A small recap on how we ended up here. After years of long haul travel on VS and a very generous JPY American express points program we found ourselves with a few million miles to spend. The plan was to use these in future years for our frequent trips to Tokyo (where we lived for 8 years) to visit friends and re-live some fantastic memories.
Then, out the blue, virgin announced they were cancelling the NRT route. Disaster.
Fearing pending downgrades of mileage programs (which proved correct on BAEC) we decided we needed to burn some miles quickly. So last November we managed to spend 1.2 million miles on a “celebration week” on Necker Island, and bagged 2 G’s to Antigua. Feeling pretty smug we then settled down to the British winter, knowing full well we have something special to look forward to.
Then, in January, a documentary entitled “Billionaire’s Paradise: Inside Necker Island” was shown on BBC2.
I could actually see the colour drain from my wife’s face.
We certainly are not DYKWIA types, thinking of ourselves more like the reserved Japanese that we came to embrace so much. A request to make Pina coladas whilst shirtless, eating sushi off a naked body (we never saw that once in all our time in Japan), fills us with trepidation.
However, we are now sitting in the LGW clubhouse (first time since 2003 and such a different vibe to the LHR one. I like it.) with a glass of bubbles each, breakfast ordered and looking forward to everything (well almost everything) that lies ahead.

Then, out the blue, virgin announced they were cancelling the NRT route. Disaster.
Fearing pending downgrades of mileage programs (which proved correct on BAEC) we decided we needed to burn some miles quickly. So last November we managed to spend 1.2 million miles on a “celebration week” on Necker Island, and bagged 2 G’s to Antigua. Feeling pretty smug we then settled down to the British winter, knowing full well we have something special to look forward to.
Then, in January, a documentary entitled “Billionaire’s Paradise: Inside Necker Island” was shown on BBC2.
I could actually see the colour drain from my wife’s face.
We certainly are not DYKWIA types, thinking of ourselves more like the reserved Japanese that we came to embrace so much. A request to make Pina coladas whilst shirtless, eating sushi off a naked body (we never saw that once in all our time in Japan), fills us with trepidation.
However, we are now sitting in the LGW clubhouse (first time since 2003 and such a different vibe to the LHR one. I like it.) with a glass of bubbles each, breakfast ordered and looking forward to everything (well almost everything) that lies ahead.


