V-Flyer

I just realized I had this (and the return flight TR) saved in a word doc, but had never posted it..... I guess better late than never!

What I lack in witty writing style I make up for in verbosity!

This TR actually starts two days before the flightbear with me as it does become (potentially) relevant later on.

Due to some things that came up at the office, it started looking more and more likely that MrStars was not going to be able to join me on our trip to the US. Two days before we were due to fly, he asked me to call and find out the fees incurred for changing/cancelling flights if things didnt get sorted at the office. It was slightly more complicated than it might appear on the surface, because our tickets originated in the US (we didnt buy a one-way ticket when we first moved here). So the flight on 20 March was actually the return of a flight taken in January, and MrStars ticket back to the UK was the beginning of a new ticket. I was told by the Premier line that it would be a $200 charge to change the date of the ticket (K fare) for 20 March (the return of a ticket on which the outbound had already been flown) and it would be $200 cancellation fee for the ticket that had not yet been flown on (S/K with the S upgraded to G with miles). The rest of the cost of that ticket would be refunded. As it was within 7 days of the flight date for the G ticket (MrStars had been booked to fly back to LHR on 25 Mar) we would lose the miles used for the upgrade, however, the rep specifically said it was at the discretion of the agent, and seeing as we were both Au, we may be able to get some or all of the miles back.

The next day, 19 Mar, MrStars confirmed what I had already figured was the case he would not be able to take the trip with me. I then called the Premier line to make the changes/cancellation noted above. I will just moan about the Premier line for a moment I find that if I call three times, I can get three different answers to the same question. It has happened in the past where I was quoted different changes fees for the same ticket, so it didnt surprise me too much when I went to make the actual changes and the fees were $150 to change the date on the return of one ticket, and then the other ticket was non-refundable and would be held for 1 year as a credit on MrStars account, and we would be charged a $150 change fee when we use the credit. I enquired about the miles and was told we could not get them back. As nicely as possible I mentioned what I had been told the day before about the fact that we were gold, discretion of the agent, pretty pleaseand she put me on hold to ask a supervisor. After a while on hold I was told that it was not possible. Oh wellI figured it was a wash in some respects as the change fees were less than I had originally been quoted.

Fast forward one more day, its raining and MrStars feels bad he cant come with me to the US to see my family so he decides to order a car to take me to the airport. It was rather nice of him, but neither of us were thinking straight about the fact of rain + day before holiday weekend = nightmare traffic. I got in the car and as we crept down Earls Court Road I knew it was a big mistake so I asked the driver to please change our destination to Paddington. He obliged, but while waiting to make a turn off of Hammersmith Road he stopped paying attention and we bumped the van in front of us. Two angry men got out and I had flashbacks of a time in NYC when my cab got into an accident with a bus while I was on my way to meet MrStars to go to the airport. Luckily no damage was done so we were on our way pretty shortly. I managed to get to the station just in time to grab a ticket and get on the departing HEX. Part way through the ride the train stopped, all of the power went out, and we just sat on the tracks. It really seemed as though I was not going to get to the airport. Fortunately about 10 minutes later the train came back to life and we headed to Terminal 3.

There were no lines at the UC check-in so I made my way there and turned in the boarding card I had printed the night before. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a purple boarding card being printed. I knew the flight was very full, possibly oversold (no availability at all showing in Y on ExpertFlyer for a few months prior) and that would stand me a decent chance of an op-up being an Au seated in PE, but I didnt really think I would get one, having never had one before. First I was trying to remember if perhaps I was confusing the colours of the boarding passes, then I thought maybe they just ran out of red cards at the UC check-in and finally I thought that maybe they had to do purple cards for Aus so that we could use the private check-in. All of my thoughts were thrown out when the smiling agent handed me my card and said Youre in 9K. Its all taken care of! I thanked her and headed to security.

After breezing through the private security with a goofy grin on my face I promptly called MrStars and asked Did you upgrade me? I thought perhaps he was feeling guilty about not coming on the trip and the debacle I had getting to the airport. He said No, why? and when I told him what had happened his response was oh, I totally should have taken credit for that! Cheeky! Anyway, I am not sure if it was just that I was the right combination of being an Au in PE travelling by myself on a very full flight, or if possibly someone from the premier team made a note in my booking the day before when I was doing the cancellation stuff for MrStars ticket. You see, the miles for his upgrade had been taken out of my account. In any event, it was an appreciated op-up and left me feeling like those miles were not wasted after all.

I headed to the CH where I just made it in time for my haircut. After my haircut it was time to board so I didnt get to enjoy much in the way of nibbles, but rather just headed for gate 3. There was a bit of a scrum for boarding, but no real surprise there. I was seated upstairs, which was a first for me in UC. We pushed back from the gate at about 4pm with 344 passengers onboard. It was pretty windy out so we had a bumpy take-off and the captain announced a flight time of 6h 48m.

The seatbelt signs were off within 10 minutes and the FSM L came around to say hello to everyone in my cabin and offer the extra amenities basket. She did not acknowledge Au status to me, but I did hear her say welcome back to someone else. Drink orders were taken promptly, crisps or nuts provided, and then dinner was served. According to a little note I jotted down starters were watercress soup or asparagus wrapped in parma ham. I had neither as I dont eat red meat and the watercress soup sounded less than appealing. Mains were grilled chicken with spinach & potatoes, prawn curry, or lemon ricotta pasta with butter and nuts. I opted for the chicken and it was decent.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. I watched Superbad and Ratatouille and read a book. We had a surprisingly smooth landing at JFK surprising only because the wind was so strong it nearly blew me over in the parking lot. My parents said it had really begun to kick up shortly after I had arrived, thankfully.

The US passport holders line was very short, so I was through quickly, but then spent an hour in the baggage hall. Baggage handling at JFK is a mess. There was a group of UC bags that came out right away, but one of the containers must have been put aside or something because there were a few of us who waiting forever. Worse, the baggage handlers who were actually in the baggage hall took forever to decide that maybe, just maybe, they should remove some bags from the carousel. Many of the Y passengers were held up in the immigration hall because some other flights had also just landed. So their bags were just going round and round and no new bags could come out. It was ridiculous. After half an hour of this some genius realized they needed to move bags. There was a man standing near me freaking out, convinced his bag was lost because one of the workers in the hall told him all of the UC bags were already out. I tried to calm him down and tell him that priority baggage has a habit of not working at JFK, but until he laid eyes on his bag he was absolutely convinced it was not on our plane.

For me, it was a hassle, yes, but not really something to complain about given I was on an op-up.

Tres grande TR! Merci pour le post!

GJ

De rien!