He called tonight at 8:15p.m. my time. If you don't want a long story, just skip this, but this is his tale to tell.
We didn't need to get up at 5 this morning, he says.
The flight, that was supposed to leave at 8am, to Newark, had mechanical problems, but they didn't tell the passengers until 8:15 that it wasn't going to be able to fly at all. But, they had a solution, come to this gate and we'll put you on the later flight to Newark. However, MyMike was supposed to make a connecting flight and had only a 45 min. window to make that on his way to Buffalo, so he knew he needed to go back and find an altogether new flight on United, which he did.
So, he now has a new boarding pass, this time going through Chicago's O'Hare with a connecting flight to Buffalo. He walks, with his carry-on to the new gate. But, after he gets all the way there, to Gate 42, and waits to board he learns that THAT plane is also having mechanical problems and they will now be taking off at another gate at the opposite end of the airport. Mike is now thinking, What is wrong with United mechanics and furthermore - this is Denver, where they fix these things, how hard can it be to find a plane that will fly?
So, they walk all the way to the other end, and its finally time to board the plane. By this time its around noon, and he hands the agent his boarding pass and it makes a loud buzzing noise, and the agent says, "I'm sorry you're not in the system." He's thinking - Seriously??? "Well, I should be," he says. "Sir, I'm sorry you'll have to step out of line and talk to the people at the gate," the agent says. So, the gate agent starts looking on their computer and realize not only is he not listed on this flight, but when the initial changes were made that morning, they deleted his return flights as well. He may get to Buffalo, but he's not getting back. YIKES!
So, they fix his ticket, issue a new boarding pass, give him return flights, and all of this takes a good fifteen minutes. And then they realize, there is no room on the flight, so they have to go on the plane and start removing stand-by's. (That just makes you awful, but what are you going to do? You paid for a flight and you're expected somewhere the next day.) So, after another fifteen minutes, he and the five other paying passengers have booted out five stand-by's and they are now getting on the flight. Oh, but one more problem - that carry-on? No room for that, he's told he's going to have to check that in now and it has to go under the plane. So much for booking early or selecting his seat ahead of time. Now he's sitting in one of the back rows, between two larger men than he is, (and Mike isn't small) who own the two middle arm rests, so there's not going to be a good nap on this flight to Chicago or even room to rest his arms at all, until he has the idea to put down the tray. And, Finally at 1pm they actually leave the airport.
When he lands, time moves slowly. He's on the back of the plane. It takes him fifteen minutes just to get off the plane and into the terminal where an agent hands him a new boarding pass that will get him on the 9:30 pm flight to Buffalo, but he realizes technically there are ten minutes until the flight he is supposed to be on leaves, so he now breaks into a run through O'Hare. He's not super familiar with the airport, but miraculously, makes it to the gate before the doors are closed. However, once again, he's not listed for that flight. They had already listed him on the 9:30 flight, but he shows them both boarding passes and lets them know he wants on this one, and finally they let him on. After he walks in they close the door, and just as he sits down he realizes, there is no chance his bag made it. And, that was a truth. When he landed in Buffalo they told him they'd try to get it to him by midnight. Of course, its coming on the 9:30 flight.
Finally, his co-worker picks him up at the airport. It was around 8:30 pm Buffalo time. He's had a muffin and orange juice at the airport that morning, and a cranberry juice to drink on the flight to Chicago and that's it all day. United doesn't even serve peanuts or pretzels anymore. His friends suggest the food at the pub next to their hotel, but Mike isn't listed on the rental car, and he doesn't like to eat at pubs, so he tells them, he'll just walk down the road to the nearest restaurant. An hour and a half later he gets back to his hotel. The nearest restaurant wasn't that near. Then he calls me to let me know he arrived. I suggested he just eat at the hotel restaurant the next time. Even if the food's not that good, at least its close. His room is nice. Horray for that.
I'm writing this for a reference for him. Next time he thinks things are bad, I'll remind him about this day. We all get one of those at least once in our lives. This was his. So you've had a bad day . . . . This is a tale he can tell, and others will have their horror stories, to compare, and we'll all hope not to have a repeat in the future. Just hoping he really gets some clothes before his first meeting tomorrow morning.
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