18/05, BA287 LHR-SFO, G-XLEA
Now there are 2 airport terminals which I'd call home. The first one is always City Airport because it's so bloody convenient! I'm not sure it's still the case but you could drop a bag 20 minutes before your flight not so long ago. And you could be on the DLR 8 minutes after touchdown (personal best) off an international flight.
The second is obviously Terminal 5 at Heathrow, because it's BA's home. I've travelled a lot out of there, as a captive to that market. It's a bit like walking into your best mate's house. You know where everything is, but you don't have to deal with any of the cleaning or the tidying up! Except once you get a gold card, it's a really nice friend. You get to use the first wing, and for all its minor flaws, the Galleries First lounge is a much nicer place to wait for your flight than Giraffe or Prêt. Anyway, after the Elizabeth line trip under Heathrow, I went to the first wing. It's just perfect when it's quiet. Both security lanes were open so there was no queue at all. One of the other advantages is that this is the entrance to the first lounge, so you don't have to walk through duty free shops.
Nothing screams hospital showers quite like BA's at Heathrow!
I had a bit of work to do so after a quick shower I went straight to the quiet business area of the lounge (not so quiet, many people take conference calls there - and in true British fashion people tut, kill with their looks, but never say anything about it 😁
. BA still offer table service in their lounges which you can order from your phone. This is a fishcake which arrived not quite as fresh as usual, and Canard Duchêne champagne.
The gate was announced at C55, which is quite a way away. Before a long haul flight I do like to stretch my legs, so I used the walkways under the air train, and they were deserted, pretty much like usual.
Walkways under T5
G-XLEA
When I arrived, SSSS extra screening was taking place, and there were already a few people queuing for their group numbers. I must admit by that point I just joined them. I don't normally like gate lice, but once in a while I partake.
I'd picked a window seat on the upper deck, right at the back of the cabin, 59A. It has the advantage of offering direct aisle access, without having to annoy someone everytime you want to get in and out.
I must confess I have a bit of nostalgia with BA's old yin-yang seats, just because it was my first flatbed in the sky. But I had a bit of an incident in the night. The foot rest forms part of the bottom of the bed when fully flat. It really isn't supposed to hold the weight of a person, and it says so on the thing. But when you've had a bit to drink and you come back from the toilets in a dark cabin, you don't remember that. So as I tried to crawl back into bed, the footrest collapsed, and hit my shin hit the seat with quite some force. The bruise is still there 5 days later as I'm flying back... Lessons.
Menu cards were handed out with predeparture beverages, and we were soon on our way with an early pushback. Boarding compete at 1358, pushback at 1408, and take off from 27R at 1427. I love the long smooth roll of a 380, it's really quite something!
As I was at the back of the cabin, I was expecting not to have my first choice of dinner. I think BA are supposed to ask Goldies first, but it didn't happen this time. To my surprise, there was still a lamb shank available. It was really quite good. The only thing is that the meat was a bit dry, but that's what the sauce is for! It's a shame that BA haven't reverted to their pre-Covid service because you would get a more substantial starter, but I knew that when I boarded so I had my expectations set (BA, if you're reading this, they were set quite low).
Apéritif
Lamb shank
The wine list at the moment is what any wine shop in the UK would call bin-ends. They have a bunch of bottles in small batches left over from some period when people used to fly, and it's a bit of a surprise what will get loaded. That said, the Italian Primitivo was really quite good.
I spent the rest of the flight sleeping, or trying to break my leg, and was woken up for the light meal. The chicken breast was really quite good, and service was really quick and efficient.
The views from my seat weren't great because it is over the wing, but I still managed to snap the bay bridge on the way down. No such luck with the golden gate though, sorry.
We touched down at 1639,which was about 30 minutes early. I could still see the earlier BA flight taxiing to take off to London. That meant the gate wasn't ready to welcome us, so we waited about 15 minutes before the jetbridges started moving. In a brilliant stroke of luck, the upper deck bridge was attached first, so we darted off the plane. Public health officials were there to meet us, and to perform spot checks on tests and vaccinations. They grabbed the first 4 people off the plane, and then I guess once an agent became available the next person off would be picked.
My previous experiences at SFO have been quite bad as far as customs are concerned. 2 hours wait isn't a rare occurrence. But once I'd dodged the vaccination spotcheck, I walked quite fast and arrived to a completely empty hall. The usual "what's the purpose of your visit" questions and I was waiting for my luggage maybe 10 minutes after leaving the aircraft. Result! Luggage came out a bit later, maybe after another 15 minute wait. Usually by the time I'm past customs my bag has been piled somewhere off the belts!
All in all, it was a quite enjoyable flight. Aside from the bit where I tried to break my own leg!