Ok, so for those of you who care, and so i dont have to tell the same story over and over and over again, here is what happened.
we got stuck.
we were up and awake and running around bright and early on December 23rd…like 6 am early. We threw in the last of our stuff, ran a couple of errands and headed to denver.
1) it was snowing and slick, so driving was slow
2) we had to stop by and see Mimi (brandus’s grandma) and give her her presents.
we left in plenty of time.
we knew we would never be able to find a place to park the car at the airport proper, so we parked in the park and ride place.
had to wait ten minutes for the shuttle, and we are standing outside in the freezing cold.
double check itinarary: UNITED flight 2147 by US Airways.
ok, we go to check in. inside is a madhouse, so we stand outside (in the FREEZING COLD) for half an hour to check in curbside.
we are ON TIME. this is important, please make a note.
there is a family in front of us involving 3 people and 10 bags. no kidding.
the guy doing checkin is taking his own sweet time. maybe his fingers were frozen, it would explain a lot.
we get to him. we are still ON TIME. he searches, he looks at our itinirary, looks puzzled, searches computer, cant find us.
five minutes have now passed. my toes are numb.
“Oh! i see the problem. its our flight, but you gotta check in at US Airways.”
“WHAT?!”
US Airways is on the other side of the airport. we have to dodge the two hour long line from United to get to it. there is NO ONE checking in over at US Airways.
“Oh, im sorry, you just missed the time cut off.”
Great. we cant check in, so we ask what the hell we can do.
“Go ask United.” they can tell us there are three possible United flights we might be able to get on. 1:25, 3:35, and 6:45.
So, we go over to United (im leaving out alot of the frustration and sniping and general irritatibility from both of us), ask THREE DIFFERENT people what line to stand in…we are directed to the two hour long line.
literally, that line circled the entire west concourse of check-in counters.
we stand there for an hour. while we are standing, there is more sniping, many many phone calls to my family in georgia, phone calls to travelocity, United, whoever…
after standing in line for an hour, we ask one more person, just in case.
guess what? we are in the WRONG LINE. and we have missed one of the three possible flights.
and the line we were supposed to be in? never got past 20 people.
brandus yells at unsuspecting people, and i go over and apologize and sweet talk them into checking our chances of getting on the 3:35 flight. it looks ok, we might have a chance.
finally get to the front of the line (leaving out many many phone calls with family again, including my aunt, who is a flight attendent), they put us on the list, and tell us to go on and try to get on it. they also go on and check our baggage and assure us that it will be on the plane, even if we arent.
security check and a whole new line. gah.
standing.
standing.
“You have been selected for an additional security screening from TSA.”
*sigh*
the underwire in my bra set off the wand, so i got to be patted down. yay!
and the poor guy going through my stuff had no idea what half of the gadgetry i carry was for.
for the unready, my laptop case is a scary scary place. i have my laptop and cords, my external hard drive and cords, my mp3 player and headphones and cords, my cell phone (sadly no cords, it is now dead, as i packed those), random zip disks, notes for fic shoved everywhere, and the odd notebook or two.
seriously, it took him five minutes JUST ON MY CASE and the stuff in it. that wasnt including my little bag, my shoes, or my coat.
and now, on to the gate!
our gate isnt set up yet, so we set ourselves, our stuff, and our attitudes down at a gate close by.
brandus throws his irritability at one of the counter-people.
our chances of getting on the plane, “dont look very good.”
when he is off walking around, i go up to the counter, and sweet talk our way higher on the list. NOTE: join all frequent flyer programs. they like that.
the flight we are trying to get on is now delayed over an hour.
by the time it gets to the point they are about to start loading, they are bribing people to give up their spots. not us, although we probably would have if we had any money and brandus wouldnt yell and i wouldnt cry, but the airline. is bribing people.
lets see, if they are offering money and tickets to anyone willing to fly the next day, is there any way in hell we will get on that flight?
and all the people who were hoping to standby for that flight as well, stood by for the 6:45, so forget that one too.
so. we are in denver. we (thanks to my fabulous sister, Natalie) will be assaulting the airport again tomorrow morning, with hopes of getting there before dinner is over. we conned and complaigned our way into getting full refunds..well, at least, the option to reschedule our flight, off of United, as we will be going home tomorrow on AirTran.
*sigh*
Merry Fucking Christmas.