US Airways is the devil.

We had the best vacation ever, and I'll put the good stuff up soon. For now, I'm on a mission to tell as many people as possible that US Airways SUCKS. If there is a hell, I am positive that it is run by their gate agents. We all know, traveling's never hysterically fun. We miss the occasional plane, or lose a  bag. But overall, things run pretty smoothly. Unless you are on the Musical-Chairs-On-Crack airline that thinks it's funny to oversell their flights and watch their passengers fight for their seat.

I know times are tough for the airlines. My brother in law, who was on the trip with us, used to fly for United. He said statistically, 10% of people don't show up, so it's common to sell too many tickets. That is like me showing up to  70% of my photo sessions. Or double-booking them and making people toss a coin for who gets the shoot. I thought it was illegal to sell an imaginary product. BUT WHATEVER...most airlines apparently make it work. Except (again) for US Air, who oversells HALF THE PLANE. On our way home there were literally THREE people (I'm not even joking), with seat 14F, standing in the aisle. The attendant said (non-chalantly) "Go to the back and we'll try to work something out." Which really means, "Get back there and we'll play paper/rock/scissors for who gets to go home."

So I thought it was bad on the way to Oregon when Jason had to fly stand-by with a paid ticket. But I had no idea how much worse it would get. This was our day yesterday. We got up at 3am for a 5:30 flight from Eugene to Phoenix. We had 30 minutes to  make our connecting flight, on the other side of the airport. Lugging 2 kids, all our bags, and a toddler who had to poop, we make it to the gate with 15 minutes to spare. Only the door is closed, and they've given our seats away. AS OUR PLANE SAT FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, the lady basically said, "Too bad, so sad. We announced the last call." And we said, "Are you kidding? That is our plane. SITTING THERE. We still have FIFTEEN MINUTES until it's scheduled to leave." And she said, "When is my lunch hour? Should I have Pizza Hut again? And how many more minutes until my smoke break?"

So I get over wanting to punch her in the face and figure we'll just take the next flight out. We tried, Austin, Dallas, even Houston thinking we could rent a car and drive home. But EVERY SINGLE FLIGHT they had going into THE STATE OF TEXAS HAD BEEN OVERSOLD BY 15-30 PASSENGERS. The next flight they could confirm wasn't until 7:30 PM. So we spent TEN HOURS in the airport yesterday. With three children. At first we tried to make them behave. They played every game, watched every movie, colored every book. Then about four hours into it, we lost the will to fight (live), and just let them run hog wild. "Mommy can we play on these?" "Sure, but if you're going to be loud, make sure you play around the ticket agents."

Jason. He thought boot camp was hard. Forget the desert and push-ups. They should institute "Prolonged Airport Training With Toddlers" including hazardous pay, of course. Only then it would be so hard, no one would EVER make it into the military.  :) 

Ahh, it's good to get that off my chest.

NOW, if you're sick of my bitching, and you want to read something totally different, I'm also at Shutter Sisterstoday. Come over and say hi!

Comments

[Marnee]

Ditto... had basically the same experience. We now vow to vacation at the local resorts until our three kids (4 and under) can travel independently from us. You know, drive in their own cars or fly unattended. Hmmm... you should have tried that one. Wonder who would have watched the kids if the tickets were only for them and not you??!?!?!

[Giovanna Mandel]

At least you were in the States...we were in Italy and they really didn't care two poops about us:(

Look here:

http://amiciphotography.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/07/things-to-do-at-the-rome-airport.html

[rebecca]

oh my gosh....I just stumbled on your blog from another that I read and that is absolutely horrible what they did to you! Unbeeelievable is all I can say. Any chance of scoring free tix? I would try, even though you may never want to utilize their service again, maybe it would be on their dime. Be persistent, very persistent. I'll check back for updates.

[Alison]

OK- I know we're good friends and we forget ( sort of ) to tell each other the hell that is our everyday lives...BUT really? You're talking to the queen of asshold plane mishaps. I am sad to say that it doesn't necessarily pertain to one particular airline-

Where do I begin..

Delta 2001- gone for 6 months living in Spain. Lost my luggage, bumped my trip and ended up coming up 2 ( YES TWO ) friggin' days later to a mother who couldn't pick me up at the scheduled time because of her tennis match.
Sat at the Austin airport for 4 hours waiting in my soiled cothes...
Still in therapy with "mother" issues over this one...

Continental 2002- Stuck at the RENO airport for another TWO friggin' days because of issues with planes, mechanical issues?... yes, that is what they told me, albeit vague. Did I mention I had just gotten engaged in Lake Tahoe and wore my sparkly ring for all the crackhead blackjack/buffet attendees???? The amazing hotel room I was put up in had lots of tropical fish on the walls and all over the room. If I had been on mind alterning drugs I could have skipped the Grateful Dead and spent time in this particular ROOM!!!!!!!

American 2005- Flew to Cabo for a girls trip and got my luggage THREE days after we arrived. Bikinis from your friends are cool. Panties are not. Thankfully I knew my crazy friends were HIV free or whatever and I made the best of it.

Delta 2002-2008 NUMEROUS issues to even count... can I say 8 week old baby and myself alone in the Atlanta airport for 24 hours????????????

American/ United 2007- VAIL, CO.
Attempted to arrive in Vail on American b/c of a work conference. Had to be re-routed to Denver, then shuttled in through a blizzard/avalanche with a bunch of Argentinian national singing Miley Cyrus songs...NEVER in FIVE FUCKING days did I get my luggage... no SUITS, no SKI clothes, NO NOTHING. Want to hear the best??????? My luggage was sitting at the FRIGGING VAIL AIRPORT THE ENTIRE FUCKING TIME> Has anyone tried to find a super Wal Mart ( GOD FORBID TARGET ) in VAIL? Well, I can just tell you I spent a fortune on Cashmere undies and bras and socks and sweaters. The "cool" jeans I spent 5 days in while at work???
I BURNED THEM. Loved those "7" jeans up until Vail....
SO. NEVER travel with me EVER>
That is the bottom line, I guess...