ASK Musings

No matter where you go, there you are.

Daily Archive: 21/12/2008

Sunday

21

December 2008

0

COMMENTS

Who do I know in Utah, and why are they calling me at 4 on a Sunday morning?

Written by , Posted in Adventures

It is 12:45PM, and I should be on a flight from JFK to Oakland. Before I went to bed last night, I checked online, and my flight was scheduled to leave on time. I tried to fall asleep, since the car was coming to get me at 6:15AM.


At 4AM, I woke up to a weird sound – I realized a little too late that it was my phone, with a call from Utah. I should have realized what that meant, but at 4AM, with fewer than four hours of sleep in me, I was a bit fuzzy. However, my instinct was to check my e-mail on my cell phone, and I saw a subject line – “Your Cancelled Flight.”


Ruh roh.


I signed on while also calling Jet Blue. I was told by the nice automated voice that my wait time was longer than thirty minutes. D’oh! I clicked on the e-mail and was told I could try to rebook on a later flight. I kept trying, but no flights were available. Utah called me back while I was still on hold with Jet Blue. Jet Blue’s Headquarters are in Salt Lake City, and the call was them letting me know my flight was cancelled. That direct call got me through to a reservation agent much quicker, and Joan started giving me options.


The first? A flight tonight connecting in Boston. Considering my flight was cancelled due to weather that was moving up the East coast, that seemed like a less than ideal option. Thankfully, my parents live near three (four, if you count Sacramento) different airports that Jet Blue flies to, so Joan checked and got me the very last seat on a flight to San Jose, leaving tonight at 6:30. The snow has stopped here, and the rain is supposed to clear out by three or four this afternoon, so hopefully this flight will actually leave on or close to schedule.


Amazingly, she was also able to get me a window seat in the EXIT ROW. Score.


Unfortunately, this means that my plans for tomorrow have to change – I was going to see a couple of friends – one at home, and one in San Francisco – but since I’m losing nearly a full day with my family, I’ve decided to cancel. That’s okay – I know my friends understand.


I hope the rest of you are having fewer delays and troubles with your travel. If you can, please cut the folks at the airport some slack. They’re dealing with hundreds of frustrated travelers, and they aren’t the ones who decided to cancel or delay our flights.


This will be the last entry until I’m back in NYC next week, so Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas!