TEX277

My other trip reports:
Background

I have had a yearning to fly on the 777-300ER and to sample NH F for quite a while and decided to take a quick trip around the world to ensure that I managed to achieve this as NH use their 777-300ERs to their US destinations whilst serving Europe exclusively with 744s. I was originally scheduled to take a NRT-LHR NH F flight on their 747-400 back in February but had to cancel. In order to get out to NRT and back from IAD I had to made three additional bookings in order to make the award flight between the two.

Ticket 1 - LGW-MXP on Easyjet costing around £45

Ticket 2 - MXP-FRA LH C
FRA-SIN LH F
Two night stopover in Singapore
SIN-TPE SQ C BMI Z2-Z8 redemption
One night in TPE 25000 miles + £170 + £90 tax

Ticket 3 - TPE-NRT UA F BMI Z8-Z3 redemption
NRT-IAD NH F 40000 miles + £270 + £110 tax

Ticket 4 - IAD-LHR BA J BA redemption 50000miles + £33 tax



Friday 13th April 2007 (Good job that I am not superstitious – 3 flights on Friday 13th!!)

I awoke at an insane hour and somehow managed to not only wash and dress myself but also give the very understanding Mrs TEX277 a kiss goodbye and stagger the two minute walk to the coach stop. Soon I was onboard and trying to sleep….unsuccessfully!

London Gatwick (LGW) South – Milan Malpensa (MXP) T2
Flight: EZ5291
Aircraft: A319 G-EZBO
Economy Class
Depart: 07:15
Arrive: 10:15

I was expecting an absolute nightmare but was pleasantly surprised to see all of the check-in desks open and only a couple of people in my queue. Within 3 minutes I was checked in and heading for security. This too is usually an unpleasant experience but I literally waltzed through and was shocked that BAA actually employed enough security screeners to ensure that there was no queue whatsoever.

After twiddling my thumbs for an hour or so, the departure board indicated that my flight would be departing from Gate 12. There was no scrum and, even though I was in the last group to board, there were plenty of spare seats. I allocated myself a window seat and enjoyed the whole row to myself.

The flight dragged a little but livened up as we hit some turbulence as we flew over the Alps. I expected as much considering I was looking forward to the impending Lufthansa First Class experience. I realised during the flight that the seats on this Easyjet plane do not have the ability to recline. No button was located in the seat. I like the idea. I usually don’t recline on short flights. We were offered the opportunity to purchase food and drink but I declined.

Milan Malpensa (MXP) T1 – Frankfurt (FRA)
Flight: LH3887
Aircraft: A319
Business Class
Depart: 14:20
Arrive: 15:40

I reclaimed my bag from the carousel MXP T2, left the arrivals area and jumped onto the free shuttle bus that operates between terminals 1 and 2. Once inside terminal 1 I attempted to check-in at the LH desks. The lady was not having any of it though as I was three hours early. I was told that they will be able to check-in my bag in around an hour. I begrudgingly found a quiet area on the lower level near a few glass display cabinets containing model aircraft and waited.

A little over an hour later and I head back to LH check-in. The lady (different to the previous) almost looks pleased to see me. However, her computer was a little less welcoming. I would estimate that it must have taken it at least 10 minutes to process me. A queue had formed but eventually I had my BPs and had ditched my luggage. Security was an absolute breeze and I was soon heading for the LH HON lounge. I sat in there for a little while but soon had enough. It was just too intimate and quiet. I could hear the other two people eating and when a few more passengers entered, I bolted. I inadvertently ended up in the Business Class lounge. I was actually after the toilets but found this instead! I much preferred it to the HON lounge. Okay so the food and drink were more prevalent in the HON but there was so much more space here. I loitered for a while and after having stolen an Italian language newspaper (for my wife to brush up on her Italian reading skills) I was finally successful in locating the toilets.

As we waited to board (I think that we actually boarded a few minutes after our scheduled departure) I noticed an AN-124 Ruslan taxiing past. I think that it was interesting to note that at no time did either the gate agent, cabin crew or flight crew make any reference to the delayed departure.

The cabin looked nice and much better than I recall LH short-haul C to look. The business cabin was pretty much full except that I had row 6 to all to myself.

The scheduled time for this flight was 1:20 but we were informed that today’s flight time would be 55 minutes which enabled us to make up the delayed departure. They did not say that though. Some of us were given a questionnaire to complete but I could not be bothered to get a pen out of my bag in the overhead compartment. Neither was I hungry so I waved away the meal offering. I thought that as I had lasted this long I may as well save my appetite for the FCT. We gained a fantastic view of FRA as we entered the pattern for approach. After touchdown I noticed a 747 Freighter being loaded through its nose as we headed for our remote stand.

The Lufthansa First Class FRA ground experience

After popping outside for a quick picture of the terminal I found the LH F check-in desks and told the lady that I would like a lift to the FCT. ‘I shall give the shuttle a call and you may wait in those seats over there’. I sit and wait. I have a lengthy connection (six hours) and have sampled the FCT before which caused me to adopt a rather leisurely attitude to my transfer to the FCT. Well, I started to think that I had been waiting too long and made a mental note of the time. More time passes. If I had been in a hurry or cared I’d have approached the desk and reminded them that I was still waiting. Two other passengers walk in and request the same service. They (travelling separately) sit near me and begin their wait. One of the chaps had either some extreme medical condition or total lack of manners and sense of decency which compelled him to hock up the mucus for his throat at least twice a minute before swallowing it again . I actually started to feel ill . It was disgusting. Eventually the shuttle driver appeared. Under different circumstances this may have been cause for celebration (I timed this arrival at 37 minutes since I grew tired of waiting and noted the time) but instead I had to sit closer to this chap with the congested throat . I must admit that the other chap was also rather unimpressed by this display of manners but neither of us said anything. Instead we just tried not to listen. I failed atrociously and Mr Congestion never realised just how close he came to never making it to the FCT as I jumped out first and took a photo of the building.

Once we had cleared security, I headed the opposite direction to Mr Congestion and took a seat at the restaurant section. I had rather unsurprisingly (and in spite of the gross one) built up quite an appetite . I enjoyed lots of king prawns, smoked salmon amongst others accompanied by three glasses of Champagne (two of which were Rosé – never tried it before so figured I may as well sample while somebody else is paying) before knocking away two desserts. I was somewhat disheartened to have to stop the passing staff on two occasions to top up my glass after it had run dry. Not the level of attentive service that you may expect in the FCT.

The menu available in the FCT read:


I then went for a bath and thought that the room looked fantastic. I took an extremely leisurely bath whilst talking to my wife on Skype to bring her up to date with Mr Congestion’s ailment and my day so far. I know that my mother would be horrified to learn that I was using a piece of electronic equipment whilst in the bath but being honest – there are worse places that one could die. I took quite a liking to the LH FCT branded bath duck and decided that it would look good beside my bath at home. I know that toiletries are fair game (not that I took them) but thought that the bath duck may well be overstepping the mark. To ease my conscience I decided to check with a staff member. She thought that it was sweet that I wanted it for my little daughter and informed me that she had seen nothing. It would appear that somebody had incorrectly informed her that I had a child - I do not possibly know who could have made such a erroneous statement. Three more glasses (non-rosé this time) of Champagne later and here I am typing this report waiting to be called down to my chauffeur transfer (hopefully in the Porsche this time)!! Scheduled departure is in 50 minutes away.

I was soon after informed that it was time to go. The lady escorted me into the lift down to the lower level. I took the opportunity to ask if it would be possible to get a ride to the aircraft in one of their Porsche Cayenne rather than the C Class Mercedes. Once the lift opened up she went over and took care of that for me whilst I retrieved my passport from security. I was introduced to my driver and took the option of travelling in the back. Perhaps with hindsight I should have taken the front set in what was my first ever ride in a Porsche. I managed to take some video as we drove along the apron of a RG MD11 and parking up between my LH 747 and a SQ 777-300ER. I asked if I could take a minute on the ramp to take a couple of photos. The driver said that we had plenty of time and after I had taken my pictures, he asked if I would like him to take a couple of pictures of me with the car and aircraft. Unfortunately, due to the lighting conditions, neither of which came out particularly well.

After climbing some stairs which led back into the terminal, the driver led me along the jet bridge, onto the aircraft, upstairs and introduced me to the Flight Attendant who was waiting at the top. She led me to my seat and I immediately noted that the adjacent seat was still free. I held a small amount of hope that it would remain so despite it looking pretty full up there. A couple of minutes later and my seat mate arrived. We were pleasant but did not really talk during the journey. The FA went to give me the last set of PJs on her trolley and then placed them back when she looked at me. One of her colleagues approached and they spoke together in German. Mid sentence I caught one of them say ‘extra large’ and then the other walked off. 30 seconds later she returned with my PJs !

Frankfurt (FRA) – Singapore (SIN)
Flight: LH 778
First Class
Aircraft: 747-400
Depart: 22:00
Arrive: 15:50 +1

There was no holding as the captain positioned the aircraft onto the runway and opened up the throttles. As we climbed away I thought that as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign goes off I’d get up and change out of my clothes and into the PJs that I had brought with me (saving the LH F PJs that I had been given by the FA for later use). I feared that the light would not be extinguished until somewhere over India as we had been cruising at 31000ft for quite a while with no turbulence encountered whatsoever and the light still remained on. Several minutes later to my delight (and the gent’s sitting across the aisle) the light went out.

After changing I returned to my seat a minute before the FA began to set everybody’s table. I had decided to skip the entrée and just stick with an appetiser and a glass of their Piper-Heidsieck Rare Champagne. After having a second helping of Caviar this time accompanied by a small sample of the pan-fried prawns, I decided that I was no longer hungry and wanted to sleep.


You will have to excuse the absence of photos from this flight. As it was a night flight and the cabin was full I thought it best not to having a camera flashing. I am sure most of you have seen the F cabin on LH 747s. It is located upstairs in a 2-2 layout (poor for the solo traveller) with four rows. I was seated in the third row (emergency exit) as I had figured that it would allow my seat mate aisle access without having to disturb me. He remained seated all of the way through the flight until about 25 minutes before arrival. The rest of the time he had slept with some light snoring which really did not bother me.

I had awoken earlier and realise that my hair had gone a little awry . I checked in the lavatory mirror and thought at first that I had grown another ear directly above my left ear. It looked ridiculous and I thought that there would be no sorting it out on the aircraft and would have to run to the first airport shop to purchase a baseball cap upon arrival into Singapore. Fortunately, I was able to stick my head under the tap in the lavatories, dry it a little and then rearrange to look something resembling normality. I spent the last hour of the flight watching the flight’s progress on the IFE. I turned away the breakfast offering as I seem to struggle to eat two meals on any flight. Although I had only eaten a little of the first meal, I had enjoyed a rather hearty meal in the FCT.



I changed back into my clothes and prepared for landing. I glanced out of the window and saw that the other runway was inoperative with vehicles parked near the threshold. I think that it was the same but on the other runway when I last visited in December. I noticed that my seat mate had made no effort to collect his unopened PJs as he headed down the stairs. I was in no hurry and took the opportunity to acquire the surplus pair for Mrs TEX277. There was a delay to the aircraft door opening which allowed me to have a chat with one of the FAs. During this conversation I noticed at least three other PJ sets that had been left unopened. Realising that my hand baggage just did not have the spare capacity I refrained from stocking up more comprehensively and settled for the two that I had already.

I cleared immigration quickly and was pleased to see my bag on the carousel in baggage reclaim by the time that I had got there. I did not time it but I would say that from setting foot into the terminal to landside must have taken around 10 minutes. I was impressed and glad to be back in Singapore. Eventually I found an ATM that accepted Amex, drew some cash, located SQ ticketing and informed them of my Book the Cook preference for the Slipper Lobster Thermidor for my next flight to TPE in two days. I jumped into a taxi and headed for my hotel.

Monday 16th April 2007

Singapore (SIN) – Taipei (TPE)
Flight: SQ872
Aircraft: 777-212 9V-SRQ
Raffles (Business Class)
Depart: 0800
Arrive: 1240

I arrived at Changi by SMRT and proceeded directly to check-in. I was somewhat amazed by the quietness of the check-in area. There were very few people about. This did mean that there was no queue at all to check-in. The agent confirmed my seat choice and Book The Cook preference and then started to ask about my onward travel from TPE. After a moment of surprise by her questioning, I realised that all that she could see was that I had a one-way ticket to TPE. I handed over my second BMI award reservation (TPE-NRT-IAD) and she tapped away at her keyboard before returning the e-ticket.

I strolled through departure immigration (again no queue – or anybody around at all) and took a look around the shops. Asked if she wanted any gifts from any of my destinations, my wife stated that she did not. Experience however has enabled me to translate that to ‘Get me something, I don’t know what but be sure to get me something!’ Why can’t women just say what they want? Anyway, I now have some dried Laksa that you make using a microwave. This is though, and I did not realise the microwave part until I was on the plane, we do not have a microwave! Sort of falls in line with the other naff gifts that I have obtained for her i.e. an Italian language newspaper and the LH FCT bath duck.

I entered the Raffles section of the SKL and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of space provided and again notice a lack of passengers. I had a bite to eat and drink before utilising the free internet access. Boy, are those keyboard well worn!! All to soon my flight was showing as boarding, so I grabbed my belongings and headed for gate F33 where the 777-200 was waiting.

Once onboard the cabin quickly filled. I had a seatmate and the rest of the cabin was around 80% occupied. I do not have a great deal to say about this flight really. I only ate the appetiser, drank two glasses of Champagne, a Singapore Sling and some water and watched a couple of films. To be honest, those who have read my other trip reports may have noticed this, I rarely use the IFE for anything other than following our progress on the flight info/moving map channel. Not this time! I decided to watch the sort of films that I was curious about but reluctant to part with cash to watch. First was Rocky Balboa followed by The Queen. I imagined that the latter was supposed to be a serious film but I thought that it was quite juvenile. Who was in charge of casting? I think that they opted for physical similarity to the portrayed characters over acting ability. Luckily I was put out of my misery when, just as Queenie was making her public address, I was asked to stow my video screen. I take it I did not miss too much (around 20 minutes I believe) and will not go out of my way to see the ending.

We were greeted by a rather long line at Immigration which did not move particularly quickly. Once I reached the counter it was all straight forward. I just handed over the passport and landing card, he looked at them, stamped them, stapled the duplicate into my passport and waved me through without as much as a ‘Why are you here?’ I then breezed through customs too.

An evening in Taipei

I caught a coach from the airport to the Grand Hyatt which cost NT$145 (a little over £2). From there I caught a taxi to my hotel (Wan Tai Hotel on Songshen Road) for NT$120. Check-in was quick and I was amazed by the size and quality of my room considering the Singapore equivalent from which I had just left. I dumped my bags, hailed a cab and sped towards Taipei 101. The shopping centre is rather nice with some very fancy names. As time was getting late (and the fact that I was trying to stick to a budget) I ignored them and sort out the entrance to the observatory.

It cost NT$350 to ride the world’s fasted lift up to the 89th floor. Inside the lift there is a screen that displays your speed, floor level, position and speed as you shoot upwards at over 1010m/m. I had a good look around and really enjoyed the night view of Taipei from the internal observation level. It was strange to see high rise buildings so far below. The open air deck on the 91st Floor is well worth the additional NT$100.

Another cab ride took my back to the hotel to explore the vicinity. Just along the alleyway next to the hotel lies a large grid of side streets where the only products sold are clothes. I had a quick nose around but was much more interested in sampling some local cuisine. I found a few eateries on the opposite side of the road to my hotel and, as there was no English writing in sight, I figured it would be best to go with the one that displayed pictures of all of their options above the entrance which was guarded by a hospitable lady cooking on the stoves.

I pointed at what I wanted (we did not share any knowledge of a common language), she nodded, lead me in and gesticulated what to do. The food was good and the sauce that she brought over for me added an additional combination of flavours. But it literally boiling hot with the burner beneath. I believe that there was a poached egg in there, along with a shrimp, some type of cabbage, beef (I hope!) and small meat/fish balls. I consumed two cans of Sprite to keep my mouth from overheating and was absolutely shocked to be asked to pay the total of NT$130 (£2) for the food and drinks. Such fantastic value!! It is a shame that I am only here for one night.

Tuesday 17th April 2007

I slept from midnight until 3am and then just could not get back to sleep. I was out of the room by 05:30am to catch a taxi to the coach collection point at the Grand Hyatt. The hotel stands opposite Taipei 101, which had its head in the clouds. I was pleased to see a small crowd waiting for the same coach as their presence indicated that I had not just missed one. The timetable merely states that the ‘frequence’ is every 20-30 minutes. At 06:00 we pulled away and arrived outside TPE T2 a little under one hour later.

Taipei (TPE) – Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Flight: UA882
Aircraft: 777-222ER N782UA
First Class
Depart: 09:45
Arrive: 14:00

I found the UA First Check-in desk and waited while the agents processed the customers in front of them. A couple of minutes later and it was my turn. The lady placed a gold United ‘International First Class Cabin Baggage’ tag around my carry-on and printed out my boarding pass. The very first thing that I noted was the large font SSSS plastered across it. Thinking about it, I believe that this is the very first time that this has happened to me as a previously frequent UA flyer. In fact it is less than two months since my 1K status lapsed.

I navigated security and departure immigration. The queue for immigration was quite long and I guess I had to wait for around 10 minutes. It is quite annoying when there are queues whilst some positions go unmanned. I spent every single dollar of my remaining local currency on 200 cigarettes (not that I smoke) and some local foodstuff. I took a walk down to the gate to take a photo of the aircraft but it was not on stand yet. There was a NW 744 and CI A330 around to ensure that the walk was not wasted.

I took a photo of the SQ SKL entrance before seeking admission. The lady pointed me towards the First section after requesting to see my invitation that I was given at check-in. I obliged without hesitation but was thinking that a First boarding pass for a same-day Star Alliance flight is all that is required to gain admission to any Star Alliance First lounge. The invitation itself is superfluous. It seems like a waste of time, money and resources.

The First section of the lounge was very quiet upon arrival. I think my arrival increased the attendance figure by 50%. As the other two were busy in semi-private areas (not that sort of busy and not together!!!), I thought it would be a good time to take a few pictures including the food and drinks counter and a general overview of the First lounge.

Having lost track of time, I realised that there was only 35 minutes left before departure. I packed my belongings away and headed straight for gate D7 where boarding had already begun. I made use of the First/Business queue and was surprised not to be pulled aside for secondary security screening. I took my seat and watched the cabin fill to capacity. I think there was only one UA employee seated in First. I settled into my seat with a pre-departure glass (okay – two) of Champagne. She offered the papers and headsets without speaking to anybody. I feared for the worse especially after noticing two babies in the front row in Business Class.

We pushed back exactly on schedule and taxied to the runway. We were soon as 39000ft. My FA perked up once we were off the ground and genuinely seemed to take great delight in constantly topping up my glass of Champagne. All of the other passengers were drinking tea, so I was the sole focus of her attention whenever that bottle entered her hands.




It was not until the meal service was over that I eventually had to wave her away. My lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with me and I reclined the seat into the flat bed position. I awoke as we descended through 15000ft on the approach into NRT. The lack of sleep and consumption of all of that Champagne resulted in me feeling a little fragile.

As I disembarked I thanked the FA supplied me so well with Champagne and was glad that I only heard a scream or two from the babies behind whilst we were descending. The flight that I thought may well be laborious was in fact a pleasant one. It was great to not have a seat mate for once again as I occupied 3J (window seat) on UA’s 1-2-1 777 First cabin layout. I enjoyed the relative privacy that this allowed but my mind began to turn to the now imminent ANA 77W First experience.

NRT Arrival formalities and the overnight at Excel Narita Hotel Tokyu

Immigration took a good ten minutes to process the queue in front of me. By the time I had made it down to baggage reclaim, my bag and, I assume, the bags of the other First passengers were lined up on the floor ready for our collection. The actual carousel had not even begun to rotate with everybody elses’ bags as I cleared customs. I easily found the shuttle bus pick-up point for my hotel, The Narita Excel Hotel Tokyu. There was a chart that displayed the names of all of the hotels that provided a courtesy shuttle and their respective schedules. I noted that the Excel reverted to an hourly service during the middle of the day which departs on the hour. I glanced at my watch. I knew what it was going to say but checked anyway. 14:05. Grrr. I hung around for ten minutes just in case it showed up a little late. It did not. I took the short walk to the taxi rank, loaded my bags and told the driver where I’d like to go.

Ten minutes later and ¥1700 worse off, we pull up at the hotel. The driver unloads my bags and says ‘no boy’ (referring to the absence of the greeter). I was not concerned. I had pulled my own bags much further before than the 20 metre stroll to check-in. The boy (actually a rather attractive girl) approached apologising for the delay and offered to take my bags. I thanked her but said that it was not necessary. She escorted me to check-in and apologised once more for the delay.

Feeling tired and with the need to be refreshed upon arrival into Washington DC the following day, I opted to omit a Tokyo day trip from my itinerary (sorry LapLap) and replace it with some much needed sleep. I slept from 4pm-10pm and then spent the night awake. I was not short of things to occupy my time though and put it to good use. I did some ironing, rearranging the packing of my bags, spoke to the good lady and parents through Skype and utilising the excellent free in room internet access. With any luck I should be able to enjoy the NH First NRT airport experience and in-flight dining before (hopefully) getting a good night’s sleep to get me ready for my 11 hours on the ground in DC.

Wednesday 18th April 2007

Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Washington Dulles (IAD)
Flight: NH2
Aircraft: 777-381ER JA734A
First Class
Depart: 11:10
Arrive: 10:40

Checking out of the hotel took a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the rest of the journey to the ANA NRT First Lounge at No. 5 Satellite. The shuttle coach crawled along with the traffic to the roadside passport check point. Our coach (like all others) was boarded by two officials who walked through the coach checking everybody’s face matched that shown in their passport. I genuinely would be grateful if somebody could educate me as to why this is necessary. Contrastingly the check-in at the ANA First desk went smoothly. I was concerned before the trip that I would have nowhere to store my hold baggage whilst I toured DC. I had even gone so far as to reserve a hire car for the sole purpose of baggage storage. I had hoped that ANA could check my bag through to the second leg of my trip back to LHR on a separate BA ticket. I telephoned the ANA UK customer service number and was told that this was not possible as ANA and BA did not have an interline agreement. I thought that I had nothing to lose by enquiring about this at check-in. I was glad to learn that she could indeed interline the bags through to LHR but I would obviously still have to collect them at IAD before dropping them off once I had cleared customs.

I had previously seen on the ANA website that there are plans to introduce a special priority security channel for First and elite passengers but noticed that it was due to be available from July. Now either the website was around a year out of date or that July opening had been brought forward as the lady at check-in handed me a wallet containing a pass for the security entrance. The wallet actually contained several ‘goodies’. This pass, my boarding pass, an lounge invitation (that was again requested and supplied!!) and a map displaying the location of the lounges within the departure area.

Although it does feel nice to use dedicated facilities that are designed to ease the passage through an airport, I noticed that the regular queue was absolutely minimal. However, after descending the escalators and turning the corner, I wish the same could be said of the departure immigration queue. I joined the one that looked slightly shorter than the rest. Security agents entered to return belonging left at security at regular intervals that I found to be entertaining. It was not until I had endured about two thirds of the distance from start to end of the queue that I realised that the queue that I joined actually merged with the adjacent queue before leading to one immigration official. This of course effectively doubled the length of the queue and goes some way to explaining why it took nearly 30 minutes to get through. I would politely recommend to ANA that a priority immigration channel would be more beneficial than a priority security channel.

Once I was finally through I was walking past the information desk immediately beyond immigration and overheard an American guy enquiring about which lounge was most appropriate for him. I them looking at his blue map (indicating business class) and for a couple of seconds I paused to deliberate whether I should take him down to the First lounge with me. I quickly realised that I needed to do some shopping first and his gate may be far from the lounge that I was destined. As I walked off, I began to wonder whether he was an FTer and if he’d read this report one day. If you are, then I hope that you understand. After spending the last of my Yen, I headed for gate 56 to take a look at my NH 777-381ER before heading upstairs to the no. 5 satellite lounge which enjoyed great views out of the windows looking at the apron. Despite their being a comprehensive food and beverage counter including some great looking sushi, I sat down with a glass of coke and began typing away. I do not believe that I have ever been in a First Class lounge before without consuming any alcohol whatsoever.

With only ten minutes before I intended to start the short walk to the gate, I realise that I can now online check-in for my BA flight back to LHR. Unfortunately, all of the window seats had been taken leaving me a choice of side aisle seats at the back of the cabin, middle seats or one centre aisle seat on the second row. I rejected the 15B that had been allocated by BA (they know my window seat preference) and took 11G. I do not like BA not allowing all of their Club World passengers to pre-allocate seats until check-in opens. I recall SQ would not pre-allocate economy seat when I flew on them to Hanoi a couple of years back and thought that that was bad form but BA takes the biscuit.

My flight was called just ten minutes before scheduled departure. I took a couple of pictures as I left the lounge and noticed by batteries die once I was outside. This did bring some apprehension as I was playing ‘spare battery lottery’. My wife likes to keep dead batteries from the camera as they still have enough energy remaining to power her small radio for a few weeks. Batteries lie around our flat and due to my inability to remember which batteries are dead and which are new (I should separate them I know) I could not be sure that the spares were actually new.

At the gate I utilised the priority boarding lane as economy had a moderate queue. As the jet bridge split into two, I paused to grab a picture of the First Class entrance and the red carpet that led to the aircraft. I was greeted by a FA who saw me and asked “Mr TEX277?” I was a little taken aback by her being able to name me upon first sight. Of course it soon dawned on me that of the five First Class passengers I was the only non-Oriental (non-Asian for our American friends).

My seat and the cabin looked magnificent and had extremely generous width. I stowed my bag in the overhead locker and took my seat posing for a photo or even perhaps two using the self timer. I spotted one discretely located small pocket housing the complimentary headphones. I few seconds later, I spotted another holding the slippers. Then yet another just next to my shoulder that now is home to my camera. I was so excited to be finally in both ANA First Class and on the 777-300ER. I do not know what I love about this aircraft that makes it so special in my eyes. The raked wing tips certainly differentiate it from others but I suppose the ingenuity required to develop the ER version of the 777-300 also plays a part.

So excited in fact that I was too caught up taking a picture or two of myself to realise that pushback was only moments away. I glanced out of the window as we taxied away to see two of the ramp workers waving us goodbye. We crawled along in a queue of traffic heading waiting our turn to take off. I had a fantastic view of another NH 77W rotating as well and a BA and JL 744s accelerating away. From my vantage point in 2K I could see directly down the centre line of the runway as the pilot steered us into position. The GE90s kicked in with a potent roar and we began thundering along and upwards towards our initial cruising altitude of 31000ft. Once we were at altitude the FA served my requested glass of Krug along with some tasty nibbles. The nibbles were good and I looked forward to the main meal from the menu which read:


There was also a Japanese and breakfast menu as well as a comprehensive wine list but unfortunately they were collected back by the FA before I had remembered to photograph them. Apologies.

I can honestly say that the food that I sampled was quite simply the finest that I have experienced in-flight. Perhaps the caviar serving could have been more generous but it came in its own jar rather than the FA serving out a portion I was offered a second appetiser and so took another serving. The wagyu beef tenderloin was cooked to perfection and I greatly enjoyed the light covering of mustard that accompanied. Dessert was good but just lacking that little something – perhaps I should have chosen something else. I watched finished watching ‘Night at the Museum’ as the blinds were closed and before heading back to economy for my photo of the raked wing tips. Upon my return I changed into my PJs and whilst the FA made my bed before I retired for a snooze.

I awoke just as we reached the US/Canada coast line and, realising that I was unlikely to return to sleep, I selected to watch Casino Royale. Whilst flying over the US at cruising altitude I took a picture looking back towards the wing and also of a United 737 passing just beneath us. I was offered breakfast by decided to delay that until a little closer to arrival as I still was not particularly hungry after the first meal. I took another walk along the length of the aircraft (after first changing out of my PJs) and was amazed at the load factor. Five of eight seats in First were occupied, Business was around 40% full and economy was somewhere between 30-40% with many passengers having the three window seats to themselves and using them as a flat bed. Upon returning to my seat I requested my breakfast of a selection of fresh fruit and happily tucked it away. Unfortunately, the flight had to come to an end and we began out descend into IAD. I sat back and enjoyed the last few minutes of ANA First on their 777-300ER whilst capturing a photo of the leading edge extension as we were on finals. All too soon it was time to bid farewell to both my seat and to the aircraft itself.

The plus of being able to check my bags in with ANA in NRT and having them interlined onto BA did have its drawback. Although we arrived at the B gates I had to go with the ‘connecting’ passengers to the C gates to clear immigration and customs. It took 35 minutes from touchdown to the inter-terminal shuttle pulling away from the docking position. Immigration had only four officers manning the desks and only two of them were processing non-US residents. Once that was navigated I collected my bag that was waiting by the carousel and headed for the customs officer. I think he was taking issue with the couple in front of me but ultimately let them through eventually. Once I was also allowed to progress I made for another shuttle that then took me to the main terminal. A little over an hour after touchdown I was in the arrivals hall. I had arranged to meet up with a fellow FTer, dcgators, but could not find him. After a few minutes I realised that I was in the domestic arrivals area and that he was unlikely to be waiting there for a flight arriving from NRT. We saw each other as I approached International arrivals. We have exchanged many PMs and emails but never before met so it was great to finally l meet him and be able to put a face to the handle.

Drove over to the Udvay-Hazy centre for some picture taking of such fabulous aircraft including a SR-71, the ‘Enola Gay’, an Air France Concorde, F-4, F-14 and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. We spent the afternoon driving around the DC sights, stopping to take photos of various sights including the Pentagon, Washington Memorial, the Treasury Department and the White House (and again). He was a great tour guide and I thoroughly enjoyed my time onboard the dcgators FT limo. We had a quick drink in a bar overlooking the White House before heading off for dinner. We took our seats at the Tex-Mex restaurant and nibbled away on tortillas as we awaited the arrival of his partner. Once he arrived we ordered our food and spend an hour or two eating, drinking and chatting away. All too soon though, it was time to head back to IAD. We pressed-ganged a passing traveller into taking our picture and then said our farewells.

I had feared that I so looking forward to the NH F flight on their 77W so much that the actually event would be something of a disappointment. I can assure you that it was not and thoroughly enjoyed every second that I spent on board. The crew were good but I had expected that they would be similar in standard to the SQ girls and they were not. I had on occasions given up waiting for a top up of my drink and had to call over an FA or go to the galley myself. Even more surprisingly, in this regard the NH service fell below that experienced onboard United First Class. In reality this is a very minor gripe as the rest of the experience was so good it did not significantly spoil the overall onboard experience.

Washington Dulles (IAD) – London Heathrow (LHR)
Flight: BA292
Aircraft: 777-236 G-ZZZ?
Club World (Business Class)
Depart: 21:55
Arrive: 10:05 +1

I collected my boarding pass at check-in and used the premium channel for security screening. Once cleared, I beat a path for the Terraces lounge to enjoy my unexpected Pre-flight supper. Unexpected because although I was aware that it was a late departure from the East Coast, the flight it was not stated either during booking or upon receipt of my e-ticket that it was a Sleeper Service unlike the previous occasion when I booked a Sleeper Service. Once I had completed my meal I poked my head into the main lounge and realised that it looked quite full. I decided that I’d rather go down to the gate and find some space to update this report. I heard the boarding calls going out and watched others boarding before packing my belongings away and boarded quickly through the priority lane.

As I approached 11G, the seat that I had allocated myself at OLCI, I noticed the chap in 11F loitering evidently awaiting the arrival of whomever was going to take 11G. I know this and deliberately avoided eye contact as I placed my bags on my seat. I heard an ‘Excuse me’ and reluctantly made eye contact. He was an American chap perhaps in his mid sixties. He explained that he had not realised that 11F was a rear facing seat and really just could not travel facing backwards as it made him ill and enquired whether I would mind switching seats with him. Please do not set me wrong, I do not mind switching seats to help out another traveller, but the trade was rather unfair as I had an allocated aisle seat while he had one of the middle twosomes. I reluctantly but politely accepted the switch for the sake of an old man’s well being. However, I did wonder later whether I had been had. With hindsight I would guess that he fell foul of the silly BA seating policy that prohibited anybody other than BA and partner elites as well as full fare passengers allocating seats before check-in commences. I used OLCI within 30 minutes of it opening and had very little choice of acceptable seats (i.e. anything other than the E/F middle twosomes) but was able to get one of four remaining aisle seats. My guess is that by the time he checked in, nothing but E/F seats were available and he had no choice. Do get around this; he sought a seat swap possibly using a fictitious ailment. Whether it was fictitious or not, I am starting to think that I should have explained the situation to him with reference to silly BA seating policy, apologised that I would be unwilling to accept his swap and strongly recommended that he contact BA to complain about the policy. I did not want the chap to suffer but that it exactly what I felt as I first settled into 11F.

Having come from NH F I felt so tightly confined, with a fellow passenger on either side, that I began to think this flight was going to be painful. I enjoyed a pre-departure glass of Champagne and once we had took off and after the fasten seat belt sign was quickly extinguished; I jumped up and headed to the lavatory with my LH F PJs. I stored my clothes in the overhead lockers and sat down to enjoy some hot chocolate and a couple of chocolate chip cookies before reclining my seat into a fully flat bed. I rolled over, face down with hands under my face, wished that the seat pitch was 6 inches more but soon fell asleep.

I woke up an hour before arrival into LHR and just before we approached the Irish coast. I returned to the lavatory to change back into my clothes but replacing my shirt with a light jumper. I knew it would be needed once I was on the ground in the UK. I turned away breakfast and waited for our arrival. I was glad that we did not have to serve our time in the hold and we touched down a few minutes after schedule. The chap with whom I had switched seats once again thanked me as we got out of our seats to disembark.

There was a sign at the entrance to the IRIS machine at LHR T4 stating that it was not open preventing the two chaps ahead as well as me access and an expedited immigration clearance. Instead I joined a moderately small queue and waiting to see a real person. Whilst waiting I and the other two chaps noticed another passenger pause at the entrance to the IRIS channel to read the closed sign and then proceed to the machine itself. I think we all thought ‘what a fool’ and that one of the immigration officers manning the closest desk would scald him and send him to join the regular line. No. Instead the doors opened, he walked in, scanned his eyes, the doors opened and he was on his way.

Once through Immigration I was pleased to see my bag already on the carousel waiting for me. I truly was amazed by this as I had not been particularly slow in getting from the aircraft to baggage reclaim myself. I had feared that my bags would not get priority treatment as they were tagged back at NRT with a Star Alliance priority tag. Upon collection at LHR however, this Star Alliance tag had been folded over, stapled down and had a large ‘Standby’ tag attached. I am not sure why but it was there and delivered rapidly so I can not complain!!

I walked into the arrivals area ten minutes before my coach departed. As there is only one coach per hour from LHR back to my home town of Brighton, I decided to take it rather than use the BA Arrivals lounge and enjoy an English breakfast, shower and massage. After loading my luggage, the driver took exception to my ticket as he informed me that my open return was invalid as it had been issued more than three months ago. It was cheeky upon my part to present it for travel as I had in fact used it before but the driver then failed to annotate that the return segment had been utilised. I quickly purchased a one-way ticket from the nearby kiosk for £20 and was soon homeward bound and eagerly looking forward to my next trip but for very different reasons. The travel itself will not be as refined as we (my wife is accompanying me this time) ‘enjoy’ BA Euro Traveller to Toulouse for chrissxb’s TLS Airbus Do in less than 33 hours.

The End

PS. As you may be aware from my other trip reports, I write them so that in years to come I can look back and reminisce about my past travels. Many congratulations to anybody who actually took the time to read (I am aware that this is no five minute task) through all of this report and I sincerely do hope that you enjoyed sharing in my experience. I welcome all feedback and look forward to hearing your comments.

PresRDC

Excellent report. Thanks for posting, even if you have selfish motivations!

P.S.: I did read the whole thing.

WindFlyer

Thanks for the report, and happy for you that you got to try NH F.


I wonder what you'll think in a few years when you read back about Mr Congestion

...and now that I've read yours, you get to read mine

LeeT

Fantastic report TEX loved every minute reading it, great attention to detail.....

RTW4

I actually loved the ENTIRE report and it made me want to get on the phone and begin the planning for my next RTW... real soon...

chichi

^ great report, enjoyed reading the whole trip

timo469

Great Report. I enjoyed reading about your NRT-IAD flight.

Great pics too!

Kiwi Flyer

Great report TEX277 ^

That makes me glad I have always walked across to the FCT. On some connections, like the one a few days before you, that wait would be longer than the time I had in the FCT. Poor performance for what is otherwise very nice service.

Bundy Bear

Great report, I read it all but not the menus, short holiday, lucky that the jetlag didn't effect you to much. Thanks for the photos.

brahms77

TEX277, great report! I see that you finally made to a NH 77W F flight! I cannot agree with you more on the premium security at NRT. When I flew NH F in February (I was going to meet you for drinks at NH F lounge until you cancelled your ticket) that there really wasn't a que for premium pax for immigration. I would have appreciated fast track immigration more than premium security.

I also did enjoy NH F very much, but I think I like SQ F better (sky suites). For some reason, the foot rest (metal) became very bothersome when sleeping sideways.

I think NH F food is one of the best, perhaps better than SQ F food. I loved the snacks that they had, but for some reason, the FAs on my flight forgot to ask me for light Japanese meal prior to landing and I missed out on it. But I had managed enough meals with full Japanese meal and other snack items that I wasn't too disappointed with missing out on the prior to landing meal.

Lastly, I also had to stay over-night to take NH flight to ORD (I was coming in from ICN). I decided to book a hotel in downtown Tokyo (more like in Odaiba) at Le Meridien Grand Pacific. I walked around the city (my second time) and went to several places including Akihabara, Tokyo Tower. I want to utilize these short stops as much as possible so I always try to stay awake and go out and see. You could have toured Narita city, which is quite nice for short walks in the parks in the Narita Temple. But then again, you must have been so tired... so sleep would have been your priority.

I have some pictures from my F trip here: www.firstclass.shutterfly.com

This includes all my F class segments that I redeemed for 120K UA miles (minus UA domestic F). My routing was as follows, with five months in Korea. For NH (NRT-ORD), I have pictures of the Japanese Kyo Kaiseki meal. It was very nice.

BOS-ORD-LAX (UA)-NRT-SIN-CMB-SIN-NRT (SQ)-ICN (stopover for few months)-NRT(OZ)-ORD (NH)-BOS(UA).

yow777

Great Trip repot^ Enjoyed the pics as well

f4freeJunior

I felt like beeing on the trip with you!
Fantastic writing skills!
I love your personnal comments that come from your heart. The "Why can’t women just say what they want?" for example is a lovely personnal comment. It makes the trip report outstanding.

Thanks! This report is amongst my personal favorites.
Cheers,

f4fJ

Fliar

> The FA went to give me the last set of PJs on her trolley and then placed them back when she looked at me. One of her colleagues approached and they spoke together in German. Mid sentence I caught one of them say ‘extra large’ and then the other walked off. 30 seconds later she returned with my PJs !

You have a good sense of humour! :-)

lucky9876coins

Wow, what an absolutely fantastic trip report! ^ The pictures and commentary were excellent as always, and I hope to see many more! Happy to see that you got to meet up with dcgators. He's a great guy!

view

Entertaining read, thanks for sharing. There was one comment which almost made me fall off the chair, in FT context at least it's hilarious: