So today, I arrived at the airport for my 4:50 flight at 2:50. Exactly 2 hours just like I like it. I'm one of those people who likes to be early for things. On the drive to the airport my flight tracker app dinged me to tell me that my flight on United would be leaving 1 hour and 25 minutes late. That meant I had 20 minutes to reach my connecting flight in Denver. Um, that probably wouldn't happen. All the reservations, including hotel were under my name. I'm not sure that my friends could have checked in without me, especially to get our special AmEx deal.
So as soon as the gate attendant opened our gate, I went to talk to her to figure out an alternative.
Well, she was very nice but not too sympathetic. She looked for alternative flights on United and American. United didn't have any, and she said that American wasn't releasing any seats to her, or their flights were completely booked. So, she moved me to the front of the plane, in hopes that I could dash out and off to my next flight. She said that if I didn't make it to the flight that United would 'overnight' me in Denver and fly me to Vegas the next day. Then she booked me on the 8:20am flight to Vegas, 'just in case'. She said, 'things happen for a reason' and 'look at it as an adventure!'
Huh. Don't know if I like that.
So, I sat down and considered my options and decided to try to ask American if there were any seats left on those flights to Denver or Vegas. I had to hop on a tram to get to American's terminal. 10 minutes later, the nice man at the Admiral's club said that United would have to initiate the purchase, and that it looked like there maintain be A seat on the 10pm flight. Hop on the tram back to United....
There was a new ticket agent at my gate, so I approached her :) She found me a seat on a direct flight going out at 8pm, arriving at 9pm, so of course, I took it.
Hop on the tram, back to American terminal.
By this time it was 5. I had been stressing about the situation for two hours, so when I got back to the admirals club, I just sat and closed my eyes for 20 minutes - which helped tremendously.
Then, I was ready for a beer and some food, since I still had almost a 3 hour wait still for my flight.
Well, then my 8 o clock flight was delayed for half an hour. I finally got off the ground at 8:45!
So, is this a lesson in patience?
Is it a lesson in persistence?
Or is it a lesson in purchasing airline tickets?.....only buy direct?
Maybe all three.....Prepare the best you can. Take each moment as it comes realizing that sometimes you have to roll with what life hands you. Getting upset at people usually gets you nowhere, except grumpier. If you don't get the answer you want at first, try approaching the question or situation from another angle.
In the end, I landed in Vegas and met my friends at the car rental place just as they got their car. The timing couldn't have been more perfect!
Posted with Blogsy
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