Lady in Spain

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I was so hoping so have a nice, relaxing travel back home…alas, it was not meant to be. My day got off to a rough start with the fact that the service that was taking me to airport got me there at 8:00, roughly an hour and a half before my flight. I usually like to be at the airport 2-3 hours before my flight. So I was speeding to the check-in desk and then later through security. By the time I got to my gate they had already started the boarding process.

However, our flight was scheduled to take off at 9:30, at we were still sitting on the plane at 10:00. At 10:15 the captain announced that the plane had mechanical issues and that the repair was estimated to take at least 2 hours. So we all had to be taken off the plane again along with our luggage. Now, in Spain, a lot of times you have to take a shuttle that takes you to your plane. This meant that I had to carry my carry-on up and down several flights of steps. It was no cake walk.

Since we were now 2 hours delayed, this meant I was going to miss my connecting flight in Charlotte. Unfortunately, the employees were of no help because they said they couldn’t do anything about connecting flights until they had a new estimated time of arrival. Suffice it say that there were some very pissed of flyers (myself included). They were nice enough to give us vouchers to buy snacks at the cafeteria so once I did that, I sat down on the floor and waited. Ultimately, our flight was delayed 5 hours. They announced that those of us that missed our connecting flights would be helped once we arrived to Charlotte. This meant that I had no idea whether I would be on a flight home when I arrived to Charlotte or if I would have to wait until the next day.

Now, let’s talk about the plane we were on. It was old. It was no wonder that there were mechanical issues. Also, this was the first time I’ve flown a 9 hour flight that didn’t have screens in each seat for people to pick their own in-flight entertainment. There was just one regular sized screen towards the front section of the plane. Then the movies they played were old. My face must have been one of sheer denial when I saw the beginning credits for SPEED began to play. I mean, I love Sandra Bullock, but maybe something recent like The Blind Side would have been a better choice. I wasn’t really interested in any of the films they played and I couldn’t really sleep because I was so anxious about getting a connecting flight which meant that the flight felt like an eternity to me.

Finally, after 9.5 hours of flying, we made it to Charlotte. However, we weren’t allowed off of the plane because the line at customs was completely full. So we waited another 20-30 minutes to be left on the plane and were greeted by a customs like that took about 30 minutes to get through. Once we all had our luggage, we were all running to the counters to see about our connecting flights. There were so many of us and we were causing such a commotion that a Charlotte employee asked, “Where are you all coming from?” To which we all screamed, “MADRID!” Finally, they had to make a separate area for us at the check-in counter. When it was my turn, the guy informed me that they had rebooked me for an 8:00 flight…it was currently 7:30. He proceeded to tell me to hurry because they were probably already boarding. I proceeded to run like a mad woman to security. I made it to my gate at 7:50, sweating and panting, only to be informed that my flight was delayed an hour.

Thanks to the delay, I was able to call my parents and inform them that I would finally be arriving in Maryland around 10:20…6 hours after my original arrival time. Thankfully, the flight from Charlotte to Baltimore was only an hour. Granted, by the time we landed, I had been awake for 22 hours, so even 5 minutes felt like an hour.

This whole experience may have put me off US Airways for life. I had never had an experience like this and I’d really prefer not to have a repeat. I must say, though, that after all of that mess, I have never been so insanely happy to finally be home.