I left my dorm room at 5:30 AM on December 20th in order to make it to the Granada airport by 6-- the time it opens. Even though my flight was scheduled for 7 AM and the airline advised passengers to arrive 2 hours early, I was told the Granada airport does not allow anyone to enter until 6 AM. Nevertheless, I arrived by 6 AM and was greeted by a long line of passengers waiting to check in. As it got later and later, it became obvious that the line was not moving. Around 6:45 I was confident that my flight was not leaving on time. I also noticed people began to look upset--couples were shouting, families were agitated, children were running wild. What in the world was going on?
When I approached the check in counter, an Iberia representative told me that the pilot for my flight did not show up. He assured me that Iberia would take care of everything and I would still make it to Madrid. I was told we would go to Malaga first and from there fly to Madrid. And as I got ready to leave my checked bag and go wait in the terminal, the representative added, you'll be going by bus to Malaga and you'll need to take your bag with you. I was shocked. I certainly had not planned for a bus ride to Malaga. I decided it wouldn't be so bad, and that I would have a funny little story to tell everyone when I got home. Again, little did I know the adventure ahead of me. The bus ride to Malaga was pretty uneventful as I managed to sleep the entire way.
Upon our arrival in Malaga, it became clear that this was very unorganized. I entered the Malaga airport and no longer did I see anybody from the bus ride. Where did everybody go? I asked an Iberia representative where I needed to check my bag and he seemed clueless. Finally I located people from the bus ride and waited in line to check my bag. As I got ready to place my bag on the conveyor belt, I thought it seemed kind of sketchy, and I wondered if I would ever see my bag again. However an Iberia representative assured me that my bag in fact belonged there. After going through security I headed to the terminal and realized that my flight was now delayed until 10:30. I then began to wonder if I should worry about my international flight in Madrid that was scheduled to leave at 12:30. I tried not to worry and thought people only miss their flights in movies. Surely once I made it to Madrid everything would be smooth sailing.
When I arrived in Madrid at 12:00, I knew I had to move fast to make it to the U.S. Airways check in counter. I was accompanied with a girl from New Mexico, who was also on my international flight to Philadelphia. We ran out of the airport to catch the shuttle bus that takes you to the different terminals. Of course the first buses did not stop for us, and once we finally boarded a bus we realized we were going in the wrong direction. So we went to terminal 3, terminal 2, and finally terminal 1 where U.S. Airways is located. It was then about 12:20 and we realized we were late.
We rushed to find the U.S. Airways counter, running up and down the airport, until we found a lone screen that read Filadelfia, and no one was there. I started to panic and ran to the nearby Continental desk and frantically asked where were the U.S. Airways representatives. "They are gone for the day, you missed your flight," she stated matter of fact. Then she continued to persuade me to purchase a ticket through Continental. Next we ran to the nearby information desk, after realizing the U.S. Airways customer service counter was closed, and we asked what to do. The man suggested we go to Iberia and talk with Iberia customer service. After all, it was Iberia's airline who had a pilot strike which caused us to arrive in Madrid late and miss our international flight.
So we proceeded back to terminal 4 to talk with Iberia. As we left the airport we ran over to the shuttle bus and the man opened the door and told us we could only board the shuttle bus on the lower level. So we rushed back inside and raced downstairs and when we exited this time we saw a shuttle bus. And when we boarded the bus we realized that it was the exact same man who just told us to go downstairs. And he is grinning at us, and I was thinking could something be easy for once??
We made it back to terminal 4 and talked with an Iberia representative for over an hour. While we were waiting, I started to think how funny this would be, here I was in an airport listening to Christmas music while everyone around me was furious with Iberia. Also, I thought to myself, remember to never work at a customer service desk! Quickly I learned that because I had bought separate tickets, Iberia was not responsible for my connecting flight. They were only responsible for getting me to Madrid and since I was in Madrid they had done their job. They helped the girl from New Mexico by giving her vouchers for food, paying for a hotel room, and booking her on a flight the next day. When I asked what they could do for me, she handed me a phone and said call U.S. Airways and see if they'll help you.
I talked to a British man with U.S. Airways who seemed rather snobby, okay maybe it was just the accent, and said "I am sorry Miss but our airline shows your flight was on time. You arrived late. You can try to fly stand by tomorrow or pay an additional $2,000 for first class." After this phone conversation, I knew two things: 1) I had a serious problem. and 2) I was not going to pay $2,000 to get home. While I was on the phone, the girl from New Mexico found out that we had to retrieve our bags from baggage claim. Before heading back to terminal 1, I decided to inform my parents of my situation. Luckily I had purchased an international phone card for the trip home, just in case I had any problems in the airport. Because I could not reach mama, I had to call daddy who was obviously in the middle of a sound sleep. He answered the phone groggy, and excitedly asked me about my flight.
"Daddy, I am in Madrid, I missed my international flight. There was a strike in Granada."
"There was a strike? in Granada?"
"Yes, and I went by bus to Malaga and from there I flew to Madrid. I don't think I can get a flight out today."
"Elizabeth, I don't know what to tell you. Call me back in a couple of hours."
After this I made it back to baggage claim where I encountered yet another problem. The girl from New Mexico and I talked with an Iberia representative at baggage claim who went to look for our bags. He came back with the girl from New Mexico's bag, but of course my bag was nowhere in sight. He told me to write down my address and they would mail me my bag once it was located. Suddenly I started to think I would never again see my bag that I had so questionably placed on a conveyor belt in Malaga.
At this point I decided I needed to focus on getting a hotel room for the night. We went over to a hotel information desk in the airport and tried to talk to a woman. (It is also important to note that because I was so irritated I stopped trying to speak Spanish and resulted in speaking English to all airport workers.) The woman was speaking to us in English and was telling us about a hotel, and the girl from New Mexico interrupted her, and explained we didn't understand what she was saying. The woman said in the most catty way as possible, "well I think my English is very good." Right, after all of our problems in the airport, the last thing we were looking to do was to offend a lady at the hotel information desk. After making a reservation, we quickly left and went back to terminal 4 to treat ourselves to dinner at McDonald's. Heck, if we weren't going back to the U.S. that day we were definitely going someplace American.
After finishing our all American dinner, I wanted to look for my bag in another baggage claim area. I was told to look in a room full of bags, and I soon knew my distinct, upright rolling duffel bag was not there. The woman kept telling me to look again and again, which I did, and still my bag did not miraculously appear. She then sent me to another baggage claim where a man reentered my information in the computer. He told me to wait an hour and he should know something by then. In an hour he did know that my bag was in the airport, but they could not locate where it was in the airport. He told me to come back in another hour. To enter and leave the baggage claim area I had to have a special paper to get through security. One of the funniest things was every time I opened the baggage claim door, there were a crowd of people waiting for their loved ones with signs, flowers, stuffed animals, etc. And every time I went out people would rush up and look at me to see if I were there relative. You're not going to know me, I kept thinking. Whenever I returned to the baggage claim, the line always appeared to be longer than before, and more people were pointing to the chart showing which bag most closely resembled their lost bag. Apparently lost bags are a common problem in the Madrid airport. By 10:30 PM, the man told me to come back the next morning and my bag should be there.
I decided to head to my hotel for the evening, after having spent almost 12 hours inside the Madrid airport. I was a little disappointed that I did not have my bag so I could have had pajamas and clean clothes for the next day. Oh the things you do when traveling! When I arrived at the hotel, I was greeted by a not too friendly concierge who either did not like that I was young or that was an American. At the hotel I was in contact with my mom for the first time who was busy talking to our local travel agent. I received a fax from the travel agent with specific instructions for the next morning. Everyone thought I needed to go talk with Iberia and demand them to give me a new flight. The next morning I was up by 5:00 AM and upon my check-out I received yet another fax, this time from Daddy. On the way to the airport I read Daddy's letter and 1) I can't believe he put in bold letters IMPORTANTE and 2) I can't believe how upset he sounds in the letter he wrote to Iberia.
By 6:00 AM I arrive back to the Iberia Customer Service desk where I talked to a woman for a good 45 minutes. I tried really hard, saying everything I was coached to say, and throwing in a few of my own persuasive strategies. The woman said there was nothing she could do, but that she thought I should file a claim against Iberia. She also showed her colleague Daddy's letter and kept saying she didn't understand it. Finally her colleague sarcastically said, "her father is a lawyer," while rolling her eyes.
I gave up on Iberia and decided to go back to baggage claim to look for my bag. When I arrived at baggage claim, the man showed me the lost bags and I immediately saw my bag! What a sigh of relief! I then proceeded to the nearby bathroom and changed clothes and freshened up. Quickly I made my way back to terminal 1 where I would try to fly stand by on the U.S. Airways flight to Philadelphia. I arrived at the check in a good 2 hours before the check in process started. I was determined to get on that flight out for the day. For 2 hours I sat on my bag, waiting, too afraid to move and risk someone else having their name first on the stand by list. Finally, when the check in process started I was told that I would be bumped up to first class for the flight to Philadelphia.
It all seemed so unreal, here I was in that same spot as yesterday where I had missed my flight, and now they were giving me first class. After I got my boarding pass, I got ready to go through security and I looked down at the boarding pass which clearly said LAX airport. Then I looked over at the name and it was not even my boarding pass! They gave me the boarding pass of another woman with the last name of Moore. I marched right back over to the counter and said I had the wrong boarding pass. Of course they didn't believe me, and I had to get out my passport and prove that I was not the Ms. Moore flying to Los Angeles.
Finally, after going through security, I made my way up to the first class lounge where I felt like I was in heaven. I had breakfast lounging on a comfortable sofa, and I used the complimentary internet to email my parents of my good news. The first class lounge was only the beginning of the luxuries I enjoyed as an envoy passenger. Once on the plane, I treated myself to a glass of champagne and later enjoyed a gourmet meal. One of the nicest things was being able to recline all the way back and not having to worry about bumping into your neighbor. Also, I was lucky to have a flight attendant sitting beside me who was quick to get me anything I just mentioned wanting. It surely did not feel like an 8 hour flight in first class!
By the time we made it to Philadelphia, I felt refreshed and was eager to be back in Raleigh in just a couple hours. Due to snow storms in the north, my flight was delayed and later there was a problem with overbooking. Soon my refreshed feeling vanished and I did not arrive at RDU until 10:30 PM, more than 24 hours later than I was originally scheduled. Needless to say, I was so glad to be greeted by my parents and to be out of the airport after a crazy adventure home.
Baggage claim in Barajas Airpot, Madrid
Finally back in North Carolina!
Almost home!
