but the plane is not...
I get to the airport, quite ahead of schedule. Check-in and security go smoothly, with limited hassle. On to the gate… all is well, flights appear to be running on schedule. Europe, here I come! But wait, the 4:50 flight to Washington (IAD) has been delayed! Oh the humanity! It has been bumped back to 6:45 and there is no way I will ever make it to my 7:00 flight out of IAD for Frankfurt, Germany. Time to stop at the United desk and get a new flight plan.
New plan: 8:15 out of IAD to Munich, Germany for my connection to Toulouse, France (TLS). Okay, it will be tight, but I can make that work. I think I’ll relax, grab a cup of coffee, and Skype with my family for a little while. There is plenty of time before the PIT-IAD flight leaves.
Fast forward 20 minutes, I’ve checked the flight times online. Uh oh, PIT-IAD has been bumped back yet again. 7:40 this time. I’m not going to make my connection to Munich now. Damn, better go back to the desk.
The woman at the desk tells me to wait half an hour to see if the flight gets bumped up. I think to myself, “the only way I’m going to make that connection is if we fly through some sort of magic, time changing, worm hole.” I keep my thoughts to myself and do as she asks, time to wait again. Of course, the flight is not bumped up to an earlier time. To the contrary, it gets pushed back to 7:56. Now I can be absolutely sure I’m not going to make my connection to Munich.
Back to the desk… fingers crossed that they can find a new flight for me. After 20 minutes of waiting to catch the woman’s attention, she searches for a flight. What luck! A seat has just opened on the 9:59 flight to Frankfurt. It’ll be close, but with any luck I can make the flight to Europe. As long as the 4:50 turned 7:56 flight departure doesn’t get pushed back yet again and we leave “on time”, I’ll finally be on my way across the sea.
PIT departs at 8:00, another 4 minutes have been lost, but there is still hope if the gates are close to one another. At 9:03, the PIT to IAD plane has landed, in a couple of minutes we’ll be taxied into the gate. Man, this is cutting it close, I hope the next flight is nearby. Of course, the travel gods are laughing so hard they have started to roll out of their first class seats. The next gate is on the other end of the airport. Better start running!
I reach the gate just as they are preparing to close the doors. I’m the last passenger to board the plane, but I’ve made it. Now to find my seat. .. 17E… yuck. It’s directly in the middle of the row. I won’t complain though, I’m lucky I got on the flight to begin with.
Wait a minute! 17E is in the front of the Economy Plus section! I got a free upgrade. Thank you, travel gods, perhaps I’ve misjudged you. The extra leg room and cool dinner tray and TV screen set up are pretty sweet. Plus, I’ve made a new friend, Kyle. For the next 8 hours, we spend the time chatting, watching cartoons, and listening to music. Probably should have gotten some sleep, but who can pass up friendly conversation and watching cartoons? I know I can’t. It’s just too much fun!
The plane lands, it is time to get off and move onto the final leg of my journey to Toulouse. First, a stop at the passport check counter. I’m pretty sure everyone and anyone that has ever had a passport decided to fly today. The line is incredibly long and slow moving. Will I make it to my flight on time?
I’m finally through the passport check. On to the gate? Nope, on to security checkpoint 2. Apparently the US security workers don’t do a good enough job of checking travelers, so this airport decides to go through the bags again. Of course I set off the metal detector for some reason, the wand is passed over me, I get frisked. Ok, that ordeal is over, time to move on to the gate. I better hurry, there is barely enough time to make it.
Is this some kind of a joke? Where is Gate A9? Ha! Let me tell you where Gate A9 is… it is in what looks like a refurbished basement down a series of corridors, elevators, stairwells, etc. As you can clearly guess, I didn’t make it to the gate in time. Fantastic. Now what?
I am told that the flight has already left. Ok, where can I get a new flight to Toulouse? Well, apparently I have to go to the United desk in the B Gate area.
Ok, time to find the United terminal in Gate B. That’s odd. There is no United anything, let alone terminal, in Gate B. Panic starts to creep in. How am I supposed to get to Toulouse? I can’t even find the airline! I wander around some more, frantically searching for the United name. As the wandering around has gotten me nowhere, I decide to ask someone.
There is an employee at the gate of an airline I have never heard of in my life. He doesn’t have any passengers to deal with yet, so I’ll ask him where I should go. Success! There is a United Airlines area in the airport. Failure… it is outside the secure area. But I know where it is now. What a helpful and friendly man.
After another series of scavenger hunt style flight booking, it is time to go through flight security yet again. My bags are checked for the 3rd time in this series of flights, the metal detector goes off for the second time, and I get frisked yet again. Ok, on to the gate.
Finally, a gate that actually looks like it belongs in an international airport! I find a seat, pick up a carbonated apple juice, and relax until it’s time to fly. After such a long day, I’m glad I’ll be in Ambialet in a matter of hours.
This new flight arrives on time, departs as scheduled, and I land in Toulouse shortly after 6:00. Later than originally scheduled, but I’ve made it and my next stop is Ambialet. Miraculously, my bags have succeeded in meeting me at the pickup area. Now that took some serious skill and organization on the airport community’s part.
Off to Ambialet…
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