That is, until JetBlue decided to totally screw us over. Thanks, JetBlue - I really needed that. We decided to fly JetBlue instead of Virgin America - both offer direct flights from Ft. Lauderdale, but the timing on the JetBlue flight was better - I would have time to go to work in the morning, get everything settled there, and then fly out at 5:02pm. I don't know if I previously mentioned my paranoia about this trip from the get go. We purchased our tickets through Expedia because they were already sold out on JetBlue.com. We weren't assigned seats at that time and wouldn't receive them until we checked-in. Well, you can log on to JetBlue's website up to 24 hours before your flight to check-in. Naturally, it wouldn't allow us to check in. So the morning of our flight, I logged in again - and this time, it worked - BUT, it only checked ME in - not D. And naturally, it assigned me some random middle seat - 16E - which is like my worst nightmare for a 6 and a half hour flight. So, I called the 1-800-Jet-Blue number. After waiting on hold for over 45 minutes, I finally got someone who basically told me there was nothing they could do due to security to change my seat. Huh? Whatever. She told me I'd have to speak to someone at the check-in counter at the airport.
So we were packing and getting ready and I decided to head to the airport a little early to beat the crowd to get our seat assignments worked out. I hadn't been feeling right all day - my stomach was iffy, and I was dizzy for some reason, but I kinda bit my tongue about it - I didn't want to spoil our trip. Then I see that our flight is delayed. AAARRRGGGHHHHH..... not what I wanted to see. It was now delayed until 6:05pm or something.
We had a brainstorm - since we had nothing better to do - we'd drive down to the airport, check-in, drop off our bags, and then head back home to wait. So we did that - there were no crowds, it worked like a charm. The ticketing agent assigned us seats 1E & 1F - bulk head row with nobody in front of us - perfect. They took our bags and everything. She told us that the plane we were on was coming in from Newark and probably wouldn't leave until around 7pm so not to even bother going through security until around 5:45. Sweet. We headed home. We finished up with our carry-ons, took the dog for a walk, and finished getting ready. I told my dad to come pick us up around 4:45ish. Checked our flight online 100 or so more times (or so it felt) and it had a new departure time listed as 6:35pm CONFIRMED. I checked the Newark flight - it was still en route. Life was good. We left for the airport around 5pm. Got there, marched in - all smug since the terminal was a MADHOUSE. We were like - look at all these schmucks waiting in line - since we breezed through with our boarding passes. People were literally EVERYWHERE - some were yelling, some were crying, it was mass hysteria.
Then I had another brainstorm - we needed to check the monitors before we went through security to make sure we were still at Gate F7. So as I am peering at the monitors, what do I see? Oh yes - Flight 277 from FLL to SFO - CANCELLED - in huge red letters. Huh? Wha???? I poke D - I can feel my bloodpressure rising, and I'm like - WHY DOES OUR FLIGHT SAY CANCELLED? He's like - what are you talking about - no that's probably because it was delayed. Well - then it would say DELAYED, not CANCELLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now we have to join the line of hysterical customers. While we're in line, we're greeted by Rick who is JetBlue's FLL Manager and basically he tells us the flight is cancelled because they "don't have a crew due to the blizzard" to fly the plane, we had zero options as far as rebooking as everybody is already sold out, and that we can wait in the line to try to reschedule - we'd be lucky if we could get out by January 6th or 7th, OR we can just take the full refund they're offering. It was like someone slapped me in the face. What the hell crappy airline runs a business like this? I have never, in all of my life, had to deal with such an awful, incompetent airline. And I've flown some real doozies - Air Aruba, Pan Am, Aer Lingus, etc.
At that point, it felt like we were in a daze - a bad dream - we opted for the full refund because it was the only realistic option at that point in time. That's when I asked where my luggage was. Oh - it was at baggage claim carousel 8. We trek downstairs to carousel 8 (which if on the other side of the terminal of course) and there are our bags, just thrown into a pile - with nobody around to monitor them or keep an eye on them. FLL airport is set up so that pretty much anybody can just walk in to baggage claim - it's right across from the short-term parking, so a lot of times, people come in there to wait for people they are picking up since you can no longer wait at the gate due to security. So that's when I started getting really fired up. How dare these assholes cancel my flight AT THE LAST MINUTE, and then leave my bag thrown into a pile somewhere that anybody can just walk into, grab, and walk out with.
I'm a reasonable person, I understand that things happen. But to not have any other option for your paying customers other than a full refund after you've ruined their travel plans, is just pure incompetence by the airline. And then to continue blaming the blizzard in the Northeast that was 5 days ago is ridiculous as well. You knew about the blizzard - you knew you had displaced crews - SO YOU MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO HAVE EXTRA CREWS ON RESERVE TO DEAL WITH HOLIDAY TRAVELERS. You arrange for another flight to get out within 24-48 hours. If this was truly a crew issue, they would have known hours, if not days before - not one hour before the flights scheduled departure time. And then you leave your own ticketing agents to deal with the mess - so basically JetBlue has no respect for it's customers OR it's employees. These poor people were left to deal with screaming, hysterical customers who were left without a means to get to their destination for at least a week. Way to go, JetBlue. You're a true gem. Screw you. I hope your company crashes and burns.
I could get into more specifics, but I'm drained and tired of thinking about it. Basically, we went home, we tried everything - every airline, every airport within reason - Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, Monterey, even Reno. Nothing. My friend who works for Delta tried to see if she could get anything - and she wasn't able to. Then we began the process of canceling all our reservations - we had to cancel our hotels at the Westin St. Francis, The Monterey Plaza Hotel, dinner reservations, Alcatraz Tour reservations, etc. It was exhausting. Everybody was very understanding and didn't give us a problem, but it almost went too smoothly. I wanted someone to give me a hard time so I would have an excuse to get mean and scream and take it out on someone. But no.
It's really amazing how a trip that took weeks for us to plan was so easily destroyed in a matter of hours. It was heartbreaking - I don't have another word to describe it.
Some good friends of ours invited us over for NYE - they didn't have any plans so instead they asked us to come over and they made us dinner - fliet mignon, asparagus, salad, potatoes, spinach dip in a bread bowl, bruscetta, selection of cheeses and crackers, cheesecake for desert - and we brought the alcohol. They really went above and beyond and we're lucky to have such good friends to cheer us up. While I was hoping to have had pictures to share of us on NYE - all snuggly in our winter clothes standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge or Bay Bridge with fireworks in the background, sadly I do not - I only have this one:
Here's to 2011 - good riddance 2010, I hope this is a much better year!
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