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Oops I Did It Again (I Messed With My Flights)

This morning finds me downright embarrassed. The last couple of weeks I’ve just not been on my travel game (more about that to come) and last night I did something really dumb. I depended on the website flight status to let me know when my delayed flight was departing, and I missed my connecting flight for the second weekend in a row. And this time it was my fault.

It came about like this — I had a two hour layover in Charlotte on my rebooked Trip in Vain. I land and have an email waiting for me telling me my flight was delayed an extra hour. Great. So I head to the lounge and wind up making friends with several delightful people who were all awaiting their flights. I keep checking my flight status on my phone, not bothering to walk into the other room and check the monitors. A little before 10PM I walk with one of my new friends to our respective gates, arriving around 10 for my flight delayed til 10:39PM.

And discover that the departure time had been moved up and no announcement had been made. The flight was scheduled for 10:11PM now and had already closed boarding. The website didn’t reflect it. No announcement had been made in the lounge. I hadn’t received an email or call from US Airways. Nope. I’d just sat in the airport for 3 hours and because I’d chosen to wait in the lounge rather than the gate, I’d missed my flight by about 10 minutes. And I DO know better than to trust the website, but I was just really tired.

So tired that I just stared helplessly at the gate agent then begged for them to reopen the flight (and that I know they won’t do).

Last Friday night I was resigned as I was booking a hotel for the night. This Friday though I was in tears from frustration, embarrassment, and an overdue need to be hugged by family. Fortunately the Sheraton Charlotte Airport had last minute availability for only 3,000 points and a complimentary shuttle. So after a long wait in the cold, I finally arrived at the hotel where at least I got to experience treatment as a platinum which included a decent breakfast in the lounge (which fortunately was open on the weekends) and was a stay towards requalifying for status.

So just a friendly reminder when flying US Airways always be at the gate for delayed flights since they change departure times quickly and with no notice. If you have a story about (pointlessly) missing a flight, please share in the comments below!

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Heels First is the travels and tribulations of two twenty-something frequent fliers jumping into the world of travel. Join Keri and Jeanne as they tackle mileage runs, elite status, and of course–the perfect travel accessories.

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2 Comments

  1. Wow. This makes me feel better about Delta: they let me in *just after* they closed an earlier ATL-BHM flight than the one for which I was scheduled, and between their app and TripIt Pro I get a surfeit of notifications about changes and the like. I also got upgraded to business class for ATL-GIG Sunday night; the fact that I was able to sleep somewhat comfortably on an overnight flight made a huge difference yesterday and today.

    This is probably a case in which a complaint is warranted: no stern denouncements, just a “hey, it would be nice if you would let people know these things, especially since I spend truckloads of money for your services” email.

  2. This is not your fault, this is US Airways fault. Another bit of evidence, on my very long list, that they are abysmal. I have absolutely nothing nice to say about them.

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