Trip 1, Day 1: Tuesday, August 20
We woke up to a notification that our flight was delayed. Then we got another notification that it was back on schedule, THEN we got another one that it was delayed again. Um, okay, Southwest.
We had our coffee together and M left for work. While she was on her way I got a text that our flight was now
CANCELLED!
We had booked these flights on points so they were on two separate reservation numbers, so I couldn't change them both at once; since M was commuting underground and had no signal I had two separate browser windows open to try to get us both on the same flight before it sold out. To make matters worse, the Southwest website was telling me that I had to pay over $200 EACH to change the flight, even though the flight was cancelled.
So I called Southwest and the automated recording said I would be on hold for seventeen minutes. While I was on hold I was finally able to change the flights without paying extra, but by that point the flight we wanted to get on was SOLD OUT.
By the time I got to this point, M was out of the subway and we were able to talk on the phone. We decided to switch to a direct flight from Long Island MacArthur Airport, which we'd never flown from since we live in Jersey and try not to have to cross multiple bodies of water in order to get to the airport. By the time we switched we were both given C group boarding.
But at least we had flights, and a plan!
I finished all the last-minute packing and taught one student from home, then locked up and left. I met M and the city and we went to Penn Station to catch the LIRR to the airport.
We had about 45 minutes until our train so we shared a burrito from the Moe's in Penn Station.
If you're familiar with Penn Station, you know that tracks are not assigned until the very last flipping moment and then everyone makes a mad dash to board the train before it leaves. We live in the part of NJ that's so close to Manhattan we take a bus instead of a train, so luckily we rarely need to travel through Penn and we avoid it whenever possible! We FINALLY boarded right before our departure time and left a minute late.
The conductor was VERY enthusiastic about the train to "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON-kon-ka-ma!"
We also shared some iced espresso.
We arrived at the station and took a quick Lyft ride to the airport. I should also mention that I bought a monthly Lyft pass for $9.99 that gave me $4 off each ride for up to 10 rides. So basically it pays for itself after three rides, which came in very handy!
At the airport we quickly went through security and had awhile before boarding.
Up next: The DRAMMA continues...