“Sir, this is a 747”

Yesterday I made it to Heathrow Airport plenty early so I could enjoy the Clubhouse, though I had an interesting interaction at check-in that didn’t phase me till boarding time. Since I arrived early, the check-in agent asked if I didn’t want to be switched to the earlier flight to New York. Nice offer, I thought, though I declined. She then spoke to her colleague, mumbling something along the lines of “well, nine less seats though six empty, so over by three.” I asked if they needed people to switch flights, and she said “oh yeah, we’re just trying to see if we can switch people around, we’re a bit oversold on the noon flight.”

Now, it seemed like they were only looking for people to voluntarily switch as opposed to offering any compensation, so I didn’t say anything further.

Shortly before boarding time I arrived at the gate, though noticed there wasn’t a 747-400 (as was scheduled), but instead only an A340-600. So I asked the gate agent if there was an aircraft substitution. She said “no, it’s the same plane.” I said “wasn’t this flight supposed to be a 747?” to which she responded “sir, this is a 747.”

You be the judge. 😉

So it was nonetheless a perfectly pleasant flight, though the funny part was the uppity, over caffeinated New Yorker seated behind me — “wait a second, this isn’t my seat, this can’t be my seat. I chose 16A, that’s my favorite seat, it’s in the nose, now I’m near the bar.”