#2019julphoenix

Surprisingly I felt fairly awake at the start of my drive back down south. As in my last similar adventure, the roads were fairly clear, and I reached Warwick Supercharger by just before midnight.

I charged up enough to allow Vick to get back to Warwick in the morning. The rest of the trip was a bit of a blur to be honest, and I was greeted by Vick at the door at just before 1am.

2019 Jul – Phoenix TP Run: Flying through the Clouds

The problem with there only being one primary TP optimised routing out there, is that people like me end up doing it multiple times! It used to be a Hawaii route from various EU starting points (which was amazing), then it was the Tallinn route from most domestic airports (closer to home), and more recently it has been the Bucharest to Phoenix route.

This must be the fourth or fifth time I have done this trip. It has varied each time, but the principle has remained the same. This time I'm not including the Helsinki shuffle, so it's a little more straight forward, and I have managed to upgrade myself in to First Class on the transatlantic segments. However, there are some oddities which will (probably) mean this trip will provide even less opportunity for sleep!

I was impatient to get on my final flight up to Manchester, but there was a delay of about 20 mins, and a delay to the boarding gate being published. All very frustrating.

Flight: BA1404 Equip: A320 Sched Depart: 20:40 Actual: 21:02 Sched Arrival: 21:40 Actual: 21:59 Takeoff: 21:23 Landing: 21:54

Finally announced: Gate A5 and I scurried off, wanting to make sure I could get my bag over row 1. By the time I got there, the queues were starting to fill up, but only two other passengers were in the Group 1 queue.

Boarding was fairly speedy, and we pushed back about 20 mins late. In to seat 1F - no one in the seat next to me. I also got a nice welcome from the CSM.

I accepted the invitation for a late evening meal, although I didn't eat much of it. I needed to keep up my strength for the long drive home.

The guy that was sat next to me (also doing a B2B) lived in Oxford, and we shared our thoughts on doing TP runs (as you do). He was in row 3 on the way back. I was back in to my normal seat (1F).

Flight: BA0887 Equip: A320 Sched Depart: 17:50 Actual: 17:48 Sched Arrival: 19:20 Actual: 19:32 Takeoff: 17:59 Landing: 19:15

I felt a bit more alive now, having had a bit of a doze on the way out, and chatting to the guy who was also doing a B2B. I could also honestly say I was now a bit peckish!

For lunch I had the baked risotto, which was quite nice.

There was a slight delay in getting on our way back to Heathrow, and indeed on arriving, but nothing that would put my final connection at risk.

After deplaning first, I just missed a train to Arrivals, but the next one was not too far behind. Automated Passport Control was almost empty and I was soon through in to the Arrivals Lounge. I received a warm welcome and headed for a shower.

This was the first time I was assigned a shower in the yellow zone, and I noticed that the staff assigning showers did not need to take my passenger details down - I assume the process has now changed for some reason.

Yellow 06 was the first shower where the threshold between the shower and the dressing area, actually kept the outside dry! More luck that anything I think!

Flight: BA0886 Equip: A320 Sched Depart: 11:40 Actual: 11:46 Sched Arrival: 17:00 Actual: 16:52 Takeoff: 12:11Landing: 16:43

After my shower, I headed up through The First Wing, where security was as good as empty, and then in to the CCR for breakfast.

I spent a bit of time in the CCR before heading out to board my flight to Bucharest. I left my bag in CCR Left Luggage as normal, and picked up a Starbucks on the way. The flight left from Gate A1.

In to my normal seat (1F) and I was aware there were a number of other passengers either starting or ending TP runs. The guy next to me was doing a B2B as I was.

I ordered the ravioli for lunch - I had that on one of the flights last week and I thought it was lovely. It didn't fail to disappoint this time either. No champers for me today, with my long drive back home late tonight.

I was fairly pooped on this flight, so there was a fair bit of dozing going on. Hopefully no snoring though!

On landing at Bucharest, it was nice to see the aircraft arrive at Gate 106, rather than at a remote stand as is normal for the late night flight. Bit of a novelty that for me.

When I got back to JFK, I had to pop over to T4 Baggage Services again to reclaim my bag. When I got there it was shut with a sign saying he would be back in 5 mins. I’ve seen signs like that before and it tends to be a lot longer than 5 mins. To be fair, I didn’t have to wait for too long.

I headed to T7 and got through fast track security. I immediately went to the Galleries Lounge to get a shower. The showers are probably a tad better than Heathrow, but still not a shining example for it’s premium passengers.

Once done, I went in to the CCR and was warmly welcomed. I enquired about whether I could get on an earlier flight back to Heathrow, but there were no seats available that didn’t mean having to sit in the middle, which I hate.

After a number of glasses of Laurent Perrier, I grab a table in the CCR Dining area, and enjoyed a fabulous meal, starting off with a sweetcorn chowder soup, followed by a refreshing tomato and arugula salad.

I then savoured a beautiful chimmi churri lamb rack followed by a unbelievably tasty mousse for desert.

I wasn’t in the lounge very long, and I planned to head down to Gate 9 about 45 mins before departure to secure a spot in the queue. I was surprised when there was a boarding announcement about an hour before, and when I got to the gate I was straight on as part of Group 1 boarding. There was no scrum or anything. I think the fact that they started boarding so early, probably took everyone by surprise!

On in to seat 2K and I enjoyed two glasses of LPGS before pushing back. We pushed back on time, and I asked for my bed to be made up as soon as the seat belt sign went off. It was probably the fastest take off process I have enjoyed from JFK: Push back at 9:00, on the runway at 9:20, seat belt sign off at 9:27.

Flight: BA0172 Equip: 747 Sched Depart: 21:00 Actual: 21:00 Sched Arrival: 09:05 Actual: 08:29 Takeoff: 21:21Landing: 08:22

The flight was pretty smooth and although I didn’t sleep that well, I had about 4 hours of semi-sleep/dozing. That got me through the next 24 hours or so.

The AA Flagship Lounge welcomed me upstairs and I settled down for an hour or two before my overnight flight to New York JFK. It had been an extremely long day, and I was looking forward to the opportunity for a decent sleep on my next flight.

My flight to JFK was supposed to leave from Gate 46C, and it became abundantly clear fairly quickly after I arrived at the gate, that it was going to be late - it took the incoming aircraft about 25 mins after touching down to reach the gate, and even then the aircraft parked at the wrong gate! It ended up parking at Gate 48A which was the next gate along.

I spoke with the Concierge Key man, who actually looked about 70. He was nice enough and he confirmed I was on his list, although he couldn’t pronounce my name! Reminds me why I like to be called Jim!

I was hoping that he was going to offer to upgrade me, especially considering how many passengers were on the upgrade list, but to no avail on this occasion - I would have to slum it in business class.

However, that same gentleman invited me and another passenger to board first, which at least confirmed the perceived position that BA GGL members are indeed considered the same level as AA Concierge Key members. In fact, let’s face it, AA treat BA GGL members better in that respect than BA do.

Flight: BA2408 Equip: A321T Sched Depart: 00:30 Actual: 01:12 Sched Arrival: 09:14 Actual: 09:36 Takeoff: 01:29 Landing: 09:25

On board in to seat 6F which is the front row of business class. I’ve whinged about dogs on flights before, but wouldn’t you know it - I got a bloke with a dog in the seat next to me this time. What is it with people taking dogs on flights? Put them in the kennels…

As soon as we were airborne…I converted my seat into a bed, and dozed off. It wasn’t great quality sleep, but it was better than nothing, and on the basis I was due to spend a fair amount of time in New York City later on, I needed to get a decent amount of shuteye.