Wbeest

oh dear...weather in LAX this morning not so good either but PHX flight still showing on time.
I would think JFK did both stages for your GE because of the backlog.

Gastrocnemius

I've added my July flights to the Wiki

Shl

snaxmuppet

Made it to LHR so just to OTP and back to get gold!

I was due to get the BA885 this morning and return tomorrow but the lovely ticket agent here in the BA Galleries lounge did a flight change for me at a good price so I can do a B2B today and get my Gold today so that is what I am doing... LHR - OTP B2B. I have never done a B2B before but talking to IFE Wizard he says it is pretty easy at OTP so I'll give it a go.

I feel very tired and will be pleased to get home tomorrow but I'll have a huge smile

TravellerFrequently

Back home after a fun but tiring five days!

1,100 TP earned, attended a wedding in Phoenix, had an TransCon upgrade, ate lots of food and drank lots of champagne.

It was good to see/travel at various points with H2l, Wbeest, woglet86, Shl and peter h, as well as a few lurkers.

Doing all again later in the year!

snaxmuppet

Properly back home now.

The B2B worked out dead easy, as various of you said it would. The only thing I would mention is that when you come off the ramp there is a Transit security check. You can't just go through the transit door. They insist you go up the stairs to have your passport checked by their Border people first, then you come back down the same stairs to go through transit. It is all very quick and easy if you know about it but I didn't know I had to go up the stairs, have my passport checked, and come back down and the security guy didn't fully understand that I was going back to London on the same plane and so he didn't explain. Once he understood he said "come back down" all was well. I though this was worth mentioning to those doing a B2B for the first time

I am going to keep my eyes open for another OTP-PHX at a good price but this time I may throw in a LHR-HEL-LHR if it is possible.

I also want to put in a huge shout out to the staff at the Holiday Inn Express and the Hilton Garden Inn at the Airport. They are friendly and very helpful and I recommend either of these hotels for anyone wanting a good place to stay for a few days on a TP run. It really doesn't matter which of these you stay at as they are owned by the same people and you have access to the other anyway. The bar is in the HGI and the pool is better in the HGI but as I say, it is a 1 minute walk so it really doesn't matter. The airport shuttle guys are very helpful and alongside their shuttle runs they will gladly take you up to 5 miles totally free of charge (just for tips - I tipped $5 a trip). This is a great facility.

I rented a car for one of my days (through BA.com) and did a day trip to Sedona and then up to Flagstaff and again, I highly recommend that route for scenery.

To all those yet to do your trip - good luck.

Wbeest

Good to hear it all worked out Snaxmuppet! Sedona is definitely worth a visit or two, especially if you like landscapes or hiking. I just returned yesterday from my run, directly from SAN because of AA cancellations, so no return to Bucharest. Sometimes you arrive at OTP already on the upper level where passport control is in front of you, and need to head for the kiosk on the right and then down the stairs further right. Maybe why advice wasn't quite right for you.

My view was reinforced that SAN airport is easily the best international airport I know. No crowds, relaxed, mediocre lounge, but with a shower, no queues at security or anywhere else and great bars and eateries...a complete pleasure! My next AA/BA runs are to LAS, so from Inverness. That positioning to OTP is a bit of a killer as you go 2 hours ahead and get up early morning, which is really 2 hours earlier for you than local time!

sunshinebob

We "missed" our final LHR-OTP as our flight this morning into Heathrow from HEL was delayed for 90 mins as they were waiting for 40 odd passengers connecting in from Hong Kong. We touched down 3 mins inside the MCT and I have off loaded myself from the booking. I did think about hanging round, doing the next flight in six hours and getting the compo but factoring in a return flight ( to Malaga ) and a night in a hotel in Bucharest its just was not worth the agro.

I echo the comments that getting the evening positioning flight into OTP kills your sleep pattern arriving into your hotel about 1am local time. We did a Hel shuffle both ways too and the 8am HEL-LHR the second morning also adds to your sleep overdraft majorly. Follow that up with a hop to NYC and the west coast your body clock will need winding up for sure and you will arrive shattered.

Another bit of advice is to try to fly AA to JFK and return as you wont have to change terminals in JFK and back at T3 if your doing the extra Helsinki legs.

We stayed in the HGI and it was perfectly satisfactory. Also had a great steak at Durants which although a little pricey was well worth the visit. We ubered there for about $15 - classy establishment with super old school service. The entrance is through the kitchen.

Scottsdale was a fun walk around and for good local beer and pizza in an informal setting check out craft64 on east Main St.

The Hilton at Helsinki was perfectly satisfactory , two double upgrade as a goldie and very handy for the airport of course.

Most of my TP and miles have posted and gold assured until may 2021. Thanks for all your help and comments everybody.

Lastly first class service from BA , Finnair and AA across all our flights.

champair79

peter h

I'm back too and it's amazing what 12 hours sleep can do!

The B2B was straightforward enough, but the flight yesterday arrived (and departed, obviously from stand 115, which is closest to the passport/transfer area. Form the gate, I followed signs for 'transfer' and went down a set of stairs before reaching immigration and found myself at the transit security check. Someone pointed out that I should go upstairs to have my passport and BP checked - I did this and found myself behind the passport control. Check done, I went back down and went through security. However, as the woman behind me pointed out: how does the person at security know you've had your documents checked?. I reckon you could follow this route and go straight through. On the flight in, on Thursday, the aircraft arrived at stand 105 and there was a longer walk to immigration. I stayed on the same level (as it wasn't a B2B, I followed signs for 'passports') and saw the booth on the right that I ended up behind yesterday.

I also have to add my personal thanks to snaxmuppet. We'd made contact when there was a chance of a beer during the few hours we overlapped in PHX and texted each other during my outward journey. When it became clear that I wouldn't make it, he offered to go to my hotel (the HGI) and let them know that my flight had been cancelled. He did this to such effect that my non refundable 2 night booking was changed to a one night booking FOC! He also left some water and soda behind the desk of his hotel for me - I thought that he meant a couple of bottles, but there must have been at least 16! At that point, I only had 8 hours left in PHX and hoped to sleep for most of them, so I took a couple and the desk staff assured me that they could make use of the remaining ones, so I left them with them.

It was lovely to meet up with others along the way as well. If it was only through here or the Whatapp group, I hope our paths will cross again in 'real life'.

I would like to know one thing though, if anyone has any info. I was introduced to a scottish guy at LHR on the way out. He was on the same flights as me (LHR-JFK-PHX) but we went in different directions at LHR and again on arrival at JFK. I'm just curious on how the cancelled JFK-PHX flight affected him.

snaxmuppet

Thanks Champ. What a great pair of crews you had on board... both the outgoing and your crews were just superb, not just because you made what could have been a bit of a stressful B2B totally stress-free but both crews were just great to everyone throughout the flight. They are both a real credit to BA.

Yes it was a bit of a strange route... further south than I expected. The delay was not a big issue for me.



When I went to Sedona for the day I had a choice of 2lts of water at $3 or 12lts (24 x 500ml) for $3.30. I can never resist a bargain! Thanks for distributing what remained.

I hope we meet up in the real world some time

peter h

Definitely!

In the last few days, I've found the FT community to be welcoming and supportive - at least they understand! My family do as well, sort of, but when I tell acquaintances about my trips, I'm often deliberately vague about the routings!

AlisonB84

woglet86

Garrison12

Hi, First FT post! I'm just about to embark on my first ever TP run, inspired by many posts on this forum. Just wanted to pass on my thanks to all of the contributors, and share my itinerary. I don't think my itinerary is likely to coincide with anyone else as I suspect I made a couple of schoolboy errors when booking. Couldn't make an extra stop in HEL or DUB work outbound, so picked a MAD flight instead.

Realised after booking that I'd reduced my TP by booking PHX-SEA-ORD rather than doing a west coast to east coast, lesson learned.

Also, I've got flights home booked OTP-AGP-MAN with a couple of days in Malaga, but a colleague has also booked holiday from work so I could now really do with cancelling those flights and missing out the last LHR-OTP leg entirely and heading straight home - are there likely to be any penalties for missing this? (Booked with AA).

Wed 03 Jul
BA1399 MAN-LHR 1550
BA884 LHR-OTP 1855
2 Nights Intercontinental Bucharest

Fri 05 Jul
IB3657 OTP-MAD 0455
BA457 MAD-LHR 1055
BA115 LHR-JFK 1420
AA185 JFK-LAX 2040
6 Hours in LAX - after advice on here will get the shuttle to the Hilton.

Sat 06 Jul
AA2027 LAX-PHX 0545
2 Nights at the Fairmont Princess Scottsdale, with a Diamondbacks baseball game on Sunday.

Mon 8th Jul
AA719 PHX-SEA 1030
AA1213 SEA-ORD 1510
AA208 ORD-DUB 2215

Tue 9th Jul
BA837 DUB-LHR 1515
BA884 LHR-OTP 1855