Nooooo! Don't leave meeeeeee! My suitcase in there doe?
Aight, so it’s the last post of the week recapping my experience with LA. I started at the end and worked my way back to the beginning. Some of you may have saw me going off in the tweets that Thursday and Friday, but that was just a fraction of the frustration I felt tryin’ to get out to Cali. Someone somewhere was enforcing Murphy’s Law on my life. The sh*t was wack B. The sh*t was real wack. I really started thinking the trip wasn’t meant to be.
When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was excited. My suitcase was packed. Ok, I’m lying. I went to go pick up the laundry I dropped off Wednesday then came back and tossed stuff in the suitcase. I threw a bunch of clean stuff onto the couch the night before, so it wasn’t a total scramble. Nonetheless, I had my stuff together. To save myself trouble and strife getting to the airport, I drove my car to work and ate the cost of parking at a garage. Getting caught underground in delayed trains was not an option. Neither was getting stuck in OD extreme traffic. I was gonna leave work early.
Fast forward through a relatively forgettable day at the office.
I get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. As soon as I walk into the AirTran area, all I see is blinking screens saying flights are delayed. I get to the counter and ask the woman what the issue is and she says the weather. Of course it was a clear day in NYC. I checked the weather in Atlanta, where my connection was, and it looked to be ok there as well. It made no sense. It was 630pm and my 745pm flight was delayed til 815 at this point. That then turned into 845. My connection to LA was at 11pm and it started lookin’ real bleak. I got through sakurity and tried to remain hopeful. I find out there’s another flight that was supposed to depart at 815 even after delays, so I switched my ticket. That flight got pushed back to 915 and the original went to like 945.
I’m was at the gate talking to AirTran and they told me I was gonna miss my connection. My insides boiled. I had to step aside and woosah for a minute. After tweeting, texting, and gritting my teeth, I decided I’d fly to ATL. I wanted to get to LA as soon as possible and coming back to LaGuardia the next morning for a 9am flight wasn’t an option. It seemed too risky. Besides, there was still a small chance my flight in ATL would be delayed and I just might make it. I called the Marriott in LA to change my stay by a day and they upped the prices. I boiled some more, then went back to focusing on the flight.
That was a fail.
I got to ATL and the connection flight was long gone. I went to baggage claim and waited for my suitcase for about 45 minutes. Folks from different flights kept coming through and taking their stuff off the carousels while I stood there with my own personal thunderstorm over my head. I checked the AirTran office and nobody was there. I called AirTran and the woman on the other end took about 30 minutes to tell me I was shit out of luck unless I found an AirTran person. The good thing was she upgraded me to business class for the return flight because of the nonsense I went through.
So there I was in Atlanta well after midnight walking aimlessly with no luggage. My flight for the next day was at 9am, but I got nervous about oversleeping and not making it so I pushed it to 1215. There was no way I was sleeping in the airport seeing that I already didn’t feel well, so I took a shuttle to a Holiday Inn around 3 in the morning. I coughed up the dough to sleep for a few hours and begrudgingly went to my room with no suitcase. I felt like my shit was just floating in outer space. All I could do was hope gravity pulled it back to earth.
I woke up Friday morning, took a shower, and packed the few things I had with me — mainly my laptop. I went down to catch the shuttle and it wasn’t there. Front desk told me it should’ve been back soon, but that turned into half an hour at which point I called a cab. The taxi then took 25 minutes to get there. I basically lost an hour. My brow was furrowed but I tried to be slightly optimistic. I really wasn’t tryin’ to miss this flight.
I got to the airport at 1155 with my future lookin’ lame and tried to check in via the kiosk, but it didn’t let me. I cut the line, hustled through sakurity, hopped on the shuttle/rail thing, then sprinted through the terminal to get there just in time to see my flight backing away from the gate. It felt like I just lost the NBA championship. I should have tweeted Lebron. Anyway, it took everything in me to not yell and draw the attention of the men in white shirts. I asked the attendant at the desk what time the next flight was leaving and she said she’d put me on an 11pm.
Get.Dem.Shits.Outta.My.Face.Pause.
Yes, it was 1215 and this woman was telling me she’d put me on an 11pm flight to LA. There was a 715 flight, but it was at capacity and my name was like 12th on the list. I wanted to throw a Boeing. But rather than overexert myself tryin’ to lift that much machinery, I just sat down and leaned forward with my hands behind my head. You know, kinda like what happens during March Madness when the higher seed loses and everybody on the bench is in disbelief and disappointment.
My only other option was to try to find another flight. Other airlines were talkin’ $400. Actually, my only option was Delta. I respect the sorority, but I’ve never been too fond of the airline. But yeah, I had looked at flights back to NY and I was ready to just ask AirTran to change my flight and let me go back home. I’d lost a day of my trip, my suitcase was on Mars, and I just couldn’t comprehend how so many things could’ve went wrong despite my best efforts to be prepared. That’s life i guess, and it ain’t been no crystal stair. Langston Hughes.
After consuming approximately 6 drinks, I went back to AirTran for a last ditch effort to board the earlier plane. I made up some story about needing to speak on a panel and people depending on me. Next thing you know, I’m paying $25 to change my flight and things are back on track. Why the AirTran woman at the gate didn’t offer this as an option was beyond me. I just did some happy feet holy dance and blasted some RAWSE in my headphones as I strolled to the new gate in a west coast state of mind.
Things worked out from there and I made it to LA. As you know from the other posts, it was well worth the trip. After the blogging festivities were over, I enjoyed some Roscoes’s, chilled at a friend’s crib and saved money on a hotel, then went back to the airport and just went past a bunch of nonsense because I was business class. Yo, business class is the shit. I ain’t felt that privileged since I shopped at Trader Joe’s for the first time. I will be checking for that moving forward if I can get a deal.
Lessons learned? Don’t transfer in Atlanta and stay optimistic because there’s always a way. I’m a better person than when I left NYC and I’ma do my best to pay it forward. Life is good. Busy as hell, but good.
A lot of words, but hey it’s my blog,
Hartsfield-Jackson is the worst. Actually, that airport is only second behind Delta Airlines. I hate changing in Atlanta. Went to Houston last month on Delta, and of course, I changed planes in ATL. Rushed through the terminals to get to my gate, only to find it pushed back 30minutes. Then, another 30minutes, then another 20 minutes. #HATEHATEHATEHATEHATE!
I made it to Houston, but I’m never flying Delta again, just so I can avoid ATL.
Thank BBJ you made it.
All of this! I hate Delta and I hate Hartsfield-Jackson. I had the same issues. Luckily, I pulled the “black woman not to be messed w/” act on the gate attendant and they paid for my put up in a hotel, food for the night and a lil overnight essentials bad. I was NOT having it.
Spent part of my 4th of July weekend last year in Houston trying to get to Birmingham. Left sunny skies of the Bay Area to thunderstorms in Houston. Flight got delayed. Then cancelled. So me and my fellow Bay Area Passengers got some exercise running back and forth (making friends along the way) trying to see if we can get on flights. And the service people had no idea what service meant. They were RUDE. Even to this enlisted Soldier who needed to get to his base by a certain day and should have had PRIORITY. A couple let him take their spot on a later flight. By midnight (when the airport closed) there were 20 of us left. I latched myself on to two older black ladies, who ‘took care of me’. All the black folks hung together. We sang, gossiped, helped this white girl through her break-up, and just bonded through the crisis. I didn’t get on a flight until 24 hours after the original one. I spent one day and two nights in Birmingham before I had to go home again. You are lucky you got business class. They don’t upgrade cancellations due to weather.
Sounds like a movie!
Sounds like a movie!
I understand the struggles with Hartsfield-Jackson – I live HERE! iI the sky look even slightly out of kilter they cancel flights LOL. However I have no choice but to fly out of there. I mean its one of if not the busiest airport in the world (90K people per day). As for Delta I have to love them because they fly direct everywhere I want/have to go…… I flew direct to Amsterdam and Tokyo!
My worst experience w/ATL and Delta was on a flight to L.A. and the engine made a bang noise and shot fire like a dragon upon take off. Needless to say we had to circle for 45 minutes and burn gas and make an emergency landing with the fire dept waiting for us on the tarmac – TRAUMATIC to say the least! I am a travel “G” though cause I actually got back on a later flight what pissed me off is the airline reported the landing as a precaution because of the engine warning lights were on like nothing really happened!
All that to say congrats on you’re trip again – I LOVE L.A.
I heard it was the most trafficked airport in the world. I had no idea prior to this f*ckery.
Awwww…I felt like I was watching a contestant on The Amazing Race skruggle to get on a flight while all the other teams are halfway through the detour and you were gonna hear Phil say, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re the last one to arrive.” In real life I’m glad that you made it to LA and had an awesome time!
That completely sucks. When you have sucky travel it provides for great stories and even though it was crap for you it was funny to me. I won’t even begin to talk about my Vegas trip when I ended up snowed in Minnesota for hours…Happy you made it back.
I commented and have no clue where that went. So anyhoo…Travel is super funny. While it does provide laughter for others when you are in the situation it sucks rocks. Happy you made it back safe. I won’t even go into my connecting flight when I was coming from Vegas and ended up stuck in Minnesota…only to go to work the next day extra sleepy and my students were all in my business.
This is the story I was waiting for, so glad it worked out because I could sense your defeat. like NIA said Hartsfield is the worst. and it is the Airtran and Delta hub so most connections go there. If I can’t have a direct flight I will avoid those airlines because of that. Except for work travel I mostly use Delta, got hella points.
And another lesson: don’t check a bag unless absolutely necessary. after I got stranded in CLT because of snow I was blessed to walk out of there while others had to deal with bag drama on top of rebooking drama. I’m typically a notorious overpacker but I had to learn how to do better QUICK.
I’ve never had just a carry on. I need to work on that ASAP. My fold game needs to get a lot stronger though. Cuz right now…sh*t is wack b. lol
I’m not the best folder but my roll game is mean. a fellow over packer put me on to this awhile ago.
check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/business/06PACK.html
here’s the pictures version http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/06/business/businessspecial/20100506-pack-ss-3.html
This is why I am scared to travel. You’d think I’d have nightmares about the plane crashing…nope it’s always about my luggage being misplaced, flight delays, being late etc.
I felt your pain while you were tweeting! Was happy for you when it eventually worked out. Clearly, God is good.
If I NEVER have to fly into or out of or through Harsfield-Jackson, it’ll be too damn soon. I cannot mu’effin stand that airport. It’s too big, it’s too much, it’s the least for no reason.
Meanwhile, I’m so glad everything worked out for you. That really was the worst travel ever. ::sigh::
Always happy to see you around these parts. Pause.
But yes, that airport is not bout that life at all.lol
I used to work for Airtran…in Atlanta. So I’m feeling kinda attacked right now lol j/k. But seriously I’m so glad everything worked out because I was very said for you from your tweets during this fiasco. And when you try to travel with just carry on try rolling your clothes instead of folding them. But remember the liquids in he carry on rule. That’s the one that messes me up every time I try to go with just a carry on.
That’s rough. Good thing you’re driving up to Toronto. Right? Right?
/verysubtlewayofaskingyaassifyoumakin’itouthereafterall
I will be there in next 3 months hopefully.
Cool. I’ll enjoy the sights & sounds of the parade on your behalf.