JOHANNESBURG to LONDON HEATHROW (JNB-LHR) on British Airways 747-400 in business class
There was no call in the lounge for boarding but I headed out some 30 minutes before departure. We had a gate at the other end of the terminal. A passport check at the entrance, then a very cursory look inside my carry on half-way down and boarding pass check after that.
A pre-departure drink of water, juice or champagne. Menus were handed out.
Post departure drink and bag of nuts was followed an hour later by dinner. Given the flight scheduling I expected dinner to be served earlier in the flight to allow more sleep on this medium length longhaul flight.
Maybe the crew knew me (or they caught on quickly
) but I was very frequently asked if I wanted a top-up.
I managed a few hours of sleep. The load was not too high and the passenger next to me complained to the crew multiple times about how she wanted a window seat and could someone swap with her. I didn't feel guilty about not swapping as I'd pre-selected the rear window seat specifically so I don't have anyone stepping over me to get in or out, and no need for me to step over anyone either. If I'd been in another seat I probably would have swapped if asked. To the crew's credit I was not put in an uncomfortable position as they refused her requests to ask passengers to swap.
I awoke earlier than intended and so had breakfast which was served about 90 minutes before landing. With an arrival time before the end of curfew there are no flying circles over southern England nonsense and it was straight in to land, on time.
It was only as I was gathering my bits up that I realised there was no amenity kit. Oh well. Otherwise it was a good flight, the best I'd had on this trip so far. This surprised me as I do not like BA's business class seat - it shows what a difference service can make to impressions of the flight. Contrast this to the Qantas flight to Johannesburg with better seat and IFE but worse service.