6:55 a.m.
Here we are at the airport! We say good-bye to KC in about an hour - Denver first, then Honolulu! We arrive around 3:30 their time (8:30 KC time--which means about 12 hours of traveling-ugh!). Then out in Waikiki for the bride's bachelorette party! It's gonna be a long day, that's for sure! But SO worth it!!! Good-bye to the mainland and aloha to Hawaii!!!!!! See ya in a week!!
9:40 p.m.
Here we sit at the Baymont Inn in none other than Denver. Yes. Denver. Here's the
So we get to Denver-on time I might add after a smooth flight from KC-sit for awhile, decide to grab something to eat, and then hear the announcement to begin boarding. Then, after boarding about 30 people, they make an announcement that the flight is delayed. Something about a mechanical issue. No wait, it wasn't initially "delayed" but rather "declined" by the pilot...whatever the hell that means. No biggie. We figured it'd be "accepted" sooner than later. Well sooner turned into 20 minutes, which turned into an hour. Meanwhile we also learned we were gonna have to stop in Cali for fuel. So not only were we going to take off an hour late, but we had to make a pit stop along the way. {Looking back, I'd clearly take that!} Sarah's (the bride) sister was on the same flight and was one of the "lucky" ones who got to sit on the plane during this time. With two young children plus a month-old baby I might add. Sucks to be her. We were texting the entire time and rumor on the plane was that they over-fueled it. Because of the heat, they couldn't just empty some of it because it expands and that's bad??????? Your guess is as good as mine. They never mentioned that at the gate but rather told us there were engine problems.
Anyway, an hour and a half later, our flight was cancelled. I don't even think the words sunk in for awhile. They told everyone (I don't know, maybe 300 people?) to head to customer service and they'd do their best to accommodate. Well, I don't know what accommodate means to them but they sure did a sucky job.
We waited in line for 3 1/2 hours. Here's how you know it's bad...you get the update for the start and end of the Royals game while still in line. Not only did we wait, but Craig was on hold with United, my mom was on the phone with her travel agent, and I was furiously emailing our travel agent. Meanwhile, there are multiple people bitching, yelling, complaining, and crying (I was the later) because of this huge disaster.
To top it off, the United operator Craig was talking with thought she found us something (this was maybe after an hour) and as he was handing the phone to me I dropped it, the battery fell out, and we lost her. I'm pretty sure he was about to kill me!
We talked through so many situations and flight changes, I can't even tell you! Denver to LA to Hawaii, Denver to Vegas to Hawaii, Denver to San Fran to Hawaii, Denver to Sacramento to Hawaii. We actually transferred to this one until we fount out it was overbooked and there was a chance we'd get booted off. Eventually, United decided to add a direct flight to Hawaii tomorrow morning because they realized "this was a huge inconvenience". YOU THINK?! We jumped on this opportunity, which puts us in Hawaii a whole 24 hours later than planned.
(The front 10% of the sucky line. At this point I was thinking "I hate you United")
Instead of checking into our ocean front hotel, we checked into the Baymont Inn...second best, right??
This means I'm missing Sarah's bachelorette party and last night out as a Rauscher. *Tear* Believe me, I broke down about it many times today. Well that, and the fact that we should be in paradise. If you remember correctly, one of my plane projects was her bachelorette bouquet. Instead, I completed it while eating our complimentary dinner (and much needed drink) at the airport. Woo hoo! Party or not, she still deserves her bouquet!
So here we sit. With only half our luggage I might add. Half our luggage and NO toiletries! (Supposedly it's being transferred to our flight tomorrow *fingers crossed*) I'm praying nothing goes wrong and that we make it in time for rehearsal. Please please please we deserve this after the hell they put us through today!
I can only hope my next post is an official aloha from Hawaii!
No comments:
Post a Comment