The Five Yen of Happiness! To London Heathrow and The BA Galleries North Lounge

The Five Yen of Happiness! To London Heathrow and The BA Galleries North Lounge

So as usual, I was working the day before departure, didn’t pack correctly and all the other things I’m meant to do. I had also had a few extra problems too – namely one of my debit cards had gone walkies two weeks before.

So I was hunting for Japanese Yen and Qatari Riyals the day before after getting a lump of cash out of bank… and not doing well at it.

It didn’t help that I had been moved on the late shift that day.

But in the end, I got everything mostly together – with the only thing missing this time was a multi-way output adaptor.

Considering in the past I’ve left things behind – like my Passport – this is small beer, I’m not concern.

So off we go from the flat in an Uber, and straight to the Coach station. My timing was pretty much on the money as the coach had just begun loading.

My ticket was examined and my big rucksack was taken off me for the coach journey to Heathrow.

National Express 210
Birmingham Digbeth to Heathrow Terminal 5

Departing Birmingham

I’ll be honest, by the time the coach had pulled out of Birmingham Airport, I was pretty much asleep. I woke up a few times when we took an odd turn (and I’m glad I did as the coach had taken a diversion – to the point it was 30 minutes late by the time we go to Heathrow), but I got sleep up till about Heathrow – or near enough 2 hours on National Express.

That’s a first for me on these trips. I normally on get an hour or so sleep on the coach on a good trip.

But yes, with the coach arriving at Heathrow, I gathered myself together – to realise I had a couple more stops to go.

Coming into Heathrow Central Bus Station.

Even at 4am in the morning, Heathrow is alive.

After a drive round the back of Heathrow to drop some passengers off at Terminal 4, it was my turn to be dropped off a Terminal 5.

With the bus arriving around 4:40 (a good 30 minutes late), there was still one priority for the morning.

Coffee… and strong coffee at that. Thankfully, Costa Coffee in arrivals seems to be 24/7.

Arrivals had signs of life with people waiting for the morning.

With something resembling coffee in hand, I headed upstairs to departures.

Enough time to slurp down the coffee, and wait for the Club check-in queue to build up. As I wasn’t in the mood to wait for that check in, I headed off to the First class check in and dumped my bag there.

It’s one of the few benefits of a British Airways Gold Card.

My rucksack was taken and my boarding pass issued to Frankfurt, and with those formalities out of the way, it was time to head to security – which at this time of the morning was dealt with in a flash.

That done, I needed to get something from the chemist. With it not opening until 5:30, I decided to wait in the main area and raid it for supplies. Lets just say my feet still aren’t in the greatest of states still, so getting appropriately strong pain relief (that could also be brought into other countries)

Once that was done, I was nearer the Galleries North Lounge as opposed to the South Lounge. Rather than hike across the terminal for a glass or two champagne, I headed to the North Lounge as the priority was as shower and some bacon rolls.

So I won’t get my bottle of pink bubbles. The world won’t end.

Lounge Stop: British Airways Galleries North

I headed to the lounge, and was beeped in successfully. For me, there was one priority – a shower. I checked in with the attendants and got a beeper for the shower.

Galleries North Lounge

Not a bad view for the morning.

Awaiting the beeping.

Once I had recovered from the shower, it was time for breakfast. Compared to Galleries First, the lounge offerings in Galleries North is a little more… limited.

Bacon rolls.

Cheese Omelette rolls.

Yogurts and fresh items

Cereals

Pastries

What did I go for breakfast? Well. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what I had.

Mmm Bacon.

Beverages

Coffee and Tea

As time went on (apart from feeling nice and fresh), I checked the departure gate. And then it came. Guess where I had been sent to again? Yes, it’s A10.

For the uninitiated, A10 is the bussing gate at Terminal 5A. More commonly known as Satan’s Armpit (what? It isn’t named that? It is now).

With a heavy sigh, I bagged up my stuff, and headed for the gate

Descent into A10.

With the boarding bus assigned at A10A, it was a hike to the other end of the bus gate to await boarding to commence.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the round we call “The Dove From Above“

Gate A10…a… down the bottom…

No hot liquids for you!

Thankfully, this team of ground staff knew how to board a plane, and started with priority passengers and Club passengers. I took my cue and headed aboard the bus.

Amazingly, the ground staff didn’t overload the bus for once.

This is lightly loaded.

With that, it was time for a morning bus ride around Heathrow Airport. It was a short ride as the bus headed out to the far B hard stands, and parked up against a Boeing 767 – the chariot to take me to Frankfurt.

The plane to Frankfurt

A short wait – and we were allowed to board.

Next: British Airways BA902 London Heathrow to Frankfurt Airport

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