Sunday, January 11, 2009

Flight from S.F. to London


Fortunately or unfortunately, each of the last three flights between S.F. & London have been eventful.

S.F. to London (August 2008)
First up is my flight from S.F. to London in last August. I flew on Aer Lingus. You could tell it was an Irish carrier because the flight attendants all had very Irish sounding names and my meal contained no less than 4 milk products. Also interesting was that the baby bassinet was a cardboard box. I don't know if there are FAA regulations regarding bassinets but it seems to me that a cardboard box is not a very safe option. It is funny how you notice things when you have children. Here is an old pic of Shaun in a bassinet on EVA air.

Now for the eventful part of the flight...Halfway through the flight, the baby in the aforementioned bassinet (aka-cardboard box) threw up 'mulitple times' in the aisle just a few feet away from me. I could not believe the baby held that much liquid inside of him. He threw up 3 or 4 times and a lot of liquid came up each time. The flight attendants did a good job cleaning up by the faint smell lingered for the rest of the flight.

London to S.F. (December 2008)
My second flight back to S.F. this December started out bad. As I was in my seat waiting for the plane to take off, I said to the person next to me, "As long as we have some good movies or TV shows I won't mind the long flight." Shortly afterwards, the flight safety recording comes on but I can't see anything on my screen. The pilot gets on the intercom and says " some of you seem to be having trouble with your video screens, I'll try to reset it". He tries a couple of times but no luck. So now I am thinking "Great! no entertainment for the entire 10.5 hour flight."

Then, an hour or so later, the pilot gets on the intercom again "We have a problem, there is no water in the bathrooms." The person next to me said "I thought he was going to say something worse". Me being a positive soul muttered, "We still have about 9 hours to go".

Thankfully the rest of the flight was much better as the entertainment system started working soon after. I spent the next 6 hours watching 2 movies and a couple shows.

S.F. to London (January 2009)
Thankfully this flight was less eventful than the last flight. I sat next to a mother and her 14 month old daughter. The BA bassinets are much better than the cardboard box on Aer Lingus and the baby slept pretty well in the bassinet. I got a few hours rest even though the baby wimpered/cried every hour or so. The last hour and a half was very turbulent and we weren't allowed to go to the restroom. Thankfully I wasn't like some of the passengers next to me who drank wine and multiple bottles of vodka and sprite. (P.S.-Alcohol on BA flights are free, even for the cheap seats.) I don't indulge on airplanes because it is already very dehydrating but for those of you who do....

3 comments:

Smith Family said...

Nick and I are glad you made it safely back to London. Thanks also for coming over with Jackie yesterday to see Sidney. :)

Our Catholic Family said...

BA also has toddler saftey seats as well. You have to book a special seat to be able to use the bassinetts though...sometimes they`ll switch it out for you. Or, we have traded with other passengers before.

Glad we didn`t have to use a cardboard box! Although, if a child is puking it may not be a bad idea...

Sherry said...

So I guess next Aer Lingus you can bring your own cardboard box and it will be a cheaper rate? Hahaha! You have "Matthew Luck". He never has a normal flight. Glad all worked out for you:)

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