In which Sheryll attempted to fly to San Antonio and back
Yeah, so it was a month ago. It's taken this long to get over the trauma. No, just kidding. I've ridden Greyhound for days, a few hours in airports is a piece of cake by comparison. Oh, and airports have way better food than bus stations! :)
Okay, let's time travel back to March 16. Packed and ready to go, I get online an hour before leaving the house. Get onto the airport website to check my flight. Says it's running on time. Great, I head to the airport. Pay the cab driver is $30+ and walk into the airport. Check the departures board. My flight is running on time. Perfect. Walk over to Continental to get my boarding pass. Swipe my passport at the kiosk. Nothing happens. Tells me I must see the ticket agent, so I do. And she says to me, "I'm sorry, your flight's been cancelled.".
WTF? I just checked the departures board, road up on an escalator and between then and now my flight is a no-go? Not quite. Apparently they had thus far failed to inform the airport of the cancellation, hence the incorrect info on both the website and departure board. Okay, this can be worked out. What are my alternatives? Well, I have two choices. I can go home, come back tomorrow for a new flight and arrive in San Antonio around supper time. And pay another $30+ for cab fare. Or I can fly to Houston. That's as close as they can get me. For those Canadians who need a reference, it's like saying the closest we can get to Ottawa would be Toronto. With no idea what to do, I call Amanda, the voice of wisdom. After a couple calls she tells me to book the Houston flight. Someone will pick me up. I do this, with reassurances from the ticketing agent that my return flight is as I booked it.
Skip ahead a week and I'm arriving at the San Antonio airport. Amanda and I have skipped lunch due to lack of time. The departures board says the flight (via Newark, departing at 2:30, iirc) is delayed. Delayed? I can handle that. We go to get my boarding pass and I ask how delayed the flight is. Doesn't matter, I'm told, you're not on that flight?
WTF? I've not been informed of any changes to my itinerary! Despite the claims in Ottawa, they have changed my return trip. I am not going via Newark but through D.C. Okay, when does that flight leave? About 2 hours after my scheduled one. Two hours, I can handle that. Though I mention my concern about there only being 60 minutes to change planes (and terminals) in D.C., though she says that's plenty. Amanda and I have lunch and I send her bakc to the office. I meander the airport a bit, pop outside for a smoke or two and finally head through security. As departure time approaches, I hear that there is a small delay (20 minutes) while they add extra fuel because there is potential bad weather in the D.C. area. Fine, that still leaves me 40 minutes to change planes.
In the air, everything is fine until we near D.C., which is when the bad weather hits. We are told by the pilot that we will be circling the airport for an undetermined length of time. They have closed the other D.C. airport and we circle while their planes land. We circle for 30 minutes. Now, we'd made up a bit of time, so I've still got 15 minutes to make the flight. Except they don't let us off the plane right away and make us wait for 10 minutes.
Don't worry, everyone says, ALL the flights are delayed. After a short train ride between terminals and much rushing, I arrive at my gate - 14 minutes late. And, lo and behold, all flights are delayed. EXCEPT AIR CANADA, which has very nicely left on time! Customer service, after much waiting in line, tells me I can fly home the next morning at 9, but from the other airport.
I'll leave my overnight adventures for another story. :)
Okay, let's time travel back to March 16. Packed and ready to go, I get online an hour before leaving the house. Get onto the airport website to check my flight. Says it's running on time. Great, I head to the airport. Pay the cab driver is $30+ and walk into the airport. Check the departures board. My flight is running on time. Perfect. Walk over to Continental to get my boarding pass. Swipe my passport at the kiosk. Nothing happens. Tells me I must see the ticket agent, so I do. And she says to me, "I'm sorry, your flight's been cancelled.".
WTF? I just checked the departures board, road up on an escalator and between then and now my flight is a no-go? Not quite. Apparently they had thus far failed to inform the airport of the cancellation, hence the incorrect info on both the website and departure board. Okay, this can be worked out. What are my alternatives? Well, I have two choices. I can go home, come back tomorrow for a new flight and arrive in San Antonio around supper time. And pay another $30+ for cab fare. Or I can fly to Houston. That's as close as they can get me. For those Canadians who need a reference, it's like saying the closest we can get to Ottawa would be Toronto. With no idea what to do, I call Amanda, the voice of wisdom. After a couple calls she tells me to book the Houston flight. Someone will pick me up. I do this, with reassurances from the ticketing agent that my return flight is as I booked it.
Skip ahead a week and I'm arriving at the San Antonio airport. Amanda and I have skipped lunch due to lack of time. The departures board says the flight (via Newark, departing at 2:30, iirc) is delayed. Delayed? I can handle that. We go to get my boarding pass and I ask how delayed the flight is. Doesn't matter, I'm told, you're not on that flight?
WTF? I've not been informed of any changes to my itinerary! Despite the claims in Ottawa, they have changed my return trip. I am not going via Newark but through D.C. Okay, when does that flight leave? About 2 hours after my scheduled one. Two hours, I can handle that. Though I mention my concern about there only being 60 minutes to change planes (and terminals) in D.C., though she says that's plenty. Amanda and I have lunch and I send her bakc to the office. I meander the airport a bit, pop outside for a smoke or two and finally head through security. As departure time approaches, I hear that there is a small delay (20 minutes) while they add extra fuel because there is potential bad weather in the D.C. area. Fine, that still leaves me 40 minutes to change planes.
In the air, everything is fine until we near D.C., which is when the bad weather hits. We are told by the pilot that we will be circling the airport for an undetermined length of time. They have closed the other D.C. airport and we circle while their planes land. We circle for 30 minutes. Now, we'd made up a bit of time, so I've still got 15 minutes to make the flight. Except they don't let us off the plane right away and make us wait for 10 minutes.
Don't worry, everyone says, ALL the flights are delayed. After a short train ride between terminals and much rushing, I arrive at my gate - 14 minutes late. And, lo and behold, all flights are delayed. EXCEPT AIR CANADA, which has very nicely left on time! Customer service, after much waiting in line, tells me I can fly home the next morning at 9, but from the other airport.
I'll leave my overnight adventures for another story. :)