We arrived at the airport, checked in an hour before our flight time and received not boarding passes but security passes. These would get us to the gate, where they would print our boarding passes. By the time we got upstairs to our gate, they were already boarding our flight. The line we joined was several people deep and I started to worry that we would actually miss our flight by three feet. We did, in fact, make it to the start of the line before the plane left the gate, and three of our six even got boarding passes. Three of us, though, were denied boarding.
Nobody could figure out what was going on until another employee came over, took a look and asked the gentleman who had been helping us, "Did you know your flight is overbooked?" No answer. My phone was buzzing with questions from the team members already on the plane. Louie even asked "Do I need to get off so one of you can have my seat?" He's the kind of person who's always looking for a way to help someone else. I told him to stay where he was, then called the other chaperon to let her know what was going on.
There simply weren't any seats for me, Ethan, Sydney or another gentleman (who had been at the gate two hours prior to boarding!). The airline refunded us four times the amount of the original ticket price, booked a hotel in Denver for us for the night, and arranged to get us on another series of flights.
Just the paperwork took so long that we nearly missed our new flight, but we did, in fact, make it and were soon on our way to Nashville, where we enjoyed a four hour layover plus delay. During the many hours of overpriced lunch, dinner and souvenirs, Ethan and Sydney kept their chins up, goofed off in the children's play areas and practiced what they had learned at the Boston Tea Party. The other weary travelers were entertained.
When we finally did land in Denver, it was midnight or 1am or something like that. We would have to be back at the airport by 4am at the very latest, so we opted to forgo the hotel and just stay at the airport. Sydney rolled our of her seat, onto the floor and off into dreamland, while Ethan and I stayed wide awake, listening to music, reading and talking about whatever. I couldn't sleep, as tired as I was, until the very wee hours of the morning when I curled up in my armchair. It was freezing and soon Ethan tossed his coat over me. It kept me warm from Denver to Los Angeles to Reno, where parents were waiting to take us home. Bonus: my bag was waiting for me with Sydney's dad.
For all the hassles this trip threw our way, the kids never whined, never complained. They weren't thrilled about it, but never once did they turn to griping. I couldn't have dreamed up better attitudes.
Nobody could figure out what was going on until another employee came over, took a look and asked the gentleman who had been helping us, "Did you know your flight is overbooked?" No answer. My phone was buzzing with questions from the team members already on the plane. Louie even asked "Do I need to get off so one of you can have my seat?" He's the kind of person who's always looking for a way to help someone else. I told him to stay where he was, then called the other chaperon to let her know what was going on.
There simply weren't any seats for me, Ethan, Sydney or another gentleman (who had been at the gate two hours prior to boarding!). The airline refunded us four times the amount of the original ticket price, booked a hotel in Denver for us for the night, and arranged to get us on another series of flights.
Just the paperwork took so long that we nearly missed our new flight, but we did, in fact, make it and were soon on our way to Nashville, where we enjoyed a four hour layover plus delay. During the many hours of overpriced lunch, dinner and souvenirs, Ethan and Sydney kept their chins up, goofed off in the children's play areas and practiced what they had learned at the Boston Tea Party. The other weary travelers were entertained.
When we finally did land in Denver, it was midnight or 1am or something like that. We would have to be back at the airport by 4am at the very latest, so we opted to forgo the hotel and just stay at the airport. Sydney rolled our of her seat, onto the floor and off into dreamland, while Ethan and I stayed wide awake, listening to music, reading and talking about whatever. I couldn't sleep, as tired as I was, until the very wee hours of the morning when I curled up in my armchair. It was freezing and soon Ethan tossed his coat over me. It kept me warm from Denver to Los Angeles to Reno, where parents were waiting to take us home. Bonus: my bag was waiting for me with Sydney's dad.
For all the hassles this trip threw our way, the kids never whined, never complained. They weren't thrilled about it, but never once did they turn to griping. I couldn't have dreamed up better attitudes.
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