Boarding for the flight was very hectic, but the First Class line along with about every tier of BA/OW status was not too bad. There was no separate jet bridge for F passengers, but being from the first ones on the plane made boarding easy. We were flying the 747 to LHR and were on the lower level. My first impressions were a little underwhelming, with the seats not offering much privacy, especially for an F cabin. With the cabin full I wasn’t expecting the kind of service I had experienced on the Asian carriers I had flown, but this was even less than what I was expecting. With the Asian airlines, if you move, they are right by you asking if you need anything, here it took quite some time to get their attention. Though once you had it, they were very pleasant to deal with.
As the plane was taxing to get de-iced, I was messaging with some DDF’ers who offered to “surprise us” with a possible alternate routing from LHR and possible different airline. With a possible routing through DXB, I got permission from the wife to grant that as an option on condition we had time on the ground and could give the kid a break from flying. When we landed in LHR and finally made it over to our original departure gate moments before closing, I finally connected to wifi and saw that we would not end up with a different routing. Though not for lack of trying and some interesting ideas thrown around (MH flights and routing through Cuba were just some that were mentioned). So off we were back into BA F, this time on a 777.
This flight had only half of the first class cabin full and there was another couple travelling with a child, which made things a lot less stressful for us. Our kid is great on flights, but there is always that fear he will get cranky and annoy the other passengers. I am not sure if it is standard on the 777’s but there was no F seat in the back right corner (facing forward), not sure why, but it was just an empty shell and the kids actually played in that space. The privacy on this flight was night and day compared to the 747. While the 747 did not have anything to block you in, this plane had personal hanging storage, which acted as a shield and created much more privacy. While still no food for us, we had taken some chips from the lounge and found other things to snack on while onboard. Another “First Class Issue” I came across was the size of the lavatory. On all other carriers when flying F, there was a very spacious restroom, this one barely had room to put on your first class pajamas. The rest of this flight went along smoothly and before we knew it we were staring at Mt. Fuji through the window as the sun rose over Japan.
Disembarking and going through customs was a very simple process and there was even a dedicated lane for those travelling with children to save you some time. (I would have liked an arrival lounge, but it seemed that without a connecting flight, there was nothing in the airport). Right past customs is the baggage claim and free luggage carts. Grabbing a cart I went to wait for my bags and as an F passenger, my first two bags were from the first five that came out. Then I started to wait. A small trickle of fear crept into my mind, but I pushed it off and kept saying to myself “another minute or two” to calm myself down. Then I noticed my wife walking towards an agent holding a sign with her name on it. Oh no. My bag and the car seat never made it out of LHR and the earliest it would come would be the same flight the next day. This made me more happy than sad. I had packed an extra set of clothes in my carry on and didn’t need anything from my bag urgently, but I would probably get some compensation for this trouble. I was told they would deliver the bag and car seat the next day to my hotel and that my wife and I would each receive 200 pounds (all I could think was “holy %^&$” over and over). Playing it very cool, we filled out all the paperwork and then proceeded to the BA check-in counter to get our money. When we go there, we were informed that we would also be getting 200 pounds for the infant as well (“holy %^&$!!!). We were given a BA Visa Debit card and PIN number to use at our leisure. This was the equivalent to a little over $1,000 USD and would most likely cover all of our planned trips and then some. What a crazy but fun/exciting start to our vacation.
At this point, we were extremely exhausted and just wanted to get to our hotel. We got a day train pass and took two trains for about an hour to get to our hotel. This was not a bad trip, especially not having to carry the extra luggage, but having a stroller and using the trains with all the stairs was torture. We will probably take a cab back (assumption based on time of writing (which happens to be the first day of the trip in hopes staying up will not make me insanely jetlagged) to save us the headache. We got to the hotel (Hyatt Regency) and went to check-in. We were booked under a Diamond account and was hoping to get early check-in (around 11), but was told the room wasn’t ready and to wait in the Regency Club. We went to the club and not long after sitting down, we had keys to our room. The room itself was/is nothing to special, but it has a very nice bathroom and a great view of Mt. Fuji.
After showering away all the travel of the past day or so, we headed out to do a little sight seeing and then the Chabad House and Chana’s Place for an early dinner. We had made reservations, as they do not have official hours and showed up a little early. The “restaurant” is more a small room with a kitchen behind a curtain, but do not be thrown off. We had one of the best meals we had in recent memory (and I am not just saying that because he hadn’t had a meal in over 24 hours) and probably the nicest of all the Chabad Houses we have been to in our travels. The chef kind of asked us if we liked chicken or salmon and then proceeded to just bring out food to us. We were started with a mini broccoli kugel and bowl of hummus and bread. Following this was Asian chicken soup and our main dishes. Dessert was also served, but we took it to go as we were very full and had ordered another meal for the next day as well. When the time cam to pay, the Rabbi said there was still no official pricing, but would 70,000 yen work (~$70). It did work for us. We then ran out of the Chabad house, back to the train and hotel before we completely passed out somewhere we didn’t know. At this point we can probably call it the end of one really long and confusing day. Between the flight changes and almost non-stop flying/being on a plane for over 18 hours with an infant, followed by missing bags… I’m wiped.
Maybe I’ll get to post tomorrows activities in as timely a manner as this got posted.
(Will probably add pictures once I get back from this trip).
To be continued…
