Not so fast, my friend

Last post I intimated our travels were at at end and we were making our way home to Mexico. We flew Norwegian air again, this time from Madrid to Los Angeles via London/Gatwick. Except we didn’t.

The first leg to London went fine, and we boarded the 787 Dreamliner (a plane I already praised on the flight over to Europe), but we never got off the ground. Some kind of equipment issue brought us back as we rolled into take-off, then back to the gate. Like most, I am all on board with maintenance delays, even for a relatively new aircraft: safety first! Now we were stuck for an hour or two as the UK authorities decided how to handle us: since we did not transit the country we had to be treated as arrivals and de-plane, get our bags, and go through customs.

While they were deciding all this, Norwegian canceled the flight via text message, but did not bother to inform the captain, who was still stalling and hoping for the best until the passengers showed him their cell phones.

I have been in airline mass cancellation situations before, and it can be everyone for themselves, but at least when you are working with a large airline, they recognize the potential negative effects, bite the bullet, and get you new flights with another line, a hotel room and a meal, or all the above.

Not so with Norwegian. They sent a follow-up text about a minute after the first one saying they were having difficulties getting replacement fares and hotels, and encouraging customers to find their own! This set off a frenzy, and the pilot even came over the intercom to encourage calm.

Eventually we got off the plane and through customs: kudos to the UK customs officials, who handled their end very well. We all ended up in a huge line at the Norwegian counter, where the number of available seats and rooms dwindled fast. I went online and rebooked, and we’ll use both Norwegian’s claim system and the EU passenger rights process for reimbursement and compensation.

Meanwhile, we are stuck at the Holiday Inn @ Gatwick airport for two whole days. I promised a verdict on the low-cost carrier Norwegian air after this trip, and here it is: guilty of incompetence. The low fares and Premium seating just can’t make up for the poor customer support, the delays, and now the cancellation. Go elsewhere for your flying needs.

We’re making the best of the situation. Judy is recovering slowly, so we are taking it easy. We’ve been to London many times, and while we would never say we’ve grown tired of it (nod to Dr. Johnson), we have seen all the easy tourist sights, so we may just spend the time in the countryside.

Gatwick is about a mile from the town of Horley, which is probably in the OED as the picture beside the definition of the word “village.” After six weeks on the continent, we have been stunned at how well they speak English here. An old joke, I know, but I really did speak slowly and loudly at the hotel check in, until the young lady behind the counter rattled off a standard hotel greeting and I thought: aha, English. We understand what’s on the telly (mostly), the food is (ahem) interesting, everything is in Pounds and expensive: must be England!

So it’s fish & chips and a pint for a night or two, then another try at a Norwegian air flight to LAX. Continued prayers requested; Cheerio!