Travelling Blues- Christmas Edition

My family traveled back to Michigan for the holidays, but it was not an easy trip. We were on 5 different flights, and something went wrong on every single one.

Our first leg from Albuquerque to Minneapolis took off on time and even landed- in Albuquerque. Mechanical problems killed the flight, and we were re-booked to go through Atlanta and then to Detroit the next morning. Give Delta credit: they gave us hotel and meal vouchers, then sent out apology letters and 10,000 bonus miles before we had a chance to complain.

The next morning, our plane had to de-ice. This takes a long time in ABQ. We landed in Atlanta 15 minutes before our next flight, which is when you are required to be on board so they can close the aircraft doors. We sprinted from terminal to terminal and then to our gate to find a large crowd. The flight had boarded, but onto the wrong type of plane! They had to clear the plane, find the correct one, and re-board. This gaffe allowed us to make our flight, which was a relief. Bonus surprise: our luggage made it, too.

The trip home had its share of fail, too: it took an hour to load the baggage after the doors had been shut. Another sprint found us on the next flight alright, but this time our baggage didn't make it. Delta told us it would arrive between 11 AM and 11 PM the next day. It showed up at midnight (note: the delivery company was a seperate entity contracted by Delta.)

It is both easy and tough to place all of the blame on Delta. Easy because the scapegoating feels right, but tough to pin them down completely. It was the worst time of year to fly, the flights were exceptionally crowded, and a bit of snowy weather in ABQ didn't help. We never had to argue to get flights changed or luggage delivered. In a way, these hangups were to be expected. On the other hand, when there are five consecutive screw ups, ranging from minor to major, you have to wonder if the experience is anomalous or systemic.

Anyone else have recent bad experiences? Opinions on the matter? I would love to hear them all.

Traveling Blues, Part 2.

Yeah, things are not going well.

Again, I was going to leave my house at 5:00 AM. At 3:00 AM, I get a call from Delta (well, a recording, anyway) letting me know my flight was canceled. I go back to bed, because I don't think thoughts at 3 in the morning.

At 5 I wake up, get ready, and call Delta. The lady over the phone (Delta's customer service was waaaayyy better than Hertz's) informs me that my flight was rescheduled for 6:15 AM. Apparently the earlier message had intended to parlay this information to me, but here's an FYI for Delta Airlines:

I DON'T THINK THOUGHTS AT 3 IN THE MORNING.

We rescheduled my flight for 10:30 AM. No problem, right? I went back to bed for an hour, woke up, got in my rented Kia Forte (do not want) and drove to ABQ.

About 20 miles away from the airport, I get a call from another mystery 800 number. It's Delta! The flight has been delayed. Furthermore, this will cause me to miss my connection in Salt Lake City (where the weather is bad, hence the delays). I won't get to San Fransisco until 9:00 PM (as opposed to 3:00 PM).

At least ABQ airport has free wifi. I hope I'll be able to post more updates during my painfully long layover in Utah... home of the mormons. And gross, salty lakes.

Traveling Blues, Part 1.

I'm trying as hard as I can to get to the big Fall American Geophysical Union meeting, but it hasn't gone my way so far.

Let's start with the rental car to get from Los Alamos to Albuquerque. My flight out of ABQ was supposed to be at 8:30, which means a 5:00 AM departure from Los Alamos. A rental car is key because there's no way I'm waking up my family to drive me two hours just so they can turn around and drive back. Anyway... while trying to get some other stuff done, I forgot to pick up the car at noon. I got to Hertz at 1:10PM. They close at 1:00. Swearing ensued.

I got on the line with their customer service to see if I could grab a car in Santa Fe. This proved to be a challenge, because they have several narrowly defined customer service numbers, none of which have to do with missing pick-up times. My friend, who was especially helpful while I was trying to sort this out, eventually got a phone number using the live web help (which was different than all others listed.)

I get on the horn with Hertz. I get a computer that uses voice recognition. It doesn't recognize my voice at all. If your voice recognition software doesn't understand "yes" from a mid-western white male, you've got problems. After a few minutes of this, I give an exasperated, "just give me a f***ing person!" The computer pauses, then says, "I'm sorry for the confusion. I'll put you through to an operator."

Real person fixes problem, rental car obtained. Smooth sailing, right?