Okay, now that I have decompressed from our Florida vacation a bit I can tell you why I hate AirTran airways and why all our vacation was missing was a Family Truckster.
We set out at 4:30 a.m. last Thursday for our Florida getaway. AirTran has a policy you arrive for your flight 40 minutes before take off. Well, we arrived 45 minutes before take off and the AirTran (ATA) customer service representative proceeded to tell us we needed to arrive 40 minutes before take-off so that our bags would be on the plane. When I kindly told him it was 45 minutes before take-off he basically said too bad. So without letting us know if the bag would be on the plane, what flight the bag would be on if it wasn't on the plane or what to do he shuffled us off to security.
Of course the bag wasn't on the plane and no one at ATA knew where it was. Long story short it wasn't until 7 a.m. the next morning that they located the bag and told us to come pick it up. That was after spending $150 at Target buying the shorts, t-shirts, suits and the toiletries we needed to actually start our vacation without our luggage.
Things were going beautifully until Friday night when my poor baby boy got the flu. He spent the entire night with his little head in a sand bucket throwing up every hour until about 3 a.m. He recovered beautifully and off to the beach we went on Sat. I did forget my camera but am hoping to get pictures from someone who didn't.
Sunday rolls around and we are going to meet our college friend Greg and his wife, who we haven't seen in 7 years. Guess who gets the flu! I spend the day throwing up. I do make it to lunch but gave Cafe Boulud bathroom a work-out.
Finally, Monday we're supposed to leave. As you all know, the East Coast gets slammed with storms and since ATA sucks our plane coming from White Plains, New York, is delayed 5 hours. After speaking with 3 different ATA people, telling me 3 different things, I finally get a supervisor on the phone who informs me, I'm supposed to be at the airport for the last 7 hours. When I proceed to ask him why, he tells me that if we're not at the airport an hour before our ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED DEPARTURE, not the delayed departure, they can give up our seats. I kindly explained to him that I'm not going to sit at the airport with a 13 month-old for 7 hours, and then asked him why they tell you to check the status of your flight before leaving the house. He explained that it is for the convenience of the people picking you up and not for the passengers. I again KINDLY told him if he saw the irony in making it more convenient for people who pick you up than the actual paying customers. He didn't find it funny.
To make an even longer story short, we rush to the airport and they end up bumping us off our flight and want us to sit stand-by with a 13 month-old in Atlanta. If we don't get on OUR flight, the one we PAID to be on, the next flight doesn't leave Atlanta for 10 hours. Of course ATA will not pay for a hotel since it is weather related. So as you all know, you can't really sit in an airport for 10 hours with a 13 month old so we opt for the next flight which isn't until WEDNESDAY. Yes, Wednesday. They could get us on a flight on Tues. but we would miss the last connection in Atlanta and have to spend the night there. Wow, thanks, that helps.
We opted for the Wednesday flight. Unfortunately the weather in Florida did not cooperate and it was about as warm there as it is today in Chicago. However, Brad, Elias and I had a nice day shopping in Palm Beach.
After all that we're home and yesterday night Brad got the flu! You gotta love traveling.
