The flight

Hey everyone!

My ticket was an e-ticket so I was able to check-in online and print my boarding pass the day before my flight. This meant that my friend and I were able to both check in online together and choose seats next to each other on the plane. If you want you can also add extra baggage whilst completing the online check-in. Because I had already checked in the evening before, when I arrived at the airport I didn't have to wait in a long queue to get my boarding pass and could quickly check my bag into the hold. This was really good because it meant I had much more time to spend with my family.

The weight limit for hold baggage was 23 kg and for hand luggage it was 10 kg. Unfortunately laptops and cameras had to fit in the hand luggage so you couldn't have the laptop case and camera case on top of the normal hand luggage, however we were also allowed a handbag.

I would like to tell you all how the flight to Japan was.

The flight left London at 1:45 pm and arrived in Japan the next day at 9:30 am. As you know my flight was with Virgin Atlantic airlines. 

This was the plane that took me all the way to Japan!

The seats weren't particularly comfortable but pretty standard for economy seats. The headrests are slightly adjustable - you can pull both ends of the headrest forward so it cups your head slightly so you can rest your head to either side. The headrest also tilts down slightly.

This was what the entertainment system looked like. There were quite a lot of films on there including not only american films but also films from Japan, China and some other countries too. I watched some episodes of Big Bang Theory to fall asleep to (I had watched them already), The Great Gatsby and This is 40. There were lots of other fun films like Monsters University so there was plenty to keep you occupied. If you don't want to watch films there are other things you can do with the entertainment system such as listen to music, play games or monitor the progression of the flight.

You  could control the system with the handset attached to the seat in front and you could also control the brightness with the two buttons on the screen. The last flight I had been on used a touch screen which broke part-way through the flight so I was glad this one only used buttons!

For the flight I was given a blanket and headphones and then a resealable pack containing a sleeping mask, pen, earplugs, toothbrush, toothpaste and a giftaid envelope with which you can donate to charity.

The view from the window departing from London

We didn't have to wait too long for snack and refreshments to come our way! We were given sour cream and onion pretzels and for I drink I chose their specialty cocktail which was rather pleasant! We were also given the menu for the meals to come to have a look at.

The menu (click to enlarge)

Above is the dinner option that I chose: Noodle salad, Japanese style chicken curry and a roll with butter. The food came with some nice purple cutlery, tissues and some salt and pepper. If I were to choose again I would have gone with the pasta option as the curry didn't really taste much like the Japanese curries I had tried before. But overall the meal wasn't bad for airline food!

 For dessert we were given a lemon Gü  pudding and the choice of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. I, of course, went for the hot chocolate!

The view from the window mid-flight was really pretty , you could see the white stream coming from the wing tips!

Before the plane arrived we were given a snack and breakfast. For the snack I chose the sausage roll and for breakfast I chose the sausage choice. The blueberry muffin was really moist!

Overall the flight was quite good with only a little turbulence. I'm glad there were lots of films I liked on the entertainment system however, there could have been more episodes for each series as there were only around 3 episodes. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep too much so I was pretty tired when I arrived in Japan! Also There were lots of meals so I wasn't left hungry! The only main downside being that it was sad having to say goodbye to my friends an family.