Anyway after securing three of the herd the previous day and completely failing to catch the fourth, he had realized something was afoot and legged it a couple of days prior not to be seen again, I turned up at the BA cargo office with three caged felines where a very jovial, helpful and slow working individual helped me label the crates, put the final paperwork together and get the crates x-rayed all prior to relieving me of just over two thousand pounds which was paid to get the animals to Malta via an overnight stay at Gatwick. I did ask if they were flying up front with me for that cost but alas the joke died a death, I guess he had heard this complaint before.
I dont know if any of you have gone through this process, all I can say is hopefully if you do then there will be a courier company that operates between the airports you need so they can take care of the admin for you. I wont go into long and boring details but each animal had a portfolio of paperwork, permits and inspection certificates that was a half inch thick.
My stress levels were bordering on psychotic at this point so I bid a reluctant farewell to the animals, not entirely sure I would ever see them again and headed off to Sir Vere Bird Intl Airport now noticing that one of the little darlings had left me a puddle of displeasure in the back of my rented pathfinder. At least he had the sense to express himself out of the front of his carrier and thus not fill his own environment with that unmistakeable aroma, I filled up the gas tank and left the car quite a distance into the parking lot before throwing my keys into the agent and making haste. To date no cleaning charge has appeared on my credit card statement but I think its only a matter of time.
A quick check in at a deserted check in desk and it was onto the customs hall to politely debate with the officer on duty the merits of their returning the deposit I had left on the cat carriers. I eventually got the money returned but it took some polite persistence, a trait I had learned well during my time in the islands as No we cant do that is the default answer to any question that requires that the person asked actually has to think about any part of their assigned duties.
Onto the lounge go I and I eventually manage to snag a Heineken out of the waitress who then promptly vanishes for an hour. I decide that Id rather be in the main departures hall (ok room) where beer may be found more readily and head off for security, again this line is empty which is really unusual for a large international flight.
I spend a little time at the bar in departures and finally, as I can see no aircraft on the tarmac come to the conclusion that the flight is very late and most people had been advised of this at their hotels. To confirm my suspicions a BA staff members approaches the gate, picks up the microphone and begins to call for all club class and special assistances passengers to board. The plane was hidden out of sight on the newly opened taxiway at ANU. Why park a plane on a taxiway I cant say but then I dont run that airport thankfully.
There cant have been fifty people on the entire flight, I assumed walking out to the plane that perhaps it had originated on another island as does happen in the quieter months but nope this was the lot for today. No wonder I had been able to grab 11A online earlier that day (a rear facing seat at the back of the club world cabin so you have unhindered aisle access).
Into the seat I settle and grab some fizz (better than the VS offering but not great) and peruse the seat instructions. I fly club world rarely and the seat is a tad less user friendly than the VS flat seat. However now that I had taken the time to get acquainted with it I can see why people say its a much better seat than the VS one and I completely agree. Particularly not having to get up to convert it into flat mode.
Well the run of the mill commences, take off, menus given out, washbags given out (I kept this one), drink orders taken and movie lists perused. I figured Id catch the end of the fantastic four (as Id passed out during this movie on the VS flight the week before) whilst having dinner.
Dinner consisted of a goat cheese salad, chicken in cream sauce and a coconut mousse for desert. Once again I made the wrong call for dinner but couldnt face a fillet of beef (as Id had just that for lunch) and should have gone for the lighter sandwich option, ah well what can you do. The chicken was bland and tasteless however the Medoc on offer was far from tasteless so I stuck with a few more glasses of that, a Baileys to round things out, put the bed down and grabbed a few hours of sleep.
I awoke as the cabin was stirring and headed off to the washroom to freshen up, upon arriving back at my seat my tea and bacon roll were waiting and the FA came round to offer refills on both prior to landing (I stuck with just another tea). The Bacon roll was spot on but I remember there used to be the choice of a cooked breakfast on this route when I last flew it on BA a couple of years back, but I may be wrong about that. Not that I could have faced a full English Breakfast at that point anyway.
We landed at LGW and I loitered at the gate to try to see if my animals were being disembarked but it was impossible to see so I worriedly sauntered off in the direction of the immigration check.
I queued up and looked wistfully at the people whizzing through the IRIS line. I have signed up but my first (and only) two prior attempts to use the system have been met with Unrecognized errors which I have yet to sort out. It didnt take too long to get through passport control and I was into the baggage claim where this time I was waiting on two bags filled with, mostly books and cast iron skillets and pans, not the usual types of luggage coming from the Caribbean and I was curious how customs would react if they decided to stop me.
I breezed through customs, which I bet is exactly what the gentleman in handcuffs being addressed by a serious looking police officer wished had happened to him. As there were only Caribbean flights in at that time I assume it was a drugs mule arrest (hardly uncommon when I lived in Antigua) but thats just conjecture on my part. Boy he didnt look happy though.
It was now about 10am and I needed to wait until 3 pm to check into the Hilton, I made my way there anyway hoping to snag a day room to add onto my existing reservation as I was still pretty tired despite the sleep Id managed to get on the plane.
The young lady at reception at the Hilton allowed me to check in early for no additional cost. Im not sure if that is an HHonours perk, Im silver, or if she was just being very nice but it was a very welcome gesture. I then called the Animal Reception Center to see if they had my cats to be met with a young lady telling me that yes they were there and the chorus of Aww hes Gorgeous in the background was being addressed to one of my herd.
Once again a wave of stress lifted off me and I slept through until 2pm when I went off in search of all the fun that can be found at Gatwick airporthic.
All in all a better flight than the VS one earlier in the week. Mainly though due to better (but not by much) food, much better wine quality, a far superior seat (in seat mode) and a similar standard of service out of the FAs. Which is lucky as Im BA bound for the foreseeable future, mostly on Club Europe hops around the continent. Now if they could only serve warm toast in the Terraces.
(Oh, the herd made it safely to Malta and are busy destroying their new home and the missing member has turned up safe and sound and is now in the care of my vet. Arrangements are now being made to either find him a new home or ship him here to me in a couple of months as thats how long it will take to re-issue some of the permits necessary whichever comes first).
