Sunday, August 17, 2008

London August 2008: Arriving in Houston-Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH)

We touched down nicely and very quietly. We used the runway by Lee Road and did realize that there were doing some construction at the end of it as there was a lot of marl there. not sure what is going on.

We had a short taxi to the E Terminal where I disembarked after a greeting by the gate agent and also notification on where our bags were located in Customs.

Arriving at this time 12:42p quite early actually, is good as the Immigration Hall is clear. It took no time to clear and head down to the Customs Hall.

I saw a sign for Global Entry; one of my colleagues had just told me about this on Saturday when we both arrived in London. It is a new system for quicker entry in the U.S. Much like what they had a few years back I can't even remember what it was called back then. You can get details for the program at https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov. I took the details and headed out. I'll sign up later.

This was a tiring, but great trip.

London August 2008: Arriving in London-Heathrow International heading home

I awoke at 5:15a and eventually made it to the check-in counter via bus and train at 7:05a. I did notice as I was watching planes land before boarding the airport bus that the 6:30a KLM (KL) flight to Amsterdam was just taking the runway. I did take pictures of a British Airways (BA) Boeing 747-400 and an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 777-200 landing. OneWorld at its best I thought:

My bus showed up and on my way to the Central Bus Station, I was able to take another picture of the Emirates (EK) A380 display; fantastic! If you've visited Heathrow in the past, this position used to house a British Airways (BA) Concorde.


By 7:30a, I was checked-in and made through security and to the Holideck Lounge. The airport was a bit quiet, but I know it was building.

I got online and checked e-mail and I had to re-pack my bag so I did. I then headed down to the gate as my name was being called for a seat assignment.

In my search for finding a power plug, I stopped in Dixon's but found nothing. I then went back to the gate which was actually across from the store. There was still a line. I soon boarded.