so i woke up this morning. i was all packed and ready to go. my good friend susan picked me up to take me to the airport, we grabbed chick-fil- a for breakfast. she baked me cookies for my trip. the day was starting off great... and i was excited to be on my way to germany.
then... i got to the airport.
evidently, many flights had been canceled/delayed due to weather and delta was not prepared to handle the millions of people they had booked today. i had the privileged of encountering many of those people today. thankfully, i had checked in for my flight (to atlanta) last night, so all i needed to do was check my suitcase (which weighed 51 lbs... but i didn't get charged for the extra pound!). it took me about 45 minutes to get my 1 bag checked.
i made it quickly through security and found the gate. i sat there waiting and then happened to look at the flight info screen... and saw that my flight was delayed an hour. usually, i wouldn't be concerned by such news, but today i had 1 hour between when i was supposed to land in ATL and leave for munich. i realized that we had a little problem.
i then called the delta customer service line to see if they could get me on another airline so that i wouldn't miss my next flight. the guy was very helpful... found me a flight on american and told me all i need to do was go to the ticket counter and have a delta agent endorse the change and then hustle to another gate. while it would be tight to get there, i thought... amen, i can do that!
i soon realized when i reached the ticket counter that it was crazier than when i went through it. i found a delta employee who i observed helping people find their way through the crowd and told her my dilema. long story short, she told me that i'd have to wait in line, which would take me 1.5 hours and i was going to miss my flight. this caused me frustration because i had watched her earlier take people in similar situations straight to the front about an hour before.
so i ran back through security and to the gate to make sure i still had a seat on the plane that i was originally booked on. thankfully, i still had a seat. which was amazing because they overbooked it by at least 20 people.
i got on the plane... we landed... i missed the connecting flight by about 20 minutes.
i then had to wait in line for over 2 hours to get on a flight the next day. while in line, i was surrounded by germans. ironic?
i'm now at a holiday inn and about to head to bed. i don't have my luggage, but delta was kind enough to give me the "so sorry you got stuck" kit with a t-shirt, toiletries and laundry detergent. i found that an odd solution to my big problem, but hey, you take what you can get.
my flight leaves tomorrow at 4:20 pm. praying i have a less crazy travel day tomorrow. i'd appreciate your prayers that i am able to connect with my team (who should arrive in germany in a few hours) when i get there. someone will have to travel 2 hours to come and get me and then take me back to the resort. thankfully, they didn't seem to mind.
i'll try to update periodically throughout my trip. i'm heading to germany... hopefully.
