So, here we are on the plane, a Boeing 777-300, leaving from T5 Satellite B, and we still didn’t manage the underpass walk from T5 – next time, perhaps! However, good old Starbucks was sited at our gate! (and a few more Heathrow Reward points and Amex  Avios in the bag – it all helps!)  Coffee and champagne in hand we settled down to await our delayed departure by 30 minutes.

The first class cabin on a 777 can take 16 passengers, yet there were only 4 on this trip.  So we enjoyed a very nice service, and dare I say, our cabin crew are also enjoyed a less than demanding passenger complement.

As it was a scheduled 1155 departure, the first meal was lunch.

It was very relaxed and tasty, with some very nice wines: Craggy Range Aroha Pinot Noir 2011, Te Muna Road Vineyard, from Marlborough, New Zealand. The dessert win was Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau 2007, Sauternes 1er Grand Cru Classe, Bordeaux, France.

It all went very well with our meal

I just love how I get a wee teapot and dinky milk jug!

Could I ever back to flying long haul economy? Never!!! Long may the Avios and AmEx 241 reign!

Overall a pleasant flight which arrived only 5 minutes late. Our baggage arrived, suitably tossed around and scuffed, but a least intact! We were met by our driver for the next few days, checked in to hotel and woke up to this!

Let the holiday commence!

However, I have a complaint to make and will be getting in touch with British Airways later.  The cabin was scruffy, with smear marks on the TV screen and windows, Really shabby, mucky and dusty in the seat corners and on the floor. It looked as if no hoovering had been done for weeks. The cover for my life jacket compartment was torn and the velcro didn’t work, so it just flapped open. If this is the standard of the First class cabin, goodness knows what passengers in the back of the plane had to put up with. Come on BA, you are the National Carrier! Up your game and provide standards that will stop me gravitating to the big three Middle Eastern carriers – glossy, clean and luxurious as befits First class!

Interesting that MummyAirmiles found the same problem as I did when I flew on a 747 LHR-JFK last summer in First as part of my trip to Las Vegas. The velcro for the life jacket was also falling off so it didn’t stick properly – although I was too tired at the end of flights to get in touch with them.