Earlier this month my bride and I celebrated our 39th anniversary. The actual day fell on a weekend, but it was a weekend in which I was going to have to travel to a trade show in Charleston, SC. I thought it would be nice to make the trip a few days early and spend some valuable time for our anniversary and as a since departed friend of mine once said, "Treat her like a girlfriend instead of a wife." In the intervening years I have decided to take the more positive aspects of that statement instead of all the implications it might have. So I booked us some flights from DFW to Charleston (not that many) on Thursday and my bride would return Sunday while I stayed for the trade show. Pretty good plan, but on the shifting sands of air travel.
Thursday, midday a storm rolled through the Dallas/Ft Worth area, knocking down trees, knocking out power, dumping significant rain on all the streets between our house and the airport. But we powered through and made it in plenty of time to check our bags, get a little dinner, get ready for the anniversary trip. Check in went fine, flights were being delayed and some cancelled, but ours was fine. A nice meal at TGI Fridays in the airport, nothing special, but nice. Got to our gate. Flight showed on time. We were called to board and we settled in ready for the adventure to begin. And it began with the flight attendant telling us the flight had been cancelled. Well that's odd, everyone was boarded, the pilots were in their seats, we had passengers, there was no mechanical problems. Cancelled. Get off the plane.
Okay, this happens, but not usually when everyone has boarded. So they sent us to another gate to get "rebooked" the line was about a multitude long. Again, no problem. I have my handy-dandy iPhone where I can call Executive Platinum desk for immediate help. Except this time they said to leave my number and they would call me back when they reach my place in line. Okay, now the blood pressure is building a little. But 28 minutes later I get an email. Congratulations! We have rebooked you on a flight that leaves at 10PM to Hartford CT, with a 2 hour layover, then a flight to Charlotte NC landing at 6:30AM, then a 4 hour layover, and finally to Charleston SC at 11:30AM, THE NEXT DAY! This is exactly what I had in mind for a 39th Anniversary trip. Two minutes later Exec Platinum desk called and we started looking at options. I told her about the text and she pulled it up and said, "Did you book this?" I said (politely) that no one would book that. She agreed it was awful.
After several options we decided to fly into the Columbia SC the next morning and drive over from there. By the way, Hampton Inn in Mt Pleasant SC held our room and refunded my points. I asked the lady if we could still get a King-NS, she assured me she would (and did) take care of us.
So now we are trying to retrieve our bags. The baggage claim lady was getting overwhelmed. She tossed an 800 number at me which also had a 24 minute wait before they told me they could only help if my bags were late, not missing. I and my bride (constantly reminding me to stay calm) trudged back over the baggage lady who now was dealing with the line of multitudes previously at the rebooking desk. When I was close enough to hear her spiel, I heard the 800 number speech. I raised my hand and in a loud (but polite) voice said, "That 800 number wont help with this problem" I think she took a couple of years off my life with her stare. My statement seemed to make the crowd a tad restless.
When it was my turn, she "Now what is YOUR problem" a tad snarky. I took a deep breath and explained the entire situation.
She said, "The bags will be delivered to your final destination."
I said, "Which one? Charleston or Columbia?"
She said, "Oh"
Finally I got to her. She didn't know. Now she made efforts to fix our problem and while not much help, she made honest effort to help and not clear people problems off her desk.
The short story is we spent the night at the Embassy Suites close to the airport, caught a really early flight to Columbia, picked up our bags in Charleston (which had made the trip to Hartford, Charlotte, and ultimately to Charleston; they looked tired) We also ended up with a lovely weekend touring Ft Sumter, shopping some antique places, having some excellent "low country" cooking (82 Queen, by the way in downtown Charleston is excellent) and treating each other like lovers instead of old marrieds. And my blood pressure dropped to normal ranges by about midday Saturday.
I am thinking a road trip for the 40th.
Godspeed to all you long time lovers, its the journey not the destination, right?
Don
