We have a new travel system for work now, so basically you are required to book the cheapest flight. This poses a problem for me considering a direct flight from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale is already 4 hours long, and needless to say… the directs are not usually the cheapest. This has made my travel days 7+ hours long counting airport time and layover. Blah.
So I decided to sneak home early this week and head home on a Wednesday night instead of my typical Thursday. I book a Delta flight going through Atlanta.
I get to the airport in Ft. Lauderdale and find our flight is an hour delayed. Well, this puts my layover time in Atlanta to 8 minutes. Sweet. I am probably going to miss my connection, meaning, I will have to spend the night in Atlanta. I would say probably one- third to a half of the people on my flight out of Florida are in the same situation.
We actually land 20 mins early in Atlanta. Everyone is really excited because they might be able to make their connections. We pull up to the gate and wait for the door to open…. Keep waiting…. Keeping waiting. We waited for 15 minutes for a gate agent to come let us out. Are you kidding me?! The people on the plane start to get real snippy, including myself. I mean, come on Delta. One by one, people start to miss their connections because we are freaking stuck on the plane. FINALLY, we get off. I literally RUUUNNN to my gate. Sweating, looking awkward, I am not wearing a supportive bra… I am sure I looked like a freak but I was determined to make it.
I arrive at my gate and I have officially made it- the door has not closed yet. Whew. So happy. My boarding pass did not have a seat number on it, so I tell the gate agent this and he tells me to step to the side so he can get me a seat. I am waiting there with about 6 people that this also happened to. About 5 mins passes and they call my name, I get my seat and walk onto the plane. Literally so relieved at this point.
This is when it gets interesting. I am assigned to 10E. There is an old lady in my seat. I kindly tell her that I am in 10 E, only to find that her boarding pass says the same thing. Weird. Tell the attendant this… they tell me to hold on. Welp… All the 6 people who waited for a seat assignment ended up having the same problem. Freaking awesome. The plane is completely sold out. We literally stand in the aisle for about 5-10 mins. The attendants come to the conclusion that there are no seats, and we are told to grab our stuff and exit the plane. At this point, I am on the verge of tears. I just want to get home.
We are standing in the jet way. Waiting for instruction, all ticked off and really, really tired ( it is past 10pm at this point). The agent comes to talk to us and calls my name. “Emily Ann??” yes, that is me. “There is one seat left on the plane and you are the only one ‘confirmed’.” At this point, my heart does a literal leap of joy…. I am getting evil eyes from the 5 other people who are going to be stuck in Atlanta for the night. I get my stuff and board for the second time, only to find out the last seat left on the plane is in first class…. Yep. First class.
I am guessing traveling as much as I do is starting to pay off.. I mean, I have flown Delta quite a bit and this was booked through our company travel agent… so I guess I had precedence over the others. Literally thank the Lord. But I can honestly say, after all the traveling I have done. This has been the most disorganized airline experiences. I am thinking about complaining to Delta, not for myself, but for the people that missed their connections because a gate agent was M.I.A. or for the 5 others who had boarding passes with seat assignments, then got the boot. I mean, seriously.
0 comments:
Post a Comment