Stormy Travels: Back for a New York Minute

We woke up around 4 am December 30th, 2019 to see Hunters parents off. Hunter also checked flights some and we determined we were off to London Heathrow. Once there, we would have to figure it out! It's kind of exhilarating to be able to fly to an airport and say "let's just pick somewhere off the departure board and go". I feel on top of the world when we get to do that and Hunter spoils me, making me feel like the luckiest and most special girl in the world.

Since we were up late, or maybe it's more appropriate to say early, we slept a bit more. We got up at 8:30, got dressed, booked our tickets to London, and headed to the airport. While we didn't spend a ton of time in Prague, we spent enough to do everything we wanted and were not dying to stay longer, plus with my goal of 21 countries, I wanted to keep moving and see more cool things.

This time we went through a different part of the airport, the older section, Terminal 1. We first stopped at the British Airways ticket counter to check-in and get boarding passes. There were enough seats so the agent assigned out seats, 25 E and F. The flight was only 2 hours, so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Economy seats in the back of the European carriers are quite tight, with no leg room for Hunter. After clearing passport control, we went to our gate. Initially, Hunter thought we were not going to have to clear security, but we found out that security is done at each individual gate. It's an interesting concept. We were running a little behind than we had hoped, so we went straight to the gate, through the little security screening they had, and waited to board. We wanted to board as early as we could so we could keep our bags with us because if we checked them, we wouldn't be able to make a connection easily.

The British Airways plane to London

While waiting to board Hunter was looking at flights and saw that an American flight to JFK had plenty of business seats available, so we decided to go back to the US and because we were considered transfers, it is only about $40 to take Flagship Business on American Airlines. If we were not transfers, departure taxes from London are horrendous which is one of the reasons we don't normally fly back to the US from here.

Hunter and I slept most of the flight to London, with Hunter waking up in the middle to take an incredible photo of wind turbines in the middle of the North Sea. I was sad I missed it, but so glad he got a picture. It's pretty awesome in my opinion that they have wind farms in the middle of a body of water.

Wind turbines in the North Sea

When we got to London, we followed the transfer signs to T3, where our flight would be departing, and checked in with an agent to ensure we got the transfer status. The agent was quite hilarious and thought my answer of "in a plane" as a response to where I was going was funny. We got our tickets and headed to transfer security.

After clearing security and walking through some weird tunnels, we made it to the right area. Our flight to JFK was not going for another hour or so, so we decided to go to one of the lounges. We had a quick snack because we had not eaten yet and then continued onto our gate. In LHR, non-revs are cleared at a central counter and then have to hurry to the gate to board. It's quite inefficient if you are at one of the further gates, but last time it was right next to our flight to Phoenix. We waited and were cleared in 10D and 8G - business class. We were sad we couldn't be beside each other but we had an exciting plan once we arrived at JFK - turn around and take the flight back to London for a nice hotel in the sky adventure!

Business class cabin

The menu

Drinks and nuts

The starter

Our main dish - we picked the same things

Dessert

Arrival lunch

Almost to JFK

We had a very weird arrival pattern where we were wasting time going in zig zags, Hunter later explained it was for metering due to weather

The sunset

Some pretty clouds but I couldn't get many good photos as I wasn't in the window seat

On arrival in JFK, we cleared customs in 2.2 seconds. Being in business class helps when your one of the first people to get off the plane, and mobile passport is quicker than global entry! We made our way to Terminal 8 and stopped at the priority pass restaurant (yes, more food...). I had a salad and Hunter had a steak burger. It was tasty but I was becoming incredibly full.

More food from the PP steakhouse in JFK

After eating, we headed to our gate, gate 4, the same gate we arrived on and the same plane we arrived on! We were called to the front and given seat assignments, 2D and 2G, Flagship First seats. We had never experienced Flagship First on an international flight, so this was extremely exciting, especially because it is so rare to get as there are only 8 seats in this cabin. Hunter and I quickly boarded and got settled in to our huge, comfy seats. We were so excited to get to experience Flagship First!

Fancy light

The menu

We were so full from all of our previous meals, we decided not to order very much this flight. Hunter ordered the small plates, soup, and salad, while I had the soup and the pasta.

Waiting for the plane to depart. We were delayed due to weather

A cubby for shoes

Waiting for service to start

Huge table

Drinks and nuts

Table cloth and placemat

So many forks and knives

Hunter's starters

We each had soup

My main dish

Hunter's dessert

Ready to sleep!

Hunter had his bed made for him by the flight attendant

While putting in our dinner orders, we were asked if we wanted to be woken up for breakfast. We decided to sleep through it because we knew upon arrival we would be able to access the Flagship First arrivals lounge which was supposed to have excellent food choices.

End of the flight chocolates!

We arrived at 9:30am December 31st, 2019 and said goodbye to our beautiful first class seats.

We deplaned on a hard stand and had to take buses to the terminals

Big engines

Hard stand exit

Since we were in first, we got fast track passes to quickly clear customs and headed to the lounge. When we got there, we first took showers. They appear to have almost 30 shower rooms which are really nice. They have a coat hook, a luggage rack, plenty of towels, a hairdryer, and amenities like mouthwash and cotton swabs. After our refreshing showers, we went to the seating area for breakfast. They have a large buffet as well as a menu you can order off of. Hunter and I ordered Eggs Royale which are eggs benedict with salmon. It was quite delicious. After eating, I also worked on my blog a bit to get all the photos uploaded as the hotel we were staying at didn't have the best wifi.