I have to confess: When I travel, I tend to post the
highlights.
Just so you all don't think my travels are all fun and
corporate rock-and-roll, Here are some travel adventures that bring it back to
reality:
2012: Rochester to White Plains (AA)
Arrived in RST at 9am Sunday
Delayed until 10:30. Fine. that's why I book not the 'next'
connecting flight in O'Hare...but the "next, next" flight. After all,
I'm on work time from the time I leave home so I'd rather make my connection.
Boarded...
...taxied out
...waited
"Umm, controllers re-routed us, and the new route
requires more fuel..."
...taxied back to get more fuel
...taxied out
...waited
...taxied back due to ground halt in Chicago
...de-planed. Waited 1.5 hours but I got to have a relaxed
lunch, so not all bad!
...boarded plane
...waited
"Umm, controllers gave us original route back but we
now have too much fuel. We can't suck it out, so we need to de-plane 9 people
and your luggage"
...9 deplaned
...heard O'Hare had another Ground Halt
"HEY, GET BACK IN!" - Pilot decided to burn the
fuel while we wait
...9 re-board...and we taxied out
...waited for Ground Halt to be lifted while burning 1500
pounds of fuel
...FLEW
Landed in Chicago...
...Ran to connecting gate...
...watched gate door shut "...I'm sorry, once the gate
door is shut, it can't be opened..." I hear as he smiles in his little
circle of absolute power.
...all other flights canceled
...slept at O'Hare Hilton. THANK YOU IBM ($119/night IBM
rate, $400/night normal rate)
...arrived next morning for 9:10 flight
...delayed until 10:30 because while the plane and crew were
ready, they had to wait in Milwaukee until their 8 hours of rest was complete
(I picture them all in uniform at the gate all watching the clock to tic past
the 8 hour mark)
...FLEW
ARRIVED at 3:00 Monday. 1.5 hours to spare...and ready to
ROCK!
2009: Rochester to White Plains (Delta)
Boarded in Rochester, taxied out
...sat on tarmac for 2 hours due to storms in Minneapolis
Flew to MSP
Missed our connection
Our meeting with a VP was still on at noon the next day...
...earliest flight arrived at 1pm
...couldn't get a hold of assistant to see if we could
re-book so stayed over night in MSP
In Morning: "Nope, VP cannot reschedule until next
week"
We drove home to RST wasting $920
Note: This was with my colleague that I traveled with often.
She and I laugh because if I tell people this story with certain phrasing,
people would wonder: "Ya, I flew to Minneapolis for a work meeting with a
female colleague, spent the night in a hotel, drove home the next day". Of
course, we learned from our mistakes and the next month when the executive had
an opening, we flew early the day before to LaGuardia...and spent the afternoon
in NYC. Rode a helicopter over the Hudson, and drove up to White Plains that
night. (but this post is about the realities of travel...ok back to the ugly)
2008: Poughkeepsie to Rochester (AA)
Arrived and boarded
...taxied out
...felt plane turn around ... like Indiana Jones in III
...mechanical problem
...de-planed
...plane leaves for machine shed to get fixed
While we're waiting at the gate, the adjacent gate arrives
with fresh plane! We all can fly to O'Hare in that!
...We start boarding
...we stop boarding
...mechanical failure light turns red
...that plane leaves for machine shed
Original plane arrives back at gate!
...gate agent announces boarding in 2 minutes
...gate agent starts talking fast...then loudly shouts,
"NO, WAIT FOR US!"
...plane...completely empty...leaves gate and flies to
O'Hare.
It turns out the pilot had 5 minutes until he was "not
eligible"...so had to leave gate so airplane could get to O'Hare for
morning run
...2nd plane returns to gate
...we all board and fly to O'Hare
...and I miss my connection back home to Rochester.
Since it's only 6:30, I decide to drive home
Go to car rental...only thing they have is a very fancy SUV!
Drive home in SWEET style listening to my podcasts
2006: Las Vegas to MSP (Delta)
Taxied out
...stopped
Crew announcement, "Umm, we're really sorry, but we
found a box-cutter on board. Don't worry...we know it was left by the cleaning
crew filling the cup bin...but TSA rules require us to taxi back to a quarantined
gate, de-plane, have you gather your luggage, and provide detailed body and
luggage inspections. It will take some time"
...3 hours later we taxi back out and fly to MSP
...I miss my connecting flight, but I just drive home.
2011: Singapore to Bangkok
AmEx travel is awesome...usually. They booked me and a
colleague on a cheap flight since we had to teach that day, then fly that
night...and teach then next morning.
We were 1/2 way through the 2nd day (4 hours to departure)
and our Singapore guide (who was also traveling with us to Bangkok) asked our
flight # to confirm same flight.
"OH, you should not have used that airline. It is a
very cheap airline...never flies on time...sometimes not the same day",
and "It is like a river boat...they leave when full".
Sweet. I call AmEx
and they book 2 tickets on Singapore Air. We arrive to airport a tad worried:
You see, according to the "Kingdom of Thailand", we are foreigners
with 2 booked tickets on two different airlines...the only country that
requires a visa to get in...and we each have 2 passports due to that same visa.
We had the profile matching of a secret agent.
(we got through fine, and arrived safe and sound...never
knew if/when the other flight arrived)
2011: LA to Sydney
Besides all the "Hey, did you see John Locke on
board?" questions, it started iffy. We boarded, taxied out.
...Stopped...for 1.5 hours.
...the little car that pushes the plane out bent some metal
on the landing wheel as it disconnected from us
...mechanics are out trying to fix without de-plane
...they fix!
...15 hour flight begins (did I say we had already sat for
nearly 2 hours?)
2011: Evil Water
I know we can't take water through security. I dutifully
empty or thow my water bottle and if I need a new one, purchase on the other
side. But in international flights, there is a secret second security to enter
the gate area that ALSO does not allow water! My first experience was Tokyo. I
was flying to Singapore and I bought a water bottle in Tokyo after
security...only to have to dump it before entering the gate security. So much
for "Mountainside fresh water" and welcome "Tokyo tap water from
in-gate fountain"
There ya go...just a few of my favorites that I pull out
when a bunch of us are comparing travel horror stories...
