I was ready for the early alarm, although I couldn't believe that I had awakened at 04:30 two days in succession. Technically, I had had an extra hour of sleep because London is an hour later than Switzerland. So I held on to that thought, decided to skip breakfast at the hotel - definitely on the lower end of the spectrum, but perfectly adequate for one night - and head straightaway back to Heathrow. And I had slept, so I wasn't complaining.
The airport bus arrived on schedule and I clambered on, thankful that I had only my hand luggage with me, but still wondering whether I would ever see my checked luggage again. After making stops at several other airport hotels and other terminals, I was back at Terminal 5, where I headed directly to the rebooking line. Even though I had arrived before 05:30, there were still about four serpentined lines. But at least this time I was behind the partition that had disguised these lines from those of us in the outer circles the previous day.
One of the men in line was a gentleman trying to get to Bangalore, traveling with a pregnant wife and four young children, who was decidedly irritated. Although the family had already been rebooked on a flight to their destination, their flight would not leave for another two days. Unfortunately, the airline would only give him one day's set of vouchers at a time, which meant that he and the entire family had to travel to the airport each day, never knowing where - or when - they would be relocated for the day. Each member had to accompany him because each voucher had to be accounted for separately. This sounded truly inhumane to me and I certainly could understand his irritation.
After about an hour and a half of inching forward - and taking every advantage of chairs placed at intervals in the line - I finally found myself in front of a tired-looking booking agent. I gave her my travel documents and asked whether it was at all possible to be rebooked on that day's flight to BWI. After waiting several minutes as she tapped away at her terminal, I received the extremely welcome news that there were two seats available - one a window seat in the rear of the plane and the other an aisle seat, further forward. I opted for the aisle seat. And so it finally happened! I had a new boarding pass in addition to a new meal voucher. So long as there was a flight to BWI that would leave that day, I would be on it! What a relief! She also assured me that my checked baggage would be on the plane with me.
It was now around 07:00. My flight was not scheduled to leave before 13:45, so this meant that all I had to do was to get through passport control and security. Then the Heathrow Terminal 5 duty-free shops would be at my disposal for hours! Generally, this is one idea of paradise! But this morning, more than 24 hours after I had originally begun my journey, I was so tired that I could barely make my way through the various controls. I practically sleep-walked through them. I drifted into and out of various shops, but was so tired, I couldn't even decide to purchase anything. What was fun though was that I kept meeting people who had shared the previous day's ordeal. For the first time, Heathrow actually felt somewhat like my home town in Montana. We each had ended up at different hotels. Some had even gone into London itself, although were generally too tired to appreciate the experience. Everyone I met had been successfully rebooked and they were now looking forward to the next phases of their respective journeys.
I used my voucher to pay for some fresh fruit, a croissant and a large latte at one of the shops. After eating, I used one of the computer terminals to tap out the latest news to HWMBO, hoping he too had gotten some sleep the previous night. Then, I went off to a quiet corner and curled up to rest until noon when it would be time to find out my departure gate. When I did finally get to the gate, I was reunited with other "line" friends and we shared our previous evening's experiences.
Wouldn't you know it! That day's flight to BWI was delayed for a good 45 minutes. I was not alone in having the thought "If only that had happened on the previous day ...!" Even after boarding, we were held on the ground until a new departure slot could be assigned. At long, long last, we were in the air. As it turned out, my aisle seat was very well chosen - just behind the Exit aisle - which meant that there was plenty of legroom and space. The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. Once arrived at BWI, not only was my checked luggage there, but HWMBO - who had been tracking the flight via computer - arrived to pick me up. What a relief! At long, long last, the journey was over.
I thought about this experience a week ago as Heathrow was again subjected to flight delays and cancellations. From the sound of things, many travelers were not as fortunate as I was and were even forced to spend nights sleeping at the terminal itself. Having once experienced this, I hope that it never happens to me again. But I escaped rather lightly in the circumstances .... And thank all The Powers That Be for that!
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