dead - there was the BA flight to LHR and an AC one going slightly later (IIRC), then nothing until the 01:30 CX departure. Security was a breeze and the lounge is right by the check-point, up one floor in a lift at the end of a corridor (past the CX lounge which was unfortunately closed or I'd have tried that too).

There is no dedicated F lounge, but the combined BA lounge is sizeable and comfortable with a decent self-service bar (no champagne I could see though) and some snacks, including hot ones. There's a monthly business card drop competition on the front desk to win an in-flight power adaptor too. No showers as far as I could see and small toilets, but it was clean and quiet and well worth a visit. But there's only so much time I can spend in any lounge, no matter how good it is, without being bored so we left at 19:30 for a look at the shops and a slow amble to the gate.

And there, at the gate, were the band we saw last night! I don't normally go in for autograph hunting but my travelling companion and I both agreed we should go and ask if they'd mind signing something for their real fan, our friend who took us to their gig. It turns out they were en-route to ZRH to begin a tour (in Y it seems from a BP I saw, but I steered clear of that topic!), they invited us to their London gig (which I've now found out clashes with a late-night return from ARN next month ) and were more than happy to sign a notepad for our friend back in Vancouver ^ As they finished up, boarding commenced and off we all trotted...although down different queues

Boarding the plane one of the junior crew checked my BP and didn't welcome me by name or move to show me to my seat, but just said "to the left at the front, sir". I know it's a very minor thing really, but it felt so much 'worse' than the proper (by the book) welcome we received on the outbound. Anyway, just opposite her was the CSD who took my friend's BP and reverted to 'the right way', taking us both to our seats ^

The crew had a lot to live up to after Alison, I have to say. Perhaps because of that, I noticed some of slightly less than perfect things on the return leg. But I have to say these were things they seemed to forget - nothing was lacking in their attentiveness or warm, welcoming and very pleasant service and chat. As I handed the crew a 'Change for Good' bag with all the various coins I'd collected in 2005 on my travels, I ordered my pre-flight G&T and received my PJs and BAg (and asked for the BAg extras again just because I could - no girly products this time though ). This time, the flight throughout was only half full (and we were only 5 in F) so we actually pushed back 10 minutes early, but had a longer, slower taxi due to the thick fog. Just after push back I realised I'd not been offered a paper so bonged the bell and the Purser Geoffrey apologised and did a paper run around the entire cabin. We took off at just gone 20:55 by my watch.

Since I did actually intend to sleep on this leg, I hopped up to change in to my PJs (Large PJs which were big on me - and let me tell you, I ain't no ballerina!) as soon as the seatbelt lights were off. On my return I was given a menu and asked if I'd like a drink. A Big Lebowski 'The Dude' quote about the Pope and woods sprang to mind I asked which champagne was loaded and Geoffrey returned with two bottles for me to look at one, one each of the Cazenove and the Piper which was a nice touch ^ I again picked the Heidseick and managed to get through a couple of glasses with the canapes (not as good as the outbound) before being asked for my meal choices. The menu this leg was:

---Begins---
LUNCH (sic!)
Welcome to the FIRST dining experience, where you are in control of when and what you eat. Please create your own menu combination, from a light snack to a complete meal.

STARTERS
Atlantic smoked salmon on wild rice blini with maple lime dressing

Fried Haloumi cheese on panko-crusted aubergine

Curried broccoli soup with cucumber raita

Fresh salad leaves with your choice of balsamic vinaigrette or garlic and sour cream dressing

MAIN
Grilled beef tenderloin with soy-braised cipolline onions, broccoli, pattypan and caramelised onion mashed potatoes

Panko-crusted lamb chop in red wine sauce with sauteed courgette, carrots and yellow squash with roast chateau potatoes

Shrimp linguine pasta with tomato sauce

Shredded breast of chicken on Asian green salad with soy ginger dressing
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REQUEST AN ALTERNATIVE SELECTION OF VEGETABLES FROM THE MENU

DESSERT
Vanilla panna cotta

Warm mango and fig galette with Mascarpone cheese or vanilla ice cream

SNACKS
Penne pasta with your choice of marinara sauce or olive oil and garlic pesto with freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Duchy of Cornwall biscuits

A selection of cheese and fruit

CHEESE PLATE
Aged Maple Dale Cheddar - This Canadian cow's-milk cheese is a semi-hard, crumbly cheese with a sharp flavour.

Pepper Brie - This French dessert cheese is made with cow's milk, and is known for its soft texture and slightly seasoned flavour.

Stilton - Stilton is an English, cow's-milk, semi-hard, blue, unpressed cheese with a natural brushed rind
UNPASTEURISED CHEESE MAY POSE A HEALTH RISK TO CERTAIN GROUPS OF PEOPLE INCLUDING PREGNANT WOMEN, THE ELDERLY, THE VERY YOUNG AND THOSE WHOSE SYSTEMS MAY BE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED.

A basket of fresh fruit

Your choice of
Espresso, cappuccino, coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea or herbal tea

BREAKFAST
STARTERS
Chilled fruit juice
An energising fruit smoothie
A selection of fruit or plain yoghurts and cereals
Fresh seasonal fruit plate

BAKERY
A wide selection of breakfast pastries and rolls

Warm bacon roll

MAIN
Scrambled eggs, grilled bacon, pork sausages, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and hash-brown potatoes

Mushroom omelette

American pancakes with maple syrup or blueberry compote

---Wine List---
As outbound.

---Ends---

Before the meal arrived the CSD again came around to introduce himself by name which was again nice, and the F crew continued to refer to us by name throughout too ^

As I usually find on return legs, the food was definitely not as good as ex-LON. I opted for the salmon starter and salad (and stuck with several more champagnes this time!) and although the salmon was nice, the blini was a bit soggy and the croutons on the salad were variously hard and rubbery if that makes sense! Not great. Likewise, the beef tenderloin was overdone and I've had better beef in J before. But it tasted 'OK', and the Ducru was very pleasant - heavy but fruity, and nicely sleep inducing I think the outbound was actually so good though that it would be hard for the inbound to compete. As I reflected on that, I realised there had been no hot towel service (unless I missed it in the toilets changing, but I didn't see any in the galley, etc. either and if I did miss it, I'd assume they'd have been offered after I returned) this time - so possibly another thing the crew forgot. But as I said, they were again so friendly that I can forgive that I really had to have dessert to justify another Opitz but the panna cotta was a disappointment (although I've never been a big fan to be honest). With no room for a cheese course this time and only a couple of Lily O'Brien's, I settled down with a couple of port and coffee refills until the end of my movie. This time I did get 'Layer Cake' on tape from the library and watched it during the meal, which lasted about the right time.

With the food and drinking done and a bottle of water on my table by the time I returned from the bathroom, I reclined my seat in to a bed, unleashed the comfy white duvet and big pillow and snuggled down. Before realising that even in the PJs the cabin was a tad hot (it was just right on the inbound) and I'd be too warm under the duvet, so I lay on top of it I managed to sleep for about 5 hours I think which is very good on a plane for me. It wasn't entirely uninterrupted (a bit of turbulence and also the fact I'm quite a restless sleeper so even the F demi-cabin is a bit narrow for me to flail around in sometimes!), but it was gooood.

When I woke up and decided to stay up, the crew came and asked if I'd like any breakfast. I requested just the fresh fruit, an OJ and some tea. I was asked if I wanted to change clothes first but said I was OK in PJs for a while longer The full table service was rolled out again by the time I returned from the bathroom and I noted another nice touch in F was the slice of orange in the OJ ^ Also nice was the fact the crew had put the PTVs up in the empty seats on the moving maps, so you could easily check these if you want to the toilets without faffing getting your own TV out or turning on your lights, etc.

We were just about at the coast of Ireland so after some more juice and tea I went to get changed and on the way back again managed to have a chat with the crew (I'd overheard Geoffrey talking about the £100m investment in cabins to someone else, so thought I'd ask too). Some interesting views, but nothing I'd not gleaned from the FT experts already - he (and everyone else), for example, thought the proposal to swap W & J around on 744s was madness when I asked about it! They're looking forward to the 'New New Club World' and F products and AVOD especially as the stone-age IFE is a common complaint. No word on exactly what the products themselves are like as he'd not seen them and said they were top secret so few had, but he guessed that feedback on NCW being a bit too short and certainly too narrow would be addressed, and F would be more 'cocoon' like, which seemed sensible. We shall see - hopefully I have plenty more premium flying chances in me over the next few years to find out personally

About 30-40 minutes out, the CSD offered landing cards and Arrivals Lounge invites. I declined the lounge invite saying I didn't think it would be open as we'd not be out before 2pm. He said we were showing over 30 minutes early so it looked likely we'd be able to use it...which turned out to be famous last words as I predicted I declined a card anyway as I knew where it was already. And sure enough, we had to stack over LHR and watch that early arrival virtually disappear But we landed just shy of 13:25 and made it to stand slightly before our scheduled arrival of 13:35 which was pretty good. In fact, with a dash to a near-empty passport control (from door 2L again) we were in baggage reclaim by soon after 13:40 and I began to think maybe the CSD would be proved right and I wrong "Luckily" I had no need to worry...as usual, a wonderful BA trip in the air was severely let down by their atrocious performance with baggage handling on the ground which was, predictably, a total bloody joke It was after 14:25 before the first bag appeared, nearly an entire hour since we stopped at the gate! Utterly ridiculous. The only slight saving grace was that once more, premium bags were pretty much the first off so I didn't wait too long once the bags did finally appear. It's not worth complaining to BA since all they'll say is "T5 will fix it". It bloody better is all I can say! Luckily I was still in the holiday mood and this only caused some mild grumbling at the time After saying goodbye to my friend and distinct lack of rushing to the trains, I managed to catch the 14:55 HEX back to London and it was all over I have to say in all the flights (longhaul and shorthaul) I've come off this year, I've never felt so refreshed or just plain 'OK' and, well, human! The sleep and service really did make a big difference.

In conclusion, this was a fantastic trip and a brilliant introduction to FIRST for me and well worth the miles, with a noticable and valuable difference from J (IMHO). I can't wait to find an excuse to try it again...and given my miles balance is now back to being high enough for an F ticket anywhere on the network, I think it's more a question of 'when' not 'if' ^^

AJLondon

Nice report Phil. ^


And I see you eventually found the right forum. The hangover must be wearing off, eh.

Seat 2A

Brilliant!

I look forward to your next BA First report, much less my next trip to the Pacific Northwest.

More Champagne Sir?

Phil, absolutely cracking report. Thanks for taking the time.

Lewis

RTW4

Thanks for the wonserful report. I will be travelling with my family from BOS-LHR-CAI next month and cannot wait.....( in first )

Boo Boo

Thank you very much Phil: just thew right level of detail - I really enjoyed reading your trip report

Although I have a headache just READING about the amount you drank

Thanks,
Boo

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Great report Phil.

i'm doing LHR-YVR-LHR on Wed 30th ( rtn Sun 12th Dec in NCW ( upper deck 60A outbound/60K rtn)

I was hoping to try the CX lounge in YVR on my rtn ( BA gold/emerald holder) but from your report it probably will not be open at that time.

Regards

TBS

Kiwi Flyer

Nice report GBOAC ^ and thanks for the idea (and link) of seaplane flight when I visit Vancouver.

sadiqhassan

Same ^ It's great idea.

typhoon

Thanks. Great trip report.

SQFAN

Good detailed description GBOAC. ^ Glad you enjoyed your F experience(s). Well, the whole experience could have been better had BAA (? or is it sub contracted) got their baggage handling act together.

PhilH

Great report Phil! It's amusing to see another Phil taking his first FIRST with a friend on a F trip to Vancouver!!! ^

yyzlhr

Great report ^ and some good Saturday morning chuckles!