Tokyo Travels - Day 1

[hornetgirl]

Day one - Travel Day

Our flight to Haneda Airport in Tokyo departed from Heathrow, which is only a short drive from where we live, so there was no need for an airport hotel beforehand. We had a leisurely day at home the day before, dropping off our princess Jasmine at the cattery in the afternoon and then coming home to pack.

Gratuitous Jasmine photo

Next morning we were up bright and early, the M25 was kind to us and we arrived at the T5 longstay parking in good time. Within minutes the courtesy bus had dropped us at the terminal and then the fun really began. Thanks to our reward flights, we were directed to this dedicated check in area!

For the very first time ever, we were flying first class! Using our avios and Amex 241 companion voucher these flights cost us a grand total of £1082.30. Not each. Total! We were directed through the brand new security area, through the first class lounge and into the Concorde Lounge, something I had longed to experience ever since it opened in T5. Entry is no longer via the million pound door but I suppose you can't have everything…We headed straight to the dining area for breakfast.

Sean opted for the works, while I had the world’s largest portion of yogurt with some fresh fruit salad. We also shared a basket of pastries.

Bellies full we headed out into the lounge area to have a read of the papers. And a glass of champagne. Well it would be rude not to.

All too soon our gate number was shown on the departures board. We tried to savour every moment of our time in the Concorde lounge as I'm sure it will be a long time before we get to see it again. But now we were excited to be heading off on our journey.
Our flight departed from one of the C gates, which took a while to reach and involved a shuttle journey to get there. Boarding was already underway so we headed straight onto the plane. Not only did we get to turn left, we were individually escorted to our seats in row 1. There were only seven passengers in the first class cabin, so with four cabin crew to look after us the service was exceptional.
First up was a glass of champagne. Well it would be rude not to.

Shortly after takeoff, the cabin crew confirmed our meal choices, which we had ordered in advance, and asked us when we would like to be served our dinner. We opted to have it at the earliest possible opportunity so that we could try to get in a decent amount of sleep in anticipation of the eight hour time difference.
Our tables were pulled out and set and our meal was then served.

First up was a pre-appetiser antipasti plate plus bread service.

We both chose the same for each course - a selection of Japanese appetisers to start, grilled fillet of beef with suki ni sauce, cherry blossom rice, daikon radish and carrot for the main course and Madagascan vanilla ice cream for dessert (forgot the photo for this. It looked like - ice cream)

Whilst eating we both watched a movie – A Streetcat Named Bob for me and Rogue One for Sean. Then it was time for some shut eye. Our seats turned into flat beds, complete with mattress, pillow and a light duvet. Pyjamas and Liberty amenity bags were also provided, a pretty floral one for me and a plain, manly one for Sean. His had Refinery toiletries and mine had Aromatherapy Associates. Nice! We were able to sleep pretty well until it was time for breakfast. Once again Sean had a full English, while I just had some cereal and a mango smoothie.

By the time all the breakfast and sleeping paraphernalia had been cleared away there wasn't much flight time left and about ten minutes ahead of schedule we landed on Japanese soil after getting a beautiful view of Mt Fuji as the aircraft made its final descent. There was one last little touch to make us feel extra special. At Heathrow everyone had boarded the aircraft through the same single door but at Haneda they opened a second door just for the first class cabin. We thoroughly enjoyed our first class flight - if only we could travel like this all the time.

[Guest]

Great start to your trip! 😍😍😍

[RachelM]

What a great way to travel. I dream of being able to have a seat like that when I fly

[Melbatb]

How fantastic to fly first class!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

[hornetgirl]

Originally Posted by RachelM

What a great way to travel. I dream of being able to have a seat like that when I fly

See more...

Originally Posted by Melbatb

How fantastic to fly first class!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

See more...

It was pretty amazing and definitely a great way to use our avios.

[sheluk]

Wow first class sounds incredible! What a way to start your trip

[hornetgirl]

Originally Posted by sheluk

Wow first class sounds incredible! What a way to start your trip

See more...

It was pretty fabulous, especially as we'd never done it before. We absolutely loved the Concorde lounge too.

[sueandco]

Wow, we have our first First Class in November using Avios and an Amex 2-4-1 and we can't wait!

[porridge]

Hi
What side of the plane did you sit on to see Mount Fuji?
Maybe its a on a different side depending on weather or something.

[hornetgirl]

Originally Posted by porridge

Hi
What side of the plane did you sit on to see Mount Fuji?
Maybe its a on a different side depending on weather or something.

See more...

It was on the right hand side as we came in to land. Our seats were in the middle but we could still see it.