Hectic Holiday Travel

My annual winter trip from California to Alaska was supposed to be a 13 hour journey. 3 hour flight from San Diego to Seattle, 6 hour layover in the Seattle airport, and another 4 hours to Anchorage Alaska. Pretty long, but I’m not picky.

“Pretty Long” looks amazing right about now.

Right now I’m sitting in a plane on the Seattle runway and I should've been well into my Holiday eating about 17 hours ago. Apparently, they lost the nozzle for the de-icing hose for my plane, so I'm hanging out in the amazing comfort of coach class on a full flight. I’m tired, hungry, and have a soar throat. And that’s not the least of it.

So yesterday, I was relatively unaware that the weather was so bad in the Pacific Northwest. My ticket agent mentioned that some flights to Seattle were getting cancelled, but knowing that I was continuing on to Anchorage, I figured she’d mention it if flights out of Seattle were delayed.

Apparently I don’t figure too well.

As soon as I arrived in Seattle, I approached an agent to find out where my next gate is.

Agent: “Next Gate? Good luck finding it!"
Me: “Whadoya mean?”
Agent: “We’re canceling all flights for the remainder of the day. BUT, there is a flight taking off from gate D4 across the airport. If you hurry you might be able to get on standby.”

I didn’t have time to panic or be pissed, so instead I just hauled ass to the gate located conveniently across the airport in another terminal, dodging the hundreds and hundreds of confused travelers along the way. When I finally arrived, I was greeted with a throng of people all in line at the ticket counter.

Great.

I had nowhere else to go, so I just waited in line for an hour. When I finally got to the front I was welcomed with this great news:

Agent: ”Looks like you’re about 42nd on the standby list and the flight is oversold.”

I hate you Alaska Airlines.

I made my way to the customer service desk to figure out my options, but it was closed with a lady directing everybody OUT of security to get re-ticketed.

This can’t be good.

When I finally arrive to get in line at the ticket counter, I am directed by the agent to look for the purple sign for the end of the line. You know the line has got to be bad when you’re directed to look for a sign indicating the end of the line.

After waiting in line for an hour I see multiple people getting into the end of line burst into tears. As the line snakes around and gets closer, I hear what's causing people, both Women AND MEN, to spontaneously start crying:

Airport Employee Holding Sign: "This is a NINE HOUR line, so if you live in Seattle, go home!"

Yep. I wanted to cry. The picture above is a portion of the EXACT line that I waited in.

I'm now writing this in the comfort of my home, now a week later. Continuing the story:

I had NO options. I could leave the line, but then do what? It was only getting longer, so coming back in a few hours and hoping for a shorter line was wishful thinking at best.

I had been hearing that people weren't getting flights out until Christmas Day - FOUR DAYS AWAY!

Not an option. I was willing to buy another ticket. I had my parents call a bunch of airlines and find me a ticket while I continued my expert line waiting. Luckily, my Dad found a Seattle to Anchorage ticket for the next day.

Ok, I can handle a night in the Seattle snow storm.

When I finally reach the front of the line 8 hours later, I get my "backup ticket" for Dec 25th. By this time, most of the nearby hotels were booked, but i managed to get a room at the "SeaTac Crest Motor Inn."

I could tell by the name this was obviously a 5-star joint.

As I made my way to my room, I almost slipped right off the balcony. The snow covered floors were like ice. My lovely room had exactly two working plug-in outlets, an artistically ripped comforter, and a heater that didn't work.

Ahh the life of luxury.

It was so damn cold that I decided to take a hot shower. The only problem was the water wasn't getting warm. After about ten minutes though, it heated up. Things are looking up!

Or so I thought. Five minutes into my shower, someone next door must've flushed a toilet or something because the water became SCALDING!

Obviously this a glowing review of the SeaTac Crest Motor Inn.

So the next day I make my way to Continental Airlines five hours early to check in for my flight. Six hours later, I was still in line and the big bored said our flight was cancelled.

I'm pissed.

Luckily, as we got closer to the front, the agent said that was just a mistake...a "joke".

Ha Ha.

As bad as I felt, my new friend in line, Skye, had been through pretty much the same stuff as I have, with another day added. In fact, she was stuck in Portland which was even WORSE off than Seatle, rented a car to drive to SeaTac, only to have more flights cancelled.

Yikes.

Two hours later, they found an airplane for us and we finally boarded.

HOORAY!

Then came the news about the dad-gum de-icing hose nozzle. Skye looked like she was ready to cry. Obviously, I decided to be the emotional rock conveniently nearby :) Luckily, another hour later, we were in the sky!

Suffice to say, I finally made it. A day late, and $400 lighter, but at least I made it.

Happy Holidays!