On Saturday I’m heading off on a four-city business trip to Europe. For various reasons, this is going to involve quite a number of hops:
First, Seattle to Edinburgh:
Oct 11 2008: UA958 SEA-ORD; UA958 ORD-LHR
Oct 12 2008: BMI52 LHR-EDI
Next Wednesday I’ll drive from Edinburgh to Slough, and then on Saturday fly to Iasi in Romania. The only major cities with service to Iasi are Vienna and Bucharest, so I’m taking BA to Bucharest and Tarom ((My first time on RO.)) to Iasi:
Oct 18 2008: BA886 LHR-OTP; RO707 OTP-IAS
The following Wednesday, I’ll fly from Iasi to Dublin, via Bucharest and Heathrow. The LHR-DUB leg is actually a code share operated by Aer Lingus:
Oct 22 2008: RO704 IAS-OTP; BA887 OTP-LHR; BA5979 LHR-DUB
And finally on Saturday I’ll fly back to Seattle:
Oct 25 2008: BMI122 DUB-LHR; UA949 LHR-ORD; UA949 ORD-SEA
A two week trip, with four travel days, comprising eleven hops on five different airlines, with each travel day involving transit through Heathrow. I’m planning to carry on my bags for every hop; the probability of something going astray is far too high. (My worst ever baggage experience was on a trip from Boston to Stockholm and Grenoble in the mid-90s, during which BA managed to lose my checked bag TWICE – once at Heathrow and once at Lyons.)