[bstone]

I go to school in Boston. Booked a flight last month for a trip home (suburban Chicago) for Thanksgiving. I just got home, here's what happened during my flight.

* Fly from Boston to Detroit- leg 1 completed perfectly

* Get to the gate in Detroit for the 46 minute flight to Chicago-Midway

* Flight is delayed due to bad weather in Chicago

* Flight is cancelled due to bad weather

* All other flights going to Chicago that night are cancelled

* I inquire about a flight to Milwaukee, a 45 minute drive from where we live. There is a flight available, so I run over there (other side of airport)

* Fortunatly, flight has one seat available. I get it. Hurray!

* I get to my seat, take off my jacket and place it under the seat in front of me. Put my small backpack behind it.

* Closed me eyes and took a short nap

* During the nap I recall hearing the woman in the chair in front of me call over the flight attendant and tell her "I found a jacket from the last fight. Here ya go." The flight attendant takes the jacket, bring it back to the gate (plane was still at the gate in Detroit)

* At the end of the flight I get my pack, look under the seat and behold! my jacket is missing

* I inform the flight attendant who apologizes and tells me to go to the baggage claim info to report a missing item

* While there, it turns out my checked bag never made the transfer from the origional Chicago flight to the Milwaukee flight, and it still (as I write this) in Detroit. I am nervous about that bag as it has all my biology and genetics text books (I'm a biology grad student)

In summary, my origional connecting flight home was cancelled, my jacket lost and checked bag is missing. At least I am home, with mom and dad and my dog.

[nate_02]

Sorry to hear that, I hope you get everything back. A couple weeks ago, I had to pick up a friend from the airport because his jacket was stolen in Texas which had his car keys and house keys.

[Rolling Bones]

Travel only with carry-on and chain it to your wrist.

[iMOTOR]

Originally posted by bstone:
* During the nap I recall hearing the woman in the chair in front of me call over the flight attendant and tell her "I found a jacket from the last night. Here ya go." The flight attendant takes the jacket, bring it back to the gate (plane was still at the gate in Detroit)

Were you conscious or dreaming when you heard that?

[MrForgetable]

Originally posted by iMOTOR:
Were you conscious or dreaming when you heard that?

one of those half conscious/half non conscious moments. you hear it but you don't respond to it because in your head, it means nothing to you.

[hoytt]

Which airline did you fly?

I've flown both United/United Express and US Airways/US Airways Express to the US and haven't had much trouble with them/

[The Oracle]

Try being on a plane leaving Baghdad as rockets are fired at it and it manuevers to avoid, dropping flares and climbing steeply. That is the flight from hell.

[tooki]

I don't think that any airline offers such things.*

tooki

*What I mean is: don't derail the thread.

[ManOfSteal]

Southwest Airlines?

[nate_02]

If you fly midwest, you get a chocolate chip cookie baked fresh...yummy.

[webcookie]

Oh man, that totally sucks! I hope you get all your stuff back. If I were you, I'd have some very strong words for that airline.

I'm always so paranoid about flying because I think my stuff will get lost. Even though the only flights I've taken recently are direct from New York to Florida, but still.

[bstone]

UPDATE: the airline called this morning to say they found my checked bag and are sending it home and need someone there to sign for it. This is teriffic news!!

[The Oracle]

Originally posted by bstone:
UPDATE: the airline called this morning to say they found my checked bag and are sending it home and need someone there to sign for it. This is teriffic news!!

You are entitled to reimbursement for each day you went without your bags.

[bstone]

For those who want to know, it was Northwest Airlines.

[CMYKid]

Originally posted by The Oracle:
You are entitled to reimbursement for each day you went without your bags.

not much... and if they never do find them you get about $10 per pound for compensation... g/f lost a good $8,000 in clothes that way on Air France...hello homeowners insurance.

[Freeflyer]

Sorry to hear about a bad trip. Just to make you feel better, here's one I prepared earlier.

Business flight to Pointe Noire in the Congo a few years ago.

Out of the house sometime before I went to bed.

Manchester (UK) to Paris at oh dark thirty.

Strikes at Paris mean 13 hour layover, and all public transport is on strike, so can't get out of the terminal.

Flight to Abidjan (Ivory Coast) overnight.

12 hour layover in Abidjan, no visa for the country, so not allowed out of the un-air conditioned terminal. Fortunately had cute female colleague with mini skirt and attitude who sweet talked the head of security into letting us out for a few hours so we could go into the markets and get some lunch.

Flight to Cotonau.

Flight to Duoala.

Flight to Brazzaville.

Arrive at 01:30. Company has finally booked a hotel room and got us out of the airport. However, the next flight leaves at 06:30 so not much point in sleeping, so we go to the bar and have a few relaxing beverages, while being accosted by the local working girls. Nice hotel......

06:30 puddle hopper flight to Pointe Noire, then rattly old van to the docks.

I spend all day doing a full vessel calibration of the ship's navigation systems, finishing at 11:30pm. No time to go to the bar. I get 3 hours sleep, and then it's my turn for a 6 hour gangway watch.

Oh yes, and it was my birthday.

Happy birthday J.

I won't go into the trip where the breakdowns occurred in a row, but they included:

Boeing 747 which trashed an engine at rotation and cooked all the tyres trying to stop before the end of the runway. A prop plane that failed an engine in flight. It only had two. Interesting landing. A bus that broke down and cooked the driver when he tried to fix a coolant leak (lots of steam and boiled skin), and the helicopter that turned back halfway with an engine problem. I'd never been so glad to finally get on board my ship.

I loved West Africa. You couldn't pay me enough to go back.

J.

[glideslope]

Geeze Man, at least you arrived in one piece. Remember, low fares bring low expectations. It's going to get A LOT WORSE Next time fly CO. They are my "personal" favorite.

[yodog]

well, sounds like thanksgiving didn't go so well....

[Arty50]

Originally posted by The Oracle:
Try being on a plane leaving Baghdad as rockets are fired at it and it manuevers to avoid, dropping flares and climbing steeply. That is the flight from hell.

Or go down to South America and get on a plane that makes Methusela look young and is held together with duct tape. And then take said plane across the Andes in a storm front, which is creating turbulence that makes the plane suddenly rise and drop in 4-5 foot jerks, thus causing people to break out the barf bags and **** their pants. I was on just such a plane this past September. Fun stuff.

But compared to the stories I've heard from friends who have flown on Aeroflot, even that's nothing.

[bstone]

Northwest called this morning and asked me some questions. Then asked if I had a dollar amount attached to the jacket and the things in the pockets. I said I thought $50 would be fair. It was a nice ski jacket with a bunch of old lift tickets on it, with a bit of sentimental value, but I also had this brand new bike head hood/insulator in it which cost $30 called a baklava

So the woman agreed, said it was nice I wasn't trying to milk them (I'm honest) and that was that. I miss the jacket, but oh well. Like all things, this too shall pass.

[Weezer]

This was my day before thanksgiving:

Arrive at the airport at 12 for my 1:45 flight, check in, go through security, sit and chill. 1 comes around, I look up on the board to double check the gate, "CANCELLED" wtf??? So I go and talk to the lady and she was confused, types on the computer, and yup, us air randomly cancelled my flight bc not enough tickets were sold. Fantastic, so they move me on a flight that leaves at 3:45. I move terminals on a shuttle bus and sit my ass down and wait. 2:30 rolls by and my flight is delayed. great. We do not board the plan until 6. So we board the plane, push off, and.....sit on the runway for an hour and a half. total time at the airport 7.5 hours. alksdjflaksjdf

[Timo]

Originally posted by bstone:
I go to school in Boston. Booked a flight last month for a trip home (suburban Chicago) for Thanksgiving. I just got home, here's what happened during my flight.

Drove to Chicago for Thanksgiving from NYC. People think it's crazy, but with all the problems flying into Chicago this time of year, driving is a walk in the park.

BTW if you were flying on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and had you made it to Midway the traffic tie-ups were up to three hours out to the 'burbs.

[Twilly Spree]

.. well it sounds heck of a lot better than an 'Airplane flight TO hell'!

[milkmanchris]

Originally posted by Freeflyer:
Fortunately had cute female colleague with mini skirt and attitude

Any Pics ?????

[AB^2=BCxAC]

Originally posted by Freeflyer:
I loved West Africa. You couldn't pay me enough to go back.

J.

When they make a movie of your life, I'll be in line to buy a ticket. Count on it.

[Freeflyer]

Originally posted by milkmanchris:
Any Pics ?????

Sorry, not without permission and I left that company a few years ago. She was a cutie, with a great attitude. Working on a boat full of guys can't have been easy, but she could give better than she got.

J.

[Freeflyer]

Originally posted by AB^2=BCxAC:
When they make a movie of your life, I'll be in line to buy a ticket. Count on it.

Thankyou, what a nice thing to say. I've tried to write about it occasionally, but the problem is that you end up with boring months at sea surrounded by a week of madness. There were some amazing times, and I got to see things and go places that most people never get to see. Had to pinch myself occasionally and try to mentally take a 'Kodak moment' as you couldn't always take a camera some places.

Cheers,

J.

[crazyjohnson]

Solution: always fly Southwest, no connecting flights, always carry on your sutff. Those are the rules that I live by.

[bstone]

Update: I got a check for $50 from the airline today. Promptly deposited into the bank.

[Super Nova]

Originally posted by bstone:
Update: I got a check for $50 from the airline today. Promptly deposited into the bank.

only fifty bucks? god, these airplane companies are so cheap. Especially American. If you're ever taking a vacation to florida or someplace like that, NEVER take American. If you do, current side affects are: insanity, murder, or suicide.....

SuperNova