A Night Wanderer at Gatwick Airport

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Traveling the night before Christmas Eve is chaotic, but I had a plan. But then, does at any time go things as planned? Rarely. This is one of those stories. Let me tell you about the night I spent wandering across Gatwick Airport in London.

21:30pm Initial Flight Departure

It all started in Geneva Airport. You might believe that the evening before Christmas Eve airports will be packed with families going on vacation, students and expats travelling back home or, well, southern people – like me – that haven’t get used to the Swiss winter and want to escape to a warmer spot. At least this is what I had in mind. But I was the only one at the security check (the only one, really!). Suspicious. When arrived at gate B44, I finally realized where everybody was – stranded and waiting for they’re delayed flight (or worse, searching for alternatives for their cancelled flights).

22:20pm Actual Flight Departure

Luckily, my flight had only an hour of delay and everything went smoothly – until we landed at Gatwick, London. Earlier that day, I had reserved a room in a Hilton hotel next to Gatwick – it had a special offer, so the double bed room was cheap enough for me to decide on spending the money in a proper bed. Of course, this was too good to be true.

22:55pm Flight Arrival in London Gatwick

When I landed in Terminal North and got my luggage, I went to the Information stand to ask for the directions to get to the Hotel: “You have to take the Shuttle and go to Terminal South, it will take you no more than 15 minutes”. I thought I had read in the internet that the Hotel was near to Terminal North, but anyways – I might had been wrong.

23:55pm Found out that I had booked the wrong Hotel

And I was. I wasn’t wrong about the Terminal – I was wrong about the hotel itself! Basically, I had booked a hotel that was about 16 miles away from Gatwick (why does Gatwick even consider it an Airport Hotel? Taxi fares would have been more than the double of the room itself – does that make any sense?).

Mental Note: Check 5 times before paying in advance for a Hotel, when you’re booking from a non-official site.

00:20am  Are there any alternatives out there?

With less than 6 hours ahead from departure, I wasn’t going to pay 100 pounds on cabs – so I went on to search for alternatives. Obviously, the pretty clean Hilton I was mistakenly sent to was full. I tried out Yotel, which are cabins that you can rent per hour (with a minimum stay of 4 hours) – but it was fully booked as well. There was no other choice left in Terminal South – so I went back to Terminal North, where I found a Sofitel. Although the rooms were prohibitively expensive, they were kind enough to allow me to hang around their Lobby (and even give me a 30 minutes of free WIFI check! Whoa!). Unfortunately, I got kicked out when the bar of the hotel shut down at 1:30am.

01:30am Officially Homeless

I walked back to an area crowded of night wanderers like myself – Most of them had crashed on a few seats, and some of them seemed to be enjoying a peaceful sleep (assumed from the snoring). Myself, I did not have seats to crash on and so decided to give the floor a try. I swear, this wouldn’t have been too bad if I had planned for it – that is, if I had a warm blanket and one of these airplane pillows with me. But instead, I had a huge (and when I say huge, I really mean HUGE) luggage, my laptop and a big empty handbag (you know, for the occasional shopping).

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03:30am Checked In my HUGE luggage

I woke up with the announcement with Easyjet opening its Check-In desk. At least this way I could get rid of the big luggage I had with me – one thing less to worry about. I passed the passport control and security check like a zombie, and crashed on the first 4 seats I found once inside the Gate area.

05:50am I need a coffee

No, it wasn’t time to go to my gate, yet. My flight was only leaving at 07:50am. But, seriously, it was so freaking cold out there that I couldn’t last too long. I did sleep during these 2+ hours, but I continuously dreamt about a big pain in all of my muscles – it felt like I had been sleeping on ice! And every time I woke up, my muscles were contracted. Damn, I really missed a blanket! I sat at the café for almost an hour, heating up with the cup of coffee. Why precisely a coffee? Well, I was also concerned that I would be falling asleep and miss my flight!

07:20am At least I'm in the plane

I got in and fell asleep (me, the one that usually can't sleep on planes). I didn't even notice the giggling girls next to me and didn't realize we had 30 minutes delay until the captain apologized for it on arrival. 

13:30pm I'm in Lanzarote, Canary Islands !

Did you get home for Christmas? 

Have you ever had this kind of complications? Did you ever have to sleep in an airport?

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By the way, check out My 2011 Goals at The Novelista Barista - I just got published yesterday :)

How to Board "Just on Time" in London Airports

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I just got back from a great weekend in one of my favorite cities, London. 

When I travel, I like to optimize my time outside the airport and get "just in time"(unless it has some english book shops, in which case, I can get lost in it for the time remaining). Now, this sounds all great and shiny as long as I stick to the hypothetical case in which I control all the interfering factors - but I don't. It doesn't matter how you calculate and predict things will go, it will probably go wrong.

You might notice you've left your passport on the table when you are already on a non-stop train to the Airport or get stuck in a huge unexpected sunday traffic jam - aren't all english people enjoying the countryside or at least chilling in a park on a sunny sunday? You might get caught in a street protest. Or even have a tube breakdown (not that rare, right?). Maybe there's a ground crew strike - and less people are at the passport controls and scanning handbags. Or maybe today you just look like a terrorist - and have a suspicious nationality, and you are caught in millions of questions. I really wonder if anyone traveling in London ever arrives to the airport with some extra time. 

It seems to me, as if compromising to take flight is much more difficult than I thought. There are so many things that can stand between your starting point and the airplane! 

So what can you actually do to reduce the risk of missing your flight?

• Online Check-In. This tool has saved my trip on many occasions. Don't wait until you are at the airport to do the Check-In, you might get caught in serious queues. Instead, print out your Boarding Pass and put it next to your Passport. Some airlines even provide you with a Mobile Boarding Pass! I first used it last night when coming back from London, it works pretty well - as long as you have battery and an internet connection. 
• Plan your Trip to the Airport. Before leaving, don't forget to check for tube works, train schedules,   street congestions or road works. For London, I like to use TFL's Traffic News Interactive Maps, for tubes, buses, trains and roads. And, unless you travel from London City Airport, recheck which is your Terminal of Departure!
• Remember the key objects: passport (+ visa, if needed), boarding pass and/or mobile phone and money. Everything else is can be replaced on your trip. 
• Keep your hand luggage simple. I'm not telling you to travel only with your passport and some extra pounds and Check-In the rest, but it is important to take with you a handbag that allows you to move quick if needed, like the 4-wheel trolleys that can move in any direction. Shoulder strap bags may look nice, but don't try to run for a last minute call with them. 
• What to wear. As much as a girl wants to look good, when you're struggling with time, you should at least leave away necklaces, bracelets and rings. Simplify it all - use leggins (they're more comfortable, anyways), a long shirt, easy-on boots (UGGs are probably among the best choices) and a jacket. The more you wear, the more you have to take off for the security check and the more you are likely to forget if you're on a hurry. Been there, done that. 

Even considering these few speeding up tips, anything else can come in between you and your plane. I guess that's why the general rule talks about being in the airport about 1 hour (and an extra 30min for London) before departure for european flights and 2 hours (+ 30min bonus) in case of an international flight. 

Have you ever caught a flight just in the last minute? What did you do to speed up?

Happy Birthday, Easyjet!

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I'm not a big fan of Easyjet - a hundred people storming into the airplane at the same time to get a seat, stressed out, pulling all their stuff into one single piece to avoid checking in their hand luggage, no designated seat numbers and, then, the seats so near to each other you can easily whisper into the ear of the buddy you've got in front of you without even moving an inch. Nah, it's not comfort. That's for sure.

But, you know what? Screw it! Sometimes the destination is worth the "suffering". I use the inverted commas around the word suffering, because you'll never know what is real suffering until you travel with Ryanair - the guys who want to charge their customers for going to the toilet and are now planning to run flights where passengers stand during the journey at a cost of only 5 pounds per ticket, oui, les mêmes. But that's another story.

The fact is, today Easyjet has great offers that are worth the uncomfortable flight - all flights have up to 30% off for every ticket you purchase between the 1st of January and the 26th of March. I could not resist the prices (I'm like a girl shoe shopping in sales!) - and just bought a ticket to London in February, and one to Edinburgh in March! Check it out, there are just a few hours left!!

I've been Upgraded to Silver!

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All the (long) flights during the last 7 months are starting to show some results: Since yesterday, I'm officially an Iberia Plus Silver member - yay! What does this mean?

• Business class check-in. This is a big step towards to the frequent flyer limbo - from now on, I don't have to hurry and worry anymore (at least not as much as I did before). No more wasting time waiting to check-in, no more sitting on the floor hoping that the packed queue moves on - au revoir economy check-in!
• Greater luggage allowance. If I was already excited about the check-in, what about having the possibility to carry an additional 23 kg bag with me without paying any extras? Do you know what this means - more bottles of Rum from Cuba next time. Yeah.
• Airport waiting lists. I've been lucky enough to never be on a waiting list, although I've been pretty close a few times - the last one being this year in London, when I took the last seat available and everyone behind me started cursing the company for over-selling their capacity. They were right - but I was better of with my mouth shut and my ticket in my pocket, heh.
• Assistance insurance outside Spain. I'm still not sure what this means, but it does sound useful.

Can't wait to start using it!

Reasons Why I want to Avoid a Plane this Weekend

Let me look back at the last 24 hours.

Yesterday, a passenger plane crashed near the town of Guasimal (central Cuba), flying from Santiago de Cuba to Havana (a 1 hour and 50 min flight). The aircraft was carrying 61 passenger and 7 crew members, of which 28 were foreigners and 40 cubans - with no survivors. The crash took place as Tropical Storm Tomas strengthened over the Caribbean Sea.

Also, Another Qantas plane has made an emergency landing after reporting an engine problem shortly after take-off.

Today, a private charter plane with 21 people on board crashed after taking off from Karachi's airport, leaving no survivors neither. The cause of crash was a technical fault - the engine stopped working. This, only 4 months after the terrible incident that happened in the country on July 28th, when an Airbus crashed into hills of Islamabad after coming in to land after a flight from Karachi, killing 152 people on board.

In the last hour, The Tropical Storm has regained hurricane strength level 1 (Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale). Tomas is passing very close to western Haiti and will be over far eastern Cuba (particularly, Guantanamo) by this afternoon.

Hmm.. ok, this is not exactly an ideal situation.

I'm never scared of flying. I like it - it's exciting and adventurous. However, on days like today (and tomorrow) - I can assure that I would trade off any flight to just stay at home watching TV and drinking some hot chocolate.

*Sigh*

The Privilege of Business

Saturday night I arrived in La Habana. I would say it was a tiring flight, but I would be lying. The truth is, travelling business does make a big difference when it comes to spending long hours in the plane. When I stepped into the business area, my first thought was “where is my private screen?” – on a 10-hours flight, I need at least 3 good movies to keep me entertained. Then, I noticed about what a waste of space it was to separate each row that much (it’s ok to stretch your legs, but do you really need about 1.50m? My seat had simulated a cocoon – something that reminded me of this futuristic furniture from the 70s. Was the plane really outdated?

I don’t think so – but then, how should I know? - I was only a travel amateur and never stepped into the business area of an intercontinental flight before. I was lucky enough to sit next to the youngest guy in business class (that is, around 40 years old, married, 3 kids), who wasn’t experiencing this luxury for the first time. Soon after being up in the air, I was already sipping a glass of red wine, watching a movie, with my legs extended and enjoying a relaxing back massage.

Every seat is equipped with a satellite phone, a laptop connection port and a 10.4 inch touch screen from which you can even send text messages and e-mails (not for free, though) – besides from the movies, music and games, of course.

The food was also delicious. The menus are Sergi Arola’s creations (modest ones – no molecular experiments included), and offer a wide range of Mediterranean products, accompanied by traditional Spanish wine, such as Ribera del Duero and Rioja among the red ones, and Penedes and Somontano among the white ones.

After dinner and a bit of reading, I reclined my seat into a full bed went to sleep – it was really that easy! The seat was wide enough to take a turn to whichever side you are used to sleep. No wonder I slept for about 5 hours on a row (and I would have slept more, if my seatmate wouldn’t have waken me up to ask if I wanted some breakfast. Given that I had been eating for the last 20 hours, since I had arrived in Madrid (I’ll post on that once back in Switzerland), I did not trade sleep for food this time – but I’ll probably do on my way back!

10 Reasons Why I Need Vacations (NOW)

1. I'm tracking flight price fluctuations instead of checking the euro/dollar exchange rate
2. I wake up at 9am on weekends to enjoy the sun on my terrace as long as its still possible (even if this means sitting there with a pullover)
3. I'm usually late to work
4. I spend the weekend with a bikini underneath my clothes - you never know when the sun is back out!
5. My recent iTunes purchases include reggae (Runaway, Los Pericos) and latin music ( Matador, Fabulosos Cadillacs)
6. I keep on checking the last sales in every clothes shop hoping to find the type of tunic I've been longing for the whole summer
7. I'm addicted to travel blogs
8. Whenever I leave work, I feel like drinking a fruity cocktail (I'm still dreaming of the watermelon mojito I had in Madrid...)
9. At work, I write down on post-its whatever I have to do, and then, by the next morning, I've can't find them anymore (how is THAT possible?)
10. I'm daydreaming... a lot (probably this is the reason for point 9)

Dealing with Seat Mates

Flights are exciting.

I've been told that, the more you travel for business, the more you'll avoid taking a plane for pleasure, but I don't think this applies to me. Every time I feel like a school kid on a day-trip to a chocolate factory - You're wild about the destination, but also look forward to enjoy the ride. You'll hope to sit next to your best friend, or maybe the boy/girl you fancy, and would hate to sit next to the sweaty fat kid that doesn't stop talking about his/her nasal hair - Er, just an example.. haven't been there, luckily.

After twenty years, I still feel the same about trips. Whether I'm flying to London, Montevideo or Hong Kong - I'm always waiting for Mr. Right to take the seat next to me. This never happened so far. However, during the last years I've sat next to many that could perfectly be qualified as Mr. Wrong:

1. The Drinker. I once sat next to a (cute) guy around my age in a flight from Paris to Madrid quite early in the morning, who kept on ordering wine and whisky (at the same time, ew!). I had little sleep the night before, and eau d'whisky at 8am wasn't among my favorites perfumes. This year, in my flight back from Lisbon to Geneva, I was surrounded by a group of drunk frenchmen, who insisted in kissing their neighbors, painting each others faces, and singing - I only understood half of it, but I if I could, I would have chosen ignorance. However, it wasn't as bad as having Clare Irby next to me, for sure.
2. The Chit-Chatter. A classic. From my experience, these are mostly first timers or business men. I'm not going to generalize and say that all chit-chatters ought to be ignored - you can miss out some really interesting people (people worth skipping your siesta!). My best experience with a chit-chatter? On my way to Montevideo I sat next to a 40-something man who initially just asked me what I was going to do in Uruguay and ended up drawing me a map of Montevideo to show me how to get to the best bars, restaurants and clubs in the city - btw. he was a manager of a big whisky brand! who could have given me a better advice than him? Unfortunately, most of the time I give my seat mate a chance, they've ended up telling me about a scene in a book I was currently holding in my hand and hadn't read yet, asking me for personal advice or even talking to themselves (maybe because I had decided to use my iPod for insulation).
3. The Sleeping Beauty. Last September, when flying back from Hong Kong, I was lucky enough to get a window seat: I enjoying the afternoon sun shining on the horizon, leaving a reddish shadow on the unending sky-scappers. Next to me, an asian women that immediately fell asleep. I'm not the kind of person that keeps standing up every 10 minutes during the flight, but 12 hours is far too much. The two or three times I kindly tried to move her a few inches to have enough space to jump over her toward the bathroom (see picture above), she woke up, cursed on me in chinese (I'm sure it was cursing - what else would she be doing at 4am when someone wakes her from her beauty sleep?) and turned around again. I spent 12 hours avoiding liquids.
4. The First Timer. Not a very long time ago, I sat next to a young man, who didn't stop moving from side to side in his tiny seat - yes, a first timer. He asked me how to fasten his belt (I did it) and then he asked me to describe what was going to happen next (I did it). When we finally were in the air (btw. with something like an hour delay, as usual), he started feeling more comfortable and mutated into the chit-chatter - he asked me if he could walk from Madrid Airport to Leganes (5hr walking distance according to Google Maps), which is where his cousin lived. For your record, we were flying in from the Canary Islands - and as strange as it sounds, there are people that just walk everywhere they go. He bombarded me with a billion of questions of this type - exhausting. Although it was only 2 and a half hours trip, it was one of the longest ever...
5. The Selfish Mom. I wasn't sure of adding her to my list, since she wasn't sitting right next to me - but behind me, with her adorable 6-year old daughter (I guess). A long flight from Phuket to Frankfurt, back from vacation. The plane was full, but of one seat: the one next to me. Behind me, a family with a screaming baby and the adorable girl. I wanted to sleep. I turned my face to one side, turned on my iPod and waited until the baby stopped screaming. Then, I would take my extra seat to engage in the best flight-nap I had ever had. 10 minutes later, I turn around and see the little girl cuddling on the seat next to me. I looked back and saw her mother using both of the seats. I was too tired to get annoyed, and cuddled back into my blanket with my two cushions. Suddenly, a stewardess taps on my shoulder and growled at me pointing toward the little girl. I was asleep and it took me a while to realize that her selfish mom had kept her little daughter's cushion (AND her blanket!), so I spent the rest of the flight with one cushion - ok - and sharing the blanket with the little girl.

A Girl's Guide to Pack

PS: This applies only to short-term business trips.

1. Check the Weather Forecast - But don't take this literally, most of the time they will be wrong. My recommendation: Never leave anywhere without an umbrella and an anti-frizz spray or creme - You don't want to end up like me in my last business trip to Paris.
2. Choose a Carry-On Bag - Be sure that your baggage fits the standards of the airline. The 55 cm rolling suitcase is a classic! If its too big or too heavy, they'll check it in, which means longer waiting time and the terrifying possibility of having it lost! - This happened to a colleague last summer when she landed in U.A.E.: +40ºC, no deo and no suit.
3. Choose the Liquids - Liquids should never be more than 100ml and have to be kept in a small zip-top bag. My Essentials: moisturizer, hair conditioning, hair styler, deo, toothbrush and toothpaste. Really, don't try to smuggle in anything bigger than that, or you'll find yourself giving up your expensive new tan lotion (seen that happen).
4. The Meeting Clothes - A black suit, a dress and 2-3 shirts. Not to forget the belt for the suit, as well as black shoes with a comfortable height. Try choosing wrinkle-free clothes, they're a life saver!
5. Extra Clothes (just in case) -I always tend to take a less-conventional shirt to pop-up the black suit - it's quite practical if you suddenly end up having a dinner with clients - and a pair of formal jeans (that is, no holes, no washed-outs). If there's enough space, take another pair of shoes - you never know if your heels might break or your shoes are trying to kill you in slow pain.
6. Make-Up - Ok, a tiny bag with the really essential make-up (whatever you need to look fresh and awake) and some basic ponytail holders and pins for bad hair days - I'd wish I had some of those during that trip to Paris...
7. Adherent Roller - To get rid of the fluff that may stick on your black clothes.
8. A Worldwide Adapter Plug - and of course, all your chargers and electronic essential devices - no need to say phone (or phones in my case - wtf, now I am carrying 3 with me...), blow-dryer, straightener (and laptop).

So I think this is it! Anything missing?

I packed in a record time of 10 minutes, but you should get it quicker than that ;)