OK, so I'm flying US Airways DEN-BOS through PHL because I want to save $220 over the direct UA flight. I'm in a hurry and time crunch, so I don't even try to standby for the direct BOS flight, as I'm an idiot and need therapy.

So, I get on the plane in to my comfy, *G exit row seat in Y and I get a nice little page to collect my crap and come to the front of the plane to sit in a big boy F seat. Note that US Airways doesn't know me from Adam--the last time I flew US Airways was like 1996 under my DM account and I've only used those miles to renew my WSJ subscription (good flight reading material).

So, I'm in F. It's noon, so I'm only drinking Bailey's on the rocks--a nice, I'm drinking, but not REALLY drinking, drink. We get to Ohio and circle. And circle. And circle. PHL is shut down. We are low on fuel. We land in PGH. We wave at the Lufthansa 747 that was supposed to go to PHL, but is parked out on the field, filled with miserable Germans with marginally better beer onboard. We go to the gate to refuel. We taxi. We wait.

So, after seven hours (in F), and several Bailey's later (nice enough to give three or four at a time at this point... poor Y... no cream for even ready money), we're now waiting on the tarmac at PGH. After two hours on the tarmac, the pilot decides to return to the gate so we can find food. The crew is near the end of their cycles. I decide to call US Airways CC and see if they can get me PGH-BOS. They get me fully rebooked (though no longer an E-Ticket... it's now a paper ticket), I get reticketed at the airport and bam... bulkhead to Boston. I get to my nice Doubletree Suite at about 12:30. So, almost 12 hours en route.

I'd also like to point out that not ONE passenger revolted, got mean, treated a crew member with a nasty taunt or tried to take any of my Bailey's mini-bottles. Cheers to anyone on that flight.

Ok, so that's an airline that doesn't know me, doesn't care about me and certainly didn't know about my mid-day Bailey's need. Compare that to my Ted experience on DEN-MSY, next posting.