Saturday travel travails

We woke to the news that the east coast of the US, where the plane for our flight would originate from, was socked in with snow and that our flight would be delayed about an hour and a half, to 4:15. It quickly became apparent that the flight wasn’t going to be delayed just that short while when it never showed on the board, even by 4:00. The departure time changed to 5:30 (from a 1:30 original time) and that meant we would not make our connecting flight to Seattle.

We arrived in Chicago and made our way to the United counter to discover that the Seattle flight was indeed still delayed and was going to be leaving in just 30 minutes! Unfortunately, Maggie had their boarding passes canceled and new boarding passes issued for a Sunday morning flight. Our boarding passes were still good for the Saturday flight, but since we were traveling with Maggie and Tim, we tried to get on their flight. No go – the only flight available was 3:30 in the afternoon Sunday. So we decided to try to make the original Seattle flight we were scheduled for, so they hustled us through security and out to the gate.

As I’m sure you might guess, that Seattle bound flight was delayed the minute we arrived, and I’m writing this from the floor of a packed lobby of some very disgruntled travellers. They tell us the flight will leave at approximately midnight, so we’re hopeful we will get out.

The Chicago airport does not have free wifi, instead relying on Boingo Hotspots. They want the right to charge my credit card each month, and I’m not willing to let them do that. So this post, if it makes it online, will come from a Seattle location, when or maybe IF we arrive!

Ah the joys of winter travel. It turns out that the problem with our original flight from St. Martin to Chicago was not really due to the snow, but a mechanical problem with the plane. The part needed was something to do with the gears that didn’t pass inspection. The part was delayed due to the weather!

I tell you, people get so upset about these things. But you just have to roll with the punches. It’s not like United made all the snow! The customer service people are doing their best to re-route people, and yelling at them, or getting petulant doesn’t do a darn thing for anybody. They can’t open the airports that aren’t capable of taking passengers.

UPDATE: 3:45 AM – We made it to Seattle. No luggage. I have no coat – it was in my checked luggage. Hopefully it will arrive on the flight that Maggie and Tim are coming in on. Free Wifi in SeaTac Airport — we’re in our hotel room, it’s 4:30 am… Maggie and Tim arrive in about 7 hours, so we’re going to crash for a while.

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