My birthday turned out to be a rather pathetic comedy of errors at London Heathrow, though I learned a bit in the process and can only really laugh about it at this point.
Happy Birthday To Me, Alone At London Heathrow
My family is on our summer holiday in Europe and we began with a few days in London, where my sister-in-law has a lovely home. London is a city I love and we greatly enjoyed the time there.
For years, we have started our vacation in London and then flown to Basel, Switzerland and for years I’ve done the same thing: buy last-minute award tickets on British Airways, which operates 2-3 daily flights between London Heathrow and Basel.
But this is the first week in August and many are either heading off on holiday or returning. Even so, it’s not like this is the first time I’ve traveled during peak season and I’ve never had trouble securing award tickets in the past.
Nothing opened, though. Nothing at all. And ticket prices were absurd…over 500GBP one-way! Even EasyJet was 250GBP one-way. For those prices, we would simply stay in London longer.
Finally, about 36 hours before departure, three business class award seats opened. I grabbed them for my wife and kids, hoping a fourth seat would open.
It never did.
In fact (and maybe someone can explain to me the revenue management technology British Airways uses), after booking those three award seats the flight was zeroed out…I could not even purchase a fourth ticket for cash.
The EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Basel was also sold out…that was it.
A single seat opened for the following evening, which I grabbed for myself. I hoped that a last-minute seat would open on the other flight and all four of us could travel together.
But the seat never opened.
My birthday started well enough. I slept in (which I can only do across the Atlantic) and then enjoyed a delicious coffee.
We then went to the Imperial War Museum, which I had not been to since 2007.
That was followed by a lovely brunch at a Tunisian restaurant nearby.
We showed up at Heathrow two hours before departure and since I have BA Gold status, I went over to the first class check-in area to see what could be done.
I’ll do a separate post on this, but standby is not generally a thing on British Airways and definitely not on Avios tickets. Nevertheless, the agents were quite sympathetic to my plight and tried to get me on the flight.
Only it was oversold by five with three already on the standby list.
Not only could they not confirm me on the flight, but they could not even put me on standby to try my luck at the gate (hoping for no-shows).
At that point, I should have just left, but I waited around another 90 minutes for check-in cutoff to close and tried once more. Nope, everyone had checked in. In fact, there was a German in line in front of me who had a confirmed ticket on the flight but got bumped off it due to the oversell. He had no idea about UK261 and his eyes lit up when I told him he’d be able to claim a nice chunk of cash for the delay.
Now separated from my family, I knew I’d be stuck overnight and pulled out my phone to book a night at the Hyatt Place. At least I’d make a dent toward my 60 nights, right?
Wrong. The hotel was sold out.
Determined, I hopped in a bus and went to the hotel to see what could be done. I also made a reservation for the following night in hopes it could be moved over.
The manger was very cordial, but very firm: no room in the inn. He claimed the hotel was overbooked by five rooms and he could not take a chance overbooking it further. He apologized profusely, recognized by Globalist status, but was adamant nothing could be done.
I think pulling the “DYKIA” card is an ugly look and nearly always unjustified, so there was no argument from me. The “guaranteed availability” for Globalist members requires booking at least 24 hours in advance.
How about the Sheraton next door? Sold out.
Or the Hilton or Sofitel on the airport grounds? Sold out.
It was a busy night at Heathrow and after 9:00 pm…nothing was available at all…
…except the Premier Inn, a budget hotel a few blocks down Bath Road (that was still $125/night).
Too tired to go back into London to my sisters-in-law or to a Hyatt there, I just booked the Premier Inn…yeah:
But a great view out the window:
And being humbled over my failure to get on the flight or even to get my preferred hotel, I ordered Taco Bell from Deliveroo.
Happy birthday to me…alone in a hotel room with a beautiful view of McDonald’s eating Taco Bell alone at 10:30 pm.
I won’t forget this birthday!
Get over it! I now declare that your birthday for 2024 will be moved as a one time exception to Thursday, August 8. Plan accordingly, please!
Hppy Birthday.
My mildly pathetic birthday was many years ago, sitting for the first day of the bar in Roanoke. No celebrating that night.
Happy Birthday either way!
Happy birthday Matthew!
I don’t know if I ever told you, but my son’s birthday is tomorrow. You two are practically twins, 35 years apart 🙂
I was at LHR yesterday, I would have bought you a negroni! Isn’t that Premier Inn connected to the T5 parking pods? If so, it’s actually an incredibly convenient location. There a nice little neighborhood and cottage pub just behind it too.
It’s the Thistle hotel opposite that has the gate to the shuttle pods.. have to pay fee to Thistle to use the gate.
Get Priya’s next time if you’re stuck along Bath Road. Best option near the Moxy
Just about every birthday I had in the Army sucked.
Happy birthday!
Oh no. This wasn’t the 40th I hope. Hey any birthday is beautiful. Enjoy.
Hey, hey! Give me a few years! 😉
How about a train? This is why I always fly non stop from the US to a large city in Europe rather than flying to another US large city and take a direct flight to my final destination in Europe. My strategy is the following: if the first flight fails, I drive back home in 15 minutes. And once in Europe, if flights fail, there is always a train. Yes, it may take longer but at least there is a way to get somewhere nice.
@Santastico … +1 .
Having just been to London and through Basel a few weeks ago (via Brussels, Strasbourg, etc on indirect trains), I can tell you that it’s a long ride involving a couple of connections. Yes, it can be done but it’s not easy. My guess is a good 6-8 hours on trains, plus connection time (and in Paris you’d change stations).
I do like train travel, but a six-hour journey with changes in Paris and Strasbourg was a bit much for me!
Totally Doable if you crave Strasbourg beer or wine .
Way better than the birthday I spent alone in the ER.
Happy Birthday!
Happy belated birthday.
all of my birthdays suck, I would have much rather been doing what you were doing in London. but maybe I’m just at the right age where birthdays aren’t that important anyway…just another year older.
lol if my wife had a choice it would be me travelling alone with the kids and her having a day off swanning around London 🙂
I’d probably have caught the train. Scenic and you’re in your seat moving. Can walk around. Grab some food and some wine. By the time you spent 90mins waiting for cutoff. Sitting in lounge etc you’d prob be evens on time. And richer!
It was an 8:15p flight. I could not bear the thought of sitting up an ovenight train. TMK, there are no overnight services or sleeper cards on Eurostar.
Happy Birthday, Matt. Truly a wonderful First World Problem post that many of us would be jealous of. It seems like a wonderful way to spend a birthday. $125 a night (dollars!) isn’t a bad rate for London.
Only nitpick is the Taco Bell: I’d have gotten some fish and chips, but perhaps you already overdid it before.
I think you made the right choice in not taking the train. Eurostar would have cost you or taking a ferry, then you would need to grab a series of trains so not sure if you would have saved much time or expense.
Feliz cumple, pibe! I’ll have a slice of Pasta Frolla to celebrate while reading your adventures.
Why not fly to Zurich? And the take the train.
Also sold out. Every flight on LX and BA.
So was FRA. Closest thing open was GVA.
With a McDonald’s next door why bother ordering Taco Bell and sitting in the hotel room by yourself? It’s actually quite a nice restaurant, I’ve eaten there while also staying at the Premier Inn.
Because I like Taco Bell. 😉
Happy Birthday Matthew!
Oddly enough I remember the stays at random 2/3 hotels more than 5 lol At least you had Taco Bell to comfort you
Hope tomorrow goes smoother
Happy birthday Matt!
Happy bday kiddo! At least no one died! One year I broke my arm on my birthday. I was 11!
Lesson 1: If you want to travel with your family, buy tickets.
Happy Belated Birthday and many returns!!
NOTE:
Really luv that chip and dip bowl shaped like a hand….that’s just wild!!!
Wonder if I can find it on E-Bay…LOL ==;-)
You still and always will have Tim Dunn.
We need a pic of you in your birthday suit Matthew.