Round The World and other travels

I was one of the first to board the 747-400, thanks to the Fast Track arrangement at the departure gate, and made my way upstairs for the first time in many years. I had flown Club World before and I had flown on the upper deck of a BA 747-400 before, but never at the same time! I was keen to see what difference it would make to the Club World experience. As I settled into my seat, a cabin crew member immediately offered to hang my jacket ... ah, that's more like it. I was able to make use of the excellent side lockers on the upper deck to store some of the items that I would want to use in-flight. I had a glass of orange juice while I waited for my fellow passengers to come aboard. The captain announced a short delay to allow us to wait for a few missing passengers. We were ready to go at 1315, but then ATC asked us to remain on stand - which was very close to the departure runway - rather than join the lengthy queue. We finally pushed back at 1340, but got the promised payback in the form of a relatively short wait to take off. Having said that, it was still approximately 1400 before we took to the skies. I forgot to note the exact time as I was so caught up, and not even for the first time, in the taking-off-facing-backwards experience. Well, it is different!

There was a distribution of hot towels, swiftly followed by drinks. I could think of no earthly reason not to have the champagne   As I enjoyed it, I noted that we were overflying the River Clyde just to the west of Glasgow, which seemed like an awful lot of travelling to get to within 40 miles of my house! The main meal service then followed. Menus had been distributed and orders taken on the ground. I couldn't help noticing that my order was taken first and then the Purser made a seemingly random tour of the cabin. Was I really the highest ranking Gold card holder in the cabin?   Why wasn't I in 62K?

I missed the end of my movie, having fallen fast asleep shortly after finishing the meal. Well, it was a long day. After that, I spent much of the time either reading or simply relaxing, always keeping an eye on our progress, as I like to do. The cabin crew made regular rounds with orange juice and water, although bottled water had been given out at the end of the meal. The 'raid the larder' trays were also available near the top of the stairs. I also noted that the crew made regular inspections of the toilet, making sure that it stayed in tip-top condition

Afternoon tea was served with just over two hours to go, followed by another distribution of hot towels. There was a choice of sandwiches : either ham and tomato plus cheese and chutney or egg mayonnaise and chicken Caesar. I had the latter. A hot savoury Danish was served and there was also a slice of flaked almond Bakewell tart on the tray. It seemed just about right for this point in the flight.

The seat belt signs came on briefly over Spokane, but the turbulence was short-lived. We had some excellent views of the bay and the city during our approach into SFO and it was obvious that the weather was glorious. We touched down at 1601 local time and were on-stand alongside a sister BA 747-400 by 1612.

A truly superb Club World experience and an exceptionally civilised way to travel