Frequent Flier Syndrome

I never really understood why frequent fliers hated flying. In my mind, it was always like "why would someone not like traveling to new and exotic places, trying new things, seeing new sights and of course who can ignore eating new cuisines." Last week, I understood why.. I saw the light.. I was traveling for some interviews in Austin, Texas from Ottawa and I realized that even a short flight like this one could make a person hate traveling. Let me give you a scene by scene description of the events that unfolded.

Thursday afternoon at 12:00 PM : I take off from work to catch a flight that leaves Ottawa at 3 PM headed to Newark, NJ.. Yes, there were no direct flights and I had to take a connection. I get to the airport and check in and was ready at the gate by 1:15 PM for the 3 PM flight.

2:00 PM: Announcement informing that flight to Newark has been delayed by 2 hours, it is now scheduled to leave at 5 PM. I think to myself that this shouldn't be a problem as I have 4 hours between my flights in Newark so i'm still good for my connection

5:00 PM: Announcement informing that the flight has been further delayed by an hour due to air traffic control issues. I go up to the attendant, she confirms that I should still be able to make my connection in Newark.

6:00 PM: We board the flight (i'm happy), we get out on the tarmac ready to take off.. Pilot informs us that we're stuck for another 90 minutes ON THE TARMAC because Newark has not given them permission to take off as they have too many planes landing and don't have time for ours.

8:00 PM: After the scheduled departure of my flight in Newark, we leave Ottawa and reach Newark an hour later...

9:00 PM: I get out of the plane and ask the attendant immediately if my plane to Austin has left. She nods with a false sense of comfort.. I ask her if there are any other flights I can take out because I don't want to be late for my interview the next morning. She informed me taht the 8 PM flight was the last one to austin and there are no other options or routes to get there that night. She then tells me to go stand in line at customer service so they can put me up in a hotel room.

9:45: I get to the front of the customer service line where I'm being helped by a woman who acts like she's concerned about what's happening to me.. she re-iterates the fact that there are no flights out that day and that the earliest flight she can put me on was at 6:45 AM the next morning, which gets to Austin at 10:00 AM.. a full 2 hours after the scheduled start time of my interview.. I accept my fate and ask her where they're putting me up for the night.. she checks with another superior agent standing next to her who shakes her head in disapproval.. here's the conversation..

Agent: "sir.. this is the part of the job I hate.. and I hate to be the one to break this to u but since you are coming from Canada, and since flights from Canada are not considered to be international flights, we cannot put you up in a hotel for the night.."...

This is when I lose my cool..

Me: "I've been patient and accepting of a 5 hour delay in my home city, accepting of missing my connection and accepting of the fact that i'm going to be late to my interview.. and accepting of the fact that thanks to you guys, i'm not going to get a job.. but now ur telling me that I have to sleep in an airport chair??"

Agent: "I'm sorry sir but that's policy.."

Me: "Well I don't give a damn about your policy, you are putting me up in a hotel room tonight because I need a place where I can sleep and shower in the morning.. Your agent at the door told me that i'd be put up in a hotel and I better be put up in a hotel or you will have to face legal action for distress and economic turmoil.."

Agent: "The lady at the door told you we'd put you up somewhere."

Me: "Yes she did."

Agent: "Let me see what I can do."

5 minutes later.

Agent: "Alright sir, here's your hotel voucher, you can go ahead and go straight, there will be a hotel shuttle waiting to take you there."

11:00 PM: I get to the hotel room and find out that the loving and caring agent did not attach a meal voucher to my hotel voucher.. wonderful.. hotel staff were nice enuff to let me order pizza.. i order a medium pizza, and gulp it down 40 minutes later.

Midnight: I finally go to bed so I can wake up in 4 hours and go back to the airport to go do my interview.

6 AM: Get to the airport, check in, get to the gate and find my flight delayed by 30 minutes once again..

7:15 AM: Flight to Austin actually takes off and we were told to expect turbulence.. (no sleep for Raj)

10:30 AM: Land in Austin, and my baggage surprisingly arrives safely. Get to the rental car and rive off by 11 AM. (3 hours after start time.

11:35 AM: Show up at the office for my interview.. they were very happy to have me and had all my interviews rescheduled to accomodate the travel mishap.. (yes, i had kept them posted throughout to make sure they knew what was happening.)

------- ALL THE GOOD THINGS HAPPEN IN AUSTIN------------

FLIGHT BACK....
More delays, more pain.. My flight out of austin was delayed by an hour by guess what.. Air Traffic Control in Houston.. Get to Houston 15 minutes before my connection was set to leave.. run across the airport and board barely on time.. which by the way was the best thing that happened to me in the airport all weekend.. get to newark and find my flight to ottawa delayed by 2 hours.. get to ottawa 2 hours later than expected..

i don't wanna go into more details, but let me conclude with this..

4 days, 5 flights, 5 delays, 2 hotel rooms, 1 overnight layover, 1 fight with Customer Service... All for 1 interview

so the next time someone says "you dont understand the pain of frequent fliers..", give them the benefit of the doubt..