I first had the idea of using some of our Avios that we had from our trip to LA last year on a day trip down to London during Jubilee week. Unfortunately due to us letting the 12 month period pass by we had let the saver eligibility slip by so I had to add some Avios by adding them through a shop via the BA eshop at Ebay. By the time those few Avios were added (note - adding tesco clubpoints is quicker as we subsequently found out!) the Jubilee week was basically finished and it really was too late to do anything.
The idea then mutated into a stay of a few nights in London. After a bit of messing around we found some suitable flights - there on the Thursday lunchtime and back on the last flight on a Sunday evening.
The flight down was at 11.55am. We got the boys sorted (not too badly from a standing start of 8am) and we were in the car for just after 9am. We got to the airport just after 9.30 and parked at the Meet and Greet service. Essentially this is a secure area at the International end of the Terminal building. Quick decant of the bags and we headed into a very, very quiet terminal. There were no international flights being checked in and even the domestic area was very quiet. Straight through to the BA check in desks and only one person before us.
The check in agent was very cheery and very chatty with the boys. The boys have a few alphabet soup issues between them and I'd already asked BA for allocated (and protected!) seats so she mentioned when we checked in if we'd thought about what special assistance we needed at the gate. This is the first time this had been recognised on checking in. I said we'd think about it and she replied just to mention it at the gate.
We had a quick (soft) drink before we went through security to kill time and the server said she'd only served two other groups since she'd come on duty at 3am. Through security in double quick time - the whole set up seemed different and smoother from the last time I was through there.
Plenty of time for food at the cafe and then we decided to go down to the gate - just a little bit before time but its always best to keep our boys on the move. Went down to the gate - which wasn't the usual gate for the BA flights(evidenced by the Easy Jet paraphernalia lying around). Had to wait for a little while for the gate to be opened - I think the incoming plane had been a little late arriving. The crew arrived at the gate and couldn't get in, even after the purser dug around in her Ipad for a door code. Most importantly though, they were smiley, chatty and were interacting with the small crowd of passengers that had begun to gather. They eventually found another door that was open and disappeared off to do their jobs.
A few minutes later, the ground agents appeared and after (seemingly) flapping around for a few minutes, they opened the doors and let us in, checking the boarding cards as we went through. As advised at the check in desk we asked if we could go on board first - just to get them settled. Met with a bit of a frown and a 'sit there and wait' attitude. (The agent we spoke was later seen and heard to point to us and say very loudly 'they're special assistance'). The point is my boys have so-called 'invisible issues' - just because they are not in a wheelchair or have crutches...
We got on board only ahead of everyone in the queue to go up the steps. We'd managed to get seats in row 3 at T-72 and one of the last to board was a fairly famous Geordie actor - who actually looks better in Rl than on TV and he sat right in front of me in row 2.
Service was great - the crew were all very happy, relaxed and sociable. (Indeed one of the crew was talking to said actor for quite a while
)Flight was smooth and we landed twenty minutes early. Took a few minutes for the bags to appear and then were heading off down to the Underground to get the tube to our hotel in Hammersmith.
