The Grand Tour...Last Day

[charly77]

Our final day was here…everyone was a little tetchy this morning. Although we felt ready to go home it was still sad to be leaving as we’d had such a wonderful few weeks. We had to remind ourselves it was all about the memories!

Everyone wanted to go to Fluffy’s café for breakfast, we again had been in 2014 and liked it. I googled it just to remind me of its location and I’m glad I did as it had moved premises! It was quite a trek but we got there. The food was okay but the service was awful, the staff were so rude and grumpy, it wasn’t even busy so guess they were just having a bad day.

From here we walked up to Central Park towards Heckscher Playground so DS could play ball on an official pitch, however it was closed. Luckily they had another ball ground where some kids were training so DS and DH were able to play there. DD and I sat on a bench reflecting on our last few weeks, it was scary to think of how much we had done, it didn’t seem possible.

From here we jumped on the subway as I decided to pop back to Chelsea Market to grab some things I had spotted the other day. We weren’t there long as I knew exactly what I needed ;-) We grabbed some treats for later too so it wasn’t a waste of a trip!

We needed to get to La Guardia for our return flight and on the news earlier they had said there were major works at the airport so we thought we’d better give ourselves plenty of time to get there. We went back to the apartment and quickly freshened up, finished packing and checked out. We really loved Radio City Apartments and would highly recommend them, fab staff and great location.

We caught the subway up to Jackson Heights then needed to get on the Q70 bus to the airport, it was hard work with suitcases but we managed okay. We were able to use our weekly tickets so effectively this was free, always a good result!

We checked in, dropped our bags and cleared TSA before heading to our gate. As we were catching a flight to Toronto before London it was an internal flight. Thought we’d use up our $ so bought coffees and cake and let the kids buy some chocolate. We were quite tired so just chilled out waiting for our flight. I even managed a little snooze!
My phone vibrated which woke me up and I’m glad it did. It was a message from trip advisor saying our flight to Toronto had been cancelled!

It certainly didn’t say that on the screens in the terminal. All of a sudden there was chaos as they updated the screens. DH and I jumped into the queue to see Westjet represenitives and left the kids with our belongings.

Some people were starting to get very agitated as the queue was not moving and no one seemed to be helping anyone. Then a Westjet rep said that no one would get on the next flight to Toronto and to sort an alternative flight. We knew if we did not get on the next flight we would not be able to catch our connecting flight to London. We tried to talk to someone but unfortunately they were not particularly helpful.

After some time we were told to go downstairs and collect our luggage as it had been removed and been left in the terminal then find the Westjet counter to rebook a flight. So we grabbed the kids and followed the instructions. As we head out we realised we were leaving the TSA area but assumed we would possibly be put on a flight tomorrow so it didn’t matter.

We get to the baggage area and our bags weren’t there so now we did begin to get a bit stressed. I saw a rep for another airline so asked where the Westjet rep was and she got her for us. We were then told that we should not have been given that information…

However the rep was very good, firstly she apologised to us which is always a good start! She rang the counter and spoke to the person who gave us that information as fortunately I got her name from her name badge. The same person admitted that was the info she gave of which the rep dealing with us really told her off and said she was incorrect. We were then taken to an office and offered drinks whilst she tracked our bags down.

After a very short time she collected our bags and brought them to us and then she sat down looking at our flight options. The best she could offer us was a direct flight to Heathrow but from JFK with British Airways. However we would have to pay for our transfer between the airports. We weren’t in the mood to argue at this point so accepted that offer. I quickly got on the Uber app and ordered a car.

Our Uber turned up within 5 minutes and got us to JFK, the traffic was a bit fraught but we got there in plenty of time. JFK as usual was crazy, queues were ridiculous but as long as we get on the flight I don’t care! All was good, we were all sat together so everyone was happy. I had visions of us being scattered across the plane!

We had time to grab something to eat from MacDonald’s and purchase some duty free. I had to call my Dad who was due to pick us up from Gatwick tomorrow to rearrange and he was happy as he only lives 15 minutes from Heathrow! Then we were off to our gate!

The kids were happy as they had IFE and food and drink! The flight took off on time and staff were great. We managed to watch a couple of films and sleep when we could but the turbulence was awful. We landed around 7.15am, straight through immigration (which is a first!), waited around 20 minutes for bags and headed off to find my Dad. Bless him, he had made a sign for us welcoming us home!

We were home by 8.45am, not bad at all! We went to bed for a few hours then woke up to the reality of washing, food shopping etc..!

Steps today; 14,749

Floors climbed; 16

*Tip of the day *Don’t always expect things to go to plan...

[Melbatb]

Eek - what a palaver with the flight! Though it worked in your favour in the end I think!

Thanks for taking the time to write your report - I have thoroughly enjoyed it!

[i love jack]

I've just read the majority of your trip in one go so apologies for not commenting each day, but what an amazing trip, so many amazing sights and memories. I loved the campsite at Yosemite and Martha's Vineyard looked lovely, well everywhere did really!

[charly77]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Eek - what a palaver with the flight! Though it worked in your favour in the end I think!

Thanks for taking the time to write your report - I have thoroughly enjoyed it!

See more...

Originally Posted by i love jack

I've just read the majority of your trip in one go so apologies for not commenting each day, but what an amazing trip, so many amazing sights and memories. I loved the campsite at Yosemite and Martha's Vineyard looked lovely, well everywhere did really!

See more...

Thank you for taking the time to read my trip report and for your kind comments.
I got many tips from reading other trippies that I felt I needed to return the favour!

[Cutiepie]

What a nightmare on the way home but at least you got sorted with a direct flight!

I have really enjoyed reading your report & have picked up lots of tips for future trips!

Thank you for taking the time to write it & sharing your fabulous holiday

[Jake71]

Not a great end to the holiday with some flight issues, but at least they were sorted for you and you got home safely in the end. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

[CrispyA]

I've really enjoyed eating your report, thank you for taking the time to do it. It sounds like an amazing trip and has given me some ideas for us to try as well.

[1972]

I have just read the East Coast part f your trip report as that is where we will be in August.

I am going to read your West Coast part later as it will be bring back memories of our fantastic trip in 2015.

How did you find being on the road for a month?

[JanetA]

Thank you for taking the time to write the trippie,

We have visited many of the places you did and you have given me the inspiration to visit the one's we have not visited.

Never been much of an East Coast fan ( except for New York ) but would love to visit Martha's Vineyard and Hawaii is top of the bucket list

Maybe next year !

Jan x

[charly77]

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

What a nightmare on the way home but at least you got sorted with a direct flight!

I have really enjoyed reading your report & have picked up lots of tips for future trips!

Thank you for taking the time to write it & sharing your fabulous holiday

See more...

Originally Posted by Jake71

Not a great end to the holiday with some flight issues, but at least they were sorted for you and you got home safely in the end. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

See more...

Originally Posted by CrispyA

I've really enjoyed eating your report, thank you for taking the time to do it. It sounds like an amazing trip and has given me some ideas for us to try as well.

See more...

Thank you for taking the time to read and for your kind comments.