Saturday, October 2, 2010

Travel, tantrums, tears and trauma.

Oh British Airways, your initials may well be abbreviated to 'BA' but after my latest experience with you guys (not to mention all your striking - just sayin'....) I think that 'BS' would be more appropriate.

You mean to tell me that when I have booked and paid for a flight from London to San Francisco, months in advance, I can arrive at the check-in desk at Heathrow airport, and you can tell me, calmly and oh-so-matter-of-factly, that you have overbooked the flight and so in reality, my booked and paid for seat upon said flight does not actually exist? Right. That makes perfect sense.

It makes so much sense, that in fact, when you talk to me in an entirely condescending manner, informing me that flights are always over booked, in order to compensate for any last minute cancellations, it becomes clear that of course, the problem here is that it is actually me who is an idiot for not knowing this!


No worries, I understand that the fact that money has left my account and lined your pockets in order to get to me to a wedding on time does not mean that you have to stick to your side of this contract. Just because I got to the airport nearly three hours before my scheduled flight to leisurely check in with ease and minimal stress, does not mean that you cannot send me off to get a complimentary coffee (the joy!) and wait until five minutes before the check-in desk closes to be allowed to check my bag, get through customs and then rush to the gate where finally I will find out if I will actually be able to get on the plane. No biggie.

Fair enough, in the end I was able to get on my flight, and was given an upgrade to premium economy (where it was far more comfortable to watch the poor lady 2 seats down from me puke up). But really, this was an extremely frustrating experience which, in the end, turned out to be so unnecessary, and I am still annoyed that in my frustration I slammed my hand down on the check-in counter and shattered my glass ring and started bleeding. I loved that heart shaped ring. Fortunately, despite my annoyance, I am pleased to report that I had enough clarity to shout at them "See? YOU'VE BROKEN MY HEART!"

Anyway, rant over! I made it, and was greeted by my darling at SFO with flowers, a sign (in case I forgot what he looked like) and lots of kisses....

5 comments:

  1. I <3 that you screamed out "You've broken my heart". So Precious!

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  2. Melanie, I love your blog. I find it very engaging, witty, and humourous filled with just the right amount of sarcasm. Bravo.

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  3. Thanks Aaaaaaron!

    Rebekah, I felt so sad that I couldn't get on the flight, and that they made me break the ring I had gotten from Aaron a month beforehand! They did give me not one, but two plasters (band-aids)...I guess they were quite generous... :P

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  4. Sorry to hear about your horrible experience with BA. But not to worry, one more strike and they'll be bankrupt! This is why I always fly Virgin.

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  5. I always fly Virgin too, and in fact when they told me at the airport that the flight was over booked, one of the first things I said was "I am soooo stupid, I should have flown Virgin like I normally do!" It just seems to be one thing after another with BS...er, I mean BA.... ;)

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