"I almost dissolved in a puddle of tears", or "On getting a U.S.A /U.K. flight (and back again) at short notice".

I needed (at very short notice)  to get a flight from south west Florida to London for a funeral in Bristol U.K.

Many flights were already overbooked.

British Air and Delta fares were horribly high.

Cheaper fares were available for those who do not mind 172 stopovers ( I exaggerate a bit!).

In due course I settled on  Virgin Atlantic flights (not cheap, but not ultra-expensive) from Sarasota via Atlanta, to London Heathrow  (and back home again!) 

Booking on line should be simple.  But it ain't!

ON MY FIRST ATTEMPT:  The Virgin Atlantic site crashed.

ON MY SECOND ATTEMPT: My Discover Card was rejected for no good reason.  I have a good credit history.

ON MY THIRD ATTEMPT: My booking was successful, using a different credit card.

Whoop dee doo (or so I thought)

I called the Discover Card people.' They conceded that they had rejected my charge for no good reason, and that my card would not be billed. SO FAR SO GOOD.

I'd been on line and on the 'phone for more that two hours so I decided to energise myself with a cup of good coffee,

'Twas then that I looked at my printed flight itinerary,   to see that I had booked the flights to and from the U.K.for one week later than I needed.

 I almost dissolved in a  puddle of tears.

With dread and trembling I 'phoned Virgin Atlantic, expecting to encounter one of those wheel of misfortune 'phone systems in which we have to press a myriad of buttons 

( e.g. press 1 if your belly button is an outie, 2 if it's an innie; and 

press 17 if you are a cat lover or 92 if you are allergic to Llamas, etc etc.)

I also anticipated being put on hold until my bladder was fit to explode.

Oh my gracious there was none of that.  I was talking to a human being within sixty seconds.

I explained my problem to a sharp and knowledgeable Londoner.

"No problem" he said.  "We can make the changes right now, and because you are calling withing twenty four hours of your first booking, there will be no charge".

He chatted me through various questions for clarification and for security.  Within ten minutes my erroneous reservation had been corrected, and my flights were secured for the days I needed them.

He even took time to make my seat assignments.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC  came through for me with superb customer service.  Good for them!