Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel Why Have You Forsaken Me!

You're a good acolyte.  You find virgins and drop them in volcanoes (not the easiest thing to do in New Mexico).  You curse the amateur traveler in the name of the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel.  But you miss one month of virginal sacrifice because you're on vacation and under the bus you go.

So how long does it take to fly from Albuquerque to Chicago.  3 hours direct, 5 hours with a plane change or 14 hours if the Unicorn God is pissed off!

Part of it is my own fault.  I haven't been traveling as much over the last year or two and I've lost my edge.  There are certain things a frequent flyer should always do.  One of these is when your plane has mechanical problems and they make you get off the plane make alternative plans immediately.  Don't listen to them.  Don't trust them.  Get an alternative as soon as you can.

For some reason on Monday, I was trusting.  Bad mistake.  I flew from Albuquerque to Denver early and had a 10:17 flight from Denver to Chicago.  We got completely boarded when they announced they had an issue with plug and play part but that they weren't sure they had the part.  I should have paid attention to the ominous background music right then.  Instead I dithered and after 2+ hours of non-committal kicking the can down the road pronouncements from United Airlines (really, you don't have a part for one of your major aircraft in one of your major hubs?), I called to find my alternatives.  But on a Monday with other problems around the system happening the only availability was the last flight of the day which was going to get me in after midnight.

Fortunately for me, I also got wait listed for a flight at 5:40 which I managed to clear at the last moment AND even got a window, not middle seat.  Got into CHI at 9:30 so I had time to get some rest which was good because I had a talk to give in the morning the next day.

All you virgins living in my area, be on your guard.  The Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel will be appeased!

7 comments:

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

Oh, how unpleasant! I think that's the most important travel tip I've learned from you - call the minute there's a delay.

alexis said...

oh no!!! How horrible, but I hope I will learn from this for whenever I have a mechanical delay.

Lakeview Coffee Joe said...

Yeah, that was pretty awful for you, but it could have been worse if you didn't make that 5:00 flight! Next stop was after midnight! Ugh.

Bee said...

OOO! like the new picture! Sort of have that "SHAFT" look...dangerous!

terri said...

So sorry to hear you had such a frustrating travel experience. Hopefully you've paid your dues for a while now and have only "smooth sailing" ahead now.

Bernice said...

Did you wish you were back in Spain where you were so happy sitting around for hours (as long as there was food and wine)?

Pulisha said...

Ye gads, you better start a sacrificing! I was counting on your good karma with the Pony Gods to cancel out my bad karma when we do our SE Asia tour!