Travel Nightmare

Can I just say this: it's always an adventure when I fly!

As you may have read in my previous post, getting to LEX was a little trying. I had missed my connection and had to take a later flight b/c the airplane had some issues. So on Sunday when I leave the resort (thanks to the maid of honor and her fiancé for taking me to the airport) I get there early in hopes of getting on the earlier flight to CLT. I go to print my boarding pass and ask the gal working the ticket counters for a few different airlines if I could get on the earlier flight. She said it would cost me $50 to do so. I’m like never mind, I just ran into issues getting here on Friday making me miss my connection and don’t want to have that happen today. She said that my scheduled flight was on-time. So, I go through security (easy-peasy) and get to the gate where they are boarding for the earlier flight. Now, I said I’m not on that flight, but the next one out and I really really really wish I had asked the gate agent if I could get on that flight since it was not full. However, I didn’t and thus the story begins.

Got to watch the sunset at least

My flight was supposed to depart LEX at 5:54pm, getting me into CLT with 45 minute to make my connection to BOS. Well, the plane we were taking came in late and we actually did a great job getting on and pushing back, making us only 5 minutes behind. However, the captain comes on and says “good news, bad news. Good news is we turned around and pushed back quickly, only 5 minutes behind schedule. Bad news, we’ve been put on a ground hold for 50 minutes”. Grumble, grumble and I’m thinking “You got to be effing kidding me!” So we sit there and end up calling US Air b/c I know I’m going to miss my connecting flight. I get booked on the last flight to leave for Boston, the last seat I am told for that flight.

[50 minutes later]

Lexington as we finally depart

Captain comes on and says they have put us under an hour ground hold. “They” meaning air traffic control due to weather in the CLT area. So we get back to the gate and they let us off to grab food and drinks and stretch our legs. Only problem, it’s 7:30 in a very small regional-like airport where their one restaurant is closed. I hadn’t eaten since 1:30 and know I won’t be able to grab something in CLT before getting into Boston. I munch my bag of Tostitos I had from my wedding gift basket. I check the monitors and we are delayed even longer, now we aren’t expected to leave LEX until 8:40pm. So, one of the guys I met at the wedding offers to pick me up some food and bring it to me at the airport! Got to love Southern Hospitality! No one would ever do that for me in Boston!! I make friends with TSA b/c they are supposed to close at 8:15, but since the delays, they are staying up a little longer, so I wait and chat with them. I receive my Bob Evans banana nut bread and salad which I ate on the flight in CLT.

Lightning storm as we approach CLT

Since we didn’t push back until almost 9pm, my connecting flight in CLT was scheduled to leave for BOS at 10:11pm. The flight to CLT was not as smooth as going into LEX on Friday, and I watched an amazing lightning storm as we flew into the CLT area. I’m looking at my watch and I’m like “Eff! I’m going to miss my connecting flight. There’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to deplane, wait for them to unload our suitcases (we couldn’t bring them on board since they don’t fit b/c it’s the small plane), and RUN through 3 terminals and get my boarding pass." I ask the gate agent if they are still boarding my plane and she said yes, in the middle of boarding. So of course, my suitcase is one of the last ones to get brought up, I book it running in flip flops through 3 terminals, on the moving walkway, up the escalators, nearly running and knocking over people as a bunch of us run to our connecting gates. I was out of breath, make it to the gate and the door is still open. I go to the gate agent and get my ticket and rush down the jet bridge. Of course, my seat is all the way in the back, second row from the back of an Airbus A321 which has 169 seats on it. That seemed like the longest walk ever! And, we don’t push back on time, nope!! The pilot announces that they are holding the flight for the delayed passengers whose flights just landed. Of course I was livid b/c I was sweating; out of breath from running through 3 terminals to make sure I didn’t miss my flight. It would have been nice if OUR PILOT told us or even the GATE AGENT WHO MET US told us that they were holding flights! GRR.

So, needless to say, it all worked out in the end.  I got into Boston at 1am and took a cab home since the T stops running at 12:50am.  I took the morning off from work to sleep and am back to my crazy life here in Boston.