No good deed goes unpunished????

[gini]

I went away this past weekend for a mini-vacation. We left on Friday morning and had a short flight ahead of us. While waiting to board they announced that they were overbooked and had a few emergency requests for people to give up their seats.

If we gave up our seats and agreed to leave on the next flight, we would be given a round trip ticket for anywhere United flies in the 48 states - good for one year - transferable - no restrictions.

I looked at my other two friends and we agreed. We were given our free ticket voucher - lunch vouchers worth $36.00.

Someone whose Mother had just passed away came up and thanked us for giving up our seats.

Smug in our good deed (now rewarded) we went off to have lunch.

We got to our destination just fine and had a great weekend.

We had planned our return so that we would be back in plenty of time to settle in with junk food and drinks and watch the Super Bowl.

We boarded our plane scheduled to take off at 2:20 PM. We sat there......started to back away from the gate and the plane lurched.....enough that it startled all of us. We returned to the gate. There was an announcement that something was wrong with a sensor in the nose of the plane - but it could be fixed soon.

We sat on the plane and waited. Then they asked us to get off - NO WAIT - don't get off.....we are leaving........UH NO......GET OFF OF THE PLANE. We are all off of the plane now and they said they would announce when we could re-board. One hour goes by - the second hour goes by - we are now into the third hour and even though the plane is still at the gate - there has been no announcement.

We go up to the counter to find out what is going on. The answer was vague - they would see what they could do about putting us on other flights. Hmmmm.........We watch out plane being towed away from the gate............

Finally they put us on two AIRWEST flights with a change of planes----one was for a mere 25 minute flight - the last for one hour.........we agree. We take our flights - and no one told us that the walk when you change planes was from here to Denmark!!!

We arrive in Los Angeles - our hand luggage had to be checked (planes were too small for hand luggage) and it was the VERY LAST to come off of the beltway.

We go out to catch the bus to the car parking lot - and waited for one hour for our particular bus to show up. We finally get to our car and it was after 11:00 PM when I got home. I was supposed to be home no later than 3:30 PM. We realized that we could have driven home faster than those flights.

AND I COMPLETELY MISSED ALL OF THE SUPER BOWL...only got to see the one great Bud Light commercial at the beginning of the game...........

Well, yes, I still have my free airfare voucher and I did arrive home safely so I guess I should just stop complaining!! Thanks for listening????

[Randi]

Oh Gini, what an ordeal!! BUT, you can hopefully relax now, and you have still got your free voucher.

[lbaker]

Want to fly to Seattle to meet Slick & me? Actually, isn't there a huge PetTalker's meeting in the SW in the spring or early summer? Where was that? An animal park refuge place? I'll have to look at the Meetings thread to remember. (I must be having a senior moment )

[Tonya]

Wow! What an ordeal. Look on the brighter side, at least the noticed the plane's mechanical problem while it was still on the ground!

When my brothers were 12 and 14, they flew an escorted flight to Northern Canada. The escorts were just hired to walk them to the terminals.

Well, my mom goes to pick them up in San Fransisco, and they aren't there! She contacts the escort who swears she saw them off to the terminal on the flight from Vancouver to San Fransisco. The airlines give my mom a bunch of crap about how it is private information on where my brothers are.

So, my mom calls me hysterical of course. I was on the phone with the airlines for hours trying to figure out where my brothers were. The kept insisting that they don't give information on where passengers are. Finally, by about 3 am (she'd went to pick them up at 6 pm) they tell me that they'd overbooked the flight and my brothers are staying somewhere in Vancouver. But they can't tell me where. And they assure us that they'd asked my brothers to call and tell us where they were.

So, about 10pm the following night, my brothers called from San Fransisco airport. They were all giddy because at their age, they got to ride taxis, got to stay in a big hotel, had an unlimited room service allowance at the hotel, and got a flight to anywhere in the US. They said they didn't call us because they were afraid we'd say no. They lied to the airlines and said they'd called us.

We were so pissed!

[lbaker]

BOYS!! I bet they had the time of their life Tonya, and probably still talk and laugh about it. You and your mom must have been out of your minds!

[Tonya]

Yeah, we laugh about it now, but I remember that panic like it was yesterday. They are 19 and almost 21 now. We were mainly mad at my brothers because they were old enough to know better. But also, what airline in their right minds would bump minors?

By the way, a few years later, I read about a lawsuit in the newspaper about that particular airline bumping minors. They are no longer allowed to do that.

[Tonya]

Oh! BTW...I should scan the pics for you all. You'd laugh your butt off. It's like 3 rolls of film of two rowdy boys jumping on hotel beds, drinking soda, mooning the camera, flipping the camera off... They filled the bathtub with ice and soda and took a pic of it. They laid like fifty candy bars on the bed and took pics of eachother "swimming" in them... Apparently, they also wound up getting into a fight with eachother and hotel staff came to quiet them down. They asked where their parents were and my brothers said "Out to dinner."

[anna_66]

What an ordeal Gini

But your right, be glad you made it home in one piece and you have your voucher!

[Edwina's Secretary]

The world of aviation today...."if you've got time to spare, travel by air!"

[gini]

Tonya, now THAT is a story and a half. What do you mean they cannot give out passenger information to parents of two boys?

I bet everyone laughs now - but had anything happened to those boys - all hell should have broken loose. Thank goodness they cannot bump minors today. And what were they thinking even back then? Allowing two boys without a parent to be bumped and put up in a hotel?

I can imagine that the pictures are hilarious - but I also bet when your brothers have children of their own - there will be stern warnings and extra caution taken if their kids ever need to take a flight unescorted!

Boys!!

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by gini
We were given our free ticket voucher ...

Oh, oh, oh... pick me! pick me!! Come out this way...


Glad you're home (at last)!!!
Yeah.... I'm still workin' on that email....

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by gini
I went away this past weekend for a mini-vacation.

Had you gone on a longer vacation you would have missed the world series come next Ocotber....


Didn't I see you last night on A&E....The Airline program???

[gini]

Yeah, I was the one that was politely asking...

"Don't you think that after three hours you could tell us something???"

The really best part of the story is that originally I was sitting next to a woman that had the world's worst cold and the world's worst manners.......(hello, you are supposed to COVER your mouth when you do that!)

I was able to lose her in all of the shuffling around.

(zippie, I am patient.)

[Miss Meow]

What a nightmare.

I'm always amused that getting to the airport, running around, waiting, boarding, waiting taking off, waiting to land, waiting for baggage etc is always longer than the flight itself! Even worse when it all turns to gravy like in your case.

Now, young lady, who was your travelling companion? Anyone we should know about???

[gini]

Missy Meow....you aren't stirring up trouble are you?

I will never tell.............