I am not very good at flying. And I’m ok with that. I’ve accepted that God just didn’t give me good flying genes.
I’ve learned this this summer, as I’ve been feverishly flying from point A to points B,C,D, and E ever since May. The first time I realized I may not be a good flyer, I cut it a little too close on a flight to D.C. and Dick Cheney felt compelled to punish me by quarantining the airport and causing me to miss my flight.
Flight disaster #2 was this past Friday. Allow me to expound. My flight from Newark was at 7:05pm, and since travel time in the City can be a little unpredictable, I had come to work early and arranged with my boss to be able to leave at 4pm. So, I began my day at about 7:30am with a 40 lb suitcase in tow. I took the (*&^#$ suitcase all the way to work on the Subway, soliciting several dirty looks and pulling what I will now refer to as my “suitcase muscle” in the process. I arrived at work bright and early, and quite grumpy. Oh, and of course it was raining.
As the day wore on, the weather became progressively worse, the rain and wind increasing by the hour. By the time 3:30 rolled around, I realized I should check to see if my flight was delayed. When I entered my flight number, I realized that my fligth was actually originating in Montreal, Canada and making a stop in Newark before continuing on to Nashville. The Montreal to Newark leg was delayed by two hours when I checked, but the Newark to Nashville leg still purported to be “On Time.” Balderdash.
Naturally, I was curious to know if my flight, too would be similarly delayed. I have spent my fair share of time sitting in airports waiting for delayed flights and would prefer NOT to have to do so again. So I called Continental to check and see what the deal was. I asked the customer service representative if my flight (the Newark to Nashville leg) would be delayed until the arrival of the first leg. The foreigner on the other end sounded confused by my question at first but eventually managed, “Yes, yes, your flight will be delayed the 2 hours as well.” Ok, that’s helpful, but why did it still say “On Time.” Mysterious.
So anyway, I called Taylor and made the decision to amend our plans because my flight was obviously not taking off until at least 9pm, so why arrive at the airport by 5:30? We decided to meet back up by my apartment (rather than down at 34th St. because it is best to avoid driving down to midtown if you can help it). So I drug the $%^&%*# suitcase BACK uptown to my apartment, thus rendering my entire dragging pointless.
Taylor picked me up and we decided to head back to his house and monitor the flight situation, as obviously I did not need to go to the airport yet. We went back to Taylor’s house, getting there a little before 6pm. Meanwhile, I monitored the situation with my flight by calling Continental’s automated flight status line. The departure time for my fligth finaly started creeping back at around 6:30. At 6:30 it said that the first leg would arrive at 10:00pm (even more delayed), and that my fligth was scheduled to depart at 7:20pm, a full three hour discrepancy, so I decided to call Continental again and verify that the fligth would not leave before the frist leg arrived. Again, the representative let me know that the second leg would be similarly delayed. I was confused as to WHY they didn’t just put that up there. Taylor said he thought it was because they wanted people there just in case they were able to get out earlier, but really it was unlikely.
But obviously I had to decide. I could head to the airport in case the flight left earlier and likely end up sitting there until 10:30 or I could stay at Taylor’s until at least the first leg had departed and then went to the airport later.
Taylor’s mom had made turkey burgers so we decided to eat something and then check the flight again and leave if necessary. Well, by 7:30pm, the flight was scheduled to take off at 8:05pm (still creeping back) even though the first leg hadn’t even left Montreal. Nonetheless, I was getting paranoid so we decided to leave. Waiting for a couple hours at the airport wouldn’t be the end of the world.
So we left and got to the airport at about 8:15pm. At that time, my flight status said that it was taking off at 8:05pm, but I knew that wasn’t true. I asked Taylor to stay at the airport while I went and checked my bag and asked about the flight. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and finally got up to the counter. I told them I was on the 7:05 flight to Nashville, but that I didn’t think it was taking off for a while, even though the status was all screwy. The lady took my bag, tagged it, checked my ID, and told me that it would be leaving at 10:18. This made perfect sense because last I knew, the first leg was getting in at 10:00pm, so with turnaround time, that seemed about right.
I called Taylor and told him he could go on ahead and began to mosey my way toward gate 99 (I had like 2 hours to kill). I talked on the phone, bought a magazine, went to the bathroom, and ended up getting to the gate at about 8:55pm. I was on the phone with my mom at the time, and I looked at the gate screen thing to see that Flight 2744 to Nashville was scheduled to depart at 8:35pm (20 mintues ago). Suuuure. The gate area was still packed with people, so clearly the flight hadn’t boarded. So I finished talking to my mom, read my magazine, and otherwise killed time until about 9:30. At that point, I looked back at the gate, only to see that Nashville had disappeared and the gate screen now read, “Continental passengers, have a safe fligth”….not good. I got up and walked to the nearest “Departures” screen. No flights to Nashville were listed. I called the automated Continental Line (from the airport, I know, I know) and they told me that the flight hat left at 9:05pm….#$%^^*#@$&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How on earth could the flight have left, that’s impossible. I scurried back to the gate and asked a couple of people where they were going, and they were all headed to Austin, TX. I mentioned Nashville and a lady told me that the Nashville flight left. WAIT A SECOND! How could the flight to Nashville have left at 9:05pm? I was sitting in the gate area at that time and CLEARLY would have heard the announcement?! Not to mention, the lady at the coutner told me it was leaving at 10:18pm. No good.
Well, it turns out that it had left. To this minute I have absolutely no idea how I was sitting at the gate and somehow missed my flight. All I have been able to figure is that the lady at the ticket counter was completely wrong and that my flight had actually already boarded by the time I got to the gate. They must have just been waiting for the last few people to trickle in before leaving, and therefore made no announcements of any kind. I, meanwhile, sat there oblivious as my flight taxied and took off right under my nose!!
Needless to say I freaked out a bit upon hearing this news. I called Taylor in tears and asked him to come back to the airport to get me (what a sweetheart). Then, I went back to the ticketing area to some lines that I’d seen marked “Flight Re-Accomodation.” Luckily, I got a really nice lady who was able to get my on the first flight out the following morning, at 9:50am. In addition, Taylor’s mom offered to take me back to the airport Saturday morning (Taylor couldn’t, he had class). The woman told me that my bag would be in Nashville when I got there, so I went back to Taylor’s with just my carryon.
The next morning, I got to the airport at 8:30 and went to the baggage office only to find out that my bag had missed the flight too! So, it looks like it might not have been possible for me to make the flight in the first place, which is reassuring.
Anyway, the rest of the story is that the fligth actually got into Nashville early and I was able to make it to the football game and otherwise enjoy my trip very much. I will post photos and stories later this week. For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed my tale!
