Air travel delays are something we’ve learned to live with. Both of us traveled extensively for our jobs and there are very few air travel delay situations we haven’t encountered. Of course, delays when traveling for pleasure are somewhat less stressful than when we absolutely, positively had to be somewhere for a meeting. Still and all, when a loved one expects to pick you up at the airport at, say, 9:45pm, you really don’t feel good when the hands of the clock start inching later. And later.

Travel horror stories are always fun, right?

Just recently, though, we had a travel horror story that ranks right up there in the annals of travel horror stories.

Our travel saga began on the flight from San Jose, CA to Chicago O’Hare, where we’d connect to a commuter for the final run to Rochester, NY, our hometown. Where we’d planned a week’s stay.  My emails no longer come to my phone–I decided no email was important enough that I had to have it instantly. But M is still working, so he does get email on his phone, including flight updates. And I’m dying to share them with you. Along with my commentary, of course.

So let’s begin at, well, where else but

The beginning.

Ding! Ding! went his phone.

8:18 am Thursday August 18th
Your flight is delayed
American Airlines flight 2671 from San Jose to Chicago O’Hare on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 11:15 AM has changed. Your new departure time is 11:40 AM.We’re keeping an eye on your trip. If the delay of your first flight causes a missed connection, we’ll contact you with updated flight information. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Well, of course, we weren’t happy about this. We had only an hour between flights and knew we’d miss the connection. So we rebooked on the last Rochester flight out of Chicago, due to leave at 9:45pm. It always makes me nervous to be on the last flight to my destination, but we had no choice. There were no others. That meant our loved one would have to come out with her dog, Henry, at midnight. I tried to talk her into letting us take a cab. Nope. She insisted on coming.

9:09 am Thursday August 18th
Gate update
American Airlines flight 2671 from San Jose to Chicago O’Hare on Thursday, August 18, 2016 is now leaving out of gate 10.
Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Well, ok. The American terminal at SJC isn’t that big, so this wasn’t a problem.  And we took off for Chicago.  I figured that the Chicago-Rochester flight would probably be late, too. I didn’t want to count on that, so I was glad we were on the later flight, even if it meant a three-hour layover. I also figured our bags would make the original connection–they were not retagged because we changed flights after we checked them.

5:03 pm Thursday August 18th
Gate update
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 is now leaving out of gate L4.
Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Yes, we know that times and locations are subject to change. But in just seven minutes?  Ok, let’s walk to another terminal.  A long walk. O’Hare is a large airport.

5:10 pm Thursday August 18th
Your flight is delayed
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 9:45 PM has changed. Your new departure time is 10:35 PM.
We’re keeping an eye on your trip. If the delay of your first flight causes a missed connection, we’ll contact you with updated flight information. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Oh, dear. We’re now getting in around 1am. I didn’t want our loved one to come out that late, but again, she insisted. I amused myself by texting constantly with a friend. He and his family were in Chicago visiting. “You might as well come to dinner with us,” he said. Oh, if only.

5:16 pm August 18th
Your flight is now on time
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 9:45 PM has changed. The flight is now back to its original time of departure at 9:45 PM.
Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Wow, how did that happen? First we were an hour late and now on time? Six minutes later? I couldn’t imagine how this could be true. It had to be a cruel joke. But I texted the good news to our loved one. Exciting! And so glad I didn’t go to dinner with our friends!

5:19 pm August 18th
Gate update
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 is now leaving out of gate G16. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Another long walk to G terminal. Ok. I needed the exercise after that four-hour flight to Chicago and a long layover. Did I mention that we had a little kid sitting behind us, coughing and hacking into our personal space? I didn’t? Well, we did. Have that kid hacking on us from the row behind.

6:39 pm August 18th
Gate update
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 is now leaving out of gate G20. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Just a few gates down. But wait. It says ROCHESTER, MN not NY. I tear back to the original gate to tell the agent I thought he might have erred.  “NO,” he insisted. “NY is the next flight out of that gate after MN.” Of course, it’s not that I trusted him. Because, well, just on principle.

6:53 pm August 18th
Gate update
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 is now leaving out of gate G12. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Is this possible? Yet another gate? Now bonded by all the dinging that was going on as American sent us the latest update, the entire passenger list trooped to G12.

7:03 pm August 18th
Your flight is delayed
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 9:45 PM has changed. Your new departure time is 10:05 PM.
We’re keeping an eye on your trip. If the delay of your first flight causes a missed connection, we’ll contact you with updated flight information. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Again? I knew we weren’t really leaving on time. I called our loved one but she didn’t answer. Maybe because I told her to set the alarm then nap. But I didn’t mean that she shouldn’t wake up if her phone rang.

7:37 pm August 18th
Gate update
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 is now leaving out of gate G14. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

No! No! Not G14! A young woman who said she was a 911 dispatcher said she was due at work at 4am, just a couple hours after landing. She decided to call to say she wasn’t going to make it. I was relieved. Just in case we had an emergency in Rochester that next day and she, too, would be asleep.Ding! My friend texted: “You should have come to dinner with us.”  Oh yes.

8:20 pm August 18th
Your flight is delayed
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 9:45 PM has changed. Your new departure time is 10:35 PM.
We’re keeping an eye on your trip. If the delay of your first flight causes a missed connection, we’ll contact you with updated flight information. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Are you freaking kidding me?  At this point people were deplaning from other flights and walking through our gate entry door. The gate agent had disappeared, probably down the jetway to assist.  I stared at the boarding podium.

“Wouldn’t it be fun if I called for boarding our flight and boarded us all?” I asked M.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to find a bail bondsman in Chicago?” he responded.

8:45 pm August 18th
Your flight is delayed
American Eagle flight 3204 from Chicago O’Hare to Rochester on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 9:45 PM has changed. Your new departure time is 11:00 PM.
We’re keeping an eye on your trip. If the delay of your first flight causes a missed connection, we’ll contact you with updated flight information. Please note that times and locations are subject to change.

Yes, yes, I can see that you are keeping a CAREFUL eye on my trip. And thank you SO MUCH for all the updated flight information. At this point I was so bored I couldn’t stand it. So as passengers from other commuter flights exited the gate, I welcomed them to Chicago.  “Welcome to Chicago!” I told them with a smile. “We’re so glad you’re here with us today!”

Gate Announcement
“There’s something wrong with the plane. Mechanical. It looks minor and Maintenance is trying to fix it now. Stand by for more news.”

It WAS minor and we were on our way by 11:30pm or so. Which mean we arrived at about 2:30 am. And there was our loved one and her dog. We got home at 3a.m. Which was about the time we’d gotten up the day before in California.

So that’s our travel saga. Oh, and yes, our bags awaited us in Rochester. They made our original flight. Which we would have also made, it turns out. But this was MUCH more fun.

I predict at least one of you will respond, “That’s why I don’t travel.”  We have a different view. We love to travel and feel that any inconvenience (just about) is worth it to get to a new place, a place we love or our hometown. The change of scene, the new experiences, all of it– is absolutely worth the hassle.

And, I am happy to report there were no “ugly Americans” on our small flight. Like sheep, we all dutifully went from gate to gate and tolerated the many changes in departure time. Let’s face it: we have no control over any of this. Why sweat it?

Got any of your own travel horror stories? I want to hear them, below! Yes, I do.