Chicago????

Well here I sit in World Business class on my way to Chicago…what you say? Chicago?
That wasn’t in the plan? Aren’t you supposed to be going home???

Well you are sooooooo right about that.
How on earth then, one might ask, does one go from an economy class ticket from Amsterdam to Vancouver and end up in Chicago in world business class?
Wellllll, it’s like this.

I checked in this morning, Wednesday November 5th at 11:00 in Norwich. There I am told my plane home from Amsterdam has been re routed through Chicago and I won’t be getting into Vancouver until 10:30 pm making me miss my flight connection from Vancouver home to Victoria. An extremely unsympathetic woman kinda shrugs her shoulder and says I’ll have to take it up with KLM in Amsterdam….hmmmmm…you’re damn right I will. I also find out I have been involuntarilly rerouted with a 5 hour layover in Chicago because they overbooked my original plane. I am steaming mad, but summon up a sense of humour and wish my dear friend a final goodbye…I will really miss her and Reading Room Cottage, and I know she is worried about my travel issues too.
Have I mentioned how much I do NOT want to travel through the states on the heels of the election?????

Now, I arrive in Amsterdam and am told to go to gate 6 transfer with my concerns. I do, and am met with a woman whose bun is so tight it is pulling her wrinkles out of her forehead…I am worried.
I explain what has happened and she looks coolly at me and says…”exactly what do you think I can do for you?” At this point I start vibrating with anger and dammit, that usually means tears and I say, I will need to re book a flight in Canada, possibly pay for a hotel room and I expect some kind of compensation as it was an involuntary reroute at a minimum or a place on my orignal flight, that I paid extra for to have a straight through flight, as an ideal.
She says again, “there is nothing I can do, here is your boarding pass, I suggest you hurry they are starting to board.”
I ask her if this was her daughter, what would she like to see happen, really… watch her sleep in an airport all night?... and she just glares at me without a response,a staring contest.
I ask to see a manager and she hands me a complaint form to fill out, no manger is called.

I walk away and the emotion of it gets the better of me…because I am soooooooo maddddd….but as it always does, this comes out as tears and I am riding an escalater, tears streaming down my face when a kind cleaning crew ask me what’s wrong in broken Englsih. I explain, they tell me that’s ridiculous, ofcourse I will get compensated and lead me to another transfer gate. I meet a lovely angel, named Wendy ( my mom’s name ☺ ) who sees the mess I am in, sees my flight is leaving in 30 minutes and tries to create a few miracles.
1…no way I am getting on my original flight, and she really tried,……but they will compensate with a very generous bank card holding Canadian dollars for me, she rushes this paper work through.

2nd….she checks to see when the last air canada jazz is from vancouver to Victoria and discover there is a flight at 11:45 I should be able to catch, and now have more than enough money to buy that ticket in Vancouver.

3rd….after bringing me water….stopping the loading of the plane to wait for me, organizing my paper work to rush through for the cash,…she escorts me to the security line, informs all of the crew what has happened and surprise, hands me my world business class ticket to Chicago, I am pleased…now this is an 8 hour flight and a little space, glass of wine and good food has certainly stealled me for the longer trip home. On my individual screen , I have watched Frasier episodes, Mama Mia and Sex in the City….a few old friends to help cheer my mood.

The crew have bent over backwards to be kind, the pilot came out to aplogize to me for what happened, and I am now still not happy about going through the states, but I have filed a large complaint, with the crew’s help, against the first woman who would have seen me sleeping at the airport in Vancouver before helping me in any way…apparantly she has a repuation. They all knew who she was.
Sigh…once again the kindness of people wins waaaay out over the cold unfeeling snatches, and it is that I will remember, even as I have to travel for 24 hours. Sigh….Now to break it to the family they will not be picking me up until 12:15 instead of 7:30.

Sigh. I think I will have a bit more champagne