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| Above, O'Hare Int. Airport's Terminal 3. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
When I left G-FEST XXVI Sunday afternoon to go to the airport, I was looking forward for a trouble-free flight with American Airlines to Albuquerque. Alas, that was not in the cards.
When I got to O'Hare International Airport, I looked at the Departures board to check the status of my flight (which was to leave around 6:30). It said it was "on time". So, after getting a drink and snacks, I headed to the gate and waited.
The sign at the gate also said "on time". But there was chatter among fellow passengers about a lot of flight cancellations on the Departures board. I took a look, and sure enough, there were a lot of cancellations. Our flight still said "on time". Many, if not most, of the cancellations were due to Hurricane Barry that was making shore near New Orleans.
About a half hour before we were to board our flight, a fellow passenger was on his laptop and said that the plane we were supposed to board originates from Raleigh, North Carolina. But, he said it hadn't left the ground.
Oh-oh!
At about 15 to 20 minutes before our scheduled boarding time, the flight sign at our gate flickered off from "on time" for about 2 seconds and then came back on with Cancelled.
Since I had some experience with cancelled flights, I knew right away that I needed to get online a.s.a.p. to find another flight. This I did. But it was for two days later. I then went to the ticket agent and he found a flight for the next day around 6:30, but it had a stop/transfer at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW is a main hub for American Airlines). I paid for a nonstop flight.
But since "beggars can't be choosers" with airlines, I grabbed it anyway. The ticket agent said that my luggage would be transferred to the new flight(s).
So, I spent the night at Motel 6 (just down the street from the Crowne Plaza).
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| Above, at Motel 6. |
The next day, after spending some time at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, I went to the airport. After a while, I got a text message from American Airlines stating my flight has been delayed. Since I have a connection flight from DFW, I thought this may cause me to miss it. Then, no sooner than I thought that, I received another text indicating that I may miss my connecting flight. I then immediately headed to the Customer Service Desk.
There, they found me a direct flight to Albuquerque, but it doesn't leave for another two hours. No problem! I took it.
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| Above, at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
I finally reached Albuquerque International Airport at around 11:00 PM (a day late). But my suitcase didn't reach it. I received a notice that the airline would send it on another flight and deliver it. So, I headed to the airport parking lot via shuttle to pick up The Beast and headed home. I reached home at around 1:45 in the morning.
I received several messages yesterday that the baggage delivery people were trying to get my suitcase to me, but failed for a variety of reasons. They were supposed to attempt a delivery at around 9:00 last night. Nobody showed up.
Finally, at 3:30 this morning, I received a call from the delivery guy stating that he would bring it over at 5:30, two hours later. I thought it was rather "cheeky" of them to call me at 3:30 in the morning. But, they delivered the suitcase at 5:30.
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| Above, the gate for the flight that got me home on Monday. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Thankfully, I had nothing of extraordinary value (except for my $200 boots) in the suitcase. I had the foresight in having my medications with me in my camera bag, just in case something like this occurs.
What a trip!
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