When John Young is your ride to the airport, there is a less than zero chance that you will be late for your flight. Papi plans the departure for your departure - what time you need to wake up, be in the car, on the highway, estimated time of arrival to the airport, road and weather considerations. So, even though my flight was scheduled to leave Dayton at 6:25 a.m., 45 minutes away from our house, I was not concerned. John was in charge.
All went as planned until we arrived at the airport at 5:30 a.m.
- Couldn't check in curbside because my bag was slightly over the weight limit
- The Continental check-in counter was a mess because the Cleveland flight was cancelled. HOWEVER, instead of prioritizing the check-in for the 2 early flights - Newark and Houston, the counter people made us all wait together. (Did I mention I was already checked in and all I needed to do was check my bag?)
- Finally, I, along with a couple other business travelers complained enough that they opened another kiosk area. I checked my bag - did not pay the overweight charge - and headed for the security line
- Security line chaos. Dayton is a small airport that has grown in popularity faster than sophistication and organization necessary for mass security line chaos. There were no "move to a new/front of the line" opportunities for the 2 flights leaving within 30 minutes. When my flight was called, I was almost at the front and asked the people ahead of me if I could move ahead. They agreed, but then the security agent asked me what gave me the right to cut in front of all those people. My response: I asked them! Well, she made me wait anyway!
- 10 minutes till takeoff: About to run through the Xray machine (sorry Nick, you'll be okay, bebe) and the security guy asks me if I'm pregnant - which I VERY clearly am. He then calls for a female assist to PAT ME DOWN!!! I didn't know if I was more angry, offended or shocked.
- Running to gate C-13. Made it! Door is open! Last name? Romano. Whew....wait, what do you mean you don't have a "Romano" on the list. Clearly you do, as I show my ticket. Where am I am going? Houston! On my ticket - Romano, Houston, gate C-13. THERE WAS A WHAT 15 minutes ago - GATE CHANGE!! What the $@&*! This may also be a good time to mention that most gates at the Dayton airport only have the gate number, not the destination information. Gotta get to C-17. Made it to C-17.....in time to watch the plane pull away from the gate. This seems like a good time to pee.
- Next flight out of Dayton to Houston - 6:30 p.m. - full. Code share flights with Delta connecting in Atlanta? Leaving Dayton late, oversold from Atlanta to Houston. Available options for arriving in Houston today - leave from Cincinnati. Time to call my parents.
-- "Mom, I could get a cab."
-- "No sea loca"
-- "Sorry Ma."
-- "Porque?!"
Ah, the love of parents - waking up a dark thirty for a flight I couldn't get on; putting life on hold - again - to drive me from airport to airport......
In the end, I made it back to Houston via the 11:10 a.m. flight from Cincy to Houston. My favorite part, after the heightened security checks resulting in extra long lines and my "are you really pregnant belly pat down", my suitcase was on the original flight from Dayton to Houston. Go figure.
