In honor of Mben's extended stay in Denver on the way back from Florida, I'd like to share my worst travel experience.
I was doing contract work in Tampa. On my trip back from Orange County, CA after the Christmas break, I had scheduled a flight back to Tampa leaving Orange County airport at 7:15AM with a stopover in Dallas / Fort Worth. That flight left on on time and was uneventful, but it was clouding up as we landed. After a 2 hour layover, we boarded and taxied out for takeoff only to have the biggest lightning storm I have ever seen hit the airport. We sat at the end of the airport, waiting to take off for about 2 1/2 hours before they decided that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, so we taxied back into the terminal to wait out the weather. SIX HOURS LATER, the storm had passed enough that we could go. We reboarded the plane and started to taxi out - until I heard the pilots shut down one of the engines
They turned around and taxied back in - we had a mechanical problem, but they were confident that we would still go. Three hours later, they decided that the flight was cancelled and we were all screwed. Remember now, this is the week between Christmas and New Years and all of the flights were totally booked. The next available flight to Tampa with an available seat was 3 DAYS LATER! That wasn't going to work, so I discussed my options with the reservations people online. It's now about 10PM - my best option was to take a flight back to Los Angeles and get on the non-stop to Tampa that left a little after midnight PST, so I got on that plane and flew BACK to California. That flight took off on time and was uneventful - until we landed. After landing, our gate was occupied, so they sent us to a waiting area where we sat for nearly 3 hours waiting for our gate to open. I watched my non-stop flight to Tampa taxi out for takeoff while we were still waiting for a gate.
So, it's now 2AM - I left my house at 5:30AM the day before and I have managed to travel a net distance of less than 50 miles! Getting on the phone with the customer service people, my next/only option was to catch a 7AM flight from LAX to Chicago, then a connection to Tampa that would bring me in around 6PM. Going home wasn't an option, so I camped at LAX overnight (just waiting for one of the local degenerates to steal all of my stuff if I happened to go to sleep).
The flight to Chicago was uneventful - until we got close to the airport. Everything within 50 miles of the airport looked like a winter wonderland. We landed safely and - stop me if you've heard this before - we were sent to a holding area, waiting for an open gate. The problem was - the airport was closed to departing flights, so none of the gates were opening. After 3 HOURS, they decided to tow one of the empty planes that couldn't take off away from the gate so that we could deplane. GREAT! Now we are in the terminal, waiting for my connecting flight to leave. It is 20° and snowing outside. Because it was warm and nice in California and going to be in the 80s in Tampa, I am dressed in shorts and a polo shirt - no jacket, sweater, or anything warm. If any of you have ever been to O'Hare Airport in Chicago, it isn't exactly compact. My flight to Tampa wasn't cancelled, but it changed gates 3 times over a 14 hour period, so I got my exercise in for the WEEK!
My flight was one of the first ones that actually left Chicago, but that was 3AM on Day 3
. We finally arrived in Tampa about 7AM - and I was supposed to be at work at 8AM. Needless to say, my productivity suffered a little that day!
Business travel is SOOOOOOO glamorous!
I was doing contract work in Tampa. On my trip back from Orange County, CA after the Christmas break, I had scheduled a flight back to Tampa leaving Orange County airport at 7:15AM with a stopover in Dallas / Fort Worth. That flight left on on time and was uneventful, but it was clouding up as we landed. After a 2 hour layover, we boarded and taxied out for takeoff only to have the biggest lightning storm I have ever seen hit the airport. We sat at the end of the airport, waiting to take off for about 2 1/2 hours before they decided that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, so we taxied back into the terminal to wait out the weather. SIX HOURS LATER, the storm had passed enough that we could go. We reboarded the plane and started to taxi out - until I heard the pilots shut down one of the engines
They turned around and taxied back in - we had a mechanical problem, but they were confident that we would still go. Three hours later, they decided that the flight was cancelled and we were all screwed. Remember now, this is the week between Christmas and New Years and all of the flights were totally booked. The next available flight to Tampa with an available seat was 3 DAYS LATER! That wasn't going to work, so I discussed my options with the reservations people online. It's now about 10PM - my best option was to take a flight back to Los Angeles and get on the non-stop to Tampa that left a little after midnight PST, so I got on that plane and flew BACK to California. That flight took off on time and was uneventful - until we landed. After landing, our gate was occupied, so they sent us to a waiting area where we sat for nearly 3 hours waiting for our gate to open. I watched my non-stop flight to Tampa taxi out for takeoff while we were still waiting for a gate. So, it's now 2AM - I left my house at 5:30AM the day before and I have managed to travel a net distance of less than 50 miles! Getting on the phone with the customer service people, my next/only option was to catch a 7AM flight from LAX to Chicago, then a connection to Tampa that would bring me in around 6PM. Going home wasn't an option, so I camped at LAX overnight (just waiting for one of the local degenerates to steal all of my stuff if I happened to go to sleep).
The flight to Chicago was uneventful - until we got close to the airport. Everything within 50 miles of the airport looked like a winter wonderland. We landed safely and - stop me if you've heard this before - we were sent to a holding area, waiting for an open gate. The problem was - the airport was closed to departing flights, so none of the gates were opening. After 3 HOURS, they decided to tow one of the empty planes that couldn't take off away from the gate so that we could deplane. GREAT! Now we are in the terminal, waiting for my connecting flight to leave. It is 20° and snowing outside. Because it was warm and nice in California and going to be in the 80s in Tampa, I am dressed in shorts and a polo shirt - no jacket, sweater, or anything warm. If any of you have ever been to O'Hare Airport in Chicago, it isn't exactly compact. My flight to Tampa wasn't cancelled, but it changed gates 3 times over a 14 hour period, so I got my exercise in for the WEEK!
My flight was one of the first ones that actually left Chicago, but that was 3AM on Day 3
. We finally arrived in Tampa about 7AM - and I was supposed to be at work at 8AM. Needless to say, my productivity suffered a little that day!Business travel is SOOOOOOO glamorous!
