I just returned from my trip to Spain/France, and I thought I’d share our air travel nightmare. This trip was my 11th or 12th to Europe, and my sister’s first trip. We flew American (with partner flights on Iberia). It was an adventure, no doubt.
I started the trip on 4/7 with a simple flight to San Diego, where my sister lives. We then flew to Dallas (on American), with the plan to fly to Madrid (on Iberia), then in Seville (on Iberia). In Dallas, our 9pm Iberia flight was delayed by two hours. Finally we boarded around 11pm. The plane was making a terrible noise: a very loud thumping. We sat on the tarmac for about 10 minutes, then returned to the gate. We sat on the very hot plane (airbus, so no air vents!) for about an hour. Then they de-boarded us. By now it’s past midnight. We were told to stay nearby for news. After an hour, no news. So I went over to the American customer service desk to re-book. At first they told me to go to Iberia, since it was an Iberia flight. Of course THAT line was huge. But after explaining that I didn’t BOOK the flight with Iberia (I booked with American), someone was able to help me. It took a supervisor and a phone call and alot of prayers on my side! But the flight would be the following day at 5pm. With a tornado forecasted. And the eclipse happening around noon. Ugh.
So at 2 am we had to get a hotel and Uber. And of course we couldn’t get to sleep until about 5am, we were so worked up. Thankfully we had a later checkout at noon.
The new flight had no problems (except we lost all our great seat assignments and ended up in middle seats for 8.5 hours), and we made it to Seville about 16 hours later than planned. Of course we had to pay for the first night at our hotel in Seville, even though we weren’t there. I had messaged the hotel letting them know of the delay. I had used Booking.com, and they sent me a message saying I was a no-show and my reservation was cancelled. But I called the hotel and they held the room. Phew!
The rest of the trip went well. UNTIL…
Returning home from Paris, we flew to DFW. The flight was delayed. I had 25 minutes from touchdown to boarding! We still had to go through immigration, collect bags, and go through security. At each place, I asked for a “fast track” for people with a tight connection. Nope. I missed my connecting flight by about five minutes.
So I was re-booked for an hour later, about 6pm. My sister went her separate way home to San Diego. I needed to get to Phoenix (with a 2 hour layover) before my final flight home.
We boarded the flight to Phoenix on time, then sat. And sat. I watched the clock ticking as my two hour cushion disappeared. Finally, they de-boarded us around 7:30. Told us we could wait, or walk to the opposite side of the terminal to Customer Service) to get re-booked. Of course the line was long, with 100+ people trying to re-book. About 8:45 someone announces that they are boarding the plane! So we walk alllllllll the way across the terminal and re-board. Flight arrives in Phoenix around 10pm. I’ve missed the last flight home, so I was automatically re-booked for the first flight the next morning. Another night in an airport hotel. Ugh. And of course I arrived after the hotel restaurant closed. Dinner of airplane pretzels and my emergency Snickers bar. Too tired to do anything else!
The morning flight goes smoothly (thank goodness!). Finally arrived home. But my checked bag (with AirTag) is still in Phoenix. With 3 bricks of butter in it, packed in double ziplock bags inside Tupperware. I’m hoping I sealed them really well!
Lessons learned: always have a complete, clean outfit with you. Always have your toothbrush with you. Pack a couple extra days of meds. Have extra snacks. Get trip insurance. Don’t fly through Phoenix with butter in your checked bag.
BUTTER UPDATE: My bag was just delivered, and the butter is soft, but not melted.