Flying Fiasco
June 19th 2008 21:11
Well, I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't know it was going to be so crazy, so quick. I had to go to DC last week for work. I reserved two outrageously priced tickets (thankfully, Uncle Sam will pay for them) and had to do it on two different airlines because of the available flights.
So on the way there, I get to the airport, through security and into the terminal. Things looked pretty good. Got on the plane and we took off right on time. Ah yes, this is what I'm talking about!
We get to Atlanta where I have to get a connection. This is where the fun begins. After a very hard landing, we are heading for the terminal and the plane stops. Okay, maybe he was waiting on traffic. We sit for an hour then the Captain comes on the intercom and announces that there is no place for us to park so we have to wait. One hour goes by, then two and babies are crying, plus its hot as hell. The captain comes over the intercom apologizing and says he just saw a plane turn on some lights where we are going to park so he should be leaving soon.
Define soon.
An hour later, the plane starts moving. Yea! Once in the terminal there is no point in running for the connection because it left two hours prior. The agent at the counter says go to another terminal and maybe you can get on standby. Fortunately, that did happen and finally made it to DC, but of course I missed my shuttle, so the conference center had to send someone out to get me.
I had four nice days at the conference center and then it was back to the airport. While I'm waiting in my terminal, I notice that there are an awful lot of people there considering how early I was. Then all hell broke loose at the counter, because a lady with three kids in tow had had enough. As it turns out, her flight, two hours prior was cancelled because they did not have a full plane. So there were about 80 people sitting there hoping to get on the next plane which also was not sold out. When it was time to load, the lady at the counter started calling for standby people who happened simply to get their name on the list randomly while the people, who's flight had been cancelled got no priority whatsoever. I don't blame the lady for being mad, but once she raised her voice about twenty of the others did too. I thought for sure there was going to end up being news crews there.
Anyway, I got on and it took about an extra hour before they closed the door. So we are late leaving again. Once the plane backed away from the terminal, it stopped. Seemed we had a minor maintenance problem. One hour later we are moving again. Then we stop. We are told that they diverted us to a different runway, so it would be another half hour. I just went to sleep, because I already knew I was going to miss my connecting flight again.
At 11 pm I finally made it to Atlanta, where I was told that reservations had been made for the next morning for me...what???? Then the lady said there was one more flight and I could put my name on the standby list, but I would be number 12. I was not feeling very positive, so I went over to the Accomodations section to let them know I was probably going to need a room. You know what they said? "Sure, here's a 25% off coupon and a tee-shirt." I argued saying, "Look, this is your fault, not mine..why should I have to pay?" The answer was, "It was air traffic that made you late so we take no responsibility." Geez, flying really sucks these days.
About a half hour after the plane should have taken off, they started calling for standby's and believe it or not, I was the last to be called. To be fair to the airlines, I do need to say, that shockingly enough, my luggage actually made it with me.
So on the way there, I get to the airport, through security and into the terminal. Things looked pretty good. Got on the plane and we took off right on time. Ah yes, this is what I'm talking about!
We get to Atlanta where I have to get a connection. This is where the fun begins. After a very hard landing, we are heading for the terminal and the plane stops. Okay, maybe he was waiting on traffic. We sit for an hour then the Captain comes on the intercom and announces that there is no place for us to park so we have to wait. One hour goes by, then two and babies are crying, plus its hot as hell. The captain comes over the intercom apologizing and says he just saw a plane turn on some lights where we are going to park so he should be leaving soon.
Define soon.
An hour later, the plane starts moving. Yea! Once in the terminal there is no point in running for the connection because it left two hours prior. The agent at the counter says go to another terminal and maybe you can get on standby. Fortunately, that did happen and finally made it to DC, but of course I missed my shuttle, so the conference center had to send someone out to get me.
I had four nice days at the conference center and then it was back to the airport. While I'm waiting in my terminal, I notice that there are an awful lot of people there considering how early I was. Then all hell broke loose at the counter, because a lady with three kids in tow had had enough. As it turns out, her flight, two hours prior was cancelled because they did not have a full plane. So there were about 80 people sitting there hoping to get on the next plane which also was not sold out. When it was time to load, the lady at the counter started calling for standby people who happened simply to get their name on the list randomly while the people, who's flight had been cancelled got no priority whatsoever. I don't blame the lady for being mad, but once she raised her voice about twenty of the others did too. I thought for sure there was going to end up being news crews there.
Anyway, I got on and it took about an extra hour before they closed the door. So we are late leaving again. Once the plane backed away from the terminal, it stopped. Seemed we had a minor maintenance problem. One hour later we are moving again. Then we stop. We are told that they diverted us to a different runway, so it would be another half hour. I just went to sleep, because I already knew I was going to miss my connecting flight again.
At 11 pm I finally made it to Atlanta, where I was told that reservations had been made for the next morning for me...what???? Then the lady said there was one more flight and I could put my name on the standby list, but I would be number 12. I was not feeling very positive, so I went over to the Accomodations section to let them know I was probably going to need a room. You know what they said? "Sure, here's a 25% off coupon and a tee-shirt." I argued saying, "Look, this is your fault, not mine..why should I have to pay?" The answer was, "It was air traffic that made you late so we take no responsibility." Geez, flying really sucks these days.
About a half hour after the plane should have taken off, they started calling for standby's and believe it or not, I was the last to be called. To be fair to the airlines, I do need to say, that shockingly enough, my luggage actually made it with me.
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