- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
- 67
- 91
Okay, it's official: my trip is not going well.
I am trying to get to Burlington VT for my grandfather's 95th birthday party. I flew into Newark from MSP, and arrived at about 3, with a connecting flight set for 4:40. When I got to the gate, I found my flight was canceled. Grrrrrr . . . I had to wait about an hour in line at the Contintental customer service desk, where a nice woman set me up with a 4:30 flight to Boston, with a connection to Burlington - yay!
It was about 4:25 by the time she had my boarding passes printed, and my flight was in another terminal, but she said I'd make it because the Boston flight was running late. I had to run to the tram to the other terminal, where the security included a weird, Total Recall-esque machine that blasted me with air, supposedly to detect explosives (though it's possible the machine exists solely to make me look stupid for the entertainment of the TSA guys). After I'd made it through the air-blast gauntlet, I handed my boarding pass to the TSA agent, who (probably noting that I was just then arriving to board a flight that had nominally already left) told me I was selected for random security check. I protested because of my flight situation, to which the TSA guy responded, "You're supposed to be here two hours early for every flight!" Not really helpful advice under the circumstances.
I finally made it through the security (though they took all but one of my grenades!) only to arrive at the gate and find that my Boston flight is running two hours late, so no connection for me. At this point I'm hoping to get onto an 8:30 flight on standby, but it doesn't sound likely, so I will probably fly out tomorrow morning. My dad actually has an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but he's out of the country and I don't have his keys. At this point I'm debating whether to get a hotel room or just have a few beers while watching the game, then crash out in a chair. Ah, the glamorous jet set lifestyle! I only wish they had a USO at Newark airport - I am an inactive reservist but I still have an ID card I could use to crash that party . . .
CLIFFS NOTES: Travel is a hassle, and Continental Airlines sucks.
I am trying to get to Burlington VT for my grandfather's 95th birthday party. I flew into Newark from MSP, and arrived at about 3, with a connecting flight set for 4:40. When I got to the gate, I found my flight was canceled. Grrrrrr . . . I had to wait about an hour in line at the Contintental customer service desk, where a nice woman set me up with a 4:30 flight to Boston, with a connection to Burlington - yay!
It was about 4:25 by the time she had my boarding passes printed, and my flight was in another terminal, but she said I'd make it because the Boston flight was running late. I had to run to the tram to the other terminal, where the security included a weird, Total Recall-esque machine that blasted me with air, supposedly to detect explosives (though it's possible the machine exists solely to make me look stupid for the entertainment of the TSA guys). After I'd made it through the air-blast gauntlet, I handed my boarding pass to the TSA agent, who (probably noting that I was just then arriving to board a flight that had nominally already left) told me I was selected for random security check. I protested because of my flight situation, to which the TSA guy responded, "You're supposed to be here two hours early for every flight!" Not really helpful advice under the circumstances.
I finally made it through the security (though they took all but one of my grenades!) only to arrive at the gate and find that my Boston flight is running two hours late, so no connection for me. At this point I'm hoping to get onto an 8:30 flight on standby, but it doesn't sound likely, so I will probably fly out tomorrow morning. My dad actually has an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but he's out of the country and I don't have his keys. At this point I'm debating whether to get a hotel room or just have a few beers while watching the game, then crash out in a chair. Ah, the glamorous jet set lifestyle! I only wish they had a USO at Newark airport - I am an inactive reservist but I still have an ID card I could use to crash that party . . .
CLIFFS NOTES: Travel is a hassle, and Continental Airlines sucks.