Not sure if I’m doing it right.
The first one is me on the flight from Amsterdam to New York on Sunday 6 December. The second is me on the flight from Amsterdam to New York on Monday 7 December…
The first one was cancelled. The plane was fully boarded and ready to go, but we sat on the tarmac at the gate for three hours waiting for an engineering crew to fix a fauly backup instrument. By the time they got it fixed, the flight crew had timed out and we couldn’t leave. We all had to disambark, collect our bags, and stand in line for the ground crew to re-book us on alternative travel. By the time it was my turn, the only options were to take a long stop-over in London and arrive in New York at midnight (ugh), or to fly out the next day. At least it was easy enough for me to just go back home for the rest of the day.
That turned out to be the better option. The same flight the next morning was full, but the original plane was still on the ground in Amsterdam, and had to get back to New York. So United ran it as a special flight for all the passengers from the previous day who hadn’t been re-booked otherwise. All 26 of us.
When I showed up at the gate, I thought that I was late, because there was hardly anyone sitting around waiting. On board the plane, it was like being on a private jet. Everyone who wanted one could have en entire row to themselves. The cabin crew were relaxed and chatty. It was possibly the most enjoyable transatlantic flight I’ve ever had.