airline aggravation

[bookworm]

*content currently redacted for rewording, to prevent further misunderstandings by future readers

Welcome to airline aggravation!

Flights:
1/11/2015 9:00 pm EST(1 hour flight)
1/13/2015 5:00 pm EST(1 hour flight)

You must book your flight at least a half hour in advance.

[E II]

So bookw rom how much did you get for that post?
I'll read that when I have a while

[jelly]

[bookworm]

I don’t think that’s an accurate use of that meme.
While this could be classified as ‘just an inconvenience’ it wasn’t of a trivial nature.

[American Eagle]

When will the TL;DR version be released?

[~JCGJ~]

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.

I've always been quite the optimist, so I often like to use this quote in situations like the one which you described (which often annoys the living daylights out of anyone who happens to be in earshot )...

It sounds like you had quite the adventure.

[Jehoshaphat]

Sounds like you have good reason to be more than annoyed. I greatly admire your temperance, if it had been me in that situation i wouldn't of had such patience.

[Samantha14]

Oh wow, Bookworm. I just read your post. That's incredible. And insufferable.

I have to agree with Jeho on this one. Even though I rarely get angry, or even very aggravated, I would probably be steaming way more than you by not even the halfway point. It takes a lot of strength in both will power and patience to deal with things the way you did. Awesome job.

I, myself, hate the thought of airports. Do I hate flying? No. I've always wanted to fly, and never have had the chance. But, until they change the way they do security, I'm fight--Not flight.

[bookworm]

When will the TL;DR version be released?

Never. You need all the details to fully understand the story. If I just said 'I had a bad time with my flights' I would sound like one of the people I call out in my introduction because I could be just complaining over nothing.

[jelly]

I don’t think that’s an accurate use of that meme.

It couldn't possibly have a more accurate use.

[bookworm]

I don’t think that’s an accurate use of that meme.

It couldn't possibly have a more accurate use.

It’s my understanding the most proper use is for when someone is complaining about something there should be no complaint about, such as having a convenience that isn’t convenient enough. (‘I wish I didn’t just have a 30 inch TV, the game would look way better.’)

[jelly]

..or when someone writes a 5,000 word essay about air travel inconveniences.

Air travel. Through the air.

[bookworm]

Ah, I’ve heard this argument before. Because air travel is a modern wonder it doesn’t matter how we’re treated when we do it. I disagree. Label it a ‘first world problem’ if you insist (though it’s still incorrect usage) but I believe when I pay over a thousand dollars the recipient of my money has an obligation to at least attempt to honor our agreement. As I said, my issue is not with the delay itself, that it happened, only with the fact that there wasn’t an attempt to avoid it. There was another flight option available, they could have given us that and there would be no issue, but they refused because they knew they could get away with it.

The ‘first world problem’ in this series of events would be if my angle in this was saying ‘I got home a day later than planned because the middle flight was delayed! I’m so angry, how dare they hold me up for an hour like that!’ and that is not the case at all. I explicitly explained that I don’t have a problem with the delay - those things happen. I’m right with you that things like that can’t be complained about because, for goodness sake, we’re talking about air travel! But that doesn’t mean there aren’t valid things to get upset about, and complete lack of customer service is one of those things.

Edit:

And by the way, if your reason for pointing out the length of my post was an attempt to show I’m overly complaining, that’s also not the case. My post is that long because the story is that long. I only recounted what happened.

[jelly]

[bookworm]

When did expectation that a contract would be honored become entitlement?

[American Eagle]

I've never been in an airplane.
I've never been to Europe.
I've never taken a two-week vacation.
I've never ordered room service.

I'm sorry that you had to stay an extra night in a hotel because your plane required emergency maintenance. Really, I am.

[bookworm]

Et tu, AE? Both of you are missing the point.

[jelly]

Always remember bookworm, if you're ever criticized by others, it's only because they're all missing the point.

You have every right in the world to be entitled. Sorry, expectant.

[American Eagle]

If your "contract" terms do indeed guarantee your arrival at a specific time, then I suggest you sue the airline for breach of contract. Perhaps then you will feel vindicated.

[Sherlock]

If it's any consolation, my luggage is currently in Venezula.

I was annoyed for, like, 2 minutes and then I bought some new clothes and used it as a presentation icebreaker the following morning.
It's rare that I take a flight where there isn't some kind of delay, inconvenience or mixup. That's the price we pay for being able to take advantage of high speed travel.