Straight over to the UC desk which luckily was empty, the Y desk had about 50 people queuing including the England cricket team (England Lions I think) who all had 4-5 bags each including all their kit!
Welcomed by the check in agent with a smile and bags dropped and lounge passess given, very quick and very efficient. Unlike the PAX next to me who was trying to get an Op-Up saying his son had been Op-Upd and why wasnt he [V] He was politletly being told that Op-Ups where used when space was needed and that all the Op-Ups that were needed had been done. As we left I heard him say dont you know who I am [:D][:D][:D] I can imagine the agents thoughts at this point.[n]
Off to the lounge again via the duty free and again Mrs Chumba bought nothing except a fridge magnet! The lounge is shared but was almost empty, Food was excellent including some very nice french toast which I might have had several slices of, and was a very nice place to relax before the flight, which was delayed arriving by hr.
Boarding started and priority boarding was in place, so we went on with the Js and got settled before the rest of the Ys.
The rest of the pax began boarding which was completed very quickly, and we managed to depart only about 20 mins late.
Shortly after take off, the CSS came over and said hi, and welcomed Mrs Chumba back on board as a silver! And then welcomed me back on board as a gold #61514;. She said she always makes a point of welcoming the FFs back as after all without us the airline wouldnt function. Shame the outbound FSM didnt have the same opinion, She spent about 5 minutes chatting asking how the holiday had been etc, then said as we missed the welcome drink other cabins got would we like a glass of champagne. Yes was the reply. A few minutes later she reappeared with 2 glasses (not plastic cups) of champers and some nibbles. You can imagine the looks from some of the other PAX and the whispering started, trying to decide if we were famous or just married etc. A top up came 10 minutes later, again with a nice smile. (a nice smile makes all the difference)
It came to the drinks service and the CC serving us was a bit surprised when I gave her the champagne glasses back, she had that look of where did these come from in Y on her face.
Meal service followed and again I didnt bother as I had eaten before the flight. Being at the back of the plane meant the meal choice was take it or leave it. Pasta or nothing. So Mrs Chumba opted for the pasta. Anyway before eating it one of the crew came back and said that there were some spare PE meals and would she like one of those instead of the pasta, which she said yes to. So there she was having drunk champagne eating a PE meal on crockery in Y (although she did have to suffer the plastic cutlery).
CC were very attentive to us both over and above what was expected, I guess that little piece of silver and gold plastic does work sometimes.
Flight seemed very quick, and before we knew it we were on approach to LHR due to arrive early as the captain had made up some time. Just as the crew were preapring for landing the CSS came back and said she hoped we had had a good flight, and gave us a bottle of wine. She said that the customs seal had been removed although the botttle hadnt been opened and as such they would have to pour it away before landing, but if we wanted it we were welcome to it. Again another nice touch.
We managed to land right on schedule even with the late take off and disembarkation was very quick. Before we knew it we were in the baggae hall and this time our priority bags were there waiting for us.
Staright out into the car and off home.
All in all a much better return trip than the outbound, The crew made all the difference and its nice to get those little acknowledgemts from them as a FF. This trip made Mrs Chumba a gold as well so lets see what happens on the next trip.
