UMTravels

Up at 5:03am — switchboard transposed my request for a 5:30am wake-up call.

Shuttle shows up at 6:30am — on time.

Long lines at security, and no first class or premier executive shortcut line.

At the gate with an hour and a half to spare. Great — until I glance at the reader board behind the desk an hour later to find…. FLIGHT CANCELLED. So — it’s going to be one of THOSE days.

No gate re-booking (which turned out to be good). All those with checked bags had to go to baggage claim  to grab and recheck those bags — me, I was first in line at the ticket counter back in the lobby — at least the security line had died down.

Re-booking took a LONG time. The joys of having an inter-line ticket that you have already checked in for. It takes an Alaska agent to actually un-check you in, so that the American agent can complete my re-booking. That was a 15-minute wait behind the counter with more and more people off my flight piling up behind me for the two agents that were doing re-booking.

So, instead of getting in at 4 something, I’ll be getting in at 6 something, and going through Chicago rather than Dallas. Damn. I was looking forward to the Continental President’s Room and in Chicago it’s Delta’s Crown Room, but only if you are travelling on an Alaska ticket — which I’m not anymore. Jeez.

Flight to O’Hare was flawless, except for once again drinking the first class cabin out of Glen Fiddich Scotch. Had (again) to switch to Dewars. Lunch was a fairly healthy salad with BBQ chicken on top. The fresh hot chocolate chip cookie was not so healthy. The old man next to me keep crossing himself at every bump, but it wasn’t until the got to O’Hare that I noticed his starched white collar — I just thought he was a nervous flyer — but I did love the mini of Bombay Sapphire he pulled out of his pocket to put with his 7-up. He was unaware that the booze is free in first class. Let’s chalk this one up to a two-fer. Man of the cloth AND nervous flyer.

Same food selection on both legs — though on the new itinerary they printed, one was listed as lunch and the other as snack. Guess these days, you are lucky to get a free meal even in first.

Two hour layover in Chicago with nothing to do but blog and check email. The other odd thing is that when I left the car at MasterPark in Seattle — I didn’t exactly know my return time, so I said 6pm (rather than the 4pm that is was) — of course, now it will be 6pm. Foreshadowing?

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