Adubs European "vacation"

[August_West]

OK This is going to be spread over multiple days and posts because I'm 9 days in to this thing already and need to start from the beginning.

This sweet blahg will have it all. You will laugh, cry, and root for my demise and pain (BY favorite pastime), I have already lived and died 1000 times so far and the best part is there are 8 days left for me to end up in a NHS room, which seems to be tradition here as that is where I ended up on last summers trip as well. This will also be a travel review as I have been on every mode of transportation, hotel, etc..... and I have a lot to say about that.


I have time right now because as I type this I am bed ridden with 102 degree fever thanks to our friend, Covid (39 Celsius since I'm in Europe which coincidentally was the same temp outside that was record setting 2 days ago when my fever spiked to 104 in the hills of Alva, Scotland in an air bnb that has no air conditioning and windows that can only open 2 inches. My 7 month pregnant fiancée (will be heretofore referred to as GF because I don't like typing the word I always misspell it) is next to me in bed right now also with Covid. Mine may be funny, hers isn't considering the pregnancy.

But I am getting ahead of myself, there is so much more! So let's travel back in time 9 days, and start with part 1 which I call "Go pound sand British Airways!"

 

[August_West]

Part 1 : Go pound sand British Airways

Let me preface by saying that the main thrust of this trip was my GF's sisters wedding in Edinburgh last weekend. We had 16 of us in the family all on different BA flights. I will be detailing multiple events of taking a lighter and setting money on fire so if you are squeamish viewer discretion is advised.

The problems started well before leaving. About 10 days before our flight I logged into my BA Club world account to fill out our passport info for the flight. We booked well in advance, like last October and got decent rates on Business class, which is the only way to fly transcontinental. If you have never been on a 777 in one of those seats that are enclosed and lay flat, it is by far, short of a private jet, the most comfortable travel experience imaginable. I could do 24 hours straight in those. Coincidentally my seat was as large (and 10 times nicer ) as the Ramada Hounslow we were forced into after our midnight escape from Heathrow- more on that later. Everyone should do that at least once in their lives, worth every penny. And it made real sense with a 7 month pregnant woman who are always warned off from long travel in 3rd trimester. She didn't even need to wear her compression socks!

Anyway, I logged into BA before trip to finish our info and I noticed that our whole return leg of the trip (Glasgow>London>JFK) had simply disappeared from itinerary. No way to get home! So we called BA. It took 2 full days, no exaggeration to get someone on the phone. You see BA has no help these days on every front of their business and should actually be charged with racketeering and fraud (more on that later). When you call BA these days, most times you do not even have an option to stay on hold for 5 hours to speak to someone. They simply play a message saying they dont have anyone to answer a call and then hang up. After 2 days we managed to get into a queue for a 4 hour hold and finally got an agent, they apologized but said yes our flight home was cancelled and he would help us rebook, which he did for the return leg, then when he was about to finish call he looked at our departure leg and said "well you know we are going to cancel your departure too, you only have an 85 minute layover in Heathrow before your Glasgow flight, and it needs to be at least 90 minutes" I said "well you are the people who booked it that way!" So he went to rebook that, and we went from a nice 10:30 PM JFK departure, overnight flights are the best for hitting the ground running the next day and catch a train to Edinburgh when we got into Glasgow the next morning, to a 7 am departure from JFK which after connecting to Glasgow in Heathrow put us in Glasgow at midnight.
Obviously we would need a hotel for a night in Glasgow now as we are not catching a train to Edinburgh at 1 am after that travel day. So we booked a hotel in anticipation. We will get to what happened with that................

 

[August_West]

I mentioned we had 16 of us going over on different BA flights, my future Brother in law and his family (wife and 3 small kids)left a few days before us, as they had booked a tour of Scotland for the week with a driver and rooms each night in a different area of Scotland. They had never been to the UK before and were shoehorning in a nice family vacation before ending up in Edinburgh for the wedding festivities which had events Friday and Saturday, before the actual wedding on Sunday. When they got on their flight at JFK to go to Heathrow, they were still on tarmac when he got an alert that their flight from London to Glasgow, where they were to meet their driver and go on their tour, was cancelled. In retrospect he now maintains the biggest regret of his life was not causing an airline incident on the tarmac and getting him and his family kicked off the flight in NY so they could go back home and have avoided what was yet to come............

(hang on I have to find my laptop charger)

 

[August_West]

......... they got to London in the morning (luckily) but now had no flight to Glasgow. I say they were lucky to get there in the morning because they could actually speak to BA people at Heathrow. They weren't able to rebook a flight, BA told them it would be at least 3 days to get them to Glasgow. But they were able to get their bags (that would not be the case with me, we will get to that) and for their first overseas travel trip ever, were turned loose on the streets of London with not much experience on what to do next. They decided to get hotel for the night and book a 5 hour train to Edinburgh the next morning. Well they got to Kings cross the next morning, saw the train was delayed got a bite to eat, and then somehow the train left on time without warning while board still maintained delay. He then ended up back t same hotel for 2 more nights because by now his kids were sick. For those keeping track at home, the hotel burned extra money well into 4 figures. The missed train was about 8-900 pounds for a family of 5, they thousands for the driver, tour and different hotels for those 3 days? Poof. You can imagine that cost.

 

[8893]

 

[Chin Diesel]

1. Love the use of queue. A word best described as the letter "Q" followed by four useless letters. Very British to say "queue" instead of line.
2. Gotta disagree on 777 business class lay flats. I actually avoid the 777 if possible and try to find A350 or 787 lay flats. Korean Air from ATL to Incheon. 16 hours and I felt more refreshed when we landed then when we took off.
3. A summer European heat wave has to he brutal. Scotland, 100 degrees and no AC. Plus you have rona and can't barely get out of room.
4. When, where, how do you think you got the 'rona? Back in US? At airport? While on the plane?

 

[August_West]

Meanwhile back in states, my GF and I and the rest of the family are watching his trials with trepidation because now we are all starting to head over and we know it is going to be bad. Everyone is supposed to be on different flights, but my GF's mom and step-father were on our flight from JFK to Heathrow after their flights had got just as screwed as ours were except they were connecting to Edinburgh and we were connecting to Glasgow.

Well the day before leaving JFK we both get alerts that our connecting flights were in jeopardy, not cancelled (because letting us know they were going to be cancelled would be too moral for BA) and that freaked out my step father in law. He doesnt like overseas travel in the first place, and doesn't suffer fools or inconvenience very well, (He's 71 and has earned that right) plus they are the parents of the bride and HAVE to be in Edinburgh for the final preparations for the daughter. So with all of our trust in BA at a low (but it would soon become lower), he booked a last minute direct flight from JFK to Edinburgh on Delta for him and his wife for the tune of 15k , His seats on the BA flight in business class went unused and unrefunded. So 22k more? poof.

now it turns out that was one of the smartest moves of the trip, because my GF and I got on the the BA flight the next morning , got to Heathrow, (which is a 3rd world airport these days, more to come) got through a 2 hour customs line , finally got to the BA club world lounge (which was trashed) ladled a couple bowls of soup out while waiting for our Glasgow flight, and then the cancellations came up on the board and all hell broke loose.......................

 

[husky429]

I leave on an international flight in 12 hours. I shouldn't be reading this... but here I am.

 

[storrsroars]

Hoping you and GF recover quickly.

If the people getting married ever decide to discuss divorce, I think everyone attending this wedding should have full license to beat the crap out of them.

I feel for you. I got ridiculously (both ends spewing) sick in Paris back in '94 while staying on top floor of a pensioner w/o AC. And no English TV except CNN which only showed the OJ chase for 3 days. That was brutal.

 

[August_West]

...................
So some commentary on what is going on with BA. Traditionally it is pretty high level operation. Been flying it for decades. All my trips to India 20 years ago were BA. Always well serviced flights. My flight itself from JFK to Heathrow was excellent , between the seats and service. But they are truly performing criminal activities and are in huge trouble. Let me tell you why:

Like the US the UK is finding some serious staffing challenges in finding help in all areas of service jobs. There are no baggage handlers (and the few they have are threatening strike any day now) no customer service reps, no maintenance workers in the airports and on the planes.

Brexit has taken all the Eastern Europeans who filled these service positions out of the picture, not to mention the war, Covid, and the surge of travel demand in the wake of a couple years of lockdowns, and it is a perfect storm of crap.

I feel bad in an overarching way, but that goes out the window when I realize that BA knows this and is running a criminal scam on the public.

It is incredibly bad faith when they already know what connections are being cancelled well ahead of time yet are bringing international travelers into London with no way to get them to their destinations in the UK and other parts of Europe. After this BA aside I will get into what happened specifically to us in Heathrow when our flight to Glasgow got cancelled, but let me tell you right now for the purposes of illustrating the BA scam, BA considers that leg of my journey "complete" even after they cancelled it, giving me no rebook options for 4 days and made me go into pocket for a hotel and train to Edinburgh to complete the trip.

Last week 70% of the connecting BA flights from Heathrow to Glasgow, Edinburgh , Newcastle, and Manchester were cancelled! 70% ! Think about the sheer numbers of people stuck! And BA isnt giving vouchers for hotel and train travel!

 

[August_West]

If the people getting married ever decide to discuss divorce, I think everyone attending this wedding should have full license to beat the crap out of them.

Oh we will get to that. I have some strong feelings there! She may end up having killed someone before this is all said and done. I pray it doesnt happen. The whole wedding has covid, ALL of us, including her 86 year old Nana (also obviously my GF's Nana) who is at her house alone now sick as hell south of Newcastle, other family trying to get her help today. This wedding was an entirely reckless notion so full of hubris for the desire of an instagram wedding that I want to throw my laptop right now just thinking of it.

 

[August_West]

I leave on an international flight in 12 hours. I shouldn't be reading this... but here I am.

I hope its not BA

 

[husky429]

I hope its not BA

United... who I haven't particularly liked in the past. it was non-stop... didn't want to be traveling for 30+ hours if you included the layovers either... that 15 hour flight was hell. Had a bunch of miles my mom let me use as well since she doesn't want to travel any more.

 

[Dove]

 

[BPT2Storrs]

Did I read $37K on flights for your in-laws? That’s unreal.

 

[husky429]

This wedding was an entirely reckless notion so full of hubris for the desire of an instagram wedding that I want to throw my laptop right now just thinking of it.

God help you. Instagram weddings are the worst and it feels like every couple I know wants to get married now that things are open after Covid. And no one can just have a normal wedding at a local venue or their house. It needs to be am event FOR THE AGES. I have turned down something like 12 wedding invites in the past year. Bali, Mexico, LA... I am not spending 1000s to go to your wedding. We didn't even go to my sister-in-laws wedding in Mexico this spring. If you want me to go on vacation with you, then pay for it.

I think I can say it here since my wife doesn't check the yard for the first time: i hate her sister. That woman is vain, narcissistic and an absolute beeyotch.

 

[Dove]

Did I read $37K on flights for your in-laws? That’s unreal.

Ridiculous. And I'm guessing also paying for some of this wedding.

 

[August_West]

Did I read $37K on flights for your in-laws? That’s unreal.

22 total 7 and 15

 

[8893]

This is worse than waiting for the next "Ted Lasso" episode.

 

[CL82]

This is worse than waiting for the next "Ted Lasso" episode.

…Wait, ADub was making the biscuits?

 

[uchusky32]

Adub never fails to deliver and at the same time having us wait for the next post. Get well my friend.

 

[auror]

My sister is flying home from London tonight and stopping with us for a few days. She leases airplanes to airways, so she warned me in advance of the refueling worker strike and that her flight might get cancelled.

 

[NJHusky]

22 total 7 and 15

Well that’s a bargain.

Nothing like you spending 10’s of thousands for a trip u prob didn’t want to take and having all this crap happen. Hopefully this place can keep u entertained while u recover. Feel better

what the hell were u thinking booking a place without AC? This ain’t your first rodeo. I made that mistake ONCE

We had a slogan ‘we do it for the stories’ ……but these types of stories u don’t want.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Well that’s a bargain.

Nothing like you spending 10’s of thousands for a trip u prob didn’t want to take and having all this crap happen. Hopefully this place can keep u entertained while u recover. Feel better

what the hell were u thinking booking a place without AC? This ain’t your first rodeo. I made that mistake ONCE

We had a slogan ‘we do it for the stories’ ……but these types of stories u don’t want.

Very few places up in Scotland would have AC. Edinborough is north of Edmonton in terms of latitude and not far off from Juneau.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

First of all, screw anything that isn't making sure you and the GF (and baby) get out of this healthy, including the wedding. That's priority 1, 2, and 3.

Second, this is why I reject all invitations to "destination weddings" as a matter of principle. It's a bridge too far. As if a regular stay-at-home wedding doesn't have enough "look at me!" ego stroking... It's so pointless, selfish, and inconsiderate.