Airline Woes

First of all, I have never been one to enjoy flying. But I know it's necessary if you want to travel and don't have the time to drive. My dad always makes the joke that calling it a "terminal" isn't very reassuring either. But I am getting better. I am not nearly as nervous as I used to be getting on a plane. Now I worry less about the plane crashing and more about it being on time.

The last week of plane cancellations at the hands of American Airlines has been crazy. I flew about 2 weeks ago, the day after American cancelled many of their flights the first time around. That time, I wasn't scheduled on American so I didn't have to worry too much. So I arrived at the airport in plenty of time for my 5:50 AM departure. I made my way through the ticket counter, checked my bags, passed through security, and was waiting at the gate when they announced 10 minutes before the flight was to leave that it had been cancelled due to maintenance issues. That's when I start stressing, because I have two additional planes to catch after this one to make it to a wedding that I am a part of for the weekend. So we all leave the secure area, are instructed to re-claim our baggage, and then wait in line at the ticket counter for alternate arrangements.

While I used to always be a person that carried on my luggage to avoid the hassle of checking it and waiting for it at my destination, not to mention the risk of it getting lost- there is no way I can check my luggage now that liquids aren't allowed on board. That whole 3-1-1 thing isn't even worth the hassle of taking that stuff through security anymore, so I just check it now. So it's not even 5 in the morning and I have already been sent out of security and am waiting on my bag. And go figure- mine is the last one off the plane. Well, maybe 3rd to last. But still, it took FOREVER. So there is a plane full of people waiting in line in front of me to be rescheduled and I am just sure that there is no way I will make it to the wedding rehearsal tonight and begin to worry about making it tomorrow even. Fortunately, they were able to re-route me and I ended up getting to my destination only about 4 hours later than originally scheduled. Not too bad, but it really stinks to pay over $500 dollars for tickets that you aren't even sure will get you there.

This was way better than the last time I traveled and was bumped off a flight New Years weekend when I was going to another wedding. This time I missed the rehearsal dinner, but was at least given a voucher to be used for a free future airline flight. Had I known at the time that there wouldn't be any seats that this voucher would work for the next time I needed to fly, I may not have been so content. But that's the case. I still have a free flight, but the airlines are so restrictive on the number of vouchers, etc. that can be used on any indvidual flight that who knows if I will ever be able to use it this year.

I know the airlines are going through a tough time, especially with gas prices how they are. I know that the safety of these planes is critical. And I hate to be negative, but it's frustrating that American didn't take care of this problem before thousands of flights had to be cancelled this week. I mean, its frustrating even when flights are cancelled due to the weather- and believe me I know that can't be avoided. But can't issues such as this week be avoided?

What do you think? Have any traveling nightmares? My family once spent the night at the O'Hare Airport in Chicago after hotel vouchers that were given to us by the airline cost us a 50 dollar cab ride, but the hotel was booked solid so we ended up right back at the airport. That's probably my worst. How about you?

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