My trip to NYC for HOPE

[gwillen]

TL;DR: Airlines suck, but I made it to HOPE despite them. Running ethernet cable is fun.

So I've been in New York for HOPE this weekend. It's been pretty fun! But the trip to get here was a bit chaotic...

I was supposed to fly from PIT to LGA at 7:30. But in the early afternoon, I got a text informing me my flight was delayed to 8:30. Eyeroll. Then I got another one telling me 9:15. I left for the airport at 7ish, and as soon as I got on the bus got another one saying 9:45.

At this point I figured the flight was probably going to be cancelled, so I pulled out my laptop on the bus over and looked up alternative flights. The only real candidate was one through PHL leaving at 8:45 (and arriving at midnight, more than an hour after even the thrice-delayed flight I was supposed to be on.)

So as I sat there contemplating asking them to move me onto the other fight, since I expected my flight was going to get cancelled -- I got the text saying my flight was cancelled. This was just as I got to the airport, so I went up to the ticket counter and asked them to put me on the other flight. Well, it was full. I asked for standby, but the guy told me he couldn't put me on standby on a flight with a connection, because if I didn't get on the connection it would strand me in PHL. Why I would prefer to be stranded at my point of origin, rather than my much closer point of connection, is a mystery to me, but he was very steadfast about it.

So, I had him book me on the 5:45 AM flight the next morning, figuring I'd have dinner and sleep at the gate. He warned me that I might not be able to get through security with my boarding pass for the next day; he was intending to suggest I eat and sleep outside security, but I instead pulled out my boarding pass for the cancelled flight, figuring security ought accept it, and had no problem.

So before eating dinner, I went straight to the gate of the PHL flight for a last-ditch attempt to go out the same night. Before approaching the gate agent, I checked something online that I'd had a sudden suspicion about; sure enough, the flight from PHL to LGA was NOT FULL. The asshole at the front desk could have booked me on it, to let me fly standby to PHL. I do wonder if maybe he was prohibited from suggesting it to me if I didn't ask for it; he kept emphasizing that he couldn't put me standby on PIT-PHL because I was "not confirmed on the PHL-LGA flight". Maybe he was hinting I should ask to be; I dunno.

Anyway, I made the same request of the gate agent, emphasizing that there were open seats on the second leg and asking her to book me on it, and sure enough she let me fly standby, and I made it onto the plane. \o/ Unfortunately I spent all my dinner time negotiating to get on a plane instead. :-( And double-unfortunately, when I had to check my bag because they were out of overhead space, I forgot to take my wallet out of it. No dinner for me in PHL either.

So here comes the happy part of my tale. When I asked the flight attendant if there was any way to get my hands on my checked-to-LGA bag in PHL, she asked why and I told her about the wallet (and my desire to eat in PHL). She absolutely insisted on giving me $8 out of her own pocket (all she had on her) and a huge 1L bottle of water from the drink cart. Thus I was in the end able to feed myself in PHL, thanks to a random stranger's kindness! \o/ (As an amusing aside, I came up with a scheme by which I could feed myself in PHL without my wallet; order food for delivery to the terminal at PHL, using my card on file at Campusfood, and go out through security to pick it up. I wouldn't have had time to pull it off, though.)

So from that point on things went pretty smoothly. My luggage with my wallet in it showed up on time in LGA; I caught a bus to train to the Hotel Pennsylvania, with some minor hitches (the train was actually partially replaced by a bus, due to construction; and I got lost and went to the wrong subway platform, costing me $2.25; and then I waited past two trains that would have taken me to my destination because I thought they were the wrong ones.) But basically everything was smooth and I got there in one piece! So yay!

I don't plan to write about HOPE itself, because there's really not nearly as much exciting to say as about the trip to get there. ;-) But I will mention that I finally got to the Hotel Pennsylania at 2AM, and was immediately drafted to crimp and run ethernet cable until about 5AM. It was a pretty good time. ^_^

Comments

[bubblingbeebles.livejournal.com]

you weren't carrying your wallet in your pocket why exactly...? congrats on the smooth recovery, though

[gwillen.livejournal.com]

I always empty my pockets into my luggage when going through security, to minimize metal detector triggerings. I have resolved in the future to only empty them into my backpack, never my carryon, since it's not infrequent that I end up being forced to check it planeside, and I'm a forgetful type.

[lorimt]

If it makes you feel any better, your PHL feeding scheme requires you to go back through security with your food, which will be harder without your ID from your wallet. (Unless you left your ID separate when you went through the first time, and so still had it, I suppose. :) )

[gwillen.livejournal.com]

Actually yeah, that is exactly what happened -- I still had my ID in my pocket. Hopefully I would have thought to check that before trying the scheme, though! ;-)

[jgrafton]

Also, you wouldn't be allowed to bring food through security. You'd have to quickly snarf it up outside.