Tag: Travel Delays

I double dog dare ya to keep up with me here—

Delta:

1. My friend and co-adventurer, Laura, lives in Whitefish, MT. She was planning to fly from Kalispell, MT (FCA) to St Louis (STL), with a stop in Salt Lake City (SLC) on Christmas. Then we would fly to Atlanta (ATL) together on the 26th to catch our flight to Buenos Aires (EZE) that evening.

2. Laura found out (by proactively looking on the Delta app) on Christmas Eve that her flight from SLC to STL was cancelled. Nothing else out of FCA would work so plan B…

3. Laura’s wonderful husband, Mark, drove her 3 hours on Christmas morn to Missoula, MT (MSO) to catch a flight to STL, with a connection through Minneapolis (MSP).

4. Laura was on the flight—they pushed back from the jetway and spent time de-icing. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, they announced that the pilot had too many hours. They came back to the gate, deplaned, and the flight was subsequently cancelled.

5. At that point, there was no way to get to MSP/STL or even to ATL on the 25th nor 26th from MSO.

6. We found a flight from Bozeman, MT (BZN) to ATL through Denver (DEN) first thing on Dec. 26th. Yay!!

Enter United Airlines:

7. Laura and Mark spent another 3+ hours driving on black ice from MSO to BZN on Christmas night.

8. They checked into a hotel at midnight. At 4:00 am, Laura received a text that the flight out of BZN to DEN/ATL had been cancelled—no crew. She called me as I was getting up for my flight.

American Airlines to the rescue!

9. While we were on the phone, Mark, being the expert he is (btw, he’s a pilot:), found 1 seat…yes, 1 seat, on a flight out of BNZ to EZE through Dallas (DFW) which will land in EZE about an hour after I land tomorrow morning. Bingo! But not out of the woods yet…

10. So as of 3:00 pm MT on the 26th, Laura has taken off from BZN and is in midair as I write this. She should make it in plenty of time for her 8:24 pm CT flight from DFW to EZE.

Meanwhile, my flight from STL to ATL was about 20 minutes delayed, but I met an awesome couple at the gate—Nick and Nat—on their way to Rio de Janiero, Brazil (GIG) to celebrate the New Year. (Hi Nick and Nat—cheers!). They were also delayed by a day.

Now I sit in ATL for my 8 hour layover until my flight leaves this evening at 9:00 pm, hoping and praying to be reunited with Laura tomorrow morn in EZE.

What have I learned?

• A lot of airport codes!

• DON’T GIVE UP no matter how many curve balls the airport gods throw your way.

• Mark is awesome!

• Think twice about traveling around a holiday when it’s time sensitive (or leave super duper early).

• Give up the worry and make it part of the adventure. You will simply have another story! (Ok, so I can say this now. We may have shed a few tears throughout the process).

Oh and there was a water main break at ATL so bathrooms aren’t working well, But as long as that doesn’t cancel my flight, I am perfectly fine with no flushing!