Last week’s return from Savannah, unfortunately, was not great. The day before my scheduled flight, I received an email offering me the opportunity to change my ticket due to severe storms forecast for the east coast. Not feeling flexible enough to extend my trip due to my restaurant obligations, I decided to just hope for the best and stick with the original plan.
I arrived at the airport 2+ hours in advance to find that my 7:55 pm flight was delayed. I had a small cushion of time available to hopefully make my connection in Baltimore, but as time went by, the delay expanded until there wasn’t a prayer of catching my second flight.
I spoke with a desk agent for Southwest and received discouraging information. Not only was I going to miss my connection, but things were not looking good for me to get on a flight the following day either as all 5 BWI to ALB flights were completely sold out.
Thinking that Baltimore was closer to home than Savannah, I elected to board my first flight, a full two hours late at that point, and catch a ride to BWI. We arrived at midnight with my flight to Albany long gone. Pulling out my phone, I considered my options.
Was there a hotel nearby that offered a shuttle from the airport?
Did they have any rooms available?
How much would I be paying for what would essentially be a 6 or 8 hour stay?
Could I take a train back to Albany?
Would I be able to perhaps grab a seat on one of the 5 flights scheduled for the day?
Feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, I decided it made the most sense to settle in at the airport and stay on hand for a potential seat on one of the day’s flights. I made my way to a gate and tried to make myself comfortable to catch some sleep.
This proved impossible.
Between the bright lighting, the loud conversations and, most egregious, the design of the seating, rest did not come easily. Whomever designed the passenger seating was a sadistic mo-fo who surely must be related to the airplane seating designer and the folks who created the attractions at the OG Action Park of my youth. It was horrible.
I dozed intermittently, shielding my eyes from the lights with my trusty travel towel/blanket and waking to stretch my twisted body far too frequently. At 5:30, I looked at my phone to see that I had been provided a seat on an early afternoon flight. Great – only 8 more hours of airport life to get through!
Not content with that promise, I spoke with an agent and got myself on a standby list for the second flight of the day mid morning. Following an overpriced and mediocre breakfast, I found my way to the gate for the 10:45 flight and learned I was #5 on the standby list. Happily, I was given a seat (in the very last row, middle, natch) and I boarded the flight and was home by 1:00 pm, approximately 12 hours later than originally anticipated.
It was a miserable night and it literally took two days for my body to recover from the assault of sleeping in the shape of a twisted pretzel. On a less physical level, I was also annoyed that I had actually paid extra to pick aisle seats for my two originally booked flights home and hadn’t reaped the benefit from that expense.
I decided to complete a complaint form on the Southwest website to see if they might offer me a courtesy of some kind for my August trip to San Francisco. Perhaps I could choose seats for those flights instead?
Yesterday, just days after submitting my complaint (with no real explanation or request on my part for compensation), I received a $200 Southwest voucher which is valid for a year. I think this was a very generous gesture and it was much appreciated. My body is back to form, my fondness for Southwest renewed and I’m already considering where I might go next.
Two takeaways – BWI between the B and C terminals, has an area with a couple of rocking chairs. I think I would have been much more likely to get some sleep there, than at an actual gate. Look for those if you ever get stuck. Lastly, when things don’t go as planned, it never hurts to request compensation or a future courtesy from a business.
Thanks, Southwest, for doing the right thing. I’m looking forward to being onboard again soon!
DelSo 