Car battery draining? Check your electronics add-ons.

I came back from vacation to find that the battery was totally dead. I used a 10A charger and it charged to 66% and then the display said "Bat Bad". Car started though and I revved the engine to about 5 min at 3500rpm. Stopped and re-started the car. Next morning it did not start.

I looked at youtube videos which suggested that I connect a meter to monitor current and remove one fuse at a time if the current drain is more than 50mA. That gave me an idea. I removed the OBD2 bluetooth reader. In 5 min the battery trickle charged to 68% from 66%. In 8 hrs, it went to 90% and after over night trickle charge, it is 100% charged.

So, I ordered OBD2 switch to disconnect power when I do not want to use the device. Moral of the story is to go easy on devices we connect in the car. Hope this helps someone prevent a dead battery.

Good to pay more for devices which are smart enough to auto power off or go to sleep mode when ignition is off. Solar trickle charger may help but not if the car is in the garage overnight.

Got bumped down Business to Premium Economy by British Airways but that is not all...

Hope there is a lesson in this which helps someone.

1. Even business class gets overbooked by British Airways and that too on long haul flights. They told me that I would get the refund but when I called BA, they told me that I should call the travel agent.

2. Ticket was bought through Orbitz but British Airways wants passenger to call Orbitz to get refund. After 30min on hold Orbitz confirmed the downgrade and says that British Airways will take 4 to 6 weeks to process the refund. Next time I will try other airlines. If they are so quick to downgrade, they should be quick to refund. No real excuse in the current day of electronic transfer of funds or credit back to credit cards. I guess I gave a free loan to British Airways for 4 to 6 weeks. The $250 compensation does not compensate for the sleepless 10hr flight at all. More equitable would have been a free upgrade next time I fly. What was interesting was British Airways did the right thing and promised to bank to bank transfer of the $250 compensation but will not speed up the refund.

My take away from this:

Look or Orbitz but do not buy on Orbitz. Deal directly with the airline. I was on the plane with my elderly mother who is disabled but got separated from her just because she got her ticket and then I got my ticket on the same flight. Even though I called British Airways and they told me that they linked our booking references, it was just a note and no one looked at it before deciding that I was a single traveler and OK to downgrade me. Moral here is if you travel with someone, book the flights together.