
I'm not going to tell the whole story all at once, because you'd give up on international travel forever if I did. This week, between regularly featured loveliness, I'll also share with you our outrageous adventure, helpful Spanish phrases and honeymoon travel tips!
Lovely image by Caroline Tran.
Chapter 1: United
Booking a direct flight to Madrid from San Francisco was next to impossible without a private plane and accommodating pilot; every flight included an 18 hour layover in a New Jersey-New York airport. Mr Wonderful and I decided to make the best of it, and turned that layover into a brief visit with my parents. We booked an early afternoon flight to Newark, where we would arrive just after 10 pm, then planned to have a lovely brunch and head to JFK the next afternoon.
Our bags were packed, we were checked-in online and we were on our way without incident. I planned three hours for the trip, giving us close to two at the airport instead of the recommended one. We arrived at United's luggage check-in, boarding passes already in hand, fresh-faced and excited to begin our journey. Moments later, after typing our confirmation number into the automated kiosk, I was confronted with puzzling news: our flight was canceled.
I walked to the departures board, where our flight was listed as "on time". Completely befuddled, I asked the nearest United agent if she had any information. She gazed at the ceiling, refusing to make eye contact, and told me I would need someone else's assistance. 20 minutes later, we were finally directed to "Special Problems", a line roped off and completely inaccessible to those of us with said "Special Problems". Standing in front of us was a couple arguing about whether or not she'd booked a flight to the wrong city.
My heart dropped, and I knew our flight was definitely canceled. Mechanical failure had grounded the plane, and a few moments later it disappeared altogether from the departures board.
After some wrangling (and assistance from the couple arguing in front of us), we were on a 3 pm flight to Philadelphia that would land about an hour after our original flight was scheduled to arrive. We enjoyed at 2 am family dinner and brunch at 11 with some of my dearest friends, putting our stressful day behind us.
Tomorrow: Chapter 2, Lufthansa
Crazy! U can't wait for part number two now! I am glad you were able to board and see family.
ReplyDeletewhat happened to the days when air travel was glamorous!
ReplyDeletei'm glad you finally worked everything out :) can't wait to hear more about your honeymoon!
thank you for your sweet comments on my blog. loving your stories as well.
ReplyDeletexo-kris
It only gets more ridiculous from here! But if you are still holding hands at the end of a very terrible, no good day, you know you've got a winner!
ReplyDeleteway to utilize that bail out money, united...
ReplyDelete