Airport Vortex
Mar. 3rd, 2007 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pen_gruntI've been very lucky in my travels so far. Knock on wood, but I have never:
--Missed a flight that wasn't a connecting flight (and that only happened once--and it was the airline's fault, so they patched it right up, no worries)
--Been stuck on an airplane for 11 hours (Jet Blue!)
--Lost my luggage for more than a few hours.
--Been probed excessively
--Had my carry on searched or had any security issues.
But now I can say that I have arrived at the airport without a ticket.
3 hours before my flight (I got there super-early because Derrick had to go to work), I go to check in...and oops, my boss didn't actually purchase my ticket. Minor technicality--except for the fact that everyones' flights had been canceled the day before on account of the snow (snow! It's tres' pretty!) and EVERYONE and their brother was at the ticket purchasing counter trying to get different tickets. I sat in line for a half an hour, my boss told me that he was going to buy tickets over the phone and to get out of line. Then he was on hold for a half an hour before I decide to get back in line (because the phone thing was NOT working). I'm in line for another half hour (and my stress meter is rising). The ticket purchasing counter had three NWA employees....one was occupied with a woman crying and trying to get someone back from somewhere (she was at the counter for a good 45 minutes--no exaggeration), one was moving normally, and one just decided to give up and go away. The people behind me are calling the NWA service line and complaining about the service in line (which I'm sure significantly contributed to the delay in ordering tickets over the phone).
I finally am the next in line when my boss calls me and says that he HAD my reservation taken care of, but his phone hung up before he could make the payment. I go up to the ticket counter and my reservation has magically appeared.
Instead of being a $300 round-trip ticket, the flight ended up costing (the company) a little under $1,200. Maybe next time I'll handle my own travel arrangements.
--Missed a flight that wasn't a connecting flight (and that only happened once--and it was the airline's fault, so they patched it right up, no worries)
--Been stuck on an airplane for 11 hours (Jet Blue!)
--Lost my luggage for more than a few hours.
--Been probed excessively
--Had my carry on searched or had any security issues.
But now I can say that I have arrived at the airport without a ticket.
3 hours before my flight (I got there super-early because Derrick had to go to work), I go to check in...and oops, my boss didn't actually purchase my ticket. Minor technicality--except for the fact that everyones' flights had been canceled the day before on account of the snow (snow! It's tres' pretty!) and EVERYONE and their brother was at the ticket purchasing counter trying to get different tickets. I sat in line for a half an hour, my boss told me that he was going to buy tickets over the phone and to get out of line. Then he was on hold for a half an hour before I decide to get back in line (because the phone thing was NOT working). I'm in line for another half hour (and my stress meter is rising). The ticket purchasing counter had three NWA employees....one was occupied with a woman crying and trying to get someone back from somewhere (she was at the counter for a good 45 minutes--no exaggeration), one was moving normally, and one just decided to give up and go away. The people behind me are calling the NWA service line and complaining about the service in line (which I'm sure significantly contributed to the delay in ordering tickets over the phone).
I finally am the next in line when my boss calls me and says that he HAD my reservation taken care of, but his phone hung up before he could make the payment. I go up to the ticket counter and my reservation has magically appeared.
Instead of being a $300 round-trip ticket, the flight ended up costing (the company) a little under $1,200. Maybe next time I'll handle my own travel arrangements.
