Last night was a ridiculous amount of CRAZY from Delta Airlines. We were to board at 5:30 and depart at 6:15. They told us around 5:30 that the flight would be delayed because they were waiting for the captain to fly in from Ft. Lauderdale - where there were storms. New flight time 8:15. At 8:15 they told us the captain was still trying to get out of Ft Lauderdale and they were moving the flight to 10:15. Then the staff disappeared for a couple of hours. At 9:00 they said they had a local pilot coming in and they were going to board us at 9:30. At 9:30 we got on the plane and sat….and sat….and sat. Then they came on and said the Captain was there, but now the flight crew would hit their mandatory end time and a new flight crew was being called in….that was 10:45 or 11. At midnight, they said they were going to deplane us and to wait in the waiting area for word. When we got there, they were telling people to go to the delta desk….where there were now 235 people waiting in line…..yes, it was a mess.
I finally went up and called to the agents and said….on the app it’s telling me I can rebook for 4 pm on Saturday - do they have anything better to offer. Answer was no…so Jackie and I rebooked on the 4 pm flight.
Then we needed a hotel room…..guess what - every hotel delta offered was booked. Well to be clear, we talked to the vendor and they said go to their booking site and see what we could find. Found the Renaissance - but when I called to see if they had a shuttle, she said they were fully booked and I didn’t have a reservation…sigh. We were by then at baggage claim when we learned that they were keeping our bags on board for the night…..guess who had a very heavy carry on with no change of clothes in it??? That’s right me.
Anyway, then I called Marriott and talked to a nice young man who told me there was a room at the Fairfield in downtown Atlanta and that he would send a confirmation…which I was grateful for since I was so tired by that time I didn’t have any idea what address he told me. BTW…Marriott’s voice system SUCKS big time.
So now it’s 1:30, we have a room, but taxi’s don’t run from 1-5 am. So on to Uber. First driver that accepted was 20 min away. He called and said to cancel him and try for someone closer. I did that and got Brahim. So sitting and waiting and watching the app I see he is not moving, so I call him and the app isn’t working properly but he was close. He picked us up, but at that point we realized we didn’t know which hotel. So another call to various Marriott numbers were we were beset by their horrible phone system…and finally I got a confirmation number. I complained that he said he would send a confirmation and it never arrived. He said their system was having an issue…..do you see a pattern here.
At the hotel - there was a line of other folks from our flight, but we finally got to our room at 2 AM, got quick showers and tried to sleep.
The good news is that the staff at the airport (who weren’t with Delta) were absolutely wonderful and as helpful as they could be. Our driver was also very kind and helpful and got us where we needed to go. This morning we made it just in time for the breakfast buffet and again met several wonderful ladies who brightened our day again.
So, we will take MARTA to the airport at noon and pray with all our might that this time we will go. We missed the dinner with our tour group last night and there is a good chance we will miss the Lake Como boat tour in the morning….but maybe not…maybe our luck is turning.
What a saga!!
Here are a few photos from downtown Atlanta. Streets are quiet, but people are friendly and helpful.
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