A Change of Plans
[Timestamp in EWDT]
It's a good thing that nitoda and science_vixen let me know about the Chunnel fire, otherwise I'd be stuck in Brussels right now, using this userpic. Instead, I'm in London, earlier than expected.
Unfortunately, this bial-out cost me €343.68. Last time I flew AMS-LHR, it cost me €9. I try not to think about the fact that the exchange rate has changed dramatically since then as well. At least I'll be able to get a refund from Eurostar for the disused ticket, which will offset the cost a little bit. I didn't have much choice. All the ships across the Channel today and tomorrow were sold out, and Eurostar told me that Chunnel services would 'probably' resume tomorrow-considering I'd be competing with a 36-hour backlog and I have a fligt to Johannesburg on Sunday, that didn't sound definite enough.
I didn't realise that the ticket I got was a business class ticket; it was still cheaper than any alternatives I could find, but I would've looked harder if I'd known it was business class-it's since occurred to me that most of the sites weren't smart enough to check alternative airports. But when I thought about the nice comfy seat I'd be getting, and therefore being able to nap through the flight, I felt better.
Yeah, right. It was an ordinary airline seat. For most of the flight, the only difference I noticed between business and cattle class was that we got a newspaper. I was just getting ready to write a LiveJournal entry about the €200 newspaper when they served a meal which was absolutely fabulous... but still not worth whatever the upgrade cost was. But arriving in London on time for dinner with various Pommy peeps is worth a fair bit.
The guys sitting alongside me were chatty for airline passengers. The bloke on my left was an Indian with a keen interest in mobile 'phones; he kept crapping on about a foldable Blackberry that's apparently being released in the U.S. soon but not in India for a few months. On my right was the owner of a women's fasion company in Pennsylvania, and he'd visited Amsterdam to look for fashion ideas. Hmmm, yeah, I'd make a joke about what kind of business expenses he'd be writing off, but I actually went to a 'coffee shop' to book my air ticket because it was the only 'net café I could find. The thing is, when I told him I was from the U.S. as well, he said 'you're kidding', and when he later saw my U.S. passport, he looked even more surprised. 'You must be in the music industry,' he said. WTF?
So right now I'm reading a newspaper over somebody's shoulder, an article about some poor bloke who's stranded at StPancreas Station, or whatever the London end of the Chunnel is, and he's due to marry in Paris tomorrow. I'm feeling even less bad about this now.