Late Flight, This Is Not How It Was Supposed to Start

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i was prepared for my trip and had brought my luggage to my workplace so that I wouldn't have to drive back to my apartment. Company security was nice enough to allow me to park my car in the parking lot where it would be safe. I was working that day to save myself a vacation day. Time went quickly until around 3PM when I got a text message from British Airways advising me my plane would be at least an hour late due to the fact the plane was late in arriving from London. That was bad news for me because I was on a tight schedule when I land. I had calculated I had enough time to get out of the airport and drop my luggage at the hostel before making a train north to Coventry where I would be doing a Primitives pilgrimage and meeting a friend. With the hour delay it would leave me a margin of error of just minutes instead of 1 hour. Nothing I could do about this but head to the airport and hope the pilot could make up time in the air.

Got a ride to the airport from my good buddy Danielle Takacs. She was one of the people who i tried to convince to travel with me (Not Successful). We had left early in case we hit traffic. There was very little traffic so we made good time and I was left with about a 4 hour wait at the airport. Passed the time by playing games on the table tablet that all the desks had in the British Airways waiting area. Flight left a little over an hour late and I think the pilot tried to make up the time but we ended up in an holding pattern over London and we were even more late. I rushed out of Heathrow Terminal 5 as fast I could and even sprang for the Heathrow Express but still didn't make the train. So I booked the next available one for 31 pounds (GRRRR). I filed a complaint with British Airways and I will update this blog with their response.

I called my friend Kelly who was already waiting in Coventry both to apologize and to advise her when I would arrive. Train made good time and I ended up being about an hour and a half late. After a hug greeting with Kelly we went to grab lunch at a nearby pub/restaurant. I have always enjoyed English pub food and I eat it all the time when I am over the pond. Kelly and I caught up and i told her that the story I had written with her as the main character was completed and she would read it when she had time. Now the other reason I went to Coventry was for my favourite band The Primitives. The band itself was formed in Coventry over 20 years ago and specifically I wanted to go to the library where the lead singer Tracy had seen a piece of paper on the bulletin board that said "Primitives need a singer". I recreated that famous encounter with Kelly taking the picture. It was nice to have her there because it would have been hard to explain to a librarian why I wanted this done. After about 3 hours we parted again with promises to keep in touch. I made my way back to London and immediately headed to the concert. I was still an hour late but it was still just the support bands on the stage. I said hello to my fellow Primitives regulars. I have known them for a few years now and I was very happy that I was on the list for this night and tomorrow night's concert. The Primitives came on to a loud roar and Tracy was looking beautiful as always. They played a number of new songs this time and I was looking forward to their new album. Concert ended as always too soon and I headed back to the hostel. I am such a native now that I can navigate the underground without a map. Got back to the hostel and I saw a sandwich on the bed. I was confused because when their stuff on the bed that usually means someone is sleeping there. I just put the sandwich on the table and went to bed. Several hours later most of my roommates stumbled into the room. They explained the mystery of the sandwich saying it was a welcome gift and since I had missed them that afternoon they could not explain it. It was a very nice gesture and I was disappointed I hadn't eaten it because it had expired that day so the next morning it was too late. Oh well after some quick introductions I went back to sleep and that ended Day 1 of my around the world journey.

***UPDATE***

British Airways gave me an apology and $50 credit for being late

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Photos

British Airways Lounge
Tablets and charging ports at every seat