I don’t know what to call this post but I don’t want to keep thinking about something else hahaha.
Last week I really wanted to get out of the house and go somewhere – anywhere. My parents, along with Jenny and Sean, are now in Hilton Head, South Carolina. My parents travel to Michigan every year to enjoy the better weather during the colder months.
They had been wanting Jerry and me to go there (with the kids of course) for a week or even a few days, but we weren’t “beach” people and it wasn’t somewhere we were interested in visiting. (Noah and Eli are gone, though.) Last week, it occurred to me to surprise my parents by going there (alone). Since Jenny and Sean were there now, I asked Jenny if they could pick me up from the airport if I could go. She liked the idea too, so the next step was to ask Brian for a Flying Companion pass.
The price of a ticket was so high – about $1,000 – that this was out of the question. As a pilot, Brian has a “Buddy Pass” which allows him to fly friends/family for cheap (a flight to Hilton Head Island with a Buddy Pass is $187). The biggest problem with using the Buddy Pass is that there are no confirmed seats. The best part is that you don’t have to plan ahead; you can actually decide before your flight whether you want to be on the waitlist. Great fun for last minute trips!
Unfortunately, Delta no longer flies direct to Hilton Head, so I had to fly to Savannah. And there were no direct flights from Detroit to Savannah, so Brian said I had to fly from Detroit to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Savannah (where Jenny would pick me up).
My credit card is only charged after the flight, so if I don’t board the flight, I don’t have to pay the fee. I was scheduled to leave on Thursday, but the flights were looking like they were getting fuller. By Wednesday night, Brian said he was pretty confident I “wouldn’t” make the flight (meaning there weren’t many seats available and the waitlist was long).
On Thursday, Bryan said the first flight on Friday (at 5:20 a.m.) was all normal. The problem is, all flights from Atlanta to Savannah are full except for the first flight (which will be my connecting flight). This means that if I don’t take the first flight from Detroit (to Atlanta), I could be stuck in Atlanta even if I take a later flight.
I find this all very confusing, haha. Anyway, I decided to go – Brian said whether I got on the plane or not, it was probably “very” close, but I really wished I could go. So, I left home at 3:45am and headed to the airport (Jerry dropped me off) and then went out to get coffee while I waited to see if I could catch my flight.
When I arrived at the gate, I nervously looked at the app and saw my name at the bottom of the list. As the flight filled up, some standby passengers were assigned seats. Based on the number of empty seats and the number of people on the list, it looks like I may not be able to attend. Still, things changed at the last second.
Ultimately, I was third on the waiting list. And there was only one seat empty. I noticed that the two people in front of me were probably traveling together (same last name) and I hoped that since there was only one seat left, they would give up – and then I got the last seat!
Then all of a sudden it became chaos. After checking with the couple, the gate agent actually gave me a seat assignment and then as my name came out of her mouth, a flight attendant came out and said there was an open seat….. .so there are actually two seats available. Of course, the couple ahead of me on the list also got seats.
I am so sad. Having a Friends Pass isn’t foolproof, so I know a lot of me won’t make it – but still, it’s disappointing to not be “that” away from boarding! It did make me think about going somewhere else, though. I may take a spontaneous trip soon 🙂