I was to fly to Mumbai, India on April 15. I was scheduled to fly on UA 48, United's non-stop 15+ hour flight from Newark to Mumbai. And I had just finished handing over my Wilton home to the realtor of the new owner, bringing to a close an extremely interesting phase of our stay in the beautiful town of Wilton, Connecticut. But that's a whole new story.
I finished handing over the keys at around 3 and had plenty of time to reach the airport. Frank, my brother was dropping me off and I accepted. That was the first mistake, considering that he was super busy and had already changed plans 3 times, the final being to drive to his house from where we would drive to the airport.
In the meanwhile Freia wanted to meet me and say Bye and was already on the train from New York to Stamford. Not knowing how long Frank would take, we didn't know where to meet. And to make things worse, Metro North, the CT rail company was experiencing a rare event. They were having major problems and several trains were cancelled and others were running late. so I asked her to stay at Stamford and we would meet her there. That was my second mistake.
The flight was at 8.15 and being a long flight they typically stopped check-in 75 - 90 minutes before the flight. Which meant I had to get to the airport by 7. This was my third mistake. I didn't account for the earlier closure.
I reached Frank's house at 3.30. Frank finished his work at 4.30. And we set off. For Stanford. I don't want Freia to go back without saying Bye, considering she had traveled 2 hours to meet me and would have to travel another 2 hours to get back. This was my fourth mistake.
The traffic to Stamford was quite heavy. We finally reached Stamford around 5. And I said a quick Hi and Bye. But not before picking up a sandwich for Frank and a coffee for me. And we then set out for the Newark airport. The traffic was unbelievable. What I hadn't taken into account was that it was a Friday. And people leave offices earlier. This was my fifth mistake.
In the meanwhile Frank continued to work in the car. And I was driving. I'm neither an above average driver. Like Frank. Or a fast, rash driver. Like Frank. This was my sixth mistake. We used Google to get us there as quick as we could. But even Google wasn't good enough for us to make it on time. We finally pulled into the airport at 7.15. One hour before the flight. But they had already closed the flight for check-in.
And so I had to go check if a ticket would be available in the next few days. And how much it would cost. It was a busy time and it could be an extremely expensive mistake. Actually multiple mistakes that added up. I go to the back of a long line of people wanting help. Most seem to have missed flights due to their first leg flights being delayed, and hence would be the airline's responsibility. Mine was entirely my fault. I finally get to the counter, around the time I should have been boarding.
I check if they can put me on a flight to Mumbai via Delhi, since the Delhi flight takes off in over an hour. They agree, but only if I'm willing to make my own arrangements from Delhi to Mumbai. Or pay around $1000+ if they re-book me. This is because they would cancel the current ticket, apply the cancellation charge of $ 200 and then re-book on a new fare, which is $ 800 more expensive than the fare I had originally booked. I ask for the options I have. There's 1 seat on the next day's flight to Mumbai. And they agree to book me on it, at no cost. I can't believe it. An airline doing something without a fee. Who says Miracles don't happen.
On the drive back, I realize that I've been flying with reasonable frequency for over 35 years. And of the several hundreds of flights I've taken, this was the first flight I missed. It seemed inevitable that I'd miss a flight and I'm glad that the outcome was pretty good.
And the best part of all was my wife and kids. They refused to believe that I had missed a flight. So much so that they called again in a few hours. To confirm that I wasn't pulling a fast one and was actually on the flight.
I finished handing over the keys at around 3 and had plenty of time to reach the airport. Frank, my brother was dropping me off and I accepted. That was the first mistake, considering that he was super busy and had already changed plans 3 times, the final being to drive to his house from where we would drive to the airport.
In the meanwhile Freia wanted to meet me and say Bye and was already on the train from New York to Stamford. Not knowing how long Frank would take, we didn't know where to meet. And to make things worse, Metro North, the CT rail company was experiencing a rare event. They were having major problems and several trains were cancelled and others were running late. so I asked her to stay at Stamford and we would meet her there. That was my second mistake.
The flight was at 8.15 and being a long flight they typically stopped check-in 75 - 90 minutes before the flight. Which meant I had to get to the airport by 7. This was my third mistake. I didn't account for the earlier closure.
I reached Frank's house at 3.30. Frank finished his work at 4.30. And we set off. For Stanford. I don't want Freia to go back without saying Bye, considering she had traveled 2 hours to meet me and would have to travel another 2 hours to get back. This was my fourth mistake.
The traffic to Stamford was quite heavy. We finally reached Stamford around 5. And I said a quick Hi and Bye. But not before picking up a sandwich for Frank and a coffee for me. And we then set out for the Newark airport. The traffic was unbelievable. What I hadn't taken into account was that it was a Friday. And people leave offices earlier. This was my fifth mistake.
In the meanwhile Frank continued to work in the car. And I was driving. I'm neither an above average driver. Like Frank. Or a fast, rash driver. Like Frank. This was my sixth mistake. We used Google to get us there as quick as we could. But even Google wasn't good enough for us to make it on time. We finally pulled into the airport at 7.15. One hour before the flight. But they had already closed the flight for check-in.
And so I had to go check if a ticket would be available in the next few days. And how much it would cost. It was a busy time and it could be an extremely expensive mistake. Actually multiple mistakes that added up. I go to the back of a long line of people wanting help. Most seem to have missed flights due to their first leg flights being delayed, and hence would be the airline's responsibility. Mine was entirely my fault. I finally get to the counter, around the time I should have been boarding.
I check if they can put me on a flight to Mumbai via Delhi, since the Delhi flight takes off in over an hour. They agree, but only if I'm willing to make my own arrangements from Delhi to Mumbai. Or pay around $1000+ if they re-book me. This is because they would cancel the current ticket, apply the cancellation charge of $ 200 and then re-book on a new fare, which is $ 800 more expensive than the fare I had originally booked. I ask for the options I have. There's 1 seat on the next day's flight to Mumbai. And they agree to book me on it, at no cost. I can't believe it. An airline doing something without a fee. Who says Miracles don't happen.
On the drive back, I realize that I've been flying with reasonable frequency for over 35 years. And of the several hundreds of flights I've taken, this was the first flight I missed. It seemed inevitable that I'd miss a flight and I'm glad that the outcome was pretty good.
And the best part of all was my wife and kids. They refused to believe that I had missed a flight. So much so that they called again in a few hours. To confirm that I wasn't pulling a fast one and was actually on the flight.
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