London Heathrow (LHR) - Brussels National (BRU)
bmi british midland Flight 151
Aircraft type: Airbus A319
Seat 4F Aisle (Y)
Scheduled departure time: 14:40
Actual dep time: 16:53
Scheduled arrival time: 16:50
Actual arrival time: 18:39
Miles accrued: 400
For P.J. Bonner
Things started to go wrong on Thursday evening when I couldn't find my complimentary bmi diamond club Gold Upgrade Vouchers (GUVs). I searched everywhere all night but alas could not find them. I went to bed at 4.30 am but could not get to sleep. Eventually I drifted off to the land of nod at about 07.30 am, still suffering from jetlag (I think I'm still on US Central time).
When I woke up around midday it was with much regret that I realised you were probably sitting on the tarmac somewhere at LHR, in seat 80G on the upper deck of Flight SQ317 bound for SIN, waiting to take-off. Thanks for your phone call when you were at the airport, sorry I couldn't be there with you but I know how emotional it can be...I myself had to dash soon if I was to make my own flight. After a quick coffee I rushed out of the house. It was about a quarter to one by the time I reached the tube station.
I took the tube to Paddington station where I arrived with two mins to spare for the 13:25 Heathrow Express service. I arrived at the airport on time, exactly an hour before my flight. I had used OLCI the day before but did not print my boarding pass so had to collect it from the bmi Business / Star Alliance Gold check-in desk. Damn it! How could I have been so careless and lost all those GUVs?! All ten of them!
Security at Terminal 1 (post BA) was impressive, especially for a Friday lunchtime. When was the last time I had passed through any terminal at LHR and there was only one (1) other passenger in front of me? Never in my whole life! Ever! This was by far the quickest security clearance for me at LHR and took less than a minute from the time I removed my shoes to putting them back on. Oooh! So not looking forward to when most of the other Star Alliance carriers move into T1.
I then proceeded straight to the bmi diamond club lounge at Gate 14 in need of urgent refreshment. I helped myself to lots of juice and fresh fruit - no unhealthy snacks for me, thank you very much. Checked the departure monitors and was dismayed to see that my flight was delayed by an hour. Decided to take a quick shower to freshen up and just waited for my flight over more cups of hot coffee.
At the gate we were transferred to the aircraft by bus and boarded from the rear. At least bmi know how to do this properly. The last time I boarded an aircraft from a bus was at Abu Dhabi earlier this year and the bus driver had no idea if it was from the front or rear door - there was complete chaos and boarding took forever. No such problems this time. Once onboard the Captain announced a further 45 min delay and I just sat there twiddling my fingers until our allotted take-off time, which was now pushed back 2 hours.
Flight was uneventful. At the beginning I gave the cabin crew my undivided attention during the safety briefing and was rewarded with, er..nothing. No complimentary meal deal for me as service started from the back and never reached my row. Glad I took a bottle of water with me from the lounge.
Landed at BRU almost 2 hrs behind schedule and was not pleased at all. Delay blamed on high winds and congestion at LHR. Took the train to Brussels Central station. So from the time I left home at lunchtime it has taken me 6hrs to fly 200 miles. 6hrs!!! Not kidding you but I could have gone on the Eurostar, had a quick beer in Brussels and been back home in less than 6hrs! The quickest journey time on Eurostar city-centre to city-centre is 1hr 51 mins. Give me the train anyday. If it wasn't for that bmi miles promotion...
Well, I hope you arrived in good shape. Good luck with your new job and I wish you all the best with your new life...Don't forget us back home!
