two entries in two days?!
It's a good thing that I just got all excited about my trip to Ireland and pulled up my e-ticket itinerary to stare at it and drool...it turns out that I'm leaving on Tuesday afternoon instead of Wednesday. It would have been a total bummer to start packing on Tuesday night only to realize that I missed my flight. Gotta work on this being a grown-up thing.
However, trouble in paradise: on my flight back, I fly into London Heathrow and arrive around 9:15a.m. I leave at 12:40p.m. from London Gatwick. Uh, that's an entirely different airport. One phone call to American Airlines (press 0 repeatedly to talk to a real person) confirmed that yes, when one searches for "cheapest flight," the option of flying into one airport and out of another hours later is always a possibility.
The customer service woman helping me was such a champ.
"Is this your first international flight?"
"Yes."
"Are you traveling alone?"
"Yes."
Bless her heart, she sounded like she was going to have a heart attack. She totally went protective mother on me. She discarded the idea of taking the tube (!) because she said I'd have to switch stations, and that would complicate things. She said something about renting a car (?!) but it turns out that she was talking about taking a taxi. That may work, but it will still be a time crunch because I have to a. collect my luggage, b. go through customs at Heathrow, c. take a taxi to Gatwick and d. go through customs there. She checked into changing my flight, but at this point it would cost $333. I told her I'd have to figure out what I want to do and call back later.
One of my co-workers has some friends living in London so she's e-mailed them to ask about the feasibility of cabbing it. BJ's vote is for changing the flight and paying extra (though he's hopping mad that 2 separate airports was an option in the first place). My vote is for missing my flight and staying in Europe forever. I could be an ex-pat. It could be fun.
Oh boy my iTunes is playing Flogging Molly's "Drunken Lullabies." It knows just what to do to get me in the mood! Ireland here I come!
However, trouble in paradise: on my flight back, I fly into London Heathrow and arrive around 9:15a.m. I leave at 12:40p.m. from London Gatwick. Uh, that's an entirely different airport. One phone call to American Airlines (press 0 repeatedly to talk to a real person) confirmed that yes, when one searches for "cheapest flight," the option of flying into one airport and out of another hours later is always a possibility.
The customer service woman helping me was such a champ.
"Is this your first international flight?"
"Yes."
"Are you traveling alone?"
"Yes."
Bless her heart, she sounded like she was going to have a heart attack. She totally went protective mother on me. She discarded the idea of taking the tube (!) because she said I'd have to switch stations, and that would complicate things. She said something about renting a car (?!) but it turns out that she was talking about taking a taxi. That may work, but it will still be a time crunch because I have to a. collect my luggage, b. go through customs at Heathrow, c. take a taxi to Gatwick and d. go through customs there. She checked into changing my flight, but at this point it would cost $333. I told her I'd have to figure out what I want to do and call back later.
One of my co-workers has some friends living in London so she's e-mailed them to ask about the feasibility of cabbing it. BJ's vote is for changing the flight and paying extra (though he's hopping mad that 2 separate airports was an option in the first place). My vote is for missing my flight and staying in Europe forever. I could be an ex-pat. It could be fun.
Oh boy my iTunes is playing Flogging Molly's "Drunken Lullabies." It knows just what to do to get me in the mood! Ireland here I come!