by Clare Hegarty
(Ed's note: Well of course you would, its a no-brainer! Except that lots of families offered it before us said no, so what was the catch?)
We struck a deal with the boys, £100 for each of them and £2,500 towards our summer holiday. We cheered them up with thoughts of seeing the airport where Die Hard 2 was based, how they would spend their share of the money and on the thought that we might not get called up.
We were called, so our paths were set, but an upgrade was promised which cheered us up immensely.
(12:30 GMT 7:30pm ET) The arrival at Dulles was shocking, standing at immigration for an hour to be admitted, we were the last group from the plane but then this was dead time.
(Ed's note: Well of course you would, its a no-brainer! Except that lots of families offered it before us said no, so what was the catch?)
(2pm GMT) The offer seemed innocuous enough to start with; delay our journey for one hour for £560 each. Oh but the flight wasn’t direct, we would have to fly to Wash
ington Dulles and change to an internal flight to Boston. The thing was the flights hadn’t cost us that much to start with, but the hotel bill was going to be astronomical with the low pound, so it was very tempting as and we succumbed to it. There is no such thing as a free lunch and ours wasn’t, we had £25 towards it but we had to hold onto our bags while we ate it.
ington Dulles and change to an internal flight to Boston. The thing was the flights hadn’t cost us that much to start with, but the hotel bill was going to be astronomical with the low pound, so it was very tempting as and we succumbed to it. There is no such thing as a free lunch and ours wasn’t, we had £25 towards it but we had to hold onto our bags while we ate it. 
We struck a deal with the boys, £100 for each of them and £2,500 towards our summer holiday. We cheered them up with thoughts of seeing the airport where Die Hard 2 was based, how they would spend their share of the money and on the thought that we might not get called up.We were called, so our paths were set, but an upgrade was promised which cheered us up immensely.
(5pm GMT) The flight was very comfortable with extra legroom and spare seats to spread out.
(12:30 GMT 7:30pm ET) The arrival at Dulles was shocking, standing at immigration for an hour to be admitted, we were the last group from the plane but then this was dead time.
(2:00am GMT 9:00pm ET) The immigration officer was charming as ever but I couldn’t get over the incongruity of the large tough looking black man who was called Hyacinthe. The hour wait had broken Ciaran’s spirits – he needed food fast and an Obama golf ball fast apparently. Mick provided most of the entertainment for us by calling the car company to explain that we wouldn’t be picking the car up today but tomorrow. He explained it so nicely and patiently but put the phone down muttering about “missiles having been launched” and “still need to pick up car tonight”.
The flight was delayed and spirits would have been low had we not spent the time worrying about Sydney and what the alternative would have been like – if we had taken her skiing! We imagined everything from strapping four little mini-skis on to her feet, her first sights and smells of snow and of course her skiing down a gentle slope. The flight delay announcements were made more charming by the indeterminate species of the creature making them.
(11:00pm ET 4:00am GMT) We’re on the plane! Could have been the best plane in the world, could have been the worst – I slept for the entire 90 minutes
(12:30am ET 5:30am GMT) We’re in Boston only 5 hours later than planned, but like they said in Outnumbered airport hours are like days in the outside world.
Mick and I are seasoned travellers, able to adapt our arrangements, so we’d failed with the car but we had switched our hotel reservation from one about an hour North of Boston to one at the airport, so the plan now was to split up, Mick to pick up the car and the rest of us to get the courtesy bus to the hotel. That didn’t work, we were still waiting for our bus when Mick had collected the mini-van and was able to pick us up (1:30 EST 6:30am GMT).
The benefits of SatNav are huge, no matter how strange and unfamiliar the surroundings, you can find you way around with complete independence.
In this case we were able to find our way from the airport (A) to 85 American Legion Highway, Boston (B) and then to 85 American Legion Highway, Revere (C) – which is where our hotel was. It is a credit to us all that we didn’t explode.
In this case we were able to find our way from the airport (A) to 85 American Legion Highway, Boston (B) and then to 85 American Legion Highway, Revere (C) – which is where our hotel was. It is a credit to us all that we didn’t explode.
(2:30am EST 7:30am GMT) Oh the joy of lying horizontally and sleeping………………..
So would you?
I love reading this blog. I can almost feel the exhaustion myself just imagining the Dulles experience. That's a really decent offer. I don't think I've ever been gotten anything from an airline that reaches that level. I would have been more than tempted. Sleeping that night must have been like heaven though. Have fun in Vermont all of you! (Ellen)
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