Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Round The World 2006-07
A long day to get Part 4 underway
I had set my alarm for 0330 but, as always on such occasions, something within me knew that I needed to get up earlier than usual and I awoke briefly a couple of times ahead of the beeper going off. Despite this, when it eventually was time to get up, it didn't feel any worse than rising on an average working day, some two and a half hours later. Such is the holiday effect! I wasted little time getting organised and was ready for the road by 0410. The journey wasn't entirely uneventful : I witnessed one smartly dressed young couple saying their farewells, presumably after a very late St Valentine's Day celebration, and the aftermath of a minor car accident at an otherwise deserted junction. I hoped that I was more awake than at least one of those drivers! I got to the Secure Airpark right on schedule and had a personal shuttle to take me the short distance to the terminal building.
There can be little doubt about when BA makes most of its money on
the Edinburgh-London run. It was amusing that the queue for the
premium check-in desk was longer than the regular line, and a member
of staff had to be deployed to hold up the normal queue to get our
numbers down a bit! Bet they were amused - I didn't dare look. I was
soon enough upstairs and passing through the security checkpoint,
where my laptop was selected for one of those explosives sniffer
tests. Thankfully - but hardly surprisingly! - it passed. I seemed
to arrive at the BA Lounge at just the right time. I was able to
choose from a wide selection of seats; ten minutes later, the place
was heaving with boring-looking people in boring-looking suits. At
least at this early hour, they weren't baying into their mobiles,
trying to outdo each other in sounding important
Calls for the
Heathrow and London City flights cleared the place out considerably
before my own flight was called at about 0620.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
With our late arrival into LGW, followed by delays in getting the
steps to the side of the aircraft, a bus transfer and horrendous
queues for security - why do the authorities at
Gatwick now put UK domestic passengers through security again?
- there wasn't much point in trying to fit in a visit to the F
lounge. Instead, I simply made my way across the bridge to Gate 111,
where I had spotted my 777 being loaded on the way in.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
The International Terminal at DFW proved to be an excellent arrival
point into the USA and, I think probably in record time, I was
through the whole process and bound for the InterContinental in a
taxi. It was a gloriously sunny day, but the temperature was
literally freezing : zero Celsius, although this was forecast to
rise to 20+ over the following few days. Too late for me, though! As
a recently reinstated Royal Ambassador with IC Hotels, I was pleased
to be upgraded to a top-floor Executive Suite, just like last time.
I settled into my accommodation, surfed for a bit, had a relaxing
bath and snacked on my complimentary fresh fruit before surrendering
to tiredness at around 7pm, making it in excess of a 20-hour day
