The next morning was a relatively leisurely affair. After doing a bit of repacking, I grabbed the shuttle bus and got dropped off to check-in at LAX. The priority queue took ages this morning with some woman at the front obviously not happy that she was way over her baggage allowance and had to pay extra if she wanted her case on board. "No ma'am, you can't just take it to the gate and ask them to load it"

Security was a dawdle for a change and I was on my way to the Qantas FLounge. It's my favourite lounge here at LAX and I always make a point of stopping by before a flight, even an internal one. I've reported on it before so won't go into any real detail here. Safe to say it's still as good as always. Staff very friendly. Didn't eat this morning but the food all looked great.



AA1979, LAX - ORD, N872NN, B738

The flight left from T4 but I hadn't realised that there were a load of works going on which meant that the usual route from TBIT to T4 was cut off and there was a detour. Thankfully, I had left enough time and turned up to the gate 10 mins before boarding. Once on board, another extremely pleasant AA crew who had an open bar for PDBs this afternoon. I obliged with a Bloody Mary.



Departure was early from LAX (excellent!) and we got some great views as we took off. Shortly after departure, the crew came around and confirmed that I had pre-ordered chicken enchiladas and then took meal orders from the other passengers in F.





The food was actually really tasty and the small cucumber side salad was delicious. Crew were very pro-active at coming through the cabin offering refills of drinks to all passengers.







The crew passed through the cabin with some small pots of ice cream about half way through the flight. The flight itself passed really quickly what with me enjoying the views from the window and catching up on some Netflix. We got some great views of Chicago on our approach to ORD.







Flighty tells me that we taxied for 21 mins when we landed at ORD - lol. It felt a lot longer than that. Anyway, we arrived at T3 and I had to get the bus across to T5. I got a pleasant surprise when I was looking to see what lounge Finnair use at ORD to see that they use the newly opened LOT Business Lounge.



The lounge was fairly busy so I didn't really take any pictures but it's got a decent sized buffet area in the middle and a manned bar. It's also got a fantastic view of the LOT aircraft. I wonder how much LOT paid to get this stand each day?!



I had a couple of Polish vodkas and a small nibble to eat as I had decided that I wouldn't take the meal on this 8 hour flight to Helsinki in order to get some sleep.

AY10, ORD - HEL, OH-LTO, A333

Boarding started promptly at a gate which was right at the end of the Terminal. After a bit of a scrum with folk picking up duty free bags, I was on board and settling into my AirLounge seat. I also reviewed it here if you want to get acquainted with it again. The crew came around with champagne or water as pre-departure drinks. I informed them that I would simply like a few whiskies after take off (the Finnish whisky on board, Kyro, is excellent).



Here is the menu for those interested in what was being served. To be honest, the grilled chicken dish did sound very nice.





I cannot get enough of the glassware on Finnair!









My whisky was served near enough as soon as the crew started their service. After enjoying it, I got a fantastic night of sleep. The seat, in my opinion, is great to sleep in and the blanket was very cosy. Only niggle is that I would like a slightly larger pillow!

I awoke to the noise of breakfast being served about an hour out of the Helsinki and one of the crew asked if I would like to eat to which I said I would. Check the portion size of the breakfast tray! This is probably more than you would get on BA F from ORD!



Breakfast finished, I changed into my normal clothes and the purser came by my seat. I thought he was going to be saying his thanks but it turns out that my HEL - AGP flight had been cancelled. I started to stress a little bit as I was departing from AGP the next lunchtime on a separate booking so needed to be in AGP that evening if the separate booking wasn't to be ruined. "Don't worry, you are rebooked on new flights but you just have to go collect your boarding passes".



So, off the plane, I dutifully headed to the connections desk. I had been rebooked on a Finnair flight to Zurich and then a Swiss Airlines flight to Malaga. With some good luck, the Swiss Airlines flight actually arrived in Malaga 10 mins before the Finnair flight I was scheduled to take did! I asked about my case that had obviously already been tagged but was told not to worry as that would all be taken care of.

I went to the Platinum Wing and took a much needed shower and had a few long drinks whilst catching up on some What's App messages. I then headed through to the Schengen zone and into the lounge there. It's been a while since I have been in that lounge but I never remembered it having a wing for Emerald oneworld passengers so that was a nice surprise. The views were pretty good too!



AY1513, HEL - ZRH, OH-LVD, A319

What with me being rebooked at the last minute on this flight, I was stuck in an aisle seat which was a bit of a pest as I like to see the views from the sky. Never mind - at least I was on my way to AGP. An older Finnair crew member was in charge of the cabin today who worked her socks off during this 2 and a half hour flight south. Drinks and pretzels were served after take off while the meals were heated in the ovens.



The prawn linguine dish was absolutely fantastic and one of the best things I have eaten in the air this year.



After the trays were cleared, the crew came round with some type of cake which they had cut into pieces and they also did a number of runs through the cabin offering drinks.

Arrival in ZRH was fine and I made my way to the Swiss lounge, I think at the A gates. By this time I was getting a little bit tired so found one of the few remaining seats and chilled for an hour or so before heading to the (bus!) gate.

LX2120, ZRH - AGP, HB-JPC, A321N

At least with boarding remotely, you get a nice view of your aircraft!



At each paid of seats in J was a small bottle of water and hand wipe.





I think the meal was a vegetable curry. I don't think there was any meat in it. This was my first time flying Swiss and, I have to say, I was really impressed. The curry was flavourful, had a really good kick to it, the cheesecake was delicious and the cheese equally as good. I also liked how the hot drinks were served with small chocolates.





We landed in AGP and, of course, my suitcase wasn't there. My AirTag told me that it was still sitting in Helsinki. The guy at the luggage desk had great difficulty in me trying to explain that I was staying only one night and would then be flying back to Scotland the next morning. However, after some reiteration from me, he seemed to grasp what I was saying and took my home address saying that the case would be delivered there. Fast forward a few days and I got a call on the Sunday morning from the luggage folk at AGP who were confused because there was no address in Malaga for them to deliver my case to. After explaining that I was now home, she replied "well how are we supposed to get your case there?". After telling her that she was the luggage service, not me, I was reassured that it would be sorted that day. Fast forward 4 hours and another Spanish number is coming up on my phone. "We just want to check where you want your luggage delivered to"... agggggggggh. Give them their due, they must have put it on a KLM flight as it appeared in Amsterdam that evening and then I tracked it later that evening in ABZ airport. Phew!

Anyway, back to the TR. I made my way to the Holiday Inn Express at the airport where I promptly crashed out after a long day of travel. I grabbed a bit of breakfast in the morning before getting an Uber to the airport. It was actually quite nice not having to stand in the check-in queue and wait to check my bag. Instead, I was through security and on my way to the lounge where I enjoyed a few Mahou beers before boarding.

BA8488, AGP - LCY, G-LCYS, E190



I nabbed 2D - the best seat in the house.



Ugh, after some great catering the last few flights, back to BA's average offering. A slimy artichoke salad, a cold quiche and a processed chocolate pot for dessert.



The crew on this flight were your usual BA crew - disinterested and simply going through the motions. No pro-active offering of refills with all passengers in J either having to go to the galley or use the call bell. Never mind, at least the views were nice, especially as we came in over central London.







Thanks for following along on this trip. It's probably a shorter report than normal but I'm betting not everyone wants to read screeds and screeds of my ramblings, instead preferring to see some pics of the travel!

Safe travels!