Delta / Virgin changed my travel time again

With airport delays you should always be at the gate for the original departure time. If the issue is resolved more quickly than expected they could leave without the people who took that “one hour” literally!

Cuz why would anyone go by what the airline says! ;)

You've already basically had a full vacation at the airport!

Maybe because the inbound flight departed from Heathrow at 1342- 1 hour 12 minutes late. So if it doesn't make up time it is now due at Austin at 1755, delayed from 1645

Generally, airport delays like this are for operational reasons... so the plane might have had a technical issue (wouldn't you rather they fix it than fly with a broken plane) or there could be weather that's creating a delay (the passengers on your incoming flight would rather your flight was delayed than play safety roulette with the weather)

You are flying to London, correct? So you will not miss a connection to a different airport. These days a one-hour delay is nothing; we have had that or more on most of our flights in three trips to Europe (through Heathrow) this year.

Most recently (6 days ago), we had a 2.5 hour delay in a 2-hour flight from Milan to Heathrow caused by: (1) lack of a pilot at scheduled take-off time, (2) boarding and stowing cabin bags took so long we lost our landing slot at Heathrow and had to wait 50 minutes for a new one, then (3) a passenger with a checked bag failed to board the plane, which means they cannot take off until the offending bag has been removed from the hold.

As a result, most of the people on the plane who were connecting to a US- or Canada-bound flight missed their connection. The cabin crew spent most of the flight trying to re-book people to new flights, most of them the following day, and then announcing the changes to the entire plane. We fortunately already had planned an overnight at Heathrow in the T5 Sofitel, so we did not miss our connection. But we did miss out on the afternoon we had planned in London, walking the Regents’ Canal towpath to Camden Market and back.

Flying is challenging these days.

Websites like flight radar tell you where your plane has previously flown. When we are going to Europe I always look to see if the previous flight for my plane left on time and then I know a bit better what to expect. The BA flight to Vancouver from Heathrow often departs late for all sorts of reasons so I know not to feel rushed to get to the airport if that’s the flight I’m taking and it is late. Late in the day domestic flights may be delayed because the specific plane may have had 2 or 3 late departures that day already and with the domino effect …..

Well I have been napping and feel quite refreshed at least for now

I now have the gate number so I may mosey over to my gate. I am not going to be the only one on the plane so soo I might begin to meet some of the other passengers on my flight.

Flight Radar shows the inbound running 45 minutes late as of 2.33 pm Texas time, currently overflying Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. (but the Airport says 70 late).

If you click on the details page on Flight Radar you can see that the aircraft has this week been (in reverse order) to Johannesburg, Shanghai, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

You can follow the path, so tomorrow you should make landfall over Ireland north of Tralee then Waterford, Fishguard (Wales). Good fun to play with while you are waiting and watch it's live progress.

Are you there?

How was your arrival at LHR?

Hopefully she didn't nap through the boarding 😋

She is now in the air about 5 1/2 hours out of Heathrow, so still over the continental US approaching Buffalo. Departure was 49 minutes late. Picking up time, current!y 33 minutes late.

Pleased to see that arrival was only 30 minutes late, and by then the earlier problems on the Elizabeth Line were cleared.

Happy to report all went well. Decent flight, Heathrow was a breeze it went so fast that I had to ask if I had gone through customs.

Elizabeth Line was very pleasant

Have met some very nice people who have been very helpful

I was at Hotel 63 by 1 pm but they let me check in early.

Took a walk to the Serpentine and saw all these magnificent birds and ducks that Nigel and others mentioned to me

Even bought an Oyster Card

Glad you have arrived! Following your journey and hope you have so much fun! 😊

Bravo! Hope you enjoy 63 Bayswater.

Glad you were able to walk along the path by the Serpentine. Is the coffee hut to the left of the Lancaster Gate entrance still open? The cafe at the Lido?

Remember either the pleasant Victoria Paddington Pub or the closer Mitre pub serve good pub grub. Also the wonderful Tudkin Flavors of Malaysia is close by.

Looking forward to your Trip Report!

Good to hear! You've been planning for so long and you're finally there. Enjoy!! 🥳

A great positive report. All the planning paid off. Enjoy the rest of your time in London.

A lot of negatives are heard about the airline industry and airport experiences. This one is refreshingly different.

Glad to see you made it without any issues.

Mary SE USA

I was not fully able to respond to you post yesterday because of fatigue but I want to tell you that I met a very nice lady in the Austin airport who is British and has a daughter who lives in Austin. So she comes quite frequently to Austin.

She was telling me that on one of her trips, she was recovering from Covid and fell asleep in the terminal

No one woke her up and she missed her plane. She was aghast that no one, not even staff, tried to wake her

And I forget what she then did

No one woke her up and she missed her plane. She was aghast that no one, not even staff, tried to wake her.

Why would someone wake her? I would never dream of waking someone up at an airport. And the staff would have no way of knowing who she was or if she was even on that flight.

Well I think she was in the same area, at the gate, for some time. Perhaps had checked in. I think she felt persons knew she was taking the plane to London

BostonPhil, I check in online 24 hours ahead and still would have no expectation that someone would wake me up if I fell asleep. I could see if she was traveling with friends, but it sounds like she wasn't. Chance remarks to total strangers aren't going to guarantee a wake-up call. When the boarding call comes, everyone is grabbing their bags and heading to the gate.

If I was waiting at a gate and noticed someone sleeping during boarding, I absolutely would wake them up. I would also expect airline staff to do the same if they were missing a passenger and someone of the appropriate gender was sitting at the gate.

Anyways, bostonphil, I hope you are having a great trip.

In this day and age, I would never wake someone - who knows what the response might be?

I would, however, notify the gate agent that it "appears there is someone asleep who is likely waiting for this plane" and point the person out.

I have not encountered sleeping fliers. However, I have been in the situation more than once when there was a gate change that many people clearly did not understand or hear. The instances I'm thinking of all involved foreign flights or airports where English was not the native language for many. In those cases, I have informed gate agents that there are a number of people left behind at the original gate and suggested a second announcement might be made.

And I forget what she then did

Panic, probably!