I don’t usually have an opinion on illness, well at least not until it affects me anyway. Being stuck in Orlando with my colleagues from all around the globe was bad enough, but I found myself contending with some sort of flu/cold/bubonic plague like thing that would not go away. It placed a severe restriction on my alcohol intake and gave me sleepless nights.
The, almost constant, heavy rain, and jaunty happy American types did nothing to ease my disposition so it was with delight I bade farewell to my colleagues and settled into one last night in The Orlando Hilton, before the beginning of a long journey back home.
Other than a couple of single malts, a handful of G&T’s, a single Caipirinha, and a single standard drink in each “country” at EPCOT it had been an alcohol free week. After almost a week I was still not feeling the best and after getting my DFW-LHR boarding pass printed I fell into another restless sleep.
The chauffeur service could find no record of my flight, I found out, and arranged to take me to the airport three hours ahead of the time I had provided them when I booked the flight. The flight number had changed since my original booking.....as had the connection time in MIA. I was collecting some SC’s on what I believe is known as a YUPP...I didn’t need any SC’s but my incompetence knows no bounds.
My initial journey was MCO-MIA, followed by a 47 minute connection time and then MIA-DFW. Given the heavy thunderstorms and rain around MCO I was beginning to wish I had not been a complete nob and just booked an MCO-DFW direct flight.
At this point I ought to explain that when I started booking this trip my plan was to get back to DFW and pick up a JASA on QF8 .....all had gone to plan apart from QF8 and I found myself having to grab a DFW-LHR classic award in J and then a FASA from LHR - MEL. So my journey would last for days......not something to be enjoyed at the best of times but with man flu it would be unbearable.
Check in at MCO was quick and painless, as was, rather surprisingly, security. The priority lanes worked a treat. All I had to do was jump on the train to the AA concourse and pop into the Admirals Lounge for a cup of bitter, vile, almost undrinkable American coffee. The stumbling block in my clever plan was the lack of an Admirals Lounge. I sat in the crowded concourse and wept inwardly.
The 738 to MIA was just about full but I was first to board and got my luggage stowed. In times of man flu I turn to tomato juice and drank two cans on the short flight to MIA which arrived early. There was no time for a visit to the Admirals Club and I waited patiently for 10 minutes to board yet another 738 for my journey to DFW. I declined the meal and drank tomato juice. The inflight wifi is rather handy and not that unreasonably priced if you are about to spend a day on a plane.
Arrival into DFW was on time, both a relief - I’m never happy on separate PNR’s - and now a bit of a pain. BA192 had been put back an hour so I had four hours to kill. My flight arrived at the gate next door to the third party lounges servicing BA and QF so rather unadventurously I headed straight for the BA lounge and found a quiet spot. 
A couple of views from the BA Lounge at DFW - pretty boring views over the airport.
Please read more here.