Tag Archives: holiday travel

Is there a doctor on the flight?

06 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by in Un-fun Up in the Air

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Trip type: Personal

Airline: Delta

Route: MSP – BDL

En route to Connecticut for Thanksgiving with a squirrel-y 1.5 year old in tow (more on that in the next post…), we heard one of probably the top three things you don’t want to hear from your flight crew: “Is there a doctor on the flight? Or a medical professional? Please meet us in the back of the plane immediately.”

Although it was a small plane (2×2 – not an ideal size for corralling a child who has finally decided he wants to walk and is hell-bent on doing so at every opportunity), there were a surprising number of people who stood up including a general practitioner, an ophthalmologist (how many times do you think the eye doctor wishes it were an eye emergency so he could save the day?), and a couple of nurses. I chalk this up to the vast and experienced medical industry in Minnesota.

A young man in the back of the plane had a seizure and was laid out in the back galley of the plane. There was some debate about an emergency landing but luckily he came around and had medication with him as this was a preexisting condition. I would later see him at baggage claim and he couldn’t have been older than college-aged, on his way home for the holiday with his family. I can’t imagine how scary it was to have that happen while flying alone (or how terrible it was for his family to learn of the episode occurring while he was in flight) but I’m incredibly grateful there were medical professionals and a calm crew on hand to help out.

As it turned out, we dodged an even bigger travel bullet as we were flying the Tuesday of the Thanksgiving week. The next day the East Coast was walloped with a nor’easter that canceled thousands of flights. Although it seemed like more of my typical bad flying luck, it turned out to be a good thing we flew when we did!

Enjoying the snow!

Enjoying the snow!

 

Tokyo Part One: The longest journey

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Adventures Abroad, Holiday Hell, With love from the Tarmac

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Trip type: Personal

Airline: Delta

Route: MSP-NRT

Much like the pilgrims, we spent this Thanksgiving in a new country (because I’m so pilgrim-like). E’s sister and brother-in-law moved to Tokyo in June and we could not resist the opportunity to visit a new country (and continent!) with our very own personal tour guides. In my infinite travel planning wisdom, I thought that the week after Thanksgiving would be the perfect time for a week out of the office. This logic was pretty good except for the part where it meant we needed to fly out the day before Thanksgiving…you know, the busiest travel day of the year.

Luckily, MSP had things under control and the lines were not horrible when we showed up three hours before our flight (skipping the line with the status card didn’t hurt, however). After bumping into some friends and former neighbors (and E giving a wave to some lawyer he knew who was getting a pat-down), we had ample time to sit in the Delta lounge and catch up on work before setting the Out-of-Office replies and getting on our way.

Well, trying to anyway.

Boarding went smoothly enough and we were soon strapped in and ready for our 12+ hour flight (a direct flight seemed like such a good idea when I booked it buy OY that makes for a long sit). And there we sat…and sat…and sat some more until finally the pilot came on to say that they were waiting for the print-out of how much weight we were carrying. I still cannot figure out how, on a plane that took over an hour to board, they could not have this done in time for an on-time departure. Not that I’m not used to sitting on the Tarmac waiting for Delta to be ready to go, but seriously? And just like that, our 12 hour flight became an hour longer. Sigh.

Tokyo Park Hyatt view

View from the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt (the bar from Lost in Translation).

But we made it! And Tokyo was phenomenal–truly. The city is mesmerizing, the food is incredible, and it was great to get some family time in a new place. A few tips should you venture to Japan anytime soon:

  1. Like the Brits, the Japanese drive on the left…which means they also walk on the left side of the sidewalk. It took me about three days to get out of everyone’s way.
  2. There is no graciousness like that of the Japanese culture. Do not reach to snag a shopping bag once your transaction is complete; the associate will walk you out of the store and hand it to you.
  3. Eschew your American tendencies to get to the front of the line all the time. The Japanese line up in marked queues at the subway stops and wait until passengers have disembarked before getting on the train.

    Kamakura shrine

    Gorgeous shrine in Kamakura

  4. On that note, never worry about making a train–they run every few minutes without fail. No need to make a mad dash.
  5. Smoking is generally allowed in restaurants but not at sushi counters.
  6. Soba might be one of the best things ever invented, right behind soup dumplings.
  7. An earthquake is nothing to get overly concerned about (usually). We were at the Park Hyatt’s New York Bar on the 52nd floor when a 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck. E thought it was fun. I thought it was terrifying. The waiter asked if we wanted more rice crackers.
  8. It’s almost impossible to mentally calculate what something really costs between dollars and yen (at least for this English major). Don’t sweat it; it’s all money well spent.
Mori Tower View

The view from the 53rd floor of the Mori Tower – Mt. Fuji’s in the background

All in all, a great time. We unfortunately did not venture far outside of Tokyo but were hardly left wanting for more to see and do. Although we were dead on our feet for a few days due to severe jet lag, we agreed that it was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken.

Second post about our trip home to come!

Traditions Worth Breaking

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Holiday Hell

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Trip type: Personal

Airline: Delta

Route: MSP-BDL

At this time of year, you tend to hear a lot about traditions and how they make the holiday season so memorable. Although I have many cherished traditions with my friends and family, there is one in particular I’d like to break and it has to do with flying to Connecticut with E around Christmas.

Last year, as you may recall from a previous post, we encountered pure hell on our flight home when we were diverted to Green Bay, Wisconsin and ended up driving ourselves home on an unlit highway. I neglected to mention, however, that this trip started with me breaking a couple of toes. As we were leaving directly after work, we had packed the night before and I had stupidly left my suitcase out in the middle of the bedroom. When I got up in the morning, I walked right into it and managed to break my second and third toes on my left foot. True to form, I figured it wasn’t that big of a deal, popped a couple of Tylenol and put on socks so I wouldn’t have to look at my feet. By the time we got to CT that evening, my toes were bruised and about twice their usual size. Luckily, E’s mom is a doctor and was able to bandage me up and play apothecary from the family’s well-stocked personal pharmacy stash.

Here we are in 2011. You would think that last year’s luck would guarantee us smooth sailing this year. So far, we’re batting 1000.

Thursday, I visited my doctor who suggested I get a Tetanus shot since I couldn’t remember when I’d had my last one and they’re only good for about 10 years. Sure, why not; let’s plan ahead. The nurse told me (after the shot, naturally) that my arm might be sore for a couple of days. Fine. Well, come Sunday morning (yes, Christmas Day, also known as the best day to require medical attention), it was not only still sore but was also red, hot to the touch, and absolutely throbbing (I had noticed this going on for the past few days as well but, as mentioned above, thought that ignoring it was the surest way for it to disappear on its own. I may have to revise my views on self-medicating.).

Thanks to Walgreens for being open on Christmas Day.

Although my MD mother-in-law came to the rescue again, diagnosing me over FaceTime and finding a Walgreens that was actually open to which she called in a couple of prescriptions for me, I realized that with the pre-flight-to-CT-physical-ailment-requiring-a-doctor already taking place, I was now on track for a repeat of last year. Drat.

The next day, we were off to the airport bright and early because of course we would choose to fly the day after Christmas for no real reason with every other holiday traveler on the planet. Good planning. The two things working in our favor were our propensity for showing up quite early on notoriously busy travel days and the promise of an already-confirmed upgrade to first class. Not to mention being able to jump the security line with a status card (E now thinks I’m magic).

So other than the flight attendant dumping some (luckily NOT scalding) coffee on E (“Don’t worry, he’s a lawyer!” I helpfully chirped to her), the flight to Bradley was uneventful and filled with delicious Bloody Marys. Yes, plural.

Safely ensconced on the East coast, I can only hope  our flight home does not come with any rerouting.

Thankful

23 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Holiday Hell, It's not always so bad

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In honor of Thanksgiving, from the archives. Thanksgiving 2010.

Trip type: Personal

Airline: Delta

Route: MSP-BDL

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a little neurotic sometimes. Especially as it pertains to flying. I carry the exact same liquids (which I pack in the exact same order in their baggie) on every flight. I methodically engineer my suitcase to balance weight and category of each item. I use the same security line at MSP. Everything goes on the conveyer belt in the same order. You catch my drift.

Knowing this, you can probably guess how well I take to any deviation in my carefully devised craziness, especially when set to fly the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving Day. So when E suggested we bring a pie home with us from Salty Tart to Thanksgiving with his family, well, I was not on board (“It cuts down on a carry-on!”, “It’s supposed to stay refrigerated!”, “What if TSA decides it’s not packaged properly and throws it away?!”). Luckily for him (and [grumble] me), E has learned to take my resistance in stride and move forward with plans he knows are a good idea.

After scouring the Delta website, we ascertained that we could, in fact, bring the pie. Now my primary arguments were down to carry-on quantity and refrigeration. E’s usual mantra in life is that things will just work out and I must say this proves remarkably true for him. Not only did the pie make it through security unmolested, the ladies of the Delta Lounge even let us use their employee refrigerator to keep it cool before we left on our flight.

And it was a huge hit at the Thanksgiving table.

On that note, things related to flying for which I’m thankful:

1. Intrepid E – my favorite flying companion.

2. Great family I’d fly anywhere to be with.

3. The friends I can see without going to the airport and those that require a cross-country flight.

4. A tiny dog that I would never ever try and fly with. Oy gevalt.

5. Delta lounges with Wi-Fi and fully stocked bars.

6. Not having to do it this year. Staying home with E and the fur ball=Bliss.

Wishing you and yours a happy, safe, flight-nightmare-free Thanksgiving!

By way of Green Bay

28 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by in Holiday Hell

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Trip type: Personal

Airline: Delta

Route: BDL-MSP

Ah, holiday travel…when flight shenanigans abound. No different was a flight home with E…

E’s sister had a lovely New Year’s wedding and we were en route home from CT. We were traveling on a Monday to avoid the weekend rush post-New Year’s Day and had a direct flight from Bradley to MSP. As is usually the sign of impending doom, everything was fine getting out of CT and we were ready for a quick flight home so that we could return to work the next day.

A couple of hours into the flight, the pilot comes on:

“Ladies and gentlemen…we have a bit of a problem. We have been leaking fuel since we left Connecticut. We were aware of the problem when we left but thought we could make it. Unfortunately, we’ll have to make an emergency landing in Green Bay, Wisconsin for repairs. Please return to your seats and buckle up; we’ll be on the ground in 10  minutes.”

Great. Juuuuuust want you want to hear when you’ve been traveling over the holidays and need to get to work the next day.

We land in Green Bay and are told to stay seated while the repair crew looks at the situation. Luckily, this should only take a half hour. Don’t you love it when you’re told something in minutes? Because you know that will happen…

A half hour later it has become evident the repairs will take longer than a half hour (shocker.) so we must deplane. We have been parked at a lonely gate at the end of a mostly abandoned terminal. We all file out and sit in the waiting area. Time marches on and it’s now been a couple of hours. E and I tracked something down to eat (a very sad meat/cheese tray from the only establishment open in our vicinity) and I am starting to get very antsy. Finally, we’re told we can re-board.

Back in our seats, the jet bridge is pulled and the flight attendants quickly go through the safety information, ending by telling us it’s just a 45 minute flight to Minneapolis and we’ll be on our way shortly. Yay!

Then we sit.

And sit.

And sit.

And finally, the light goes on up in the flight attendant area. And then the phone rings for the flight attendant to communicate with the barricaded pilot. More lights come on and one of the flight attendants starts pacing the aisle with a clipboard. Then, the dreaded announcement comes:

“Ladies and gentlemen…we have been unable to verify all the passengers aboard this flight. We were trying to do this manually but because we had to wait so long on our repairs, one of our flight attendants has hit her maximum hours…we are very sorry but this flight will not be departing to Minneapolis tonight.”

Groans everywhere. It is now 7 p.m., we’re a 45 minute flight but 5 HOUR drive from Minneapolis and it is January. The situation looks grim.

So we deplane. I am grumpy and frustrated. We are told our options are:

1. Get a hotel voucher and stay the night…and standby tomorrow until we get on a flight.

2. Sign up for the bus that Delta is going to hire and take that back to Minneapolis.

Frankly, neither sounds good. As I’ve already mentioned, we’re expected at work tomorrow and neither of us has our work laptops along. The bus option would get us home sooner…but then I started imagining the fun of waiting for people to decide, Delta getting a count, Delta getting a bus and then getting ourselves home from the airport (where it would undoubtedly drop us).

E looked at me and said, “Well, what do you think?”

Me: “Ug! I just want to be home.”

E: “Do you want to rent a car and drive?”

Me: “No. But yes.”

So we hit up Hertz and get ourselves a Corolla. In an effort to make a long story short(er), I’ll give you the high points of the drive: White knuckle. Un-lit highway. Five hours. Blowing snow. Semis galore.

We finally made it home about 1 a.m. The next day began our discussion with Delta about getting reimbursed for the car rental. But that’s a story for another day…