MIAMI to LONDON HEATHROW (MIA-LHR) on British Airways 747-400 (low J config) in business
When I arrived at check in there were long queues in economy and business, but no one in first. Check in opened a little later than stated on the monitors and first last of all. I was told I'd already been checked in by American Airlines. I don't know if this was from Panama or my failed attempt using the kiosks in Miami. Anyway it was no problem to reissue the boarding pass and also give me 2 more boarding passes for onward flights. A small wait while the agent checked the visa requirements for my next flight - she didn't trust the Timatic printout I offered after a couple of minutes of waiting.
I was lucky with security, just getting through as the nudeoscope started being used - the passenger behind me was unlucky.
I went up to the oneworld lounge. I think this is the nicest of the three OW lounges at Miami, certainly better food and drink. The downside is the lounge only opens at 1300 and is located in terminal E which is quite some distance from the low D gates. I asked for a shower at reception - I don't know why in USA and Europe showers are often locked in between uses whereas in Asia and Australasia you just grab the nearest empty one. I was just about finished in there when the alarms went. Oh please not a terminal dump. I dried off and got dressed. The alarms were still going. Out of the shower room people seemed to be continuing with normal activity and a few moments later the alarm was silenced. Phew.
I managed to do a bit of work, albeit less than I'd planned. On the third call for the flight I left and was farewelled by name by the reception staff. I timed my run perfectly as there was no queue at the gate (premium boarding was just finishing and economy yet to start) and straight into my seat.
Just after I'd gotten settled I offered to swap seats so a father and son could sit together. Pre-departure drinks were water, orange juice or champagne. Newspapers offered, and it was interesting to see the flight attendant name particular papers she thought each passenger would prefer. You had to ask for others if you wanted something else. In the magazine rack the business : life magazine was January 2012 edition despite the High Life edition being December 2011.
After take-off a hot towel, menu and amenity kits were handed out, drink and packet of nuts, meal orders taken. My IFE was broken, but fortunately a reboot fixed it with only a loss of 45 minutes viewing time.
I had dinner, drank, watched a movie, tried to sleep, drank, watched another movie, tried to sleep, drank, watched a tv program, drank, and finally got a few hours sleep.
I declined breakfast other than a coffee. We had strong tailwinds and so as a result spent over 20 minutes circling above southern England due to congestion at this early hour of day (around 0600). We did land a little early at the end of T5 B satellite.