I think I have led a charmed existence - at least until yesterday - because I can't recall ever missing a connecting flight. Yesterday we flew LAX to JAX connecting at IAH on Continental. Our flight from LAX was late. We thought we might squeak by (because the original delay was supposed to be 30 minutes - we got an email alert and that was the delay posted after we had checked our luggage and arrived at the gate). But - for some reason - the crew was 90 minutes late (it was some kind of problem with our plane coming out of EWR - but I never did get the details). So we missed our connection to JAX (last flight out). Many other people on our flight also missed their connections. Note that the only possible reroutings out of LAX on Continental and other airlines were red eyes through places like EWR (I had to call Continental and a friend - who did a search for me - to find this out - because the single agent dealing with this at our flight had a line of about 30 people trying to find the same information).

Anyway - at IAH - the agent says not to worry - here's a hotel voucher and a meal voucher and a toothbrush. He said to forget about our checked luggage - it would meet us in Jacksonville the next day. I said no way. So we "found" our luggage. Took about an hour. I will note that the baggage people were very nice - and as efficient as possible under the circumstances.

The hotel for which we have a voucher is a "brand X" - and sounded like a dump. So we try to find a room on our own. No luck. Everything close to the airport is sold out. [Note to people at IAH - since the baggage area is in the process of construction - please move the hotel call-up kiosk to an area that has less noise than a Blue Angels Air Show.] It is now almost 10 pm. So we call for the hotel pick up. They say the van can be there in maybe 30 minutes. We decide to take a cab. The hotel is supposed to be minutes away from the airport - 2 miles. Maybe as the crow flies - but not by cab. It's a $20 cab ride. We arrive at the hotel - and find a long line of passengers from our flight "checking in". Eventually - we get assigned to a room on the second floor - and then discover there's no elevator - or bellman. Because we're over 60 - my husband has a big leg brace - and we have a lot of luggage - the desk clerk (she was nice) winds up giving us a handicap room on the first floor.

The room is (thank goodness) clean. But it is no Four Seasons (where we spent a week in Los Angeles). It isn't even a Holiday Inn Express. After a 5 minute shower - the clogged tub brings the water level up to about 10 inches.

We have a meal voucher - good for up to $12/person. And the hotel has a restaurant where just about everything costs - you guessed it - about $12. It's lucky the hotel has a restaurant because there isn't a place to eat within miles. The small restaurant is filled with the our fellow LAX/IAH passengers - a twilight zone type reunion for lost travel souls. Since we're all zonked - it strikes us as surreal. We'll know for sure we're in the twilight zone if we're there again the next night. Thank goodness for small favors. The food is edible. And the bartender pours a very good very large martini. The staff mentions that almost no one leaves tips (almost all of their guests have the $12 voucher) - so we leave a very large tip. They smile - and ask me to request everyone on Flyertalk to leave tips if they have to dine there (I told them I was going to write a message).

The reality of the room doesn't set in until the next morning - when I get up at 6:15. Luckily - I am not in the room long enough to make a detailed list of its flaws. We catch the hotel airport shuttle - which is a disgrace. Dirty ripped upholstery. My husband fastens his seatbelt. It is broken - and he is unable to unfasten it when we arrive at the airport. The driver appparently knows about the problem - and motions my husband to pull the straps loose - and wiggle out of it. Which he manages to do.

I guess we're lucky. Since we're paying passengers - and going to JAX - we have managed to get the first flight out to JAX (which had open seats even though it was a small commuter jet). We met other passengers who couldn't leave until later today - or - in some cases tomorrow - except by flying standby. So - since I'm home at my desk tonight - I have managed to avoid the twilight zone - thinking like Dorothy did in the Wizard of Oz - there's no place like home . Think some of our fellow passengers weren't as lucky.

Anyway - is this kind of typical of what happens when an airline puts you up in a hotel overnight when you miss your flight and it's the fault of the airline? Or are the experiences sometimes better - or worse? Robyn