A Bumpy Journey Home

Not the finest in the fleet!

Today we received from BA a dismissive response to our complaint, so it's weapons drawn and time to catch up with this blog where we had hoped to record a victory. Resolving this may take some time!

We left Palolem by taxi at 4 am, so the road was clear and we arrived at the airport in good time, but had to mingle for entry with passengers for at least two Russian charter flights, so ended up with no long wait. There isn't much to say about Dabolim airport these days. It is a lot better than it was! Our Air India domestic flight was pretty full, the "breakfast" was a joke, and we were seated behind an Israeli new age family, which was a bit of a challenge to the patience! In Mumbai everything was easy and having reached the BA check-in we were offered the chance to be processed early. This was in very welcome contrast with an appalling experience last year, but we eschewed it as we had a cunning plan involving a bottle of wine in hold luggage and a discreet carrier bag! We killed time and then cadged paper cups, opened the wine and killed some more! At check-in we waltzed up to an empty desk and were away in five minutes. The clerk didn't seem to understand why we were amazed. So far, so good, BA!

One last Kingfisher - at a price!

All the other stuff - immigration, security, tediously complicated route through duty-free shop, eye-wateringly expensive beer  and lengthy boarding passed off without mishap and we settled in to our special seats - for which we had paid GBP 100 extra. They were the "twin" pair at the back, so no neighbours, near galley and loo, and a great place to spend ten hours or so watching films and TV! The expectation was that the selection would be better than on Qatar coming out! On came the safety film and Bob had nothing on his screen! Nor did he for the whole flight! Unlike the treatment six years previously when - unlikely as this might seem - the same had happened he had to manage without. No offer of a seat move, no champagne, and just a bit of sympathy from one crew member in the closing stages of the flight and some better wine! We were also given a case number - which as we see today was a complete waste of time and effort!

The flight was not improved by being both extended in time and extremely bumpy. It was Day 2 of the stand-off between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, and Pakistani airspace was closed, so the usual route up over the Caspian Sea and into Central Europe was not possible.  Instead we headed over the Arabian Sea, Egypt and the Med. Whether the re-routing itself or some other cause is to blame barely matters: we had the worst and longest-lasting turbulence we have known - complete with spilt coffee and wine. Still, we made it to Heathrow over an hour late, but were still able to catch our coach round to Gatwick - and it wasn't too silly to be in cropped trousers and sandals. We spent a very comfortable night at the Premier Inn, caught some rain crossing the road to the terminal, and had an uneventful flight back to Fraggle Rock with Easyjet. Dave met us as usual and told us of the great weather there had been in our absence.

This week it's Carnaval time in Corralejo! Bring on the clowns:- such as those in BA Customer Relations!