How to get priority boarding

Mrs P and I have travelled from Exeter Airport many times and we were looking forward to yet another trouble-free flight as we headed to Edinburgh for a few days. This time our journey was not incident-free. Nothing drastic, just unusual. Read on...

It started at check-in when the very pleasant young lady told us that Mrs P's bag had not been paid for. Her computer said 'no'. The solution? Pay £40 to get the bag on the flight and reclaim it afterwards when we could provide proof of prepayment. Off we went into the Departure Lounge for a drink. After a while, a flight to Palma Mallorca was announced for boarding. After another while, a call went out for a missing passenger for this flight - a Wendy Parsons. What a coincidence, same ssurname but different flight. There were a few more, increasingly desperate, calls for Wendy Parsons as we were shepherded to our departure gate. 

There were lots of officials milling around as the search for Wendy Parsons went on. Toilets were scoured, cupboards explored and bins emptied - but no Wendy Parsons. The Palma flight was delayed and Wendy Parsons' bag was located and taken off the flight. A final announcement to the effect that if Wendy Parsons did not show up immediately the Palma flight was leaving. 

At this point, for some reason, I looked at the baggage ticket stuck to the back of Mrs P's passport and noticed that her bag had been checked through to Palma and not Edinburgh. Odd, I thought, and went to the check-in desk to point this out. "Is this your bag?", I was asked as a rather flustered airport dispatcher pointed to what was Mrs P's bag, the one that had just been taken off the Palma flight. Mystery solved. There was no Wendy Parsons and off the Palma flight could go. We got escorted to our flight personally by the dispatcher and got into our seats before everyone else. All we have to do now is get our £40 back!  All's well, that ends well.