Don't Make this Travel Mistake

Why, oh why, did we connect in London?

It is rare for voters to change their opinion. (Don’t freak out…this is not a post about US politics.) Confirmation bias, the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values, kicks in and supports our vote regardless of the outcome. But a majority of Brexit voters now regret their decision to leave the European Union. And so do we!!!!!

I Messed Up

Last week I told you that I made two mistakes while visiting Dubrovnik. Well, I made another one as it relates to the entire trip! The airline options from Portugal to Croatia aren’t great.¹ There are not a lot of options. All routes require connections, and they are on the expensive side. So when I found tickets on EasyJet for just over 600€ I thought I was doing pretty good.

I didn’t fully consider that our return took us through London-Gatwick. I didn’t even think about the fact that we were connecting through a non-EU country. It never dawned on me that despite a planned 4.5-hour layover in Gatwick we could miss our flight to Faro. But thanks to 17,410,742 voters on 23 June 2016 we did. ²

Who decided that the people charged with ensuring our comfort and safety during a flight should also sell perfume and beauty products?

1 Hour Delay

As our cab arrived at the Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport my EasyJet app let me know our flight would be delayed. Instead of noon, our flight would depart at 13:00. I did some math in my head and said to Denise, “Our flight will be one hour late, but we have a long layover in Gatwick. We should still get home on time.”³

Of course, one hour became two…then three…then three and a half. But as we boarded the plane, I still wasn’t very concerned. I mean we were traveling on EasyJet for both legs of the trip and still had 1 hour to get to our new gate. I checked and found that both gates were in the same Concourse. Easy-peasy right? NOPE!

I asked a flight attendant if she could confirm the gate number. She reminded us that we needed to clear Passport Control and Security again. Oh s#*t! We are no longer in the EU. We grabbed our carry-on bags, pushed past passengers, and ran! We were breathless as we got to Passport Control but made it through after a short delay. We then took the elevator to the departure floor and ran to security. We had to clear the ticket scanner that permits access to security by 16:00 as our flight was at 16:30. As the barcode on my ticket hit the scanner, it reported “16:01. Please see an attendant.”

We returned to the EasyJet counter. We found one of the very few actual people working at the counter. Ticked, I explained we missed our connection because our flight was 3.5 hours late and the UK voted to leave the EU. I didn’t raise my voice … but I think it was something in my eyes. He called a colleague and asked her to book us on another EasyJet flight to Faro that night at no charge.

“You were going to charge me? I asked.

“Yes, that is our policy, but Susan will take care of you.”

As it turns out, we got on another EasyJet flight two hours later. Sara and Joana, our dog sitters, kindly returned to our home and walked Onix … and Denise and I had a beer.

So What Have We Learned?

1. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

2. Votes have consequences!⁴

3. While I am old enough to remember when an airline waited for passengers connecting from a delayed flight…those days are long gone.

4. Flight attendants sell overpriced drinks and beauty products (but good news … they are at a 25% discount).

5. And never, ever connect through the UK when flying in Europe.

I love the UK. I love the theater and architecture in London. I love the fact they speak English … and I can sometimes even understand the Glaswegians. Scotland is one of the friendliest places in the world … and Wales is on our bucket list. But in the future when flying to or from an EU country we will never connect through the UK unless we plan to stay a few nights. And I don’t think you should either!

Eu disse a minha paz, foste avisado, tchau

Nanc

Please Note: This post was written before the UK elections last week.

1. And Sevilla is no better.

2. Yes, I know EasyJet is also to blame.

3. We use dog sitters who stay in our home with Onix when we travel. We always keep them informed of any travel delays we may encounter.

4. And with the current US Supreme Court … the consequences can last for decades. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)