Personal IRROP
 

I seem to manage a self inflicted IRROP about once a year....go the airport on the wrong day, book in the wrong month, etc. Anybody else do this? I had another one yesterday.

Booked on the 5:56 AM out of SEA to ORD. UG to F had cleared so I was all set.

With online check-in and no traffic early Sunday morning, I figured I could cut it close so I arranged for a 5:00 am downtown car pick up for my 5:56 flight.

Night before I set the alarm to 4 so I'd have time to shower and pack in the morning. To be on safe side I set a back up alarm for 4:15. (Lesson #1 - Always double check the AM/PM setting on your alarm.)

5:10 AM (45 minutes prior to departure), phone call from the driver wakes me from a deep slumber, "Aren't you going to the airport?"

Leap out of bed. Throw on clothes, throw stuff in a rollerboard, and I'm in the car at 5:15. 40 minutes to go. (Lesson #2 - Might be a good idea to pack the night before.)

I figure I can do online check-in from the car so they won't give my seat away. I've heard all the marketing messages.... "You can check in anytime within 24 hours of your flight." Turns out it was false advertising...should have been "anytime within 24 hours and 1 hour of your flight." 35 minutes to go. Now I start to worry. (Lesson #3 - Do your online check in early.)

Green lights all the way to the airport. Dash up to the counter at 5:38. Agents say "No chance. They shut the door 10 minutes ahead to insure an on-time departure." Me, "But I'm 1k and no checked bags." Agents, "We'll call the gate"...I wait..."You're seat in F is gone and they're shutting the door in 5 minutes. You'll never make it through TSA and the train to the N terminal, but if you do, they'll put you in coach." 14 minutes to go. I turn on the after-burners.

6 am so TSA should be empty..... wrong! (Lesson #4 - A lot of people travel early in the morning...even on Sunday).

Tap the boarding pass to the scanner. Saved by Pre-Check. (Lesson #5 - TSA Pre-Check is the greatest thing in air travel since flat-bed seats).

I hear the train coming and set the world record for a semi-controlled descent on an escalator. Train doors catch the back end of my roller board as I dive into the train.

Race to the gate. Agent is just shutting the door, and I slip in.

First time in Y in about 2 years. It's a bit like landing on strange planet surrounded by aliens, but there is no overt hostility. (Lesson #6 - I think Kettles might be disguising themselves as normal human beings.)

Seat is in the first row with a ton of leg room. Surprisingly comfortable. (Lesson #7 - Now I understand all the commotion when they took away E+ confirmed seat assignments at booking for the unlucky lower elite classes).

Order a drink. FA pulls out a credit card terminal. .... I put on my best Thurstan Howell III DYKWIA accent, "Nonsense, why I've never paid for a drink in my life!" FA rolls her eyes, and then I remember the wad of dusty drink coupons in my passport case. Surprisingly they have not yet expired and seem to satisfy the FA. (Final Lesson - A Bloody Mary sure tastes fine at 6am.)

Only one other guy has beat your record, in an airport, and that was O.J.!

Thanks for a GREAT Monday morning read!!
:D
Dave

Years ago, a colleague arrived at STL for a flight home. Not seeing his flight number on the departures board, he approached the ticket counter to inquire. TA's response: "Sir, your flight leaves from Louisville and you're in St. Louis."

I wish I could remember the airline. They felt sorry for him and rebooked him on a flight from STL at no extra charge.

Yeah, I can identify. About a month ago I was overnighting at GFK (Grand Forks, ND) and catching an 805a flight out of town. I planned a leisurely, under-control morning: wake at 545a, dress and pack, hotel breakfast at 630a, out the door at 700a, and it's a quick ten-minute drive to the airport.

I woke early, at what my watch said was 530a, so opened my laptop and read the papers and FT. No worries. I lie in bed a little past 600a. Finally at 610a or so I figure I have to get rolling... and it's then that I notice the time readout in the bottom-right-hand corner of my PC screen says 725a. Funny, how'd that get screwed up?...

But then I see the hotel alarm clock, which I always ignore, says 725a also. My watch had stopped at some point during the night, then gotten going again (low battery as it turned out). I am lying there in bed and my flight starts boarding in ten minutes, eight miles away.

I was out the door -- bedhead, no razor, untied shoes, and all -- in three minutes flat. Piled into my Avis car, no time to refuel, hit a series of red lights --rush hour in Grand Forks -- and get the car back to the airport at 740a. Up the steps to the two-gate departure lounge, I am the last man through TSA for my flight but the TSOs are friendly for once and help me through. I make the fifteen-minute window... just... and shave and brush my teeth in an airport bathroom at the next stop.

Hate when I do that.

Great story. I have one Q. What did you forget to pack? Even when I have all the time in the world, I often forget something...

Wow. Great read. For a 1K, you sure learned a lot...

Like the folks who get off the plane in Portland, ME when they're supposed to be going to Portland, OR.

Haha, last year I had my company TA book my ticket, a simple round-trip from EWR to BAH. The flight out was EWR-IAD-KWI-BAH. I thought the return was the same... but it was ACTUALLY BAH-KWI-IAD/DCA-EWR. They only checked my bag through to IAD in BAH, saying that they couldn't check it all the way through because the BAH-IAD was United and the other portion was Continental (pre-merger of course). I argued at first, but gave up after awhile.

Didn't realize till I got to IAD, where I futzed around for a bit before going to an agent and trying to drop my bag and collect my boarding pass to EWR. When I found out, I made a dash to the taxi stand, and there was a single taxi there waiting. I jump in and belt out "Take me to Reagan airport!" He is confused... I tell him, the OTHER airport here in DC. Well it turns out it is his second day on the job, he is from Afghanistan, and he has no knowledge of DC or DCA airport! Google Maps to the rescue, I use it to direct him to the airport and make it in time to check-in for my DCA-EWR flight.

The same thing happened before when I flew the ex-GF down to IAH to visit me... Turns out her return flight was actually out of HOU and not IAH. I u-turned it real quick when exiting the airport, picked her back up, and made a mad dash down highway 45 and got her there just in time - thankfully it was 6am in the morning, otherwise she would have never made it with the traffic in Houston.

Lesson learned Always double-check your itinerary for airport codes, especially when it is a travel agent or website making your booking for you!

wrong airport
 

I called Air France to confirm our flights from Lyon to CDG, they could not find our records, I inadvertently did not have my confirmation number, and after much unsuccess, modified my car rental and drove myself to Paris (The drive wasn't too long at 2.5 hours, but I wanted to avoid the result: An intense rental car drive into the heart of Paris on a Friday afternoon at rush hour).

Once I was back home, I realized our tickets were Lyon to Orly, and not CDG. Without the locator and not knowing my destination airport (duh) the agent was unable to find our tickets. A few lessons learned that day.

My other main screw up was checking in at the TAP counter from CDG for a flight to Lisbon - this time I had my confirmation paperwork - only to realize my ticketing was an expired reservation that never got ticketed. Fortunately, the flight had space and the last minute prices weren't too painful.

When things go awry internationally, especially when its your own fault, it can certainly be more stressful, these were in the days before I had an international cell phone, struggling with language barriers and different protocols, customs, etc....

For the first time in my life, I almost missed a flight this past spring. I had a 7:30am departure from LGA to YYZ. Set my alarm for 2am (I think) so I could hit snooze a couple of times, get up, shower, and then leave at 4 to do the subway/bus combo to the airport.

I wake up with a start and a feeling of dread because the sun is up. I look at my clock, and it's after 6. Of course I completely freak out. Jump out of bed, call a car service (thankfully there's one about two blocks from my place), throw on clothes, zip up my (already packed) suitcase, and run downstairs.

There's absolutely no traffic at all, I live very close to the Deegan Expressway, and the driver makes it to LGA in under half an hour. I made it to the gate about 10-15 minutes before we started boarding, but it cost me $50 for the trip.

The only other time I've had a similar experience was once in Montreal, when I was staying at a B&B and completely flubbed setting the alarm. When I woke up, I had a train to catch to Toronto in about half an hour. I ran out the door to the subway at Sherbrooke, jumped on the train, made it to the station, and boarded the train literally seconds before they closed the door and started pulling away.

Note to self: don't plan early-morning departures.

Haha. One better. T/A booked tickets for a group of 5 and were on my flight into MLB. They were commenting on how strange it was that they were booked on Delta and not AA, but didn't question it as they saw the screen saying Melbourne.

Once airborne, the enroute weather was terrible, which meant the F/As were sitting down the entire time. They made the announcement apologizing that they would be unable to complete their service due to the weather, blah blah, but it's only a 50 minute flight down there. They heard the time enroute and that elicited a collective F/A call button from the group scattered in the back.

Felt bad for those folks somewhat, as they were nowhere near where they wanted to go, but I really wanted to ask them, "well didn't you look at your itinerary?"

With or without gloves?

There is an anecdotal story about a couple on their honeymoon who boarded a flight to Panama City, Florida instead of their intended destination in Panama. They arrived in Florida immediately before the airport was shut down due to an approaching hurricane. "For better or for worse..."

Just my travel sweater.