The taxi arrived bang on time. I turned up for the 5:15 a.m. coach to Heathrow without having booked, and was told that it was full. However they kindly took pity on me and let me have one of the seats reserved for the spare driver, so I travelled squashed up with the drivers' briefcases and coats.
I had allowed time to travel by train/tube/train if the bus was full, so I arrived in plenty of time to get a window seat on the plane. I also managed to avoid the queues at the check-in, and was through so fast that I didn't have time to read a piece of paper that was thrust in my hand. This said that the direct flight might be overbooked, and offered a $600 travel voucher to volunteers for transferral to a later flight that included a connection in Chicago, arriving over 4 hours later than the direct flight. As it turned out, they managed to squeeze everyone in. Pity, it would have paid for a return trip to the U.S.
London Heathrow Airport is comparatively well off for shops and places to eat, so I had no problems filling in the time until the plane - apart from trying to keep awake, of course.
In episode 3 - will I be squashed like a sardine? Will I like the films?
© 2001. Copyright Sue Nethercott.