Viva Las Vegas!!!
I made it! I am sitting in my father's office right now, looking out the window at a perfectly blue sky. Yummy. My trip began at about 6pm on Monday when I caught a flight out of IND. The long-term parking was full. ALL of it. Economy, Tiger, and Business Premier. Ugh. I was freaking out, since boarding time was in 45 minutes, and I had no idea what to do. Luckily I don't check luggage and I had checked in at home, so all I had to do was park and make it through security. I was hoping that the full lots were a sign that the drivers of those vehicles were already happily on their vacations in Florida, California, Mexico, or anywhere else I was not going... So, I created a spot in Business Premier. I was shaking from the nerves that were reminding me I could get towed. I asked the nice shuttle driver about it, and he said they never tow. (Realistically, a tow truck wouldn't fit in the darn lot as full as it was!!!) Luckily the airport was nearly empty and I walked right through security and to my gate.
Now, I have just about had it with AA in IND. They have a couple of gates, but not many, and once you get passed security they don't have monitors showing gate information. Instead they put plastic letters up behind each counter at each gate, spelling out the destination and flight number. Oftentimes they are a bit slow on this, or simply uninformative. When my flight was canceled in January I had no way of knowing. The gates are generally so full of people waiting to harass a gate agent that it would take 30 minutes just to confirm that gate B1, my scheduled gate from Mon., which read, "Chicago- delayed 6:40," was really going to go to St. Louis at 5:55 as it was supposed to. Grrr. I wandered around for a while waiting for the gate agents to make an announcement, but to my chagrin, no such announcement was made. I finally asked another traveler and confirmed that I was in the right spot.
A little while later I settled into my cushy exit row for the 45 minute jaunt down to STL. Once we landed, I had nearly 2 hours to waste before my flight to LAS, so I found the Chili's and settled in for some homework. I exchanged some friendly chit chat with the two men sitting next to me (they were my father's age) and turned to my hamburger. When it was time for the check to come, the waitress, who was not the most expeditious, informed me that the couple who had been seated at a now-vacant booth close by had picked up my dinner... I was a bit surprised, since I hadn't even noticed anyone around me other than the two men, who were seated on the other side of me. I thanked her, got some change and left a tip. Hmmm. That was nice.
I settled down in the gate area to do some more work, and found myself next to a nice family comprised of 3 female generations. The mother informed me that neither her mother nor daughter had flown before, so they were a bit anxious. We made some small talk about flying and our respective vacation plans until I got paged. Hmmm. I had my boarding pass already, so I grabbed it and headed over to the gate agents. They informed me I had been upgraded. Woohoo! Cushy seat in F! Another free dinner! Hot towel for my hands! Free booze! Toasted nuts! First to exit! Life couldn't get any better. Boy am I glad the flight was full; it pays to be Gold (soon to be Platinum)! Anyhow, a couple of glasses of wine later we touched down. I scurried up front for a much needed restroom break, since I was too much of a baby to bug Nice Gentleman next to me. When I returned to my seat, I found F was already empty and Nice Gentleman had taken down my roll-aboard from the overhead! *le sigh* Some days everything goes right...
I informed Dad and Charlotte that with my luck it was probably a good night to gamble, but we headed home for some overdue sleep.
I'll be here through Monday, and M is coming Thurs-Mon, so watch for an update next week!!!
Now, I have just about had it with AA in IND. They have a couple of gates, but not many, and once you get passed security they don't have monitors showing gate information. Instead they put plastic letters up behind each counter at each gate, spelling out the destination and flight number. Oftentimes they are a bit slow on this, or simply uninformative. When my flight was canceled in January I had no way of knowing. The gates are generally so full of people waiting to harass a gate agent that it would take 30 minutes just to confirm that gate B1, my scheduled gate from Mon., which read, "Chicago- delayed 6:40," was really going to go to St. Louis at 5:55 as it was supposed to. Grrr. I wandered around for a while waiting for the gate agents to make an announcement, but to my chagrin, no such announcement was made. I finally asked another traveler and confirmed that I was in the right spot.
A little while later I settled into my cushy exit row for the 45 minute jaunt down to STL. Once we landed, I had nearly 2 hours to waste before my flight to LAS, so I found the Chili's and settled in for some homework. I exchanged some friendly chit chat with the two men sitting next to me (they were my father's age) and turned to my hamburger. When it was time for the check to come, the waitress, who was not the most expeditious, informed me that the couple who had been seated at a now-vacant booth close by had picked up my dinner... I was a bit surprised, since I hadn't even noticed anyone around me other than the two men, who were seated on the other side of me. I thanked her, got some change and left a tip. Hmmm. That was nice.
I settled down in the gate area to do some more work, and found myself next to a nice family comprised of 3 female generations. The mother informed me that neither her mother nor daughter had flown before, so they were a bit anxious. We made some small talk about flying and our respective vacation plans until I got paged. Hmmm. I had my boarding pass already, so I grabbed it and headed over to the gate agents. They informed me I had been upgraded. Woohoo! Cushy seat in F! Another free dinner! Hot towel for my hands! Free booze! Toasted nuts! First to exit! Life couldn't get any better. Boy am I glad the flight was full; it pays to be Gold (soon to be Platinum)! Anyhow, a couple of glasses of wine later we touched down. I scurried up front for a much needed restroom break, since I was too much of a baby to bug Nice Gentleman next to me. When I returned to my seat, I found F was already empty and Nice Gentleman had taken down my roll-aboard from the overhead! *le sigh* Some days everything goes right...
I informed Dad and Charlotte that with my luck it was probably a good night to gamble, but we headed home for some overdue sleep.
I'll be here through Monday, and M is coming Thurs-Mon, so watch for an update next week!!!