My Flight. It was LONG. I had to fly into JFK and change planes to continue on to Portland, ME. Well, we circled for at least half an hour; then sat on the runway for at least another half hour. My connecting flight was to depart at 10:00. We were finally allowed to deplane just after 10:15. But most of passengers had connections to make and, although stressed, figured the airline would hold the connecting flights.
We were wrong. By the time I got out (I was in row 39) it was about 10:20. I asked the Delta employee waiting at the gate where to go for my connection. He told me to run just a few gates down. No luck. It was gone. Utterly disappointed and dejected, I got in line for the information counter to figure out what was next. In listening to those before me, I discovered that Delta was blaming the FAA for the problem and not comping anyone on travel, hotels, even snacks. But everyone was getting flights out the next morning. My own experience at the counter confirmed what I had heard. It also confirmed that most people who work for Delta are heartless, soulless bastards. The girl didn't even look up from her screen the whole time she spoke to me. She told me she could have me on a flight to Portland Saturday morning. WHAT!? TWO nights spent sleeping the terminal at JFK!? And let me tell you, they don't turn the lights down for you at night. Her response: "Yes, if you don't have the money for hotel. You can stand-by for all of tomorrow's flights." She didn't even try to help me re-route. I slumped away in shock. The Delta employee that sent me running for the gate recognized me & asked what happened. In between all of his other tasks, he did his best to help me this way or that until about 3:00am. At 3:00, he had decided I had a 90% chance of getting on the 9:05 to Portland, and had snagged a hotel voucher from another flight (that Delta did accept responsibility for) and a drink coupon. In the meantime, I got chummy with some others from my flight, Abdallah and Adam who had been on their way to Jordan. They were stuck hanging out at JFK until 10:00 Friday night, then doing a six hour layover in Paris. They were nice and helpful, so when I got my voucher I offered to share it with them. Adam paid for the cab. By the time we settled in, it was probably 4:00. It took me forever to fall asleep (hotels) and I was back up at 6:30 to head over to the airport. At least I got a shower and Abdallah and Adam could relax in comfort before their awful trip (which was originally direct to Jordan from JFK).
I should have been snug in my motel in Portland by midnight, but at least tomorrow looked better. And the motel in Portland cancelled my reservation late without charging me for it.
This stress, coupled with the airport & airplane air, is totally exacerbating my cough.
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