AIR TRAVEL FROM HELL

Can anyone answer this question - "When did air travel go from a civilized way to reach a destination to a fucking nightmare?" People used to dress up to travel. It was exciting to board an aircraft, enjoy the service & jet off to places unknown. You actually had room to stretch out a little. Often times the planes weren't full so you had a whole row to yourself. They fed you a basic meal & you usually arrived at your destination relaxed & ready to enjoy your vacation.

Well - not anymore!  Eleven days ago we flew to Boston for a road trip that ended in Philadelphia. The flights to Boston were uneventful but not terribly comfortable. They were packed & every year it seems they take away another inch of legroom. That's okay if you're 5'4" like me but not if you  are 6'3" like Lou. Every plane is completely full. The only time you are fed something that could possibly be construed as a meal is on an international flight. Domestic flights you are on your own for food. And at airport prices, it is as bad as ballparks but without the ball game to watch!

But we know all that & do our best to take it in stride since air travel is still the quickest way to reach the other side of our country. Even with delays & issues & being packed in like sardines, you can travel 3000 miles in less that a day. I try to keep that in mind.

Occasionally, you have the travel day from hell. Today (or yesterday actually) was one of those days. We left Philadelphia at 1:15 PM Eastern time - at least that was the scheduled time with a one hour layover in Dallas before arriving in Sacramento just before 6 PM Pacific time. The entire country has been in a heat wave which translates to thunderstorms & turbulent weather back east.

Our first flight was delayed about 30 minutes, however, the captain assured us they could make up the time for a close to on time arrival in Dallas. But we sat & we sat & we sat on the tarmac. What the hell is tarmac anyway? Isn't it just asphalt? We had to reroute because of "weather" & finally took off almost two hours late. I figured the chances of making our connection were slim to none. Our only hope was that the connecting flight was also delayed. Didn't happen.

We immediately checked with an agent in Dallas & yes, as I expected, our flight to Sacramento was long gone. There were two other flights to Sacramento that we could standby on but the odds were not good since they were sold out. She booked us on a morning flight out but we could either sleep in the airport or try to find a room at our expense. Tons of flights were delayed or cancelled due to the inclement weather.

At the gate for the first standby flight, we noticed a flight to Las Vegas that was now boarding that had been delayed, also. I asked the agent if we could get on that flight & a later flight to Sacramento but she was one step ahead of me already checking that. Three other people were in the same predicament as us. Two agents went above & beyond getting us on that flight with a 10 PM connection from Vegas to Sacramento. We would get in at 11:35 PM. A hell of a lot better than tomorrow sometime. As we ran to the gate, they announced a cancellation of a flight to Atlanta. The agents literally groaned.

The flight to Las Vegas sat on the tarmac for another hour since flights were backed up but it didn't matter since we had hours to kill in Vegas. That also meant we could eat a real dinner since I was resigned to my evening meal consisting of wine & peanuts.

We were literally the last ones on the flights from Dallas to Las Vegas and from Las Vegas to Sacramento so Lou & I had center seats a few rows apart. On the final leg leaving at 10:05 PM after a really, really long day, our boarding passes weren't recognized. What the fuck? The gate agent told us to see the woman at the counter. She was helping another man but I interrupted & apologized that we needed help NOW. The customer was gracious & understood. I can totally understand how ordinary people go ballistic. I was close to there!

Fortunately we got on the damn airplane & made it back to Sacramento at 11:30 PM - but our luggage didn't. I expected that to be the case since we had no clue what flights we would be on. We filed a report along with a ton of other passengers & are optimistic that they will deliver our suitcases tomorrow morning.

Now, I am home late at night typing away since we left the air conditioning off during our trip & the nationwide heat wave hit us, too. We returned to a house that was 88 degrees & miserable. Lou went upstairs to bed immediately but there is no way I can sleep in this heat. It is 1:45 AM & 83 degrees now. Maybe I'll actually get to sleep sometime before morning.