airBaltic: When It Finally Takes Off

When I booked airBaltic, I had low expectations since, as any avid Monopoly player knows, Baltic Avenue is the cheapest property to buy.

TPOL’s Tip: Always snatch up Baltic Avenue and Mediterranean, not because they are ideal properties, but because they provide reliable income as those looking to avoid Boardwalk and Park Place inevitably land here.

Before even arriving at the airport, I had an issue with airBaltic. They canceled my direct flight from Tallinn to Vilnius. I received an email saying, “Sorry, we had to cancel.” A half-hour later, I received another email saying that I had been re-booked on a flight from Tallinn to Riga and then to Vilnius. Instead of arriving at 8:50PM, I would now arrive at midnight. That was inconvenient as my Guns & Butter Travel Philosophy does not factor in delays. Now I would only have one night to explore Vilnius.

The flight from Tallinn to Riga was without incident. The A220, advertised as one of the greenest planes in the sky, was on time and was brand new. The flight from Riga to Vilnius was farther and we did not arrive until closer to 1AM. Like my flight to Warsaw from JFK (Lot Airlines: Terrible Transit in Warsaw ), there was no jet bridge. Passengers had to climb the stairs. While this afforded me the opportunity to take my favorite airplane photo, I wondered how I would have made it up the stairs had my Achilles been as it was only a few weeks ago (see TPOL Is Down).