Random Rants
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Same here. A lesson, no matter how damning the circumstances may at first appear, there may be a simple, non-nefarious explanation.
I won't go so far as to say my (nonexistent) faith in humanity is restored, but that would've been the first shipping SNAFU in my IH journey, so I am very pleased it has worked out.
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Man…. United didn’t bother with Crisco, much less a reach around.
We’re flying to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on my wife’s dream vacation of many years to tour Dalmatia. We had a 3 hour layover built into our itinerary in Newark. There are only a couple of direct flights from there each week. We are traveling with a 20 month old. We did our part.
They had us on the tarmac for 3 hours. Second consecutive United leg I’ve been on where this has occurred. (I am being literal, return flight from Philly and outbound to Newark both 3 hours with a baby on a tarmac). I get it, weather happens, and don’t travel through these airports in the summer if possible.
I run across the concourse full speed, blistering my heel and rubbing a layer of skin off my lumbar as I’m carrying a bunch of bags on my back. Of course the arrival and departure gates are as far from one another as they literally could have been. Get to the gate and am looking at the plane with the jetway retracted for 20 minutes while they refuse to let us on.
Shitty service the whole time as a series of continued fuckups occurs, starting with the app indicating our bags were on their way to baggage claim, making us leave the secure area, where we learn our bags will in fact go to Dubrovnik per usual even though the app lied (getting someone on the phone or getting help in person is a several hour wait at this point). In the end this may have been a happy accident because we wound up getting in a much shorter line to rebook. That of course was a shit show, and took an act of Congress to get our daughter’s trans-Atlantic seats sorted without their trying to charge us for a seat we had purchased already (I’m still showing her as a lap baby so we’re not done with that battle in all likelihood).
Wind up getting to nyc midnight by train last night because we had no other options but to stay here as everything was booked in Newark. All told, a 24 hour travel day and not one hot meal, no clothes, god knows where our luggage is, no accountability from the airline that put us in this mess, and we’re flying through Frankfurt tonight, missing well over a day and paid-for lodging while having to pay out of pocket for lodging and travel expenses to make up for United sucking ass.
Not good, United. This is a trip we have had our eyes on for years and it got off unnecessarily to an unimaginably terrible start. We are going to rally and make the best of it, but this should not have happened, and you should have been remotely accountable and sympathetic instead of brusque, entitled, incompetent, and rude.
Not really many options in Denver, but they’ve left us no choice but to think about Delta or American (Southwest man here but we need an international airline and Brandi has standardized on these undeserving rats).
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That is indeed a hell of a rant @mclaincausey I hope that is the worst part of your dream trip by far, but I'll ask the question we're all wondering… How much Iron Heart is in that bag headed who knows where?
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@mclaincausey Here's hoping that it's all uphill from here. There's a reason I try to avoid US carriers when flying to the States.
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Thanks folks! I’m wearing 777N because I wear my heaviest stuff when I travel cos planes can be chilly and they take up space. I also have a gray mock twist work shirt for the travel:)
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There has to be a way for you to be compensated by the airline for all of that. What an awful experience.
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You’d think, but it’s United. They’re pretty brutal! Retail therapy. I was just going for socks and underwear since I don’t know where my luggage is, but I added some completely redundant (in light of having worn Vans slip ons) bluish charcoal gray Pumas to backfill my usual Sambas that got trashed.
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FFS, that's a rant and a half. Have you had the airline "Karen/Kevin" complain because your kid is fussy yet. I think that would be about the only other thing that could top that entire situation.
I got the old stink eye one time because our baby was crying…as how dare you even travel and ruin my experience with your child...
Fun times...
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Hattie has been a saint and an inspiration for her grouchy parents. My wife just snapped at some strangers. I winced.
Here we are about 3 hours in on the EWR tarmac yesterday when Hattie finally fell asleep. I failed to mention we were also 45 minutes on the Denver tarmac, guess that just faded into the suck
hat is from my wife, her client Crestron is a sponsor of an F1 team nbd. I’ll be on her trying to convert more significant privileges from that particular relationship
But lemons into lemonade, a great morning in Manhattan.
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There's an old photography adage…Take the picture the moment you see it,because the next moment it changes. The last picture of Hattie and your wife on the carousel is beyond precious. You 100% nailed the wonderful interaction between the two of them. What a great,great shot. You have to print it. @mclaincausey
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Means a lot coming from you @Jett129 and it’ll definitely get printed. Was taking shots like mad from every angle around the thing and this one stood out to me.
Love this “pensive Hattie” shot from the train back to Newark:
On the tarmac again, delayed again to Frankfurt with a short layover. Guess we will see what happens ???
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Dude,You're killing it. The "Eyes" have it. I've had really good results with www.bayphoto.com
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Yep they fucked us again. Another hour on the tarmac, another connection missed, and now we’re stuck in Frankfurt, once again, with the plane sitting there immobile right in front of us.
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Bože…
My friend!
Hey, when finally you will be on Dbk, order a taxi and take a trip to a very nice beach. Sveti-Jakov. Lokrum island on your left. The old city right front of you. One kind of sunset
there is a family restaurant there. Konoba. The owner is a bit crazy but definitely a gentle one. Don Blaženko.
Order a table in advance and a nice fish to grill. Skorpion one or a Saint-Pierre. Start with a cold beer. Half liter. And white vine to the fish. And enjoy this precious place[emoji6][emoji41] very precious one.Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
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Thanks for the tips you’ve been giving me @hajduk !
Still no luggage for us. They’ve finally sent my wife’s bag via Paris to Dubrovnik. It arrives after we were planning on sailing to Hvar. We’re just gonna have to stick around because we don’t want to invite more opportunity for mishaps.
My bag? Not sure how the more distinctive of the two bags got separated from its partner (then again, I’m also not understanding how the bags got separated from the travelers to begin with), but the latest update says it’s at Carousel 7 in Newark. This bag has all my clothing, a lot of it irreplaceable, but more immediately urgent, also all of the kid’s stuff. At this point I just want them to hold the damn thing in Newark so I can retrieve on my way home.
We did have a fantastic meal overlooking the Adriatic at Orhan, steps from our lodging. My wife had the tuna and I the amberjack, caught in the sea nearby. They were prepared simply and were absolutely delicious. Great beef carpaccio to start and a couple of bottles of delicious, local white wine. This meal felt like the turning point of our vacation morale-wise and eased tensions that had built up between my wife and me amidst all of the stress.
But just to make sure it’s out of my system: fuck you, United.
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And fucked yet another time. My wife’s bag was allegedly to arrive from Frankfurt on a flight that just landed. We are on a tight timeline to get to the final ferry to Hvar so she went down to get the bag. Didn’t arrive. So they allegedly will send hers to Hvar. They refuse to hold my bag in Newark to grab on the way back home, so I have requested it be shipped back to my house.
Absolute nightmare.
I hope we make our ferry.
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@mclaincausey Pro tip: Find a local florist and buy your wife her favourite flower/s. Doesn't have to be a extravagant, just a simple love you…
It sucks that her dream vacation is turning into a nightmare...
