Back in August I went back to the for a work meeting in NY. It was last minute and only a week long, few days in Farmingdale, NY, then a few days back in the Bay area with my home office and family.
But air travel. Le sigh.
Bit of a travel conundrum- it could've been worse, but it could've been better too...
First, my luggage was lost going to NY. On a direct flight. Did it drop in the ocean?? About 30 other passengers also suffered from this ill fate, so not even speaking english. There was one China Eastern rep to explain the forms and process of getting our goods back. This wouldn't been been too bad- I can always go shopping for clothes... but I was carrying materials for my meetings in TWO days. If I didn't have those samples, I'm to sure what we would be meeting about! Fortunately, many phone calls later, my luggage arrived two days later, at 2am the day of my morning meeting. I hardly slept, b/c of jet lag and from being on the phone with the airlines- I couldn't get a guarantee out of them until about 11:30pm. I had ran out and bought dress clothes and shoes just in case too.
I had a relatively successful meeting, lunch at Panera bread (first time- I'd heard so much about it, and disappointed with their smoothies)
Flying from JFK to SFO, I took the metro, which stalled.... and I got there 30 minutes before departure. They wouldn't let me check in due to policy- had to be 45 minutes before, and was put on standby for the next flight in about 1.5 hrs. I argued- "I can make it!" I went thru security, to watch them give my seat away from my original flight. grrr.
Oh well, I thought, just 1.5 more hours. Little did I know (or realize) it was peak travel season, and all the flights were booked solid. I was bumped from that flight to the next at 7pm. And i wasn't the only one. 2 other ladies were also in the same boat as me, one missed a flight and other was an airline employee flying standby. We sighed, traded travel stories and walked together to the next gate. Two of us (another gal and I) were #1 and 2 on the stand by list. This seemed a hopeful outcome for us, with several behind us. Yet we were bumped form the 7pm flight too- and unfortunately it was the last JFK>SFO flight of the day. Camping out at the airport?
We got on the phone, computer and talked to the staff there, to figure out our best possible solution. We considered changing out tickets to San Jose, Oakland, or even LAX and driving up together. The staff about guaranteed we'd make the 7am flight since many people go party and miss their flight. We were relieved! The airline employee with us went to try her pass at other airlines, and I headed to nyc with my new aquiantance for the night- if I was gonna spend an extra night in NYC, I was gonna have some fun! Despite a thunderstorm, we both went to concerts- I hadn't eaten dinner and caught up with a buddy from uni. Ahhh.
We soon found ourselves at the crack of dawn at the airport biting our nails, and watching passengers file onto the plane. For the 4th time. They did the final call, and families with their littles ones and trailing teddy bears are running down the terminal to make the flight. We check periodically with the staff, "How many seats are left? How many was it overbooked? How many haven't checked in? Are there any priority fliers who might hop on this flight?' We learned the ins and out of the standby system. All three of us were bumped from the flight. Sad. losing hope. desparate.
One girl paid to change her ticket to the next flight. And the other purchased a ticket on Jet blue. I had a long discussion with the airline staff- and super sweet, patient girl who looked up all the stats and helped me with the machine and said I had an 80% of getting on.
in summary in this one trip I had:
2 pieces lost luggage
3 delayed flights
4 times on standby
5 tries to SF
BUT- on the bright side made a few new friends!
But air travel. Le sigh.
Bit of a travel conundrum- it could've been worse, but it could've been better too...
First, my luggage was lost going to NY. On a direct flight. Did it drop in the ocean?? About 30 other passengers also suffered from this ill fate, so not even speaking english. There was one China Eastern rep to explain the forms and process of getting our goods back. This wouldn't been been too bad- I can always go shopping for clothes... but I was carrying materials for my meetings in TWO days. If I didn't have those samples, I'm to sure what we would be meeting about! Fortunately, many phone calls later, my luggage arrived two days later, at 2am the day of my morning meeting. I hardly slept, b/c of jet lag and from being on the phone with the airlines- I couldn't get a guarantee out of them until about 11:30pm. I had ran out and bought dress clothes and shoes just in case too.
I had a relatively successful meeting, lunch at Panera bread (first time- I'd heard so much about it, and disappointed with their smoothies)
Flying from JFK to SFO, I took the metro, which stalled.... and I got there 30 minutes before departure. They wouldn't let me check in due to policy- had to be 45 minutes before, and was put on standby for the next flight in about 1.5 hrs. I argued- "I can make it!" I went thru security, to watch them give my seat away from my original flight. grrr.
Oh well, I thought, just 1.5 more hours. Little did I know (or realize) it was peak travel season, and all the flights were booked solid. I was bumped from that flight to the next at 7pm. And i wasn't the only one. 2 other ladies were also in the same boat as me, one missed a flight and other was an airline employee flying standby. We sighed, traded travel stories and walked together to the next gate. Two of us (another gal and I) were #1 and 2 on the stand by list. This seemed a hopeful outcome for us, with several behind us. Yet we were bumped form the 7pm flight too- and unfortunately it was the last JFK>SFO flight of the day. Camping out at the airport?
We got on the phone, computer and talked to the staff there, to figure out our best possible solution. We considered changing out tickets to San Jose, Oakland, or even LAX and driving up together. The staff about guaranteed we'd make the 7am flight since many people go party and miss their flight. We were relieved! The airline employee with us went to try her pass at other airlines, and I headed to nyc with my new aquiantance for the night- if I was gonna spend an extra night in NYC, I was gonna have some fun! Despite a thunderstorm, we both went to concerts- I hadn't eaten dinner and caught up with a buddy from uni. Ahhh.
We soon found ourselves at the crack of dawn at the airport biting our nails, and watching passengers file onto the plane. For the 4th time. They did the final call, and families with their littles ones and trailing teddy bears are running down the terminal to make the flight. We check periodically with the staff, "How many seats are left? How many was it overbooked? How many haven't checked in? Are there any priority fliers who might hop on this flight?' We learned the ins and out of the standby system. All three of us were bumped from the flight. Sad. losing hope. desparate.
One girl paid to change her ticket to the next flight. And the other purchased a ticket on Jet blue. I had a long discussion with the airline staff- and super sweet, patient girl who looked up all the stats and helped me with the machine and said I had an 80% of getting on.
in summary in this one trip I had:
2 pieces lost luggage
3 delayed flights
4 times on standby
5 tries to SF
BUT- on the bright side made a few new friends!
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