Yesterday’s journey was …. at best… ok. I think anyone who has the misfortune to fly with Iberia will know that, for a ‘world leading airline’ they’re more in the Ryanair league – pay for drinks, pay for food, pack ’em in, and never be on time…..
On time we certainly WERE NOT yesterday, leaving London for what was already a short connection – on time – in Madrid. We left 45 minutes late…. joy oh joy! What’s more, Avianca, the Colmbian airline, only operate Madrid – Cali three days (I think) a week.. so to miss Friday’s connection would have been pretty difficult! Then, Iberia, who have people seate everywhere, of course, have this utterly chaotic exit system – where domestic arrivals and connections exit the front door, via the air-bridge: and the international connections (who most likely have the worst time-fame for connections) exit the back door….via stairs. 5 years ago, stairs never presented me any problems: knees have decided different, so down the steps we had to go, after a ‘loose maul’ in the aisle with most of the plane exiting the front and the rest trying to get to the back… how does anyone come UP with an idea like that that they think is good?
By the time we got to the bus, after as fast-a-stair descent as I could make, to take us to a way way distant terminal. When we got on the bus, there wasn’t time to get the Cali flight… and the bus just sat on the tarmac at the bottom of the stairs, for a good 20 minutes. What’s more, we didn’t have boarding passes, as BA in London couldn’t issue them even though they were on the same ticket… ho hum.
Walking as fast as my sore little pegs would carry me, we searched for an information desk. I know Madrid airport (not coded MAD for nothing), but everything had moved as there is huge construction going on. So I tried to run, and just as I was saying to Brian, I can’t run mate, he spied a lone, rogue wheelchair. You NEVER see wheelchairs sitting alone at an airport…. so we hi-jacked it, and good man Brian RAN with me in it. Found information, told it was already too late, but they phoned the Avianca gate (of course, the gate YOU want is always at the opposite end of the airport!!), and said…run…. you should just make it. Brian was happy there was no one videoing us, though it might have been fun….
It had to be angels, as we REALLY didn’t have enough time, and we made it: not only that, but because of the wheelchair AND my Star Alliance Gold Card 🙂 – we got on first…. thr days of miracles has begun this trip….
