Traveling to the ESRI Holistic Lab

I hate to start off this blog with an off topic post but I have to rant about this somewhere. I left Sunday morning at 6 am to head out to Redlands for the Flex API holistic lab this week. Everything went fine on the first leg. We arrived on time and I easily found my way to my next gate. Then the trouble started.

Let me start by saying this is the very first time I have ever attempted to fly American Airlines. I've flown many times with multiple airlines all over the states and over seas and nothing like this has ever happened before.

My 9:05 flight got delayed until 11 am and then canceled all together because of an apparent issue with one of the engines. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they caught it, flying with a faulty engine is not my idea of a good time. From that point onward however things were just handled badly.

To begin with they lined all 300+ passengers up at the gate and had two people begin to reroute everyone. If those numbers don't seem bad enough already it took an average of ten minutes per passenger, and I was at the very back of the line. After about thirty five minutes someone from the airline came up and told us "if you will go to gate sixteen they have five people there that can help you". So the back thirty or so of us started the long walk to gate sixteen.

When we arrived fifteen minutes later to see the two people there staring off into space I was not pleased. We told one of the ladies what was going on and what we had been told and she told us we had to go out past security and go speak with the ticketing agents. Okay, not convenient but still faster than waiting in that other line. We all get outside and line up. There are five agents there but only three of them are willing to help us as the other two apparently had better things to do staring out into space.

After a few minutes I get my turn, I tell the lady what the issue is and she begins to help me. She tells me I can't go to my actual destination but I can go to an airport thirty miles away. That stinks but at least I can still make my destination. She puts me standby on the 11:45 flight and gets me a 'confirmed' ticket on the 3:15 flight which had my seat assignment and everything.

Now I went back through security, and rushed to the 11:45 gate to see if I have a chance, it was 11:05 when I got my ticket. When I make it to the gate they tell me that the boarding door was closed and so no new passengers may enter. That was a bummer but at least I had my ticket for the 3:15 flight. I bought some lunch, bought and read an entire magazine, and waited.

My 3:15 flight was delayed...of course. At 3:30 boarding began. Once they finally called my group I got in line and handed the attendant my boarding pass. He swiped it as I have seen many times before but this time something new happened: the scanner flashed red and beeped. I was pulled aside and asked to sit down while the other gate attendant tried to figure out the problem. Well it turns out the problem was that they had canceled my ticket! According to American Airlines I had left on the 1:45 flight to my original destination! The very flight I had been told was fully booked when I went out and talked to the ticket agent earlier in the day! So not only had my luggage gone with that flight but they had canceled my ticked for this flight, and they couldn't get me on it because it was full!!

After telling me he was sorry the gate agent booked me on a 10:15pm flight, still not to Ontario (my original destination) but to the 'close by' airport. He also can't actually issue me a ticket for it because according to their computers I already flew out of the airport. So I have to go back out to a ticketing agent again. Have I mentioned yet that I love American Airlines? So I go back out and go to get my ticket.

When I get there I let the lady at the counter know everything that has happened and what my current situation is regarding the fact that I'm actually still in the airport despite what the computer says. She managed to actually get me a confirmed ticket on a 4:55pm flight to the 'close by' airport, but it was already 4:05 at this point so I had to hurry. She also wasn't able to get me a seat assignment but assured me that they would give me one when I arrived. I ran to security, got threw there and then ran to the terminal train.

I managed to arrive at the gate as the last of the passengers were boarding and told the gate agent what the ticketing agent had said and handed her my ticket. She was not impressed. She told me that yes I was confirmed but I would have to wait until all of the other passengers were on before they could try to find me a seat. So I waited for fifteen minutes while they waited to see if anyone else would show up for the flight. Finally they actually printed me a boarding card and reluctantly allowed me to get on the plane. I hate American Airlines.

The flight went off without a hitch, as far as I know since I slept the entire time. After I got to the 'close by' airport I was told that it was a forty five minute drive when 'traffic is good'. I hopped on the super shuttle and a quick two hours later I was at the Ontario airport!

The only good thing I can say about the whole experience is that the airport actually managed to get my luggage to the hotel faster than me. The scariest part of the whole thing is that I still have the return trip to deal with. I won't even go into my issues with the rental car company here but it wasn't much better and was exactly what I needed to go along with all of my American Airlines fun.

Coming soon: The Flex API Holistic testing day 1 recap.