Originally Posted by
MareLuce
1) When you are flying first out of Heathrow, how many hours before your flight time do you prefer to arrive in order to take advantage of all the benefits you could enjoy from your first class ticket purchase?
Do you have a preferred arrival routine?
Usual plan: Arrive 4-5 hours ahead so that I actually have some room inside me for a meal and enough time before the flight so that I'm not boarding the aircraft too stuffed to eat anything on board (assuming a departure time that's conducive to eating on board), and then enjoy some rare relaxation time just reading and being waited upon. And possibly a spa treatment, if there are any suitable slots left when I arrive, leaving enough time for the saunter over to T5B and back if necessary to do that.
Usual reality: Get off the Tube at T5 about 90 minutes before departure, having just about enough time for a shower and a glass of bubbly before heading off to the gate.