Day 7

Oh my.

So, has anyone ever been put on "standby" if they miss their flight? I didn't even know about it until today. What an experience.

So we got put on standby for both of the flights heading to Heathrow from Houston today. One was flying out at 3:45pm, the other at 6:25pm. For those who do not know, like myself up until today, being put on standby basically means you sit around and hope that someone doesn't turn up or cancels their ticket, then you take their place.

Well, we tried that. We got to the airport around noon, checked in as per normal, got a giant preztel inside the airport (those things are salty!) and then waited. And waited. And waited. Around 3pm, it is announced that there is a problem with the plane. At 3:45, it's announced there is still a problem. At 4:15, it's announced again. At about 4:30, they begin boarding. At 4:45, they announced that there was no more room and all standby passengers were being rolled over to the 6:25 flight in the hopes that there will be room.

Around 10 minutes later I got up and asked the lady at the check-in desk if there was anything I could do. She told me to speak to customer service, as she had to get ready for the next flight. She did let me know that the 6:25 flight only had 1 cancellation so far, and at least 9 people wanting the seat. I guess the hurricane messed up a lot of peoples plans.

We, Megan and I, walked down to customer service. I was ready to pay the difference, I was expecting at least another $1000, and actually book my tickets for later in the week. It was either that or come back every day between now and whenever I finally get a standby seat. It might have been soon, it might have been later. It most definitely would have been a single seat. I'm sick of flying alone :(.

So I got called to the customer service desk and explained my story to a nice large black lady behind the counter. I explain that we got put on standby, but that I have a medical emergency and cannot afford to come to the airport every day in the hopes of a seat. I tell her I need two seats for as soon as possible. She clicks away on the computer, and comes up with some news.

I now have two seats for Friday, leaving Houston at 11:35am, landing in Washington DC for a 3 hour stayover at 4pm, then landing in the UK finally at 6:30am Saturday morning. I think we'll get to the airport at like 9am. I'm not taking any chances on this one.

Oh, and it didn't cost anything extra. The lady thought we were delayed by the hurricane. She didn't ask why or how we "missed" our flight. I think she has had so many people messed up by Irene that she just assumed we were similar. She even started asking about if we had accommodation in Houston or if she needed to sort that too - I explained my wife lives locally so all I need are tickets. She printed them off, and we headed to baggage reclaim to get our bags back and wait until Friday.

Unfortunately, by the time I write this, our bags should be landing in Heathrow. Somehow, they flew without us. The lady in the baggage claim area explained that Heathrow hold onto bags, so when we get there on Saturday morning they should still be there. I hope so. But honestly, it's the least of my worries right now. I'm just glad I can still come home, and that it didn't cost me as much as the surgery would have here.

Now if I can just hold on until then, all will be fine. I just want to thank the random black customer service lady for giving me the chance.

Thank you, random black customer service lady.