My Worst Weekend of Travel
August 13-15th
Destination: Champaign, IL for the Central IL Metal Fest

So I am a member of a Yahoo! Group called Deathmetalhardcore. Been for years, probably for as long as I have had a computer. Mike, the one kid on the list was making his way from Switzerland to Chicago for this fest, so a bunch of us 'old timers' agreed to make it for the festivities. I booked my ticket probably about a month in advanced on American Airlines. I was going to travel Thursday after work, so I would have Friday to relax and basically do nothing until I had to leave for the fest. I call to confirm my flight and they tell me there are mechanical problems with the plane and they are waiting for a part. My flight which was at 5:55 pm, was now going to be pushed back until at least 6:45. Knowing this, I would not make my connection flight from Chicago to Champaign. I was able to switch my flight to Champaign to a later flight, I would get to Chicago with only a few minutes to spare, but it would have been do-able. So I'm waiting and waiting in the airport and they tell us around 7:00 that the plane that was bringing us to Chicago, was still in Chicago. They said now take off would be around 9. My flight to Champaign was at 9:30, so I had to reschedule. When I went up to talk to the assistant, she said, I could either come back at 6:00 am and take an early morning flight out, or fly to Chicago, stay overnight, in a room they wouldn't pay for, because now the delay isn't there fault, and take the first flight out to Champaign. After speaking with Mike about options, since he was my ride, I decided I would fly to Chicago and fly out Friday morning to Champaign. I pacifically said to the woman, will I get my bags when I get off of my plane and her exact words were, and I will quote: "If you don't go to Champaign, your bags aren't going to Champaign and you will get them in Chicago." While waiting in the airport for my flight, I booked my hotel room in Chicago, maybe about 10 minutes from the airport, but they had a room, so I didn't care. So I had a room, I had a new flight to Champaign, and I was going to have my luggage. Cool beans. The flight actually takes off at 8:45, a big 15 minutes earlier than planned. Another problem came up, while we were waiting, a horrible storm came thru and was going thru the area they planned to fly over. So after letting us sit in the air for a while, they decided to go for it. Well, it was horrible with the bouncing and the throwing of the plane. The rug rat in back of me kept screaming like he was on an amusement park ride and when it was over, he said, That was fun, can we do that again?! I was ready to strangle him. Get to Chicago around 12 in the morning and I waited at the luggage place. Waited some more. Other people took their luggage. Just waited and waited and nothing. So I go up to the counter. They tell me. "Your bags are supposed to go to Champaign" and I said, well the last flight was 3 hours ago, he said my bags were locked up in a room. He said the airliner that would take them to Champaign closes at 10 and so they took the bags and locked them away until the flight in the morning. Of course, he wouldn't get them, because the airliner taking me to Champaign was an affiliate of American and he worked for American. So I have no change of clothes, just my sweats and the sales taxes I'm carrying (yes, so I could work on my vacation). In the meantime, I make friends, with a high school kid who, just with my luck never flew before by herself. I was trying to sleep and she just kept talking to me. She was on her way to some state out in the Midwest somewhere, I believe Nebraska. And she had a boyfriend who was in his late 20's. So she also didn't get her luggage. I was the smart one and got into the lost luggage line before it was out of control. She was a dumb ass and kept waiting for her luggage to come out. Of course it doesn't, I'm done talking to the person, ready to leave and she says Wait for me. So I have to wait for her and the 20 people in front of her. They tell her the same thing they told me (big surprise). So now she doesn't know what to do. She starts talking to some other people she made friends with in the airport and they tell me to share my hotel room with her. I said, I don't even know her. So I give her the number to the hotel and she books a room. Then again have to wait for her. She finishes, says goodbye to the 4 jack ass's and we are off to the hotel. We get to the hotel, they don't have my reservation. They don't have my confirmation number. By now it's 1 in the morning, Central Time, so 2 in the morning my time. They decide to give me some spare room they have, which was a nice room. I'm ready to go and I hear the little voice, wait for me. They don't have her reservation either, and since they think we are together, give us a room next to each other. Found the room, told her good night and was planning on going to bed. She came to my room 3 more times that night, for this and that, and to drive me nuts. I told her, my flight is at 10 tomorrow, so I'm not getting up early and she said, I have to be out of here by 5 and maybe I'll stop by before I leave. Sure enough, 6 in the morning, there is a pounding at my door and it's her saying goodbye. I can't get rid of her. At this point, I'm already awake, so I went to the little store in the hotel to buy toothpaste, toothbrush and deodorant. Get to the airport, the flight is going to be on time. Yah for once. They load us onto the plane and we sit there. And sit there. And sit there some more. We sat in the plane for 45 minutes waiting for the toilet to stop running. Then they decide it's mechanical, take us off the plane, make us go to another terminal, and then we wait another hour before loading us onto a new plane. Get to Champaign finally and they were nice and let me check into my room 2 hours early. Bless that old lady at the counter. Had a blast of a weekend. My flight home wasn't bad from Champaign to Chicago. My flight from Chicago to Philadelphia wasn't bad. Then, my luggage. I'm waiting and waiting and no luggage. Wait some more, and new luggage. They say, Oh, that's still in Chicago, it never got on the plane with you. Great. They said, don't worry, it's scheduled to be on the next flight out and will be in Philly by 7 at night. They said they would bring it to me and expect delivery by 9. So 9 comes and no luggage. I call them and they say, Well, it didn't get on that flight and no one knows where it is now. Great. Told me to call back in the morning. Call in the morning, they say they have it and will deliver it. I said it needs to come to my work because I'm not at home, and they said fine, and I gave them the address. Said it would be there by Noon at the latest. Noon comes and no luggage. I call them and they said they delivered it to my home, I wasn't there and so they brought it back to the airport. What the fuck!?!?! So they finally brought it to my work around 4:30 in the afternoon. I will never fly American Airlines again!