Our trip from hell...

WARNING: This is a long one...

Our flight was scheduled for 7:30 this morning to go to California to visit H's family before we head to Italy later this month.  At 9:38 last night, a recording from Delta called to tell us that our first flight was delayed and we might miss any connecting flights.  Sure enough, we would miss our second flight, so we went back to the hotel (we were out finishing dinner and a little last minute shopping) to call Delta and get it fixed.  After a long, frustrating phone call with a Delta representative, they switched us to a US Airway flight that left at 7:00 this morning.  They sent us a confirmation email and went to bed at 1:00. 

Our alarms go off at 3:30 to get us to the airport by 5:00.  So, we return the rental car (our van is in Italy already) and go to the US Airway counter.  There is no line, so we are feeling good, only to be informed that Delta never completed the reservation and I have to go over there to have them send an electronic ticket to US Air.  I leave the family and run down to the Delta counter.  I tell a man there what I need and he spends 5 minutes typing into a kiosk.  He can't find our reservation.  I repeat what I need and he says, "Oh!  You need to go in that line over there."  He points to the nice, long line snaking away from the Special Services Desk.

So I wait, and wait, and wait...

I tell one of the Delta people who is wandering around that my flight leaves in an hour and fifteen minutes and I really need to be helped now.  She informs me that I am not special.  I must wait my turn just like everyone else and there is nothing she can do for me.  Fifteen minutes later, I duck under the ropes, and cut in front of 10 people when the last customer leaves the desk.  I tell the lady my situation and beg for help. 

Countdown: 1 hour until lift-off.  She spends the next 23 minutes on hold dressing me down and yelling at me about how this is all my fault and none of this would have happened if I had gone through the proper channels when I made my reservation...  I asked who she was on hold with - she was on hold with Delta, at the Delta counter.  Really?  More yelling at me about how this is all my fault and do I think I'm special and she's doing me a favor by helping me at all since I jumped ahead of all these people.  I finally told her, calmly, that I did not do anything wrong and that it was Delta that changed the reservation and caused the problem and she told me not to yell at her.  Seriously?  I was ready to throttle the woman.  H keeps calling me, wondering what is going on.  He's trying to fix things from his end.  Finally she gives me the electronic tickets.  I RUN down the terminals to the US Air desk.  Halfway there, I realize she only gave me half of the tickets.  I RUN back.  I interrupt her other customer and she glares at me while giving me the other tickets.  Again, it is my fault that she didn't give them all to me.  Ugh.

Countdown: 25 minutes until lift-off.  I RUN down to US Air.  They start checking our bags (we have a lot since we are living out of a hotel for the next few months - not to mention there are 6 of us).  I look down to see that G has completely peed all over himself and the stroller.  I strip him down in front of everyone, throw his pajamas away, throw his diaper away, help H with the bags, put a new diaper on G, dress him, put him back in the stroller sitting on a plastic bag, and help H with more bags.  By now W is crouching on the floor whining because he has to go to the bathroom and has been told to wait.  I run him to the bathroom and now H has the tickets.

Countdown: 20 minutes until lift-off.  We ride down the elevator, RUN to security.  A US Air employee tells us to slow down.  We explain while running past and she says she'll help us through security.  It was very nice of her, but we outrun her and jump to the front of the line.  The security person SLOWLY helps us.  (H thinks she was intentionally slow because she kept giving us you-should-have-gotten-here-earlier looks.)  We RUN to the end of the terminal with 10 minutes left before our flight leaves.  They held the door for us and where they held the door for us to get on the plane.  They also held the luggage doors open for our bags to arrive.  We are very grateful for the help we received from the US Air Reps. 

H had to sit by himself back by the bathrooms.  He was between 2 large Asian men who farted the whole flight.  He said sleeping was the only way to keep his sanity.  I didn't feel too badly for him since I had the 4 kids by myself.  They were good, really good, considering our morning.

Oh, I forgot...when H got the tickets, they were only able to put two of us through on our connecting flight.  So when we got to Phoenix, we had to go to the desk there to get the other four boarding passes. 

We arrive in Phoenix 15 minutes early.  Great, right?  We only had a 50 minute layover so we were grateful for the early arrival.  Unfortunately, our gate is not clear so we're going to sit on the tarmac for a few minutes.  So we wait, and wait, and wait...  We finally pull up to the gate 15 minutes late.

Countdown: 35 minutes until lift-off.  We wait for them to open the doors. We are at the back of the plane.  We calmly wait our turn to get off. 

Countdown: 15 minutes until lift-off.  We RUN from the end of one terminal through to gate A17.  We go up to the desk and the man starts to get our boarding passes.  There are not enough seats together so he is working his magic and calling people up to the desk to switch.  But most of the people have boarded the plane.  They call for last boarding and they are putting tags on our stroller and car seat to gate check them.  They give us our tickets.  Four of us are together and H would be by himself again.  So the man tells us to ask the woman in 22F to switch to 22A  It is still a window seat, it's just on the other side of the plane. 

We board.  The pilot announces that we will be leaving a little late (hmm...because of us?) but he will make up the time in the air.  They close the doors behind us and we approach our seats.  The woman in 22F wouldn't move.  Apparently, she had been there for 2 flights already and doesn't want to move.  Whatever, I get that she doesn't have to.  The woman in front of us hears and offers to move so now H is with the 2 older kids and I have the 2 younger.

Finally we get to California.  Sigh...

We are starving because we didn't have time to eat before the flights. They had gross options on the first flight, and they weren't serving food on the second flight.  But we're here and very glad we are.  Hopefully the flight back will be less eventful.