I think I've almost recovered from my vacation. Don't get me wrong, I still have some unpacking to do. There is still laundry to do as well. But I'll get to that stuff later. Since Itchy is currently on vacation I have even more free time then usual.
As if you haven't heard enough about American Airlines sucking, let's start with my series of flights (all with AA) back to Minnesota. My first flight of the day was delayed because of rain. Not the heavy rain that you can't fly in. This was a moderate downpour but nothing that should have delayed us. The problem was that to board the plane (which is tiny) you have to walk from the airport out to the plane. The locals did not want to walk out to the plane and risk getting wet. They stood outside under the overhang and waited until the rain stopped. The brave few that risked melting in the rain screamed about it while we boarded. One in particular was especially begging to be punched in the face. She happened to be right behind me. Screaming at me to move faster because she was getting wet. God forbid. I was standing outside too. With no umbrella. Huge surprise here, but I was getting wet too. I couldn't move any faster because the people ahead of me weren't moving. Shut the hell up lady. I purposely walked up the stairs as slowly as I could. After all, they were wet and I needed to be careful. Wouldn't want to slip. After the rain stopped and every was finally in their seats we were able to take off 20 minutes late.
We land in Puerto Rico (you all know how I feel about Puerto Rico). It's nearly 9 am. My next flight isn't until 1:45 pm. This is a dreadfully long time to spend in any airport but in Puerto Rico it's almost an eternity. Nothing fun happened. I read a book, played some Nintendo, and people watched. Around 1:00 pm I notice that my flight has been delayed until 2pm. Then at 1:40 when we are suppose to start boarding it gets delayed again. Take off is now scheduled for 2:45 pm. Fine. Whatever. It's finally time to board the plane. This takes forever because it's a bunch of Puerto Ricans. We pull away from the gate at 3 pm. Then at 3:30 pm we pull back up to our gate because the plane has a small computer problem. It's going to be a ten minute fix. We are to remain seated with our seat belts fastened.
We sat there for almost 2 hours. We were not offered any type of explanation at all. We were, however, reminded several times to remain seated with seatbelts fastened and our chairs in an upright position. You know, since we could take off at any time. With no warning. From the gate.
We were suppose to land in Miami at 4:30 pm. We landed closer to 7 pm. At least the pilot had tried to make up some time, we did arrive earlier than expected. But because of that they didn't have a gate for us. So we circled the airport at a ridiculously slow pace until there was a gate ready. I didn't get off the plane until 7:40 pm. I had to get all the away across the airport to get on my next flight, which was already boarding and scheduled to leave at 8:15 pm. I had to run. Like an idiot. Every single one of the departure boards was saying that my flight was boarding. I got to the gate at just after 8pm. No one was boarding. They were all sitting, reading, eating, etc. But there was no boarding. It crosses my mind that I missed my flight. These people must be on the next flight leaving from this gate. I go ask the man behind the desk. Nope, I didn't miss my flight. It's been delayed for an hour due to the weather. He had JUST updated the departure boards. I ran for nothing. Bastards.
I called Itchy to vent and let me know that I was finally in America. I tried to call the car rental place but there was no answer. I called the hotel to let them know I'd be late. Then I wait.
The weather clears up and we take off. I get to Minneapolis at midnight. I've been up since 5 am. I'm really tired. I collect my luggage and head off to the rental car place. That was easy enough except, I really didn't need or care to be asked 20 times if I wanted to upgrade. Can I please just have the car I reserved? I reserved a small car because I wanted a small car. Granted, I hated the car I got (it didn't have power windows, call me lazy, but I like power windows) but that was my decision.
I drive off in search of my hotel. Finally find it, but they really should make a bigger sign. I walk in, tell the guy I have a reservation. He enters my name and then tries to push me over the edge. Tells me I have no reservation. I am late. They were overbooked. They had to give my room away. I don't think I even said anything to him. Just stared at him waiting for him to say that he was joking. When it became clear that he wasn't, I explained that I had called and told some lady (I actually had her name, but can't remember it now) that I would be late. He goes back to the computer and types for a while. He doesn't look happy. I can't blame him. I wasn't very happy either. He comes back and says that he has secured a room at a different hotel for me and that they would honor the price I had booked through Priceline. Big sigh of relief. His direction to the new hotel were crappy (take a right and then look for the tall building, not sure if this guy had ever left that particular hotel before, but there are many tall buildings in Minneapolis) so it took a while to find it. But I did. Got checked in and up to my room at around 2:30 am. I dropped dead at that point.
To be continued...
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