On the Road Again ... Almost

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Just when you think you're "in like Flint" ... NOT.

Here I sit, at Chicago O'Hare Airport waiting to see if I get on a plane out of here tonight to London.

Yesterday, up early, said goodbye to Jackie, went back to bed. It was early!!! My dear sweet Lee took her to the airport and saw her at least through Security. I got to sleep a couple of hours more.

Back to the airport by noon. I'm traveling on Kim's pass, as a non-revenue passenger, and it is always a gamble. But no problem getting on the flight to Chicago. Kim was kind enough to book me First Class, and I did get to sit in the big compfy seat, and got food, with a real knife and fork ... not plastic. Hung around the airport in Chicago for, oh, about five hours. Talked to Kim several times and she finally went to bed thinking I would be on the London flight (last one of the night) for sure, no problem, First Class, get to lay down and sleep. I waited and waited for my name to be called. Waited some more. Finally heard the dreaded words .... the plane is full, all standbys will be rolled over to the first flight tomorrow morning.

I wasn't the only one in that predicament. A nice gentleman from India kissed his wife goodby and she got the last seat on that last plane. The non-revs that couldn't get on got a voucher for a "stressed passenger rate" at a local hotel. Walked miles to find the shuttle to the hotel. It's now about 11:30 p.m. Anticipating a First Class meal or something, I didn't eat dinner and of course by the time we left the gate, everything was closed. Several of us hung together and found the shuttle and checked in at the hotel.

My new friend, Dilip from India, made arrangements to meet downstairs at 6:30 a.m. to start our new adventure at the airport. I must say, he has been soooo helpful. He is an American Airlines employee and knows the ins and outs of this non-rev flying. He and his wife live in London, he has two grown children and a darling granddaughter. I know. I saw pictures!!!! We have walked around the airport, sat in a nice room for non-rev American Airlines passengers, looked at the computer many times to see if we have a chance in you know what to get on. We still don't know. But we have options, Plans A B C and D.

Plan A ... we hope to get on Flight 86 at 5:00 p.m. He is first non-rev and I am second. We will sit on the wings if we have to!!!

Plan B ... I look pitiful and ask the agents to roll us over to a flight to Manchester, England if it looks like we will not get on because it departs 45 minutes after Flight 86 and we need to be on the list or that will be a no-go.

Plan C ... We hang around for the last flight to London at 10:20 p.m. I have no idea what our chances are on that one.

Or ... Plan D .... We decide at 4:30 whether to get on a flight to Brussels and then take the Eurostar to London.

Dilip's Plan D: He is getting a discounted ticket from Air India to London from Montreal. He will fly American to Montreal and then Air India. He will be getting out of here tonight. But since he's been here for three days, he sure deserves to get out!!!

So for now it's just hang around and wait. I have everything I own plugged in ... just in case. I might need to be entertained later on tonight and there aren't many electrical outlets in the concourse. It helps me keep calm!!! 😊

So it's after the fact ... but here's the rest of the story:

After many emails and phone calls with Kim, we decided to give Plan A a shot. A lot of the people in front and behind me decided to try other options to get to London. That's how I became No. 2 on the list. However, lots of empty seats end up being given to full-fare people from other airlines who have missed their connection etc. Since this means $$ to American, they are naturally listed before us.

The list of people wanting to get on Flight 86 increases and decreases with each passing minute. Dilip and I are anxiously awaiting to hear our fate. Ten minutes before takeoff, we are given the good news. There are two seats left ... one in business and one in first. Dilip takes the business leaving me the first class seat. What a guy!!!! Kim tells me this is a $10,000 seat (round trip ... can you believe that?).

Was it worth the hassel??? Yup! The seat turns into a bed, with a duvet and pillow. Three or four or five course meal for dinner, with lots of real knives and forks. Started with warm nuts and feta cheese and olives. Then bread with butter or olive oil. After that a salad. I chose BBQ shrimp for dinner served with rice and green beans, a sundae with chocolate, carmel and real whipped cream. I did sleep a couple of hours on my nice bed (I guess, after all that food). Ate breakfast some five hours later and then we were there. Gesh, we got to get off the plane first and get in a special line to get through border check fast. It was quite the experience. I did have to admit my ignorance several times while sitting in that first class seat ... I didn't know what buttons did what. But the flight attendants were nice and I'll look like a pro if I ever get the chance to go first class free of charge again!!!

Kim met me at the airport at 6:30 a.m. (nice daughter, huh???) and we took a train and the tube to her flat. After a few hours napping, we were out and about London running errands. Now Kim is packing for Egypt and I am on the couch with computer on the belly. Ahhhh,,,,, life is good.

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