The Never-Ending Return

Owing to the fact that we had a 9:00 a.m. flight from Athens to Rome on Saturday morning, we opted to stay at the airport the night before.  This was incredibly prescient since as we learned on the inbound, the line to check bags before the flight is lengthy and starts to queue even before the max 2 hour window.  So, arising at 6:00 a.m., and finishing the pack of 15 bottles of alcohol, as well as the LV purchases, we set out for the airport, which was walking distance.  The bags weighed 20kg and 18kg, plus the smaller one which was almost 16kg, and our carry on luggage was packed with computers, which seemed to increase in weight over the course of the day.

The flight to Rome was perfect, and upon deplaning and going through one of the most lax immigration checks (two customs agents waving the passengers through as they cursorily showed that they had something resembling a passport, after all this was a domestic EU flight), I was immediately confronted with the VAT refund counters, and decided that I should try to do this now, rather than wait.  After all, I don't know where the VAT refund offices are in Fiumicino Airport, nor do I know if I will find one outside of security.  Now, I don't actually have the items for which I am collecting the VAT refund, but since it was all LV, I was prepared to show any combination of things I had on me, if necessary.  Also, I don't have my boarding pass since I only have the electronic reservation, but the customs agent didn't ask for the goods, and when I started to show him my iPhone for my boarding pass, he just wanted to know where I was going, and then stamped my form. Since the lines for VAT were terrible, Randall had gone down to baggage claim and dutifully retrieved our bags.

Again, having learned from the inbound, we left the security area, and proceeded to British Airways to check in for our flight to Heathrow and ultimately to Boston.  The lines to check in, however, were long, and unusually slow.  We were in the one for "Bag Drop Off Only" presuming we had done online check in, and as we crawled to the front of the line, Randall tried, but kept getting an error from the BA server.  Turns out which line we were in didn't matter.  The counter agent averred that her computer was out and she was having to input information manually.  She printed our bag tags and boarding passes, and off we went through security.

We had just about a 3-hour layover in Rome for our 12:55 p.m. flight, and these transactions had eaten up over 2 hours of it, so with the knowledge that the flight would board 30 min before departure, we simply headed to the gate.  The flight was immediately delayed by 10 min, then 45 min, but even before the 45 min delay had elapsed, there was an announcement that the flight was being delayed further but of unknown duration.  At this point, we went to the lounge, since that would be an easier place to wait, and we would likely get clearer information there.

So, we found a place to nest, and started our wait, casually chatting with others similarly delayed.  More people crowded the lounge, and a family of 4 joined our corner.  The mood was getting restless since EU law automatically provides reimbursement for certain distances and delays/cancellations, and we were getting into that target range (3 hours for flights between 1500-3500km).  It was around 3:30pm that the start of the real adventure would begin.  BA finally announced that its computer systems were down world wide, and it was cancelling all flights before 6:00pm GMT.  BA flight crews are reported as saying the event is "catastrophic".  Now, our connecting flight out of Heathrow was not until 6:20pm, but we were never going to get there.  Our boarding passes now functioned as vouchers for a sandwich and a drink at the food court.  And shortly thereafter, all flights for the day were cancelled, and representatives were telling us which carousels would have our bags.  You can now imagine the situation.  Everyone is trying to get information about other flights, rebooking, vouchers and hotel rooms and generally, what to do, since this isn't weather related or an act of God, but rather the 6th time that BA has had computer problems, and we learned that several months ago, BA eliminated any airline specific customer service in Rome, but now has outsourced the problem through Avia Partners, and fundamentally, there are no answers since everything is computer dependent and all system is down.  Randall and I waited out the masses by calling American Airlines to rebook us, since fortunately, our flights were done through AA co-chairing on BA.  That took a while, and rather than lose the telephone connection, I then went to retrieve our bags, while Randall finished the transaction with AA, which meant going back through immigration, which was more interesting this time coming into the international terminal.

As I evaluated the chaos between carousels 10 and 11, the line for the hotel information was short, and my bags, if they were even on the belt yet, were going nowhere, so I got that piece of the puzzle--a one page apology for the inconvenience and a standard form for maximum reimbursement and where to send the information.  By then, Randall had arrived to help me retrieve 50+kg of luggage onto a free airport trolley.  As the line for voucher information was now 20 deep, and the line for taxis was similarly growing, we found a quiet bank of seats, and I started on Expedia and Travelocity, while Randall put in a search for "airport hotels", and eventually we secured a reservation for the Hilton at the airport, which was only a long walk with the ever-increasingly heavy luggage, especially after we had to abandon the trolley before we got the hotel.  Sure, we could have stayed in Rome, which was about an hour commute, or Fiumicino, which was 30 min, but we were now on a 9:30 a.m. fight to JFK, and we wanted to get there 2 hours in advance to deal with any other issues, and we were were, to say the least, tired.  Personally, I just wanted to eat, shower, and go to bed, disturbing the least amount of my tightly-packed suitcases as possible.

The large glasses of Sangiovese at dinner were great, and the scotch that I poured into an empty water bottle before we left the first class lounge made sure we crashed at 10:00 p.m., but still that alarm was harrowing at 6:00 a.m., and back to the airport we went.

Checking into American Airlines was pleasant, and seemingly uneventful, and even though we were a little over the checked baggage weight allowance, the desk agent let it slide.  She knew we were part of the BA debacle, and took pity on us.  She did ask if we had packed a dead body.  I shrugged.  What was I going to tell her?  No, that weight is the 15 bottles of alcohol that I'm not telling you about because then you won't take my luggage???  And now off to the AA lounge, shared with a dozen other smaller airline presences, but also serving the same awful catered food.  We boarded as soon as we were able, bypassing the random search of bags and person--at this point, I don't even know what is in my carry on (a plastic container of cashews from Greece, a ceramic nick nack, my jewelry???) and I start nesting.  For some reason, the airlines guard the headphones like gold ingots, so I just got out my ear buds and started my in-flight entertainment.  My goals were simple:  watch as many movies as possible during a 8.5 hours flight and drink, heavily.  Now, I have also been told that when you are on a long international flight, you should try to act like the time zone you are going to in order to get acclimated more quickly.  At 9:30 a.m., however, I couldn't figure out what time zone would be appropriate for drinking, so I gave up.  Four movies, a bottle of Italian white, and a glass of Italian red (they were out of my white), we landed.

Now, because of the rebooked BA passengers, there were some tight connections, and the family we met in the lounge the previous day was also on this flight, trying to get to DC, who were given a red card to facilitate their customs/immigration.  With Global Entry, however, Randall and I got off the plane well after the rest of business class, got through immigration, got our luggage (again!) and got through customs before this family.  Then we dragged the heavy, and slightly-more-compressed-than-I-was-comfortable-with-but-what-can-I-do-now bags to be rechecked, left security once more and went back through domestic security.  It's about 12:30pm, and our shuttle to Boston is not due to depart until 3:30pm (boarding at 3:00pm), so we immediately go to the lounge.  And begin our wait.  Wine, Randall has some soup, I try cheese cubes, more wine.  We are becoming more facile at old NYT Friday crossword puzzles.  The flight is delayed to 3:50pm, then 4:15, then 4:45...at this point, I'm not really keeping up with the delays.  They are coming fast and furious, stretching out this return to interminable lengths.  I'm now trying to calculate the minimum I am going to do when I get home before I get the girls.  Dismantle luggage to check status of alcohol, start a load of laundry, shower, just becomes grab gift bottles and leave.  Randall has valiantly gone to get real food, which we will bill to BA under our L25 per day per adult meal allowance.  When the 6:15 pm delay went to 6:55pm, Randall and I decided to trek to the other lounge which is closer to Gate 39, and which is half an airport away, down, under, shuttle, up and over there, and that is when we experience the moving sidewalks that are slipping from side to side further adding to insult to injury.  We never even make it to the other lounge as we see the inbound flight deplaning, and the announcement that the turnaround will be a quick as possible.

I think I got on the flight just around 6:50pm, and promptly started another movie.  This flight is only supposed to be 45 min, but with a few extra minutes on the ground on either end, I might get through half of it of my 95-min movie.  Everyone is on, but we're not leaving, though, because some woman in coach is insisting that she has to be seated in first-class, and there are no seats, and she won't even sit down in her coach seat, which she knew was an issue before she got on the flight.  And the 8:00pm shuttle, which has been delayed to at least 9:30pm, has first class available for her, but she doesn't want to wait.  There is now about half an hour of various AA personal from what appear to be uniformed flight crew and customer service representatives, to upper management, tromping down the aisle to reason with her, finally with success, and we can now actually leave the gate.

Airborne, and landing by 8:00pm, we get the luggage one last time,  and call an Uber, and even though the driver missed turns twice, we were home by 8:20pm, and I was out the door to get my girls.  Back home by 10:00pm, everyone is nominally unpacked, second load of laundry is in the wash, shower removed the stain of the day, and I am asleep in less than 15 minutes.

The universe may have been telling us that we needed a little extra vacation, but it didn't all need to be at an airport, did it?