BA48 SEA-LHR/CWL 1st FEB 2009 First class
Posted: 24 Feb 2009, 16:13BA48 SEA-LHR/CWL 1st FEB 2009 First class
After an enjoyable weekend at the fantastic Fairmont Olympic in Seattle (one of the best hotels Ive ever stayed at)
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It was time to head home we were traveling with my mother the trip being her xmas prezzie. We had a 4pm late check out thanks to Amex FHR so left then for our 6.40pm flight. Taxi journey was swift about 20 minutes and cost $30 we headed for the empty first check-in and were with BPs heading to security in no time. Security was very busy and after taking the shuttle train to the satellite terminal we were all ready for a glass of beer in the lounge.
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The BA lounge does have a first class side but its best avoided as its about as big as a broom cupboard and as you now have to go up to a hatch located in the J side for drinks its a bit redundant. Oh and there were 2 very loud gentlemen watching the super bowl in there.
The flight was quickly called and on time, priority boarding channel was in place but by the time we arrived at the gate most PAX were already on. I gave my mum the BPs so she would get the nice escort treatment to her seat, which she did. We settled into 3 of the front row seats on the 777.The F cabin was full and CW must have had a good loading with the number of people in the lounge.
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We were quickly issued with sleep suits, slippers, amenity bags , a glass of Pol 99 and macadamia nuts.
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We pushed back on time and waited off stand before departing at about 7pm.The captain said it could be a bumpy ride tonight and was expecting us to land a little early into a snowy LHR. Great I think as the 150 mile drive home started to look a little less appealing. The seat belt signs stopped on but it was a smooth accent to cruise helped along with a couple of glasses of pol and some canaps.
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Because of the drive home it would be meal and then bed for me, why didnt I book into the Hilton on our return.
Service was friendly and smooth they made a real fuss of my Mum, the CSD was from the Concorde fleet and the purser was a delightful lady from Newcastle. The 2 loud chaps from the lounge were also in F and were right royal pains, I felt very sorry for the crew having to pander to men who were way old enough to know better.
I opted for the Lobster salad to start with and it was excellent.
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Followed by French trimmed lamp chops in a pistachio crust. The meat and veg were superb but there was no gravy just a jam/chuckney on the side making it all a little dry. The Purser did ask me about the meal as she had to do a report as it was a new menu item. Hopefully the powers that be will deem appropriate a little jus being added.
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I proceeded to a fantastic steamed toffee pudding served with clotted cream and ice cream, no wonder my clobber doesnt fit.
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The meal was rounded off with a plate of cheese shared with Mrs JP that was the best Ive ever had in the air, the blue goats cheese was sublime.
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A couple of Camus XO brandy sedatives and my bed was calling, it was made up for me as I changed into my sleep suit. I slept well hardly noticing a couple of periods of heavy chop. The next thing I knew Mrs JP was shaking me awake with news I didnt want to hear. The CSD had told her LHR was a complete mess because of the snow and she didnt think we would be landing there. No announcements were made at this time but we were kept up to date with every little snippet from the flight deck. Apparently the pilots had speeded up and told the crew to get breakfast service out of the way an hour earlier than normal as they hadnt got a clue where we would be landing. I declined breakfast but accepted a couple of mugs of coffee as I contemplated getting home. My Mum was oblivious to the drama as she slept soundly.
The captain came on the mike and I am sure gave the back of the plane a nasty surprise. I had my fingers crossed for an EMA divert as we are only 20 minutes away, the Geordie Purser was hoping for NCL but it wasnt to be either, we were going to sunny Cardiff. The rest of the cabin were from the US and they had never heard of Cardiff, there were some very amusing comments such as will I be able to get a flight out of Cardiff to Jeddah etc.The CSD restrained herself from saying we would be landing in Wales as that would have confused matters even more. We landed at about 11.30am there were 10 other BA 747 and 777s parked up it looked like terminal 5. We waited on the aircraft as ground crew boarded, the crew chatting to us and were still serving tea and coffee for the 45 minutes we were on the tarmac. The CSD said she didnt know what arrangements would be in place on the ground but gave us 2 bottles of the Pol 99 as emergency rations if we ended up in a hotel. She said she would get F and J off onto the first bus so we had a head start. We thanked the crew and wished them luck as they still had to get the aircraft back to LHR the next day and headed for the bus.
I had checked flyertalk as we waited on the ground, London and LHR sounded a no no. I checked room availability at the LHR Hilton and they were fully booked so when we were offered a bus transfer to LHR I decided on a more direct route home, taxi and train. The Taxi got us to Cardiff station for a very reasonable 25 it is quite a long way when you look on the map. The train to Nottingham was a little less reasonable at 166 for the 3 of us but there was a direct train that departed at 1.45pm.A very hairy 55 taxi ride home from Nottingham as the roads were getting very bad with the constant snow fall. We dropped my mum off and at 7.00pm and at 7.30pm I was relieved to be sitting in our house cracking a bottle of 99 Pol. Pity the car was still sat at T5 long stay.
I emailed BA the next day about our travel costs getting home and was surprised to be told in reply to send in receipts as they would like to contribute. I had a cheque for the full amount of 250 in my hand in under a week. The following Saturday Mrs JP and I traveled back on the train and tube to LHR for a far more reasonable total of 40 and had a night in the Hilton before collected the Car Sunday. After paying 69 in excess parking charges we were on our way back up the M1.Fantastic service good food and wine and the Customer Service response was above and beyond.