Managed to get online and checked in for our return flight the next day, seats that had been pre booked showed up and no additional information was needed to be entered so was complete within 5 minutes.
26 September 2006
Again was required to be at the airport early so a transfer was sent for us 4 Hours before departure time, we arrived at terminal B and decided on the Premium Economy queue over the fast bag drop as this queue was longer. We waited about 5 minutes and was called to the desk and completed the formalities very quickly.
We now had three hours to kill at the airport so went for a walk around the shops and decided to go through security to the gate. Formalities were a lot quicker here than in London, the only difference from prior to the treats was the screening of shoes.
As we sat at the gate our aircraft pulled up and was soon ready to take us back.
Flight: VS028
Route: Orlando Int London Gtwick
Aircraft: G-VXLG Ruby Tuesday Boeing 747-400
Class: Premium Economy
As we waited for boarding time we notices it getting quite close to departure time when an announcement was made that the FAA had decided to choose our aircraft for additional security checks and this meant a delay of about 40 Minutes to the flight (Not Too Bad). Once the time came we boarded and made our way upstairs to our seats again 79 A/C.
As everyone settled into their seats the two crew members on the upper deck started the pre departure drinks round followed by a newspaper service, once all other passengers were on board we pushed back and the crew stated the manual safety demonstration.
As we made our way to the runway the captain advised us of a quick flight time of only 7 Hours 13 minutes so we would arrive to London Gatwick ahead of schedule even with the delay. The queue of departing traffic was short so we were up in the air quite quick through some low cloud.
Once in the air the crew were released for duties and came around with amenity kits and headphones followed by the first drinks service. After about 45 minutes into the flight the main meal service was started again with the normal choice beef, chicken, veg option. As on the outbound I opted for the chicken which was one of the best airlines meals I have had (Chicken, Pasta, Tomato Sauce and veg with green salad, Key lime cheese cake plus cheese and biscuits).
After the meal service was complete the brandy / baileys service was completed and the lights were dimmed for passengers who wanted to sleep. At this stage I was not over tired so decided to play Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and watch a few comedy channels. As with the outbound the crew kept coming around with water / orange juice service. After this I decided I should get some sleep so I put on the MP3 and relaxed, before I knew it the lights were coming on and breakfast was about to be served. The breakfast consisted of the usual small East Coast & Florida offerings Muffin, fruit, tea / coffee.
At this stage the crew also come around with my duty pre order with an apology as two items were not loaded onto the aircraft the crew were very helpful and explained what I needed to do and gave me a card with the duty freedom customer services number.
Once breakfast was complete the seat belts signed went on and we made our approach to London Gatwick where we landed ahead of schedule and was off the aircraft and out of the airport onto the Gatwick express within 30 minutes.
So in summary another great flight and an excellent crew with a big thanks to James to took care of all the passengers on the upper deck throughout the flight.
So on arrival home had a quick nap and then called the duty freedom helpline and they are going to sent all items out to me so a happy ending there as well
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