Today was a slight fiasco, but I hope the rest of the week gets much better.
I had my trip for today scheduled, even before having to run off for a family funeral yesterday. My Dad claimed he was fine and, to be honest, I needed some time away for myself. So I went.
Things… got messy.
I had hoped to non-rev to Seattle, but after I got home last night, it was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to get on the plane. So I booked a ticket. Even with my former-employee discount, it was… a lot.
Then I got to the airport only to find that all the parking lots were full. I wound up at what I think was the “West Lot,” which is far enough away that you have to take a train back to the terminal. So, delays…
I couldn’t get the automated kiosks at the terminal to recognize my boarding pass. It took intervention from the gate agent to get me signed in, but something weird was still going on.
But I got to the gate with time to spare. I went out to find something to eat (before a 5-hour flight) and wound up at the Blue Moon Saloon or something like that. One of the other people on my trip joined me.
We got back to the gate, only to get a text from my credit card company telling me they had approved a “high value” purchase.
Turns out I had entered what I thought was a $5 tip, and their system had interpreted it as a $500 tip.
I race back to the restaurant and get someone to help me. He acknowledges the error but says that he can’t change it and that his manager isn’t there now. He asked me to wait, but my flight time was getting close, and I couldn’t. He promised me that he would tell his manager and she would take care of it.
So I ran back to the gate only to find out that the flight was overbooked, that I didn’t have a seat yet, and that they were asking for volunteers.
I guess Karma finally caught up to me. When I was working for the airline, I actually wrote the overbooking algorithm we used for years (though I am sure it has long since been replaced.) But… I was on the wrong end of it.
For multiple reasons, it turned out. I shouldn’t have been able to buy the ticket in the first place, but since I had gone through the employee portal, it had gone through somehow. And it was an actual, paid ticket, not a typical employee standby. So, they had to accommodate me.
I got a $700 voucher (which almost covered my last-minute ticket; yeah, last-minute is expensive.) They put me on standby for the next flight, but I had a guaranteed ticket to get me to Seattle. Yeah, at 2am, but I would get there.
Fortunately, I got the last ticket on the standby flight. I got to Seattle a few hours after the rest of the group.
I read the book Dead Silence on the way over. Science fiction/horror. Really good. Recommended.
I got there and immediately had to dig in my luggage for my hoodie because it was much cooler in Seattle than in Atlanta. I got the shuttle to the hotel, checked in, and then joined the rest of my group for a few beers.
Our group was staying at the Cedarbrook Lodge. Really lovely place, but we were only there overnight.
Hopefully, all of my crisis is behind me. I’m looking forward to a week where I don’t have to do anything except look for whales.
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