11 Responses to “Cozy Chicks in Flight”

1. How about the flip side–the woo-woo airport moment? A few years ago I was flying from Boston to Philadelphia. I checked my bag curbside, and when I went in, I was so early that they stuck me on an earlier flight in mere minutes. When I got to Philadelphia, my bag was waiting for me. Go figure.

   See you at Malice!

   by Sheila Connolly on April 23rd, 2008 at 7:08 am
   
   

2. I was once put in a holding area (along with several other folks) for learning that our flight had been closed even though it was sitting right there, at the gate, with empty seats. I should also add that it was Christmas Day.

   by JB on April 23rd, 2008 at 7:26 am
   
   

3. My husband LOVES to travel, so we have stories up the wazoo. Let me see. There was the 11 hour Newark to Honolulu flight which I did with my 3 youngest kids. The toddler peed all over herself when we got on the plane, pooped over Chicago, pooped over California, and turned out to be one of those kids who is NOT soothed by Benadryl. She slept, oh, 20 minutes of the flight. Add in the excitement of mucho turbulence and the man across the aisle from me having a medical scare … oh, and when we landed, our bags were lost. Of course. And the kids had done such a fabulous job that I promised them the super special treat of room service when we landed, only to find our hotel didn’t offer it.

   And where was my husband, the travel-agent-wannabe, while this was happening? Oh, he was on a different flight, with one child. The eldest. You know, the one who could amuse himself?

   At least we made it out, though. That trip happened the day before a massive blizzard that socked the entire east coast. Truly, a departure time of just a few hours later would have left us stranded in airports.

   But probably the hardest trip was our return from China after adopting our daughter. We flew from mainland China into Hong Kong, fully expecting to have to stay there over the weekend. (International adoptions often mean you’re never quite certain when you’ll be flying home. Planning is a bitch.) But there was a flight to Newark that had room for us. Yay! But first, my husband wasted half an hour trying to call our travel agent back in the States, to see if we could change without losing money, all that. Never reached him. When I finally announced that I was flying home with the kids with or without him, damn the cost, he relented. We had to all be reticketed - took forever - then the airline gal had to RUN us through the terminal, using her pass to get us to the head of the line in Security. We stopped breathing while we waited at customs, then ran the rest of the way to the plane. Got on, they yanked the doors shut behind us, we were off.

   Then the fun began.

   Our new daughter had an ear infection, so she had to be upright the whole time, and had to be held by me. Nonstop. For 14.5 hours. Adding to the joy, was it was (to be polite) a super-crampy day for me, and since I thought we were only going to Hong Kong, I hadn’t packed an adequate supply of tampons. Oh joy.

   But when we finally landed, and passed our 4-hour layover in Newark, and went to get on the plane home, the most wonderful thing happened. We had to go outside to our plane. It was BITTER cold, and we were dressed for Honk Kong - light pants, short sleeves. I had only a light receiving blanket for the baby. This wonderful, wonderful man from Continental walked up to my husband and asked for his permission to wrap me & the baby in his own coat, so we would be warm while we were boarding. He was so sweet and thoughtful as he tucked his coat around us, and he had the most gorgeous blue eyes ….

   And I guess that’s the thing - trips from hell can test you, for sure, but they also give folks a chance to come through and be helpful, kind, and considerate. And that makes all the difference.

   by kris on April 23rd, 2008 at 7:52 am
   
   

4. Was on a plane once that flew into a gaggle of geese and blew out a motor but that was nearly as scary as the time we lost our then 8 year old son at Disneyland in sea of thousands. Suddenly a dozen undercover ‘Disney’ police swarmed our area in suits, sunglasses and talking into ear pieces looking suspiciously FBI-ish. Son was returned and hustled back into our care within 10 long minutes. It was surreal. Good luck with your travels!

   by wendy roberts on April 23rd, 2008 at 10:02 am
   
   

5. I have several nightmare journeys that I could relate, but right now my uppermost memory is that my luggage is somewhere in Terminal Five, three weeks and two days after I flew back from staying with my cousin in Berlin…

   by Rudolf on April 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
   
   

6. have several nightmare journeys that I could relate, but right now my uppermost memory is that my luggage is somewhere in Terminal Five, three weeks and two days after I flew back from staying with my cousin in Berlin…

   Now remind me again why I thought hearing travel horror stories would be a good idea?!

   Hope you and your luggage are someday reunited, Rudolf!

   by Diana on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
   
   

7. Wendy, that is truly terrifying. Thank goodness for the mouseketeers, eh?

   by Diana on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
   
   

8. JB, that’s awful! Christmas Day! I hate flying — but not because of the flying itself, because of the airlines — and the I-Hate-My-Job security goons.

   by Diana on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
   
   

9. Hey, Shelia, I once had a similar good experience. My flight was cancelled but somehow I was moved onto another flight that got me into LA two hours earlier than the other flight would have — granted I did stand in line for four hours before that miracle happened.

   by Diana on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
   
   

10. And I guess that’s the thing - trips from hell can test you, for sure, but they also give folks a chance to come through and be helpful, kind, and considerate. And that makes all the difference.

    That’s the truth, Kris. I’ve met some very kind, very helpful people in my airport travails. Sadly none of them worked for airlines, but hey! No, that’s not fair. I have run across a few very helpful airline employees.

    And I won’t think about the baggage handling people and the incident of the damaged guitar

    by Diana on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
    
    

11. I’ve had trips so freaky that you wouldn’t believe me. As a business traveler, and international traveler at that, I’ve got too many stories from hell.

    How about flying from Beijing to Chicago for 14 hours. Entering Chicago air space only to be diverted at the very last minute to Indianapolis because of a thunderstorm.

    No customs in Indie, so we waited on the plane out near the runway for 5 hours. Finally refueled, we arrived in Chicago at 10 PM. All the hotels were booked becasue the weather had grounded all the flights. All the flights the next day were booked. All the one way rental cars were gone.

    I finally rented a LOCAL car and left Chicago at 11:30 PM. I arrived at my home in St. Louis at 4:30 AM. Total travel time: 25 hours with no sleep. Does that sound like hell?

    by Wilfred Bereswill on April 23rd, 2008 at 11:11 pm
    
    

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