Day 26 – Covington – Charlotte – New York

Well it was an early start; I was packed and ready to go at 6.00am. I was checked out at reception and into a taxi straight away and at the airport in 25 minutes. At the airport I had time to get some breakfast at a diner and run into a fellow collector and his father who were on their way home to California from the show.

After breakfast I went through security and then caught up with another collector who was sitting there using the Internet. We said our goodbyes and I went and waited for my plane. The plane was full of people travelling on the holiday weekend and we were in the air and at Charlotte in no time as I slept most of the way.

At Charlotte I had a wait of 2 hours for my plane to New York and I did some reading and bought two M & M figures dressed as Star Wars characters. This plane was also full but once again it was a short flight so it was not a problem.

Landing at JFK airport in New York I walked off the plane and immediately realised I was already in the same terminal that I had to leave from in 7 hours time. That was a bonus as I would not have to find my way around. I went down to the baggage claim and waited for my bag to come around then walked out into the entry of the terminal and found the British Airways check in and proceeded to check in my luggage.

I had forgotten that this leg of my trip was a business class seat and checked in at the normal counter with all the other people. The attendant told me I should have gone to the other counter and apologised for me having to wait in a queue to check in. Not that it bothered me. She also told me that this was a sleeper flight and that I could get dinner any time after 6pm in the British Airways lounge. Another thing I did not think of was having access to the lounge.

So after checking in the luggage – only 18.4kg (I think the lightest suitcase I have ever taken onto an international flight) I went through the Customs check and the security screening and then up the escalators to the BA lounge. Never having done this before I checked with the lady at reception and she said yes I was o.k. to go in. I walked straight to the business area and fired up their free computer and accessed the Internet. Did some emails, checked on and typed to some message boards and looked at a YouTube video of a television news story of our Canvention, of course I was on the video as the token international person they interviewed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWAtgnrzOmA

After spending some time there I walked around to the area that they have snacks available to the people and grabbed a couple of sandwiches and a can of coke and sat and read a UK newspaper for a while. I then went back and did some work on my blog on my computer before going to the dining room for my free dinner. I have to show my boarding pass and was then able to go and serve myself to a variety of hot or cold food followed by some cheese from a cheese board. It was quite a good meal and just what I needed after a long day so far.

There is also a bar area where you can help yourself to drinks and snacks and sit and lounge with other passengers although I went to another area that was just lounge chairs that was a lot quieter to sit and relax. I then did a final check of my emails and newspapers from home before heading out into the main part of the terminal about an hour before boarding my flight. I wanted to get a puzzle book and a bottle of water before the flight.

When boarding was called I was able to get on first in business class and the seats were fully reclining that turned into a bed. My seat faced backwards on the plane and I had a slide up high panel to the seat next to me that was facing forward. If you were travelling with another person you would be sitting in opposite directions but be able to look at each other to talk during the flight. I kept my panel up the whole flight.

As we got on the steward took my jacket and offered me a glass of Champagne but I settled for an orange juice. After takeoff they immediately gave us a snack to eat and then turned off the lights in the cabin. You could then push the button for your seat to fully recline and go to sleep. I did this and was out like a light almost straight away. So much for watching some movies on this flight!