Okay, so my sister calls me up and asks how I booked my flight when I went to see her last.
Mind you, this is from the child who will drive 11 hours from her home in Tennessee to visit us in the Great Lakes region, but is afraid to fly. Go figure.
After telling her to just call Nashville International and book the flight, I was reminded of my last trip home on an airline.
On the way home, I flew from Raleigh, North Carolina to Detroit Metro to our little terminal in my hometown. The flight was through Northwest, an airline I'd used once before.
The flight from Raleigh to Detroit Metro was great. Then I tried to make the connection.
For one, Detroit Metro is HUGE. On par with O'Hare, or so I'm told. And of course, my connection was waaaayyy on the other end of the airport. So I hoof it down to the gate, only to find the flight's been delayed. Because it's snowing to beat the band, I think "Hmm, weather trouble."
After three delays, an announcement: My flight's been canceled due to mechanical trouble.
So now I get to stand in line next to this couple from Newark who's split on this--he's screaming about how if he'd taken another carrier this wouldn't have happened and dhe's trying to calm him dowm. Funny as all get out, though, and I follow them to our *new* gate where a plane is *supposedly* coming to get us. Of course, I have to go back to where I started.
So I'm sitting chatting with the couple from Newark, when the plane lands. People get off. We aren't called to get on. For an hour. Finally, we're told that this plane has mechanical problems too, and we're being taken on yet ANOTHER flight. By this time connections are trying to be made from the past two flights that are headed my way. Oh joy.
After another 20 minutes, we FINALLY get to board. I end up next to a nice guy from Boston who's traveling on business. I have waited over FIVE HOURS to get home. And the plane finally takes off. 20 minutes later, I'm on my way home in the car.
The irony? Had I just given up and rented a car, I could have been home two hours after my first flight landed.
The moral of the story: Getting into Detroit Metro is easy--getting out is a killer.
