The last time we got stranded at an airport because of a missed flight due to connection delay, we were given barely $25 for dinner and breakfast, and a hotel stay at the airport Crowne Plaza in Chicago. Yesterday, our connecting flight from Heathrow to JFK was delayed to the point where it didn’t make sense for us to get on the plane, so we took the airline up on their offer to stay at the Renaissance hotel at the airport, accept dinner and breakfast vouchers at their very plush hotel restaurant, and $800 USD each in airline credit for the inconvenience. Apparently this type of reimbursement is due to British law with delayed and cancelled flights in the U.K. I could get used to delays and cancellations with reimbursements like that.

This also meant that I finally got to see London and set foot in the United Kingdom, even if I only got to see the city for about four hours. It was the most glorious delay and accident that could have happened, and an unexpected ending to our France trip. The only thing missing was crumpets.