Holiday to Indian Wells in Mar 2025: Day 9 – London Heathrow LHR to Madrid MAD

By Nige on March 13, 2025 at 3:00 pm
Type: Post
Story: Holiday to Indian Wells in Mar 2025 Category: Travel
Tags: Holidays | LHR | London Heathrow | MAD | Madrid

I got into the CCR and went for a shower to freshen up. The lounges felt pretty busy, but I managed to find a quiet seat.

Quick dash to Starbucks where I tried to use a reward for a free drink. The staff told me I needed 500 stars for a freebie nowadays. When did that change?

It seems that all companies are devaluing their loyalty programmes right now.

My flight to Madrid left from Gate A21, and I took advantage of Group 0 boarding to slip onto the aircraft ahead of everyone else.

An unusual seat assignment for me: 3C. Late change in flight as a result of having to change our flights to/from LAX.

Some guy sat in Vick’s seat! I had told the gate that she wouldn’t be flying, but I assumed her seat had been reassigned.

When the cabin crew handed out menus and welcomed regular flyers, the crew were expecting the seat to be empty.

When the guy showed his boarding pass, he was supposed to be in 25B, so he had to take the walk of shame, having tried to upgrade himself.

Cheeky f*cker…

We were delayed for unknown reasons and didn’t get on the runway until about an hour after our scheduled departure time.

That was going to reduce my time to get through transit security. I’m confidently told that I’d be back at the gate in 10 mins, so if that was the case, all good.

Whilst I was in the galley, the cabin service lead checked how long I was due to be in Madrid, and we had a discussion as to which flight I was due on.

She had me on BA469, but I had a boarding pass confirming that I was on the B2B BA463.

It got me worried about bit.

Dinner was served, which was good. Even the starter was alright! The main was beef cheeks, which were very tender.

We arrived at Gate S23, and since I was in row 3, I was able to store my rucksack under one of the seats in front, which meant I could be up and ready to move more quickly than normal.

Unfortunately, there was a first officer in front of me, and he was in a rush to join another flight to Toulouse.

Some problem with flights direct to France (from what I could pick up).

It was a little unnerving trying to do a B2B at a new place, but I was assured it should be fine.

Holiday to Indian Wells in Mar 2025