Well, since like Vince, I am a low hours PPL, reading this thread has left me feeling both a little sympathy for and frustration with him and the situation he found himself in.
I have read and re-read all comments and tried to imagine what my planning would have been like and reactions in similar circumstances and although I am familiar with transition and flight levels, I find myself going back to my books for some refresher work, 'just in case' .
As pointed out to me when I qualified, the PPL is a basic licence to advance upon. You never stop learning and Vince has reinforced that message for me so I thank Vince for prodding me back into action.
Hopefully, I will not find myself in similar situations encountered by Vince nor have similar decisions to make.