This trip had gone perfectly. Too perfectly. It was unnatural. And on Friday evening, my luck ran out.

The plan was to fly on Jet Airways from Bangalore to Mumbai, then from Mumbai to London on British Airways. The flight to Mumbai was due to arrive at 11pm, while the second departed at 2:15am. Plenty of time….

Unfortunately the Jet Airways flight was nearly 2 hours late. (I’ll post my rant about the ghastly qualities of Bangalore Airport later.) As a result, I arrived at the BA desk about 5 minutes after they’d closed for checkins. I was not alone, of course, and several of my fellow passengers pleaded – but to no avail.

I had called my admin earlier to warn her of the impending problem. I now checked back with her (NEVER travel without a working, roaming cellphone) and learned that the next flight was Air India 101, departing at 6:30. However e-ticket wasn’t feasible, so I’d have to buy the ticket myself. Easy, right?

I found the Air India ticket office. It felt like a scene from Douglas Adams’ computer game Bureaucracy. I handed my passport and credit card in at one window, at some point a price was set, then it mysteriously changed, I signed a credit card slip at a different window, and eventually a ticket appeared at a third. I was then told to exit left: fortunately I could see that the door I needed was to the right.

So now I’m in a 500 rupee lounge, where everything is complimentary (except the 240 rupee gin and tonic), waiting for the flight in 2 hours. I’ll let you know how it goes. Another day, another new airline.

[Written en route from Mumbai to London; posted on Sunday evening from Leeds when I finally got connectivity.]