An unheard-of $372.80 airfare from YYZ to London, a well-planned FT "Do" and wanting to do something special for Valentine's Day this year, prompted me to surprise Mrs. yyzflyer with the shortest international trip we'd ever taken. Flights were on AA, of course, and were the qualifying run for one of many promos the airline has offered recently. Routing through DFW for the extra miles was an added bonus.

Although AA had tightened our DFW connection, the weather on Friday, February 13 was excellent and our YYZ-DFW was on time, allowing for a brief meeting with FT'ers the Arkangels in the DFW Admirals Club. They were on our flight as well, continuing on to Paris. (Nice touch for Valentine's Day we thought.) Arkangel was kind enough to show us some photos of a few FT'ers who would be at the next day's get-together, making recognition a little easier. We had never been to an FT "Do" before, so were quite intrigued with the fact that we weren't the only ones to travel so far for a weekend.

AA78 was an uneventful flight - very full, with below average service for AA. The coach meal was actually quite good, if a bit small and our seats 31A/B are second only to 31H/J as far as comfort on AA's 777 goes. We arrived in LGW and, after clearing a lengthy queue at Immigration, we proceeded to our Hotel - Le Meridien Gatwick. Despite its nice public areas, this hotel is nothing special and the worn condition of the room probably reflects Le Meridien's financial straits. However, for an excellent £99 rate with breakfast and VAT, the location was excellent for our early flight Monday morning, and they did let us check in at 10:00 a.m.

After a short nap and showers, we headed into London for the obligatory stop at Harrods before the FT dinner. I say it every time, but man that place is crowded. A snack (something about the novelty of having a Krispy Kreme in London), followed by more browsing and we were off to Luigi's in Soho. The FT dinner is well-documented elsewhere, including the thread linked above. It was great to meet so many who I've "chatted" with on FT over the years, as well as some who've kept in regular touch by email. For example, AmericanFtWorthTX and I have played "airport tag" a couple of times now, so it was great to finally meet. Small world too, as we're going to be in Hawaii at the same time next month. We had a fine dinner with the cordellis of UA fame, and found lots to talk about including our appreciation of Northern California wine country. Being very tired, we elected to leave the group after dinner and head back to the hotel.

Although rainy at Gatwick Sunday morning, the weather in London was great for the second day. Wished we skipped breakfast at the hotel though - both food and service were very disappointing. More shopping was the order of the day, with the usual stops at Marks & Spencer, Thornton's and several shops in between. Armed with several shopping bags, we boarded the Tube to visit some good friends in Hounslow. They had recently moved into a new home and we were anxious to see it. The rain was just threatening again when we arrived. After an excellent dinner, our friends took us to their neighbourhood pub - a big first for Mrs. yyzflyer, who had actually never been in a traditional London establishment. Too soon it was time to head back. The Gatwick Express was deserted at 11:00 p.m.

An early rise the next day for our mid-morning flight back to DFW. Mrs. yyzflyer wisely decided to skip breakfast. For the first time we checked in using the coach line at LGW, since our upgrades had not cleared. (Actually it turned out they did clear, but our fare basis was not eligible for upgrade.) We were given Fast Track stickers however, and headed to the Admirals Club. Many don't like this club, but I find it comfortable and quiet, and suspect AA flyers will be treated as second-class in the BA lounge when AA moves to the other terminal at LGW.

Another uneventful flight, this time with excellent service. No less than five drink services were offered, in addition to two good meals. At DFW I attempted to upgrade into the available F seats on our next segment with electronic upgrades, however was trumped by EXP's - a concept which will become more familiar soon on AA.

All-in-all though a great weekend! Good flights, good weather and time with new and old friends.