Latest Travel Horror Story

in #busy5 years ago

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In an effort to broaden the themes I talk about to generate engagement, I thought it would be worth a shot a more story based post today. While I have traveled a lot in the past, last night was one of those travel experiences that will be in my top stories to share with friends and family. Since I now consider the Steem community as part of my social network, I want to share it with you.

In what was last minute plan, I booked logistics to travel back to the enchanted island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Having lived there for most of my adult life, most of my friends and family as well as a good number of my business interests are still there. As it has been a busy year for me professionally, I have been try to deal with a number of issues remotely with little success. So a well overdue trip came to be as my mother was admitted to the hospital and I needed to be by her side.

I spent most of the day to the office and in order to spend time with the family before leaving, I decided to book the last flight out. As I got to the airport, I noticed that the earlier flight was delayed. No weather issues were apparent so I got to the gate as was happy to find that my plane was there already. The gate was full as many passengers from the previous flight were inquiring about our flight in case the three hours delayed was ultimately cancelled (irony to be seen). So far so good, we start to board...

One of the benefits of traveling often is obtaining status. Given my status I was in the front of the plane (not First Class) and had an aisle seat. As I got to the gate door, my ticket did not go thru. After a third attempt, I was asked to step aside while they verified what was wrong. After another three boarding group got on, they tried to ask me why I was taken off the flight! I asked how would I be there having checked in two hours before if I am off the flight? After having a discussion with the attendant, he bluntly said well this is the last seat in the plane, do you want it?

Not only was it at the back of the plane but it was a middle seat! Making matters worst, given the time that past there was no overhead bin space for my carry-on luggage! There goes another wait I need to do later on! I proceeded to board as I had no option despite their mistake. So I finally sat and waited for boarding.

As departure time approaches there was little movement up at the flight deck. At time of departure, I received a 30 minute delay notice via my mobile application. Trying to make the story shorter, after the pilot told us of a possible maintenance issue, they proceeded to get us off the plane as the airline decided it was best to get another plane instead of fixing that one.

An hour delay turned into a three hour delay as it took two hours to move all the baggage from one plane to the next despite it being only four gates away! Once the baggage was transferred, we started our boarding process again now knowing the awful seat that awaited me. The one bright story was that once airborne, four hours late, the pilot said we missed the crew rest requirement by only 15 minutes.

I cannot begin to say how horrible it is to sit in the middle for any flight, especially without knowing those beside me. Luckily, I was so tired that I slept half the flight. Landed at 4am local time to get the rental car, which also turned out to be out of intermediate sized cars so I actually needed to pay more to upgrade to a better car given the amount of driving I need to do this week (and because roads here are not great).

Lastly, of course, I arrived at my hotel with the cutoff for the systems reboot being done so actually waited 30 minutes for my room as well. At least breakfast was free which was only two hours away as I finally got to bed around 5am! However, I was surprisingly well rested when I got up so opted for a quick treadmill workout at the gym before breakfast.

I believe it is Murphy’s Law that says when something goes wrong, everything does! “When it rains its pours!” However, looking forward to the positive side I am back in this beautiful island sitting now next to my mom in the hospital and appreciating the time with her. She seems to be doing fine so will be headed to hotel soon for some overdue rest before a busy day of meeting with bankers looking to take advantage of me tomorrow. However, I have the power of monetary sovereignty with me in that I now have an option to ultimately become free from their grips. I look forward to sharing some more about the island as I have gotten some interesting articles to read from colleagues here during this trip.

What travel horror stories have you had? How much worst can airlines get despite increased prices? How can we deploy blockchain to make them accountable for these delays? Look forward to seeing your engagement and feedback!

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Always great to be back home! Sorry to hear about the challenges to get there but it continues to follow the ways Companies are trying to do more with less to keep costs down and profits up.

Posted using Partiko iOS

Yeap! Just look at the leg room or lack thereof! They would put people on top of each other if they could.

I’m so sorry you had such an awful trip. Airlines are horrible and getting worse. Im glad though that you’re getting to spend time with your mom, and in such a beautiful place. Tax laws really are making me give some thought to moving there at least part time. I’d love for you to write more about life there.

Enjoy the ocean!

Posted using Partiko iOS

I am thinking about that as well. The hurricane last year seems to have made the economy move again which is great. Lots of activity but stillnlots of challenges with infrastructure and social issues. I look forward to sharing some of this information in the coming days.

Holy Cow, can't top that, but through your words on the post, it appears you took it like a champ.

Wow sorry u went through that

Posted using Partiko Android

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