The series of flights to get home has made me entirely rethink my desire to take part in air travel. Sure, it’s better for the environment, but it’s definitely better for my sanity.
It started with a simple delay. While on the airstrip in Wellington, the pilot made an announcement about a flock of seagulls persistently occupying the runway. It wasn’t long before we were off and away. However, it did leave me running between the domestic and international terminals in Auckland to get to my next flight. Once boarded, we were off to San Francisco.
I’d been thrilled about not flying through Los Angeles for this flight. I hate American security policy – it’s demeaning and unnecessary – and LAX stands for most of what I hate. Going through SFO was going to be a dream in comparison. It’s almost surprising just how wrong I can be. SFO is a horrible airport. It’s a horribly boring airport. The only thing of interest that I found over the course of my scheduled 5 hour layover was an aviation museum, but it was closed for a private function. By the time that it was announced that we were delayed by another 1.5 hours, I was looking for a rafter to hang myself from.
As it turned out, Air Canada had a mechanical problem with our scheduled plane and we had to wait for another flight to come in before we could fly out. Luckily, I was scheduled for a 2.5 hour stop in Vancouver before my unconnected connection to Edmonton. I’d be there an hour before the flight was to leave. We seemed to wait on the airstrip for a long time, however. The pilot announced that this was a short delay while they were checking numbers; we’d be pulled to the runway momentarily. A half hour of moments later, we were finally in motion. By the time we landed, I had half an hour to get through customs, get my luggage and get transferred to my flight to Edmonton. Salting the wound, we had a last minute gate change – 10 minutes stolen. To make matters worse, I managed to leave my borrowed laptop on the plane and had to return for it. It didn’t matter in the end, however. My suitcase didn’t come through until 5 minutes before my flight was leaving. I hit the transfer desk as the flight was leaving. It was never going to happen. I was directed up to ticketing to see what they could do for me.
“Welcome to Air Canada ticketing. I will be your personal assailant. How may I frustrate you tonight?”
It was 11pm, the last flight to Edmonton had already left and I had very few options available. The ticketing agent proceeded to tell me that because I was transferring from Air New Zealand, operated by Air Canada, and missed an Air Canada flight, they had no obligation to me as a passenger. I was brushed off and pissed off. I booked a nearby hotel for the night and fumed over my options for the next day. Thankfully, I’d picked up travel insurance to cover the borrowed laptop. I’ll get back the cost of the hotel. The next morning, I’d see about flights.
When I got back to the ticketing desk, the evil robot had been replaced with several humans, one of which was willing to put me on the next flight out to Edmonton. “No need to add insult to injury.” I arrived in Edmonton just after noon yesterday, nearly 12 hours late. I’m still trying to decide whether I should write a letter of complaint to Air Canada over the issue. It worked out in the end, but there should be some sort of record of my disapproval.
My return flight will hopefully be better. I’ve got a longer delay between the Air Canada flight and the Operated By Air Canada flight, so it should be less likely to have that sort of problem. I’ve got another 4 hour layover in Suicide SFO, but I’ll have a bit of shopping to do – not 4 hours worth, but maybe I can fake breaking a leg and humour myself at the expense of the airport, thinking that I might sue them for something.
I don’t remember hating flying this much. I don’t remember so many delays, so much hassle and annoyance. Is this the future of air travel? I think it’s time to rethink my travel plans. I don’t think this is worth it.
