I had to make an unexpected trip to help my daughter with a family emergency. She's never asked me to drop everything and come help before, so of course I did exactly that. I got a plane ticket scheduled to leave my place around 5:00 AM next day and arrive at her place around noon. Things didn't exactly go as planned.
About two hours after I booked my flight, I received notice that my flight had been canceled and the airline automatically rebooked me. The rebooked flight left at 6:00 PM, with an overnight layover in Chicago. The second leg of the flight left Chicago at 5:00 AM, another (additional) layover in Phoenix, and then arrival at daughter's place around noon next day. Sigh...
I arrived at the airport and my flight ended up being delayed by about three hours. No big deal, because the layover in Chicago was long anyway...
Around midnight, while at the Chicago airport, I found out that the second leg of my flight was canceled and the airline was unable to automatically reschedule. I spent the next hour in line to speak with an airline customer service rep for rebooking.
The customer service rep found me a new flight scheduled to leave at 5:00 AM the NEXT day... meaning I'd be stuck in Chicago for about 36 hours. Fortunately, another rep found me a trip leaving around 8:00. But I still ended up sleeping at the airport. (This was my choice. It was less hassle to sleep in the airport than to go a hotel at 2:00 AM and then come back through TSA.)
That flight was also delayed. I was worried that I'd miss my final connecting flight. But no. Why? Because the final flight was late too.
In the end, it was a misadventure. It was... challenging. But I'm here for my little girl. That's what matters.
Oh yeah... one of the stops ended up being in San Diego, so I got to see MCRD San Diego, where I went to Marine Corps Boot Camp. A quick detour down memory lane.
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