Curious Pax
13th Apr 2005, 14:29
Myself, Mrs CP and CP junior (aged 4 3/4) flew to Miami from Heathrow on Easter Sunday in the care of Virgin. We thought we had everything planned to keep the stress levels to a minimum:
- check the 3 of us in via Virgin's online check in on their website (you can do this 24 hours in advance)
- travel down the night before and stay in the Travel Inn just up the A4 which offers a combined overnight stay and 2 weeks parking
- dump our bags at the right desk in T3, and wander to the gate, avoiding all the money-spending opportunities (Mrs CP may have her faults, but a keenness on shopping isn't one of them!).
Unfortunately the online check in wouldn't let us check in (but didn't say why) - I had a momentary panic that our booking had been lost, but it could still go in and see our seat reservations, so all was well in that respect. No problem thinks I, I know they have those DIY check in kiosks in terminal 3, so we shouldn't have to queue for too long.
However when we arrived at terminal 3 (2 1/2 hours before our flight) chaos reigned. After a couple of misfires we get to the DIY check in, but get the same problem as the online effort (won't do it, doesn't say why). As a result we end up in the regular check in queue (1 queue, a few desks for all flights), where after 90 minutes we got checked in. Fortunately we got the seats we had reserved otherwise I think Mrs CP would have had air rage whilst still in the terminal!
a couple of questions:
does anyone know why we might not have been allowed any automated check in? I wondered if having a youngster in tow might have been the problem, but it is c**p software that doesn't tell you the reason for being rejected.
were Virgin down a few check in staff on Easter Sunday or is it normally like that? I almost had to physically prevent Mrs CP from taking charge (she is a manager, and from what I can tell a pretty good one!). The main source of irritation was that 3 Virgin staff members were running about pulling people from the regular queue to the last minute queue as their time to departure got close. If they had just opened the 3 check in desks that were vacant instead then the queue could have been a lot shorter and no one would have needed moving.
The flights both ways were fine (except why can't airlines manage to carry more chicken dishes? They always run out with loads of people left, which means that either I always travel on flights unusually full of chicken eaters, or whoever estimates the numbers of different meals isn't very good at it!).
Finally - Heathrow. Why? In a country full of very good bulldozers and wrecking balls there surely can be now excuse!! Next time I get offered a £300 fare for a fortnight in Florida during a peak period, 6 weeks before departure when every other date and every other airline is over £500 I ought to think twice!
- check the 3 of us in via Virgin's online check in on their website (you can do this 24 hours in advance)
- travel down the night before and stay in the Travel Inn just up the A4 which offers a combined overnight stay and 2 weeks parking
- dump our bags at the right desk in T3, and wander to the gate, avoiding all the money-spending opportunities (Mrs CP may have her faults, but a keenness on shopping isn't one of them!).
Unfortunately the online check in wouldn't let us check in (but didn't say why) - I had a momentary panic that our booking had been lost, but it could still go in and see our seat reservations, so all was well in that respect. No problem thinks I, I know they have those DIY check in kiosks in terminal 3, so we shouldn't have to queue for too long.
However when we arrived at terminal 3 (2 1/2 hours before our flight) chaos reigned. After a couple of misfires we get to the DIY check in, but get the same problem as the online effort (won't do it, doesn't say why). As a result we end up in the regular check in queue (1 queue, a few desks for all flights), where after 90 minutes we got checked in. Fortunately we got the seats we had reserved otherwise I think Mrs CP would have had air rage whilst still in the terminal!
a couple of questions:
does anyone know why we might not have been allowed any automated check in? I wondered if having a youngster in tow might have been the problem, but it is c**p software that doesn't tell you the reason for being rejected.
were Virgin down a few check in staff on Easter Sunday or is it normally like that? I almost had to physically prevent Mrs CP from taking charge (she is a manager, and from what I can tell a pretty good one!). The main source of irritation was that 3 Virgin staff members were running about pulling people from the regular queue to the last minute queue as their time to departure got close. If they had just opened the 3 check in desks that were vacant instead then the queue could have been a lot shorter and no one would have needed moving.
The flights both ways were fine (except why can't airlines manage to carry more chicken dishes? They always run out with loads of people left, which means that either I always travel on flights unusually full of chicken eaters, or whoever estimates the numbers of different meals isn't very good at it!).
Finally - Heathrow. Why? In a country full of very good bulldozers and wrecking balls there surely can be now excuse!! Next time I get offered a £300 fare for a fortnight in Florida during a peak period, 6 weeks before departure when every other date and every other airline is over £500 I ought to think twice!