Airport Nightmare Part I
Hello, Everyone! This is Ms. Hardin, and the following is an account of all the airport woes I encountered during my trip to Baton Rouge for the Tiger Rock World Championships. The tale I have to tell is almost unbelievable because it is simply an endless account of nothing but one pit fall after another. I promise you though; it is all real.
Because there is so much to write, I am going to divide the blogs into an account of my flight out, an account of my flight home, and then my experiences at the World Championships.
I will start by saying that I was obviously doomed from the very beginning. It was not written in the cards, the sky or anywhere else that this trip was going to be a breeze. My airport experiences going and coming back were not meant to be exciting, enjoyable, or even bearable.
My flight out of Atlanta was scheduled to leave at 9:15 am. I had asked Scott at what time he thought I should leave the house in order to get there on time and get checked in and go through security. He said that I should be fine if I left the house around 7-7:30 am. (Since that was his recommendation, I will blame the rest on him).
Well, it is clear that neither Scott nor I have flown in quite a while nor have we driven to the airport for any reason. Our estimated departure time from the house was grossly underestimated. Atlanta traffic was horrific as always. I should have known to tack on an extra two hours just for traffic.
Once I arrived at the airport, I knew I was pressed for time. The parking lot of course was full to the rim. I knew if I had to park my car so far out and walk to the terminal, I would certainly be late. Fortunately, as I was parking, one of those long golf cart looking rides was coming towards me. So I hopped on board. In my rush to get parked and get into the cart, I did not bother to look and see what aisle I was parked on.
So since I had made it on the cart and made it to check in super fast, I was feeling a little more confident that I might actually make my flight. I had three pieces of luggage and a computer bag. The three pieces of luggage consisted of a hanging bag that had my uniforms in it, my gear bag, and a carrier on size suit case. I wanted to check all three of the pieces until the attendant told me that the first piece was $25, the second piece was $35, and a third piece would be $135. What! I quickly told him I would be carrying on the small suit case.
Meanwhile, he starts to check in my bags and tells me that it is too late to check them in for my flight. What do you mean it is too late to check in my bags? He said that no more bags could be checked in for my flight. So, what am I suppose to do with my bags? He said they would have to be put on the next flight to Baton Rouge which was about 2 hours later. There was nothing much I could do. I would just have to stay at the Baton Rouge airport and wait for my bags to arrive on the next flight.
So, I finally got checked in and proceed to security. As soon as I see the security line, I knew right then and there that I was no doubt going to miss my flight. I didn’t even try to rush. I just hung back and took my time going through the never-ending line leading to the infamous body x-ray, baggage x-rays, CT scans, MRI’s and whatever other procedure they wish to put you through.
I really hate the fact that they make you take your shoes off. I had on sandals, and had to step where thousands of others have stepped with their bare feet. In my opinion, if the body x-ray can do a full body x-ray, then it can also x-ray what’s on your feet. Whenever you go to a doctor or hospital and have x rays taken, you are entitled to a copy of those x-rays. I really wanted to ask if I was going to be provided with a copy of my full body x-ray.
I got through the x-ray with flying colors. My bag did not. It of course had to be searched. Since it has been so long since I have flown, I forgot about the restriction on the number of fluid ounces you could have for products such as shampoo, hairspray, etc. The security man starts going through my bag and pulls out all the big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, facial cleanser, etc. He told me I could go back and have it checked in. At that point, I just wanted to move on, so I told him to take whatever he felt was necessary; they were all items I could replace.
Finally, I’m out of security and on to the gates. I already know I’ve missed my flight, so I go to the desk near the gate to see if I can get a flight on the next one leaving for Baton Rouge. I was told that the next flight was at 12pm, but it was full. However, I could be put on standby. I actually thought it would work out great if I left on the next flight considering that was the flight that my luggage was on. In that case, both I and my luggage would arrive at the same time.
Well, I wasn’t so lucky. There was no room for standbys. Therefore, I was put on standby for the next flight at 1:30 pm. That meant my baggage actually arrived in Baton Rouge before I did. This time I got lucky and was able to fly out at 1:30pm. So after being at the airport for at least 5 hours, I was finally en route to Baton Rouge.
There of several morals to this store. If you think you should be fine leaving at a certain hour to catch your flight, add two hours to that. The airlines really stick it to you when it comes to paying for checked baggage, so pack as lightly as possible. Review the airline’s travel requirements when it comes to what you can carry in your carry on bag. Wear tennis shoes and socks if you don’t want to put your bare feet on two foot prints that have been stepped on thousands of times by other bare feet. Ewwwwww.
All of this is quite obvious now that I look back on it, but at the time I was ignorant about airport time allowance and proper protocol because I had not flown in such a long time. I can only blame myself for my ignorance. When I bought the tickets online, the confirmation prompted me to read over airport policies. When I did my online check-in the night before, I receive the same prompt.
Although I am willing to admit my fault in the whole ordeal, it was still none the less quite a pain to go through. This wraps up the first leg of my flight. It is nothing compared to the second leg of my flight coming home from Baton Rouge.
Stay tuned for that horrific experience as well as details about the awesome World Championships.
Thanks for reading. I hope all of you start following us on a regular basis.
Ms. Devin Hardin
