Wondering why I haven’t posted to my blog yet this year?
Mainly because we experienced the most stressful travel kickoff in my entire
life. And yes, I did say We because this year I have my son Ethan travelling
with me.
It all began at check-in at the United counter in Austin. I
started the process but ran into a little snag with putting in my initial
information. The agent quickly stepped in and bypassed just about every screen
of information to print out our tickets and check out bags. She was incredibly
fast and glossed over everything. As I would later learn… this was a bad thing.
During that check-in I realized that I didn’t have a printed
copy of our Cambodian Visa. No problem, I had it on my phone. So after breakfast
we went to the United Lounge to use their printer. When checking in there, the
United agent was not really interested in anything other than mechanically
waving the boarding pass over the scanner to verify we could enter. Printing
done, we headed to the gate.
The plane was gone.
Panic set in quickly as the gate agent said it left a while
ago. Every piece of itinerary documentation said 7:30am. It was 6:50. Looking at
the boarding pass (which they quickly printed at check-in and neglected to even
look at when going to the lounge) it did indeed say an earlier time.
Missing the first flight of a 27 hour trip is catastrophic.
When I asked the United agent for help, her only response was:
“I can’t help you”
She proceeded to walk away after that cold and emotionless
statement. It would be a recurring theme every time I tried talking to United.
After a phone call to my wife and a few deep breaths, we
started to take control of the situation. There’s an American flight to SFO
that arrives just 40 minutes before the departure of our next leg. It’s a long
shot but worth the try. We run to the AA ticket counter and say “We need two
tickets to San Francisco… right now.”
We made that one fine and the connection in LA was rather
easy. Turns out it was the exact same plane so we got off, went to the
bathroom, and made a few more phone calls while waiting at the same gate.
For the flight from LAX to SFO we were in the last row. That’s
a problem when you have no time to spare. Ethan and I made a plan. As soon as
that seatbelt sign turned off we were going to throw elbows and get to the
front. The flight attendant was apologetic that she couldn’t make an announcement
to help us through so we knew it was up to us.
When that ding went off we bolted. Yes there was shoving,
apologies, and a 12 year old boy clearing a path in front of me like a wedge!
When we got to first class there was a lady staring incredulously at us. I
stared back with the look of “I don’t care what you think and I’m sort of happy
that I’m making you mad”.
“Ok son, welcome to San Francisco. We’re in Terminal 2 and
we need to get to International Terminal A. Get ready to run. Our first task is
to find the train.”
As soon as the door opened we ran.
Sprinting as fast as we could we found the train. When going
up what felt like an infinite number of escalators there was one part where
sliding doors were a little too slow for me. I gave it a power shoulder move
and knocked it off the hinge. Ethan looked back with wide eyes. “Too bad for
the door, keep going!” I said.
At the train entrance somehow both trains were there. We lucked
out and took the faster one. They both work, but the red line was better.
When we got to International Terminal A I could see our
plane. It was still there. That was the first ray of hope and gave me a
directional sense of where to go. “See that Ethan, go that way!”
Running to security I waved the boarding passes and said “I
have 10 minutes to get to A1”. They took us to the TSA check-in ahead of
everyone else.
From here, it’s obvious TSA has their own rules. I asked if
we could then jump ahead of others and got an agent with a halfway bored /
halfway annoyed look on his face. “You know you need to be here at least 1 hour
ahead of time…” Arguing would get me nowhere with him. I gave a quick “Yes
sir I understand that” and before he could say another word I was asking people
in the line for their help.
Through the kindness of strangers they saw our panic and let
us ahead. At the scanner, another line. This time a different TSA agent asked
how we were doing. It felt like the kind of question prompted more by TSA rules looking for suspicious people, and I knew I could exploit it!
“We’ll be a lot better when I get right there” I said
pointing at gate A1… within sight of the scanner. He looked at us and saw the
fear. “Ok, you can go through here” and we made it quickly through.
Running now down to A1 we see an empty gate with agents at
the counter. The look on their face was surprise and amazement. “You… You made
it?!? I need your passports, right now!”
Passports were somewhere in my bag. Things were jumbled in
the panic. I unloaded handfuls of receipts, boarding passes, and paperwork like a shovel pulling dirt from the earth.
Sifting through I found them.
When I saw the boarding passes print out… a sense of “we
might actually do this” hit me. She even had the foresight to check for our
bags in the 60 additional seconds we had before the plane was going to leave.
Unlike United which could not help me at every turn, Asiana staff were
tremendously helpful and caring even when their options were limited.
Shaking from fear turned into shaking from accomplishment
and amazement. After we settled into our seats on the flight from San Francisco
to Korea, I asked Ethan what he learned from this crazy experience.
“Never give up?”
With that I just about broke down but kept it together. “Yes,
Ethan you’re exactly right. Never give up.”
Looks like the first lesson this trip is mine.
Posts
