Another Night in the Airport System
I left off waiting for my 2nd rescheduled flight to Las Vegas when the gate attendant called for volunteers to delay themselves as that flight was overbooked. I went to see what they were offering. Turns out that I signed myself up for another free ticket and this time wrangled a hotel for the night out of the deal. That’s where it gets interesting. There was another gentleman who decided to hang back as well and we waited around for close to 30 minutes as they made the hotel preparations and took care of our next flight. We would be flying out early the next morning.
The shuttle bus came along and I was pretty excited to see I wouldn’t have to shell out my own money to get to the hotel. I walked into the lobby and I was quite impressed. It appeared that I had done quite well with this decision. After dealing with the less than cheerful desk attendant I found out that United Airlines never actually called the hotel to confirm if they had rooms or not. In fact, the hotel had overbooked themselves. Back to the airport.
I had already left security and remembered what a pain in the ass it was to get through the first time so I decided to play my hand against the ticketing agents. Hell would freeze over before I was going to wait in the long snaking line through ticketing just so I could chew out the poor soul that got me. I kinda just slipped through a space they forgot to rope off and found a spare body who looked important. He started to tell me that I couldn’t come through the way I did and I would need to wait in line. I told him that just wasn’t going to work and in 15 seconds explained the the basis of my hatred for United Airlines. He told me to go to 39 which apparently was a special booth just for people like me. At least the woman working this counter had bright pink hair. She had to be cool.
I explained my situation and she seemed embarrassed on behalf of United Airlines. Finally, someone actually cared. For my trouble she upgraded my flight the next morning from Economy to Economy Plus. While this seems pretty trivial, I did appreciate the extra 5 inches of legroom. She also put me up in the Marriott for the night before she sent me on my way.
I arrived at the Marriott and it looked even nicer than the last hotel. Sweet! The desk attendant was very pleasant and I handed her the hotel voucher that United Airlines had given me. She frowned and told me they were all booked up. After a few smiles she was happy to upgrade me so I’d have a place to sleep for the night. On my way up to the 15th floor (as an Elite Guest) I saw the same gentleman who had also given up his flight last night as he would be staying at the same hotel. I dropped my bags and decided that I had done pretty well.
The hotel room was pretty much amazing but all things hadn’t quite been taken care of just yet. I got on the phone with American Express and explained to them what kind of a circus United Airlines is running. They told me that they would have someone call United Airlines immediately and call me back within 5 minutes. Great, just enough time to check out the room. My phone rings and American Express confirmed my request, United Airlines is going to pick up the tab for my dinner through American Express. With AMEX on my side I hunted down the gentleman who was staying at the same hotel and asked him if he’d like to go for dinner courtesy of United Airlines.
Conveniently enough there was a 4 star steakhouse in the lobby of this particular Marriott. We grabbed a table and the food started rolling in. I customized the appetizer for a shrimp and muscle mixture while Joe choose a nice Cabernet from the wine list. We ordered a bottle and took in a deep breath to relax. The shrimp and muscles were absolutely delicious and by the time we were finished with those it was about time for another bottle of wine. Instead though, I went back to my trusty regular, a vodka gimlet on the rocks. As United Airlines was paying I figured I might as well go-for-broke and I asked for the exquisite 10oz filet with some fresh asparagus and a baked potato. The bill came to $192 but I’m sure United Airlines would appreciate that I tipped the server well. They need to keep up their good image.
Time to retire for the evening. It was pretty much amazing to be able to take a shower where the hot water lasted longer than 3.8 minutes. I relaxed for a bit and then finally caught some sleep around 1:00 AM as I needed to be up at 6:00 AM to get my room service order in. I tried to do it when I got back to my room but the kitchen was closed. Bummer.
Bright and early in the morning I placed my order for breakfast and plugged my iPod into the in-room sound system. The food arrived very shortly after and let me tell you… it was DELICIOUS.
I finished getting everything cleaned up (cause I carry so much stuff with me) and headed down to catch the next shuttle to the airport. You’ll never believe this but I was pulled aside again for the “random” inspection. I’m starting to think someone high up there in Homeland Security doesn’t like me. Once again I cleared with flying colors and this time I actually caught my flight to Las Vegas. I just got into the terminal now and I think it’s about time to see how much trouble I can get myself in. I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures!
Thank you United Airlines, American Express and Marriott for 12 hours of heaven.
One Comments
That is one heck of a story for certain. Nice robe however.