I'm HERE!!!
CEW's wedding was AMAZING! I had the best weekend. I was SO glad I got to be a part of Kikibikiboobear's big day. I ALWAYS forget how much I miss being around her every time I see her! We had a fantastic time all weekend. I knew all of the bridesmaids already and the groomsmen were a hoot. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a replacement cord for my camera. CEW's honeymooning in the Dominican Republic this week and I hope she's having the best time ever!
So then I flew across the pond.
I had a horrible trip over.
As y'all know I fly British Airways 99% of the time. I've heard amazing things about Virgin so I was curious to try something new. PB flew Virgin Upper Class a few times a couple of years ago and raved about it. It was more expensive than the British Airways flight but I decided to give it a go anyway. I was super excited about it!
I received a call a couple of days before the flight just checking in from Virgin and I was really impressed. The guy, Paul, was very nice and helpful. He said upgrades were a special price and I almost upgraded but I wanted to wait to check on a few other things before I made the decision. However, it turns out that was all that impressed me about Virgin.
We called the American office to get information about taking things on as cargo since I was moving and was trying to get our wedding gifts to get to England. We called and the woman we talked to was super rude and not helpful. She was huffy and acted as if we were dumb because apparently you can ONLY take things in as cargo if you're traveling from England to US. That put a bad taste in my mouth. It was a reasonable question!
After my flight from NC on Sunday Madre and CMP met me at the airport to take me to lunch before time for my London flight. We had a healthy delightful last meal at Sonic (hot dog, tater tots and strawberry limeade... yum, yum!) before heading back to airport to deal with my luggage.
As you can imagine, moving overseas means lots of luggage. I carefully planned to take my two big suitcases and my carry on. Not only was I taking clothes, but I was also having to take ALL of my bar prep books. I paid for one extra bag online because I knew I needed two bags. I also knew they were both going to be overweight. I got there and we spent 20 minutes weighing each bag and moving stuff around until they were both about even. Then the proverbial shit hit the fan. I go to bag check in and tell the agent that I have two suitcases to check and that I paid for the extra one online and that both are overweight. So he weighs them and says yes, they are both overweight and it's going to be $100 exra dollars.
Fine.
I was expecting that and there was no way to get around it. As I was getting out my credit card, he asked me to put my carry on on the scale. I was confused but did as requested.
Fine.
I was expecting that and there was no way to get around it. As I was getting out my credit card, he asked me to put my carry on on the scale. I was confused but did as requested.
It turns out Virgin has a weight limit of 13lbs for carry on bags. I was seriously annoyed. My bag was a roll-along that fits in literally every one of the carry-on size checkers thingys at the airport and has gone on every single plane I've ever taken it on, including British Airways and my little 50 seater flight on Delta earlier that day with no problem. My bar prep books were in it so that I could spend the five hours working on my contracts stuff while I was on the plane.
I thought I was going to have to pay a fee to take it on because it was overweight. WRONG. They MADE ME CHECK MY CARRYON! And how much was it to check, do you ask?
$148!
Seriously.
$148.
Can you believe that!? It was a standard size carry on that I've never had to check or had issues fitting ever. However, because of my bar prep books it ended up being heavier than the arbitrary weight requirement, I was required to check it. And because I had already checked 2 bags I was required to pay $148 for it. So not only did I have to pay an arm and a leg, BUT I wasn't able to do ANY work on the plane because ALL of the books pushed me over the 13lb weight limit when coupled with my laptop.
I was absolutely livid.
When I asked why every other airline has let me carry this bag on I was told that it was because the plane was small. Um. Did he miss the part where I essentially flew a CROP DUSTER from Raleigh to Boston and I was allowed to take it on that plane? When I pointed this out he said "Well this is Virgin, not Delta or British Airways. If you wanted their bag policy you should have flown them, but this is Virgin and this is our policy."
Know what made me even more livid?
Seeing this woman (and note the big bags around her also seen in the picture) get on the plane with her bag which was LARGER than my carryon.
I would say at least 50% of the people who boarded the plane had carry-ons that HAD to weight more than 13lbs and were larger in dimension than mine. I was SO angry.
So I get on board and talk about CRAMPED! I'm 5'4 and my knees were digging into the seat in front of me. Seriously. The woman next to me was as surprised as me at how narrow the rows were. And to add insult to injury my video screen was broken and was so dark I couldn't even see the movies! I wasn't able to adjust the brightness because it would brighten for one minute only to go completely dark again. I should have purchased the upgrade, which is actually what I was planning on doing, but I got so mad about the bags that I refused to give them one more penny of my money.
Suffice to say I hated the flight, hated the gate agents, hated the airplane and I will NOT be flying Virgin again. If I had flown British Airways I would have likely only would have had to pay for the overweight bags and I probably would have ended up with an upgrade because of my frequent flying with them!
I also doubt any of the gate agents would have been hateful and sarcastic to me when asking a reasonable question about a silly policy. I have to fly them back in July for the bar exam, but we're going to book me on my standard British Airways flight back after the bar. Do NOT fly Virgin to London from Boston, people!
So, I'm HERE! I came home to sweet welcome home celebration complete with my favorite coconut and caramel macarons from Laduree! I have the best husband ever.
I'm still jetlagged... I took a 2 hour nap midday yesterday and today, but I've commenced bar prep (Now am 5 days behind. Whoops) and also have commenced *REAL* married life.
That's right. I'm a Mrs. now.
Oh. And I dropped the NY Bar Exam.
It was giving me serious anxiety and I'd rather pass one than fail two.
So now I'm off to do 66 contracts multiple choice problems before bed. Stay tuned tomorrow for the best dress find everrrrrr and my awkward way of figuring out the designer.
Did you all miss me?!
Posted in: England,Life,Travel
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