JapesUK

It’s that time of the year when I traditionally leave the country for a few days and this year is no different. I’ve been hoarding Avios like Scrooge and it was time to make a dent in the pile and treat myself to First for the very first time which I’m ridiculously excited about

The Award flight from Newcastle was only available early in the morning and so, after being led astray by a colleague during a teams call, I’ve booked a night at an airport hotel right next to Newcastle airport and right now am awaiting the arrival of my Uber to whisk me away to the start of my adventure.

I fly out tomorrow, 23rd December and land late evening on 23rd. 24th will be a tourist day, and 25th will be a Christmas brunch before heading to the airport and Christmas dinner above the clouds! I’ll then land back in the UK early on the 26th.

I’ve 8 hour transits both directions so expect there’ll be plenty of time spent in the Concorde Room at Heathrow T5!

Uber is now a couple of minutes away, next stop, NCL airport

JapesUK

Booked into the Doubletree by Hilton this evening and I have to say that I’m very impressed given the low price of the room. So the room cost was £65 however the taxi fare this evening was £30 less than it would have been tomorrow morning, so the room has actually cost me £35 for the night. Less stress in the morning to start a long travel day, worth every penny.






Hilton Honors Gold member gave a room upgrade and a couple of goodies. I was amused to receive a warm cookie on arrival, I can always be bribed with chocolate!







Obviously after bags dropped it was straight to the bar which was surprisingly busy, every table taken, therefore no photo of that area.





Settled down with a pint of Moretti and watching the ebb and flow through the reception area, it must be time to peruse some menus.

JapesUK

Rugby fan update, Bristol Bears are playing the Newcastle Falcons this evening… how do I know this? The entire Bristol team just walked through reception Hope the bar and restaurant are well stocked for later

JapesUK

The bar menu failed to entice





So over to the adjoining restaurant






Some bread and olives to start the proceedings, huge portions! Three whites for a mini wine tasting

JapesUK

The calzone arrived and it was humongous, you’ll never starve in this hotel






A valiant struggle ensued, man versus food, and food won! I had to stop because I wanted to try a desert - I should have carried on with the calzone!

As you can imagine, desert was the flop of the night. I ordered the lemonmisu and I clearly photographed it from the good side, in reality it was predominantly sour raspberry and cream.





Now its time to retire to the bar for a coffee and cognac, interesting glass for the Martell XO





Next stop - BED and off to the airport around 4:30-5:00am

JapesUK

A disappointing start to the day on two fronts, firstly because I arose at 2am for no good reason, and secondly because breakfast was closed. On check in I was told breakfast started at 04:30 but this morning it seems it is not until 06:30 ‘because of Christmas’. Its not that I’m hungry, just that I would have liked to see what the layout was like. Decided that as I was all packed up I would head over to the airport.

Its a very windy morning here in Newcastle



And I’ve just received a notification email from BA warning of delays due to weather related ATC restrictions so we’ll see.

The airport was busy but boarding pass check was empty and it was into the train wreck that was security.

The new scanners were in use and the rejection rate was easily 75%. All three of my items rejected, one of them twice as it was an incomplete image on the first scan. This caused a huge backlog and it was well over 30 minutes from pavement to lounge instead of the usual 10-15 minutes.

A large part of the main departures area was in darkness, more power issues at Newcastle airport it would seem.

JapesUK

And so onto the lounge and they made it! The refurbished lounge has just opened and it’s looking pretty good.









Unisex toilets at the moment




Food offering remains the same for now





And, of course, the standard start to any flying day



With forty minutes to scheduled departure it’s time to enjoy my drinks and await the gate notification. Fingers crossed we get off on time.

JapesUK

Walk on gate A3 this morning and boarding was underway by the time I arrived



Our bird for today G-TTOE which is another new one for me



Boarding slowly progressing and at the moment no delays expected which is good news.

Only three rows in the business cabin this morning so a quiet one for the crew.

Boarding complete five minutes ahead of scheduled departure and then the captain’s announcement that we are being held on stand for ATC restrictions.

Flighty confused again and thinks we have departed.

Next stop London Heathrow

JapesUK

Finally off the ground 20 minutes later which we easily made up in the air as the scheduling from NCL-LHR is very forgiving with a good bit of flex in it.

Crew were up and serving as soon as the seatbelt signs were off. With only 8 passengers to deal with the served direct from the galley rather than using the trollies but everyone was served in good time. I’d pre-ordered the Kosher breakfast again and was please to see the cinnamon bun make a reappearance, Standard trio of drinks to accompany the food.





There was plenty of time for a top up and then we were on descent to Heathrow and landed, slightly wobbly, a couple of minutes after 8am.

I’ve over eight hours until the Washington flight and as I want to enjoy it to the full I decided to grab a day room at the Sofitel and get a few more hours sleep. Sofitel is located on level 1 and connected to Terminal 5 by a bridge so it’s an easy stroll from the airport to the hotel.










A little bit of consternation when I checked in, asking if I had a family member staying, checking ID, my guess is that they have mistakenly checked someone else in on my booking. Eventually a room key issued and a very pleasant room, a shame I’m only in it for a few hours really.






And now it’s time to switch off and, hopefully, grab 3-4 hours sleep. Next stop, Land of Nod!

rapidex

Great stuff. My ginger Tom always likes it when I have some good trip reports. It was down to 14 last night, so extra rations for the dog and cats, and extra Courvoisier XO for me.

JapesUK

A little frustratingly after pressing submit my entire last post failed to materialise and it was a long one. Oh well, joys of technology, here we go again.

After three hours of rather fractured sleep I decided to head on over to the airport.



The departures floor was busy but not madly so and a little stroll brought me to the First wing.



A quick stop at one of the available checkin desks for a document check and then through the completely empty boarding pass checks and security lanes and directly into the First lounge.



The lounge was quite quiet but today this lounge is not for me! Walking though the lounge and out of the exit brought me to the mezzanine area which had been decorated since I last visited including this rather impressive snow graffiti wall.






And across the mezzanine is my destination for today, the exclusive Concorde Room

JapesUK

For the non-BA folks reading this trip report, at Heathrow Terminal 5 the First class lounge is, in reality, the gold card lounge. Passengers travelling in first class or having Gold Guest List status or higher in the executive club have access to the exclusive Concorde Room. This is my first time in here and after a very short time I can say that I was already going to push for Gold Guest List status this year and this is a massive incentive to get on with it!

The Room is very pleasantly decorated and I didn’t take too many photos on the way through, will try to take more as the day progresses when areas clear.

JapesUK

Having wandered through the lounge and out to the gallery I was met by the absolutely charming Chanel who pressed a glass of the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle upon me in welcome. I now have a second reason to get that Gold Guest List status in the bag, this champagne is dangerously delicious.



In the corner of the gallery surrounded by the sit down dining tables is this nose cone from Concorde



And in the middle of the area where Chanel controls the fizzy supplies is a cart with a layout of snacks



Having enjoyed my glass of champagne it was time to head over to the dining area for lunch.

JapesUK

Having redone the previous lost diaries…




The at table dining has a main menu and a festive offering.




Not knowing when the festive menu will be withdrawn I decided to have all 3 dishes accompanied by another glass of the excellent LPGS champagne and a glass of the Domaine Wachau

All three dishes were excellent in my opinion





And that brings me pretty much up to date. Gate has been announced as being in Terminal 5C so I have about 90 minutes before I have to make a move. Coffee and cognac are definitely the next stops although I also notice bar advertising for the JW XOrdinaire which you may recall I tried at duty free some trips back and enjoyed but not enough to justify the £360 a bottle price tag.

JapesUK

Speaking with the lady at the bar the XOrdinaire is a promotion and she doesn’t know if it will remain on a permanent basis. I also checked out the cognac which is Baron Otard XO but I’m not brave, or silly, enough to mix the two so the Johnny Walker it is.




Now it’s time to enjoy the ambiance, and the scotch, for an hour before I head off to the gate.

And yes, I may find it in my heart time to squeeze in another glass of the champagne