(Nags Head Specific)
0 messages
Updated
Lakes Online Forum
83,586 messages
Updated 4/16/2024 12:46:32 PM
Lakes Online Forum
5,193 messages
Updated 4/3/2024 3:47:36 AM
(Nags Head Specific)
0 messages
Updated
Lakes Online Forum
4,169 messages
Updated 4/15/2024 11:05:05 PM
Lakes Online Forum
4,260 messages
Updated 3/24/2024 9:24:45 AM
Lakes Online Forum
2,976 messages
Updated 3/20/2024 11:53:43 PM
Lakes Online Forum
98 messages
Updated 4/15/2024 1:00:58 AM
|
|
|
|
Name:
|
MrHodja
- 
|
|
Subject:
|
Dang It!! (long post)
|
|
Date:
|
11/21/2009 10:29:07 AM
|
|
I keep hitting the Enter key too soon. Still sleep-deprived and my fingers aren't communicating well with my brain. But can't sleep because the body tells me it is mid-afternoon and I should be wide awake.
The story got much more bizarre after that post from the Crown Room...uh now the "Sky Club"..... last night.
Got to ATL from Rome at 3:35. Went through Passport Control, got my bags, went through Customs, and rechecked them - no problem. But there were literally hundreds of people in the security line to get back into airport main. Didn't clock it but was a good 20-30 minutes to get through, and got to my gate at 4:54 for my 5:00 flight. They refused to board me "flight closed" 10 minutes before scheduled departure. Apparently they won't let someone on who arrives FOUR MINUTES past their closeout time, period. I explained my situation and their answer was "Tango Sierra", go get rebooked". I don't scr3w with those help desks in the concourse so I called the Delta 800 line and was told I was rebooked not on the 7:07, but the 9:45! I was "rather forceful" on the phone (to say I was pi$$ed would be a gross understatement) but the answer was the same -- if I wanted to get on the 7:07 I would have to plead "Mother, may I?" with the gate agent. I told the lady on the phone rather emphatically (but without the profanity that was at the absolute tip of my tongue) that I would NOT do that because the ASA gate agents in Atlanta are terribly unaccommodating and are forced to lie repeatedly to us poor masses attempting to use their "service".
So, I then go to the Sky Club and explain the situation to the assistance agent there. Voille', up pops a boarding pass for the 7:07 with my name - and a seat number. OK, things are looking less worse. So I go to the gate just to find the 7:07 is now "scheduled" to take off at 7:30. Always a bad sign when ASA is involved. I had previously pointed out emphatically to the Delta lady on the phone and in the Sky Clkub that ASA can inconvenience us paying passengers at will at their convenience, but they couldn't bend for me for FOUR minutes.
On of the few bright spots in this story (it gets a lot worse) is that the departure gate was C-32 and the C Concourse Sky Club was only a two minute walk away, so I managed to get the gate agent and the Sky Club lady talking to each other and they would notify me when the plane really left. So while waiting for the boarding announcement the only thing to sully the Tanqueray was ice and a wedge of lime....
OK, so they finally board us about 8PM or so and we wait for some time before finally getting airborne. OK, things are getting better, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to an old friend who is highly placed within the Alabama judicial system. We had pleasant conversation during the extensive ground time and during the flight. After about the right amount of time to begin our descent into MGM, the pilot pulls back on the throttles - but comes on with an announcement - not that we are beginning our approach - but that the maintenance problem that delayed the flight had cropped up again and we were RETURNING TO ATLANTA!.
Now the obvious question to us was if we are closer to MGM, why not land there, let us off, and fix their problem. Hard to believe that it was any more safe to go back to ATL especially if the pilot was being honest when he announced "oh, don't worry you are safe". More likely it was a convenience and $$ thing, but we will probably never know.
OK, so we get back to Atlanta and they quickly tell us that as soon as the bags are taken off our plane and put onto a plane right there at the gate we would be leaving. We get into the gate area and almost immediately thereafter another announcement comes saying "The Montgomery Airport closes at 10, so your flight is canceled".
To conclude this little oddyssey I called my travel agent, got them to reserve me a car at Hertz, and drove home, getting here a little before 1AM (there had been PLENTY time for the effects of Tanqueray to have subsided).
Suffice it to say there will be a loooong letter sent to the CEOs of Delta and ASA, and copies will go as well to Todd Strange and Mark Wnuk (MGM Mayor and airport director). Not sure it will do any good but they need the feedback. I am afraid that this experience has driven the last nail into the "Fly from Montgomery" coffin. The construction on I-85 is winding down and ATL is only a two hour drive from my house.
But, after all is said and done, and in spite of the foibles involved in the trek and my whining, it is great to be home safely!
Nasreddin Hodja
|
|
Reply
Back
Search
Off-Topic Forum
»
North Carolina Coast
»
Nags Head
Login
|
Home
