On this occasion, it amused me to miss my connecting flight as I fully expected to. My flight from New York to London arrived on time, but we were directed to a remote stand. That meant we had to wait for buses, then drive all around Heathrow Airport before being let out.
I moved swiftly enough and breezed through the electronic Passport gates with ease. Next, it was time to pass through the photo gates that let you then proceed on to security.
Computer Says No
When I scanned my boarding pass, it did not let me through, so I was directed to a lady at a desk nearby, helping a family. After a minute or two of explaining to them what to do next, it was my turn. I’d been offloaded from my original flight and had been put on the next one, which was well over two hours away.
That was fine with me, though there were no window seats available. She was quite happy that I was happy, mentioning that some other people had earlier been told it would be 12 hours until their next flight. Yikes!
Would I Have Made It?
For fun – and because I had time – I passed through transfer security and went to the gate for my original flight. It had “Flight Closing” on the screens and they were waiting for one more person when I got there. I would have made it, but I imagine my baggage would not have.
From there it was off to the British Airways Galleries First Lounge to wile away the time. After sitting in my usual seat and having a light meal and some Champagne, it was off to board my flight to Dublin.
BA834 – London Heathrow to Dublin (LHR-DUB)
12 February 2023
Airbus A320 – G-EUUC
Seat: Club Europe 1D
Departure: 10:50 Arrival: 12:15
Boarding was a breeze and I was soon sitting down in 1D, an aisle seat for a change. The crew were welcoming people on board, commenting on the day and so on, making people smile and laugh, which was lovely.
Glad I Missed My Connecting Flight
There were some excellent announcements made by the lead crew member, who went off script here and there. When welcoming the Executive Club members and oneworld frequent flyers, he added, “of which there are many of you today”. It was nice to see some personality and this guy had plenty of that.
During taxi, I could see the crew member checking his iPad and at one point the ghost of a grin of amusement crossed his face. Once in the air, service began and I selected a meal and asked for a Champagne.
Once that was almost done, I went to the bathroom and when I came back another piccolo had appeared unbidden. I checked with the guy in 1F whether it was his and he replied that, “no, they brought it for you while you were gone!”. I do love the BA crews! Anyway, eventually we landed in Dublin and that was that.
Overall Thoughts
But why did I say I was glad I missed my connecting flight? Well, the lead crew member was utterly amazing. He did the service without delay but also managed to chat to most of the passengers while doing it, engaging people, being interested and keeping it light.
I sent in a Golden Ticket complimenting him for fostering an esprit de corps among his team, but also among us passengers. It was a masterclass in customer service and I was in awe at the performance. So there you go, I ended up getting very lucky on a flight I shouldn’t have been on in the first place.
What do you think when you miss a connecting flight? Didn’t I luck out when I missed mine? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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That’s a nice meal for a 90 minute flight. In the U.S., we would get nothing on a short flight like that, other than to pick from a snack basket.
Yes, it’s actually usually 50-60 minutes in the air, so you need to eat relatively quickly. All the European and Australian airlines have meals like this (to one extent or another) on all flights. The snack basket doesn’t cut it for me when I’m in the US, but I’ve been spoiled I guess.
I like how you ignore the fact that they misconnected you unnecessarily. I’m not as kind.
You make a good point, and I would rather have had my original flight home rather than sitting in London Heathrow for over two hours. I see it as one of those situations that you have no control over, so why let it get to you? Anyway, I got home and that’s the main thing.