I'm sitting on the floor outside of one of these exclusive "worldclubs" in the Detroit airport...stealing the free wireless they have inside. The rest of the airport is 5 bucks an hour. I feel like some kind of super-genius. I've beaten the system. I look very peculiar on the floor in a hallway when there's plenty of chairs 50 feet away.
Never trust the nice airport people to tell you where you need to be. Double and triple check with the screens and a few other people at the computer.
Back up: I flew out of Boston early this morning to Laguardia in New York. My connection time was less than 40 minutes, so I was in a hurry to figure out where to go. Instead of fumbling around the screens looking at numbers, I gave my tickets to the nearest "I can help" person, and they told me exactly where to go. Ahh...problem solved. I can relax. I find my gate. I get in line to scan my ticket.
It turns out that on the other side of the airport (15 minute walk away), there's another flight leaving for Detroit at the exact same time. That one is my flight. Mr. "I can help" was dead wrong, and I'm screwed. I can't blame anyone because technically, it's my own stupid fault. I'm not the type that can "raise holy hell" and complain till I get what I want. So I let them put me on standby for the next flight to Detroit.
I get to my new gate, and I notice that there's 5 other people on standby, and this flight looks booked. Next one's not till tonight. And I've gotta be a groomsman in the wedding tomorrow at 11 AM. Here's where I pull out all the stops, telling the lady about the wedding tomorrow, the bad directions I got, how I don't fly very often, and I just HAVE to be in Roanoke, VA before tomorrow. It wasn't really acting, I was pretty panicked.
I'd never flown first class before, and probably never will again. It's sweet. All the free food and drink you want, and the seat feels like a La-Z-Boy. Thanks be to Debbie for bestowing her good grace on me.
Not out of the storm yet, I'm told there's only two flights out of Detroit for Roanoke today, and I've already missed number one, so I'm only on standby for the second. Thinking fast, I call my mom and give her all my itinerary information. My mom is the type that will raise holy hell when anything goes wrong. She always gets free stuff and perks from restaurants and hotels and whatnot.
I ask her to call Northwest and see what she can do about assuring me a spot on that Detroit flight to Roanoke. Mom obliges.
Unfortunately, it's not taking off till a little before 10. I've been in the Detroit airport for over 3 hours, and I can't tell you how good it feels to be one of the only ones not paying for the internet. 4 more hours to go.
So my mom has to pick up my tux before they close, and she'll be picking me up a little before midnight. I will make it to the wedding. Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone Posted by Sachiko (Member # 6139) on :
So, next time I have airline trouble, can I call your mom?
Happy Wedding-ing.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
Northwest (especially at DTW) is pretty good about getting people on flights. My mom and I were traveling and nearly got stuck, but I went to a different gate (instead of the Customer Service area) and the nice guy there got us on the plane.
And free bumps to first class are awesome, especially when crossing oceans.
Good luck with everything! I hope the wedding goes off perfectly!
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