Return Flight (5th April, NRT-LHR on BA6 in J, 4-class 747)
Back on the Narita Express to NRT, only to find check-in not open yet! Another trip to Starbucks while we waited for it to open and finally checking-in. Off to outbound immigration and security - again there was a long line at immigration, but the security checks were completed without the need to wait.
BA Check-in
We headed immediately to the Delta Sky Lounge above satelite 1. I had feared this wouldn't be a great lounge, and was very pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful lounge with a decent breakfast selection. A few cups of coffee, a couple of pastries and some fruit, before jumping onto one of their many Apple PCs to check the football (soccer!) results which I had missed over the past few weeks.
One of the seating areas
Food area
About an hour later we were off to gate 15 (I think!) for our 747 home. Sadly 747s are on their way out - to be replaced be more 777s, then eventually A380s and 787s. The 747 is a beautiful bird and will be very sadly missed by anyone who is an aviation fan.
There was a delay boarding the plane due to it being cleaned, but sadly after boarding it was clear the job wasn't done properly, with crumbs on my seat, and large crumbs in my fiancees storage drawer. However, that aside the return trip home was absolutely outstanding! We were booked into 14J/K, which is at the rear of the front business cabin on the lower deck. 14K has a little extra legroom in bedmode, which I really appreciate seeing as I'm 6foot4.
14K in seat mode
14K in bed mode
Pre-flight champagne, followed by more champagne after takeoff and the usual nuts. We were treated to a full service on this leg and really enjoyed it. Similar to the experience in the T5 lounge my fiancee apologetically asked for some champagne as if she might not be entitled to any! I won't go through the entire menu, but for lunch I enjoyed a cream cheese starter, salad course, steak and mash then chocolate pudding. There was a good selection of wines on offer, and I enjoyed a good Pinot with my lunch. Plenty of hot towels and amenity kits available.
Starter and salad
Steak main course
To try and combat jet lag we both settled down to some sleep after lunch, with my fiancee starting writing a wedding guest list (she's immediately turned into BrideZilla). Got about 5 or 6 hours sleep which almost put me back onto GMT. I watched a couple of movies; 'Armoured', an action film about a heist of an armoured vehicle, then 'The Lovely Bones', the apparently acclaimed Peter Jackson movie. Neither were any good.
Throughout the flight the Club Kitchen remained stocked - plenty of nibbles, drinks and freshly cut sandwiches. There were also a collection of instant noodle dishes, possibly because we departed from Japan. I did try a couple of sandwiches and a chocolate bar.
View from 38,000 feet
We enjoyed lunch before landing - I had blue cheese salad, chicken and leek 'pie', and fruit. Sadly no more wine tasting for me as I had to collect my car from the valet parking. The cabin crew were outstanding, and nothing was too much for them. Again business appeared completely full on this flight.
Salad and fruit
Fruit and chicken 'pie'
Great view over London as we came into land, and a very soft landing (I'm guess because the good conditions allowed them to let the computer land the plane - sorry if my assumption offends flyertalk pilots!).
Very quickly through immigration, but a depressingly long wait for our luggage. However, for once the priority baggage handing seemed to work with our bags coming off first. Through to arrivals, then outside to my waiting car and the drive home.
Overall an absolutely amazing holiday with a proposal included!
Hope you've all enjoyed this report from a non-frequent flyer