Three weeks down the line, I have finally arrived at Go. After a rather difficult journey and a very nice holiday in France. And a journey from hell it was. I didn't quite check, but it's possible I have carried around my own bodyweight with me (I should mention I am not very heavy but still) and looked like a tramp.
As I had to take everything with me that was left in my room, including a duvet and pillow, I had to take both my backpack and a small suitcase. By the time everything was packed both were on the point of exploding. On top of this I carried around a big laptop bag containing several books and other papery stuff plus my laptop. Add to this a plastic bag with food, a small handbag and some posters. I was wearing all clothing that wouldn't fit into my luggage anymore. My flatmate Myint ran into me as I was leaving and felt so sorry for me, she took me to the tube station where she worringly gave me all the things she had been carrying whilst double and triple checking whether I would be fine. Off to Gatwick Airport it was, with all my luggage and wearing a jumper, a big cardigan, and two coats.
The tube was fine, not many people around at 11 pm, the train to Gatwick at 12:30 however was somewhat more challenging. I have to admit my fellow passengers looked at me with something between mild curiosity and sceptism, whilst I tried to pretend this was completely normal. The advantage of travelling around like this, is that people start worrying about you and want to help you. Until the check-in desk that is. The Easyjet employees at check-in have been instructed to be merciless. They have been told to charge for every gram exceeding the weight limits unless those grams, or in my case kilos, are on your person. Although I am sure they will implement new rules for that too. But to date, the only limit to personal weight is the size of the seat.
There I was with my luggage exceeding the weight limits by eight kilo. Cheap as the tickets come, that expensive are the extras with 10 pounds per kilo overweight. However, as it happened, luck turned out to be on my side. To the question whether I wanted to pay by card or cash, I handed over my bankcard, which was refused by the system. There was no choice but to go and get cash. The girl at check-in was friendly enough and said I could come to her straight away and wouldn't need to queue again. Well rid of my hold luggage, I went to the cash machine, got the eighty quid and went back to the check-in desk that had meanwhile been stormed by a group of young boys and their youth workers.
Having worked in hotels, I know that groups, especially of children or teenagers, can be quite challenging. They're all over the place and usually don't know who they're sharing what with. Apparently, the same goes for flights. The girl at check-in was either just starting or very insecure, or both. In any case, she was profoundly confused at this point. So I waited until she'd finish. Time passed, I waited, the boys waited, whilst she mildly panicked and had her colleagues assist her.
Now, if you're a low-cost airline trying to get as much profit as possible, there are several ways to go about the business. Number 1: charge for everything. Rumour has it, Ryan Air now charges for toilet use. O yes. Very soon, you will have to pay extra if you want a life jacket in case of emergency. Number 2: be efficient. Very efficient. No tickets, and one big check-in desk for all destinations. So imagine, 6 am, an immense queue, screaming kids and lots of suitcases. There usually is a host trying to manage all this, whilst looking which check-in desk is free.
Out of the corner of his eye, the host on duty spotted me standing beside the queue, waiting. That is strange and needs to be investigated. Could he help me at all? "Yes, I need to pay and am waiting for my boarding pass that your colleague over there has made ready for me." Helpful as this guy was, he went to his colleague, exchanged a few words, came back and handed me my boarding pass. To say I was flabbergasted, is an understatement. Apparently, he completely missed the sheer surprise and bemusement on my face and went back to his duties of managing the group of young boys. Still recovering, I thought...go...go...just walk away now, before they remember the dosh, just quietly creep away, don't smile, definately don't laugh and pray you're not stopped at a later point.
The challenge didn't end there though. Easyjet has a new rule. Every passenger is allowed one piece of hand luggage. And yes, if you have more, you will be charged at the gate because Easyjet is a low-cost airline trying to make as much profit as possible. However much I would love to write to them about this latest attempt to make more money (I think they are potentially harming the economy of the local airport, I mean, what's the point of tax-free shopping if you're not allowed any more hand-luggage?), I had other things on my mind at this particular time. Being how to make three pieces of hand luggage into one if everything's full. Obviously, one can go to the nearest shop and ask for the biggest bag they have, put everything in there and happily potter off to the gate (second reason why the hand-luggage rule is absurd). Instead, I decided to stuff the pockets of the second coat I had with me, to eat all the food left and try to hide the handbag. With success.
The final hurdle to take came upon arrival at Lyon Airport. Lyon Airport is under construction. The French have decided to build a brand new, very fancy airport near the capital of Provence. Although I am sure it will be very nice once it's finished, at the moment, the custom officers are sat in a tent and so is the luggage belt. There was one poor bloke checking everyone's passport and naturally, I was the last one in line. My parents waiting at the other end thought I had missed my flight. Showing this person my ID card was not a problem, getting all my luggage together and hoisting it on me was. As things litterally fell off, I was close to tears whilst telling myself, out of the door, that's all. Then you can drop everything. Needless to say, this was exactly what happened.
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