Originally Posted by
GimmeLegRoom
When they announced the hail damage they told us we might be another hour on the tarmac - the plane went ballistic, but what can you do? Fortunately yes, we got another gate, I made the GRU flight, and only 2.5 hrs late departure in the end. My fun didn't stop there though, we had a very last minute fly around in GRU which is quite a ride in a rear facing seat
I was on UA YVR-ORD afternoon flight on May 3. We were going to land at 8 pm, but we had a last-minute fly around because heavy rain and lightning suddenly enveloped the airport. We landed at 8:15, just as another heavy downpour started. The hail came down a few minutes later. We were on the tarmac for 2 hours and 15 minutes before a gate opened up at B7. Got off the plane at around 10:30.
I was on the same GRU flight described by GimmeLegRoom, as were two others from the YVR plane. When we got to the C concourse, the GRU flight was just starting to board. Aircraft door closed at around 11:30 pm.
On the GRU leg we had a fly around as you describe. Apparently, another plane was on the runway. Two fly-arounds in one trip, once at ORD, once at GRU! Once we landed, I was happy to be safely in Sao Paulo, though 2.5 hours late.
My checked bag did not arrive. Same for the other two passengers from YVR. I had to do some shopping today so I could have clothes for a meeting tomorrow. Bad planning on my part to check my bag, but I had to pack for a multi-stop trip including Vancouver, Sao Paulo, and Rio.
I don't know why the bags didn't come through even though there was an hour between the two flights. The GRU bag agents were pleasant but slow. Not sure why they couldn't get our info from the barcodes on the baggage tags. The UA website still lists my bag as missing. I would think that they should know where the bag is located but obviously they don't. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow morning.