We boarded the plane on time - - - and this is where things started to go a bit awry. Apparently the 7:00 a.m. flight to Dallas was delayed due to mechanical issues, so they tried to get as many people on our flight - causing us to leave 15+ minutes late. We landed in Dallas - again 15+ minutes late and then did the dreaded taxi to the end of the runway. (For those of you who do not travel often - a taxi to the end of the runway means you are going to be waiting around a bit.) The pilot eventually gets on the intercom to say that our gate is being occupied, and we will be sitting for about 15 minutes.
Normally, I would not care - but I only have 45 minutes to make my next plane. So we left 15 minutes late, not going to get to the gate for 15 minutes, leaving me less than 15 minutes to make my next flight - which was in another terminal.
So we finally get to a gate, get off the plane, and I head to the sky train - with 12 minutes to catch the next flight. As I get up to the platform, the doors just shut on the train. Ugh. But there was a train arriving in 1 minute, so at the time I thought no big deal.
The next train arrives, I get on, and realize, that I am at the last stop. That means 5 stops before mine and a lot of track to cover. I keep watching my watch. Not too much I can do. After stop number 3 we have a long stretch of track to the next terminal. After a while though, we start slowing down. We get slower, and slower, and slower, and slower. I'm thinking, I don't have time for a slow train. But then the train just stops - in the middle of nowhere. (As an aside - had I made the train before me, I would have missed all of this.)
So we wait, use the emergency phone (which from my elevator posting you know I love), and wait some more. After a few minutes they finally say they are working on it. But because our train stopped almost every train in the system has to stop. We can see someone "rebooting" the train and then after a few more minutes we are off to the terminal - stop 4. The train is now out of service. The problem is they have to get everyone off the train, so they can move it and bring another train in. But people are not getting off and the announcements are confusing them.
So - do I just try to walk 35 gates or wait for the train. I decide to wait - although admittedly impatiently. Eventually, the train next comes - I run to the gate (with a suitcase and brief case). The plane has already been fully boarded. When I get to the gate I ask if my other free upgrade has been processed. I figure what's the sense of flying so much if I cannot use the perks. She says, "Nope First Class if full." Bummed, I said "O.k." What was I going to do. But when she went to scan my boarding pass, she realized that it would not work and that I did get my upgrade. Yeah!
So I get on the plane, they shut the door, and we back out of the gate. An on-time departure. We then begin taxi-ing. Now in Dallas it is possible to taxi for a long time on your way to a runway. But this was a really long time. It was nottoo long after that when the pilot got on the intercom to say that we had to wait in line for de-icing, which once we got to the front of the line of about 30 minutes - would be about 15 minutes. Anyway, we actually took off 1:15 minutes after we had left to the gate.
But we did arrive safely. I arrived at my hotel a mere 11 hours, two taxi rides, two plane rides, and a train ride after leaving my house!
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