Oh British Airways, how much you build up everyone’s expectations? With your snazzy new advert showing the history of the company in glossy detail, you really do raise these expectations.

Expecting a friendly face at the booking desk, I was faced with a robot. Literally, a robot. I.e. an online checking in machine. Knowing my success with self service machines, (I’ll never forget the time it told me to show ID for buying bonjela…), it wasn’t surprising when it told me it didn’t recognise me and no I do not have a ticket. Sigh. I hightailed it to the the customer services desk who found my ticket on the system and printed it off for me. I have a ticket! I am definitely on one those flights to Bangkok!

Boarding the gate after feeling jet lagged in Heathrow, BA did a bullseye trick. You know in that tv programme where the presenter shows you what you could have won but you lost and then sends it back? Well BA did that. As I walked through, I was shown these exclusive club seats and thinking it was a brand new thing for the plane, I started getting insanely excited about my flight and how plush these were. Nope. The stewardesses told me to move on and in the next compartment we were shown the bog standard seats that we all know and love. Drat!!!!!

Luckily, I had an aisle seat so I could stick out my legs if needed to be. Being 6ft + is not an easy thing if you are going to be crammed on the plane!

As the plane taxied away, the safety demonstration came on the tv screens. A pleasant surprise came when the safety demonstration included subtitles so for deaf people, we can no longer have to make out what the words over the tannoy are saying.but I was mildly disappointed when the hot stewardesses didn’t lean and stretch for the safety demonstration only pointed half heartedly to the emergency exits.

I was pleased by the time the flight took off as I had a whole seat free next to me! Result! So i can spread out everything around me after the seat belt sign is turned off!

Once in the air, to get settled in I put on a movie that had subtitles…new years eve. Hmm, it was an ok film but I did find myself falling asleep, winner! I can’t sleep well on flights especially in an upright seated position. But my dastardly plan to go to sleep was thwarted when the lights was suddenly turned on and it was time to have dinner…at 1am in the morning! Chicken was nice and the stewardesses were very obliging to supply me with water, snacks and wine!

Hunkering down with the supplied blanket, I felt myself fall asleep. 2 hours later, I woke up and having stiff legs, decided to walk up and down the plane and amused myself laughing at the sleepy expressions. One of them was smiling!

Falling back asleep again, I decided to take advantage of the spare seat next to me and propped my legs on and made myself a makeshift bed and promptly fell asleep. It was all pretty good going until 2 hours before the end of my 10 hour flight that I woke up with a start as the guy behind me closed his tray so hard!

I smelled food and knew breakfast was on its way. But it’s not really breakfast as it was 1pm Thai time! So I started to look at breakfast as lunch! Nice and eggy!

We pretty much landed rather quickly and before I knew it, the madness began as soon as I stepped off the plane…