The best-laid plans.......
I'm sitting in Philadelphia airport waiting for a flight to Raleigh, which should start boarding soon. I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't planning to fly home at all. I was going to rent a car and drive home for the holidays. But I've never rented a car before, and didn't realize that I'd be unable to rent a car without a major credit card. I thought my debit card would be sufficient to pay for the car rental. Nope, gotta have a credit card or proof of a return flight. So on the Friday afternoon before Christmas, I find myself standing in Newark airport with no plan to get home.
So I did what I always do in situations like that.....called my best friend K, who's usually near a computer, and asked her to research alternatives. After exploring several transportation options, she booked me on a one-way flight from LaGuardia to Raleigh/Durham, with a connection in Philedelphia and arriving in Raleigh just after midnight. It wasn't the ideal solution by any means. In fact, I'd probably looked at that same flight when considering air travel a few weeks ago and dismissed it, based on the late arrival time and a stubborn refusal to consider a connecting flight for a distance as short as NY or NJ to Raleigh. I mean, it's only an hour and a half flight......do we really need a connection for a flight that short? But it's amazing how flights that I refused to consider a month ago, suddenly seem much more attractive when I'm faced with being stranded in an airport. At that point I was like, "Get me out of here. I don't care if it's plane, train, bus, or Floo Network, just find me a way to NC."
So I took a shuttle from Newark to LaGuardia, then proceeded to wait for almost three hours while my flight was delayed. Finally got on the plane, and flew to Philly just in time to barely miss my connection. Bleh. Got re-booked onto a flight for the next morning, went to a hotel to toss and turn for a few hours, then got back on a shuttle to go back to Philly airport and deal with horrendous security lines. I arrived back at the airport 2.5 hours before my 9:30 flight, hoping to get ahead of the worst of the crowds, but apparently that's not how my luck is running on this trip. Got through eventually, and now I'm sitting at the gate, looking at the clock and wondering when they'll start boarding for my flight which is supposedly leaving ten minutes from now.
The only 'luggage' I had with me when I missed my flight last night was my computer bag, so I'm still wearing the same clothes I put on yesterday morning. I'll be much happier once I land in Raleigh and get to K's house, where I will finally be able to shower and brush my teeth. Right now I just feel blah. Not the way I planned to start my holidays, but hopefully it'll look up from here.
Edited to add: I eventually got to Raleigh/Durham airport, my best friend picked me up from there and drove me to a rendezvous with my parents who drove me the rest of the way home, arriving in the early evening on Saturday. But there was one last cherry on top of the screw-up sundae that was this trip. I got off the plane in Raleigh and was waiting at the baggage claim when I got a phone call. Someone else who arrived on an earlier flight had picked up my suitcase by mistake, and got home before they realized it. They brought it back and all was fine, but it really did seem like the perfect capper to the kind of trip I'd had.
So I did what I always do in situations like that.....called my best friend K, who's usually near a computer, and asked her to research alternatives. After exploring several transportation options, she booked me on a one-way flight from LaGuardia to Raleigh/Durham, with a connection in Philedelphia and arriving in Raleigh just after midnight. It wasn't the ideal solution by any means. In fact, I'd probably looked at that same flight when considering air travel a few weeks ago and dismissed it, based on the late arrival time and a stubborn refusal to consider a connecting flight for a distance as short as NY or NJ to Raleigh. I mean, it's only an hour and a half flight......do we really need a connection for a flight that short? But it's amazing how flights that I refused to consider a month ago, suddenly seem much more attractive when I'm faced with being stranded in an airport. At that point I was like, "Get me out of here. I don't care if it's plane, train, bus, or Floo Network, just find me a way to NC."
So I took a shuttle from Newark to LaGuardia, then proceeded to wait for almost three hours while my flight was delayed. Finally got on the plane, and flew to Philly just in time to barely miss my connection. Bleh. Got re-booked onto a flight for the next morning, went to a hotel to toss and turn for a few hours, then got back on a shuttle to go back to Philly airport and deal with horrendous security lines. I arrived back at the airport 2.5 hours before my 9:30 flight, hoping to get ahead of the worst of the crowds, but apparently that's not how my luck is running on this trip. Got through eventually, and now I'm sitting at the gate, looking at the clock and wondering when they'll start boarding for my flight which is supposedly leaving ten minutes from now.
The only 'luggage' I had with me when I missed my flight last night was my computer bag, so I'm still wearing the same clothes I put on yesterday morning. I'll be much happier once I land in Raleigh and get to K's house, where I will finally be able to shower and brush my teeth. Right now I just feel blah. Not the way I planned to start my holidays, but hopefully it'll look up from here.
Edited to add: I eventually got to Raleigh/Durham airport, my best friend picked me up from there and drove me to a rendezvous with my parents who drove me the rest of the way home, arriving in the early evening on Saturday. But there was one last cherry on top of the screw-up sundae that was this trip. I got off the plane in Raleigh and was waiting at the baggage claim when I got a phone call. Someone else who arrived on an earlier flight had picked up my suitcase by mistake, and got home before they realized it. They brought it back and all was fine, but it really did seem like the perfect capper to the kind of trip I'd had.