As an acknowledged control freak, I work really hard to dot all the i's and cross all the t's, especially in the days and weeks leading up to a big trip. I make multi-level checklists and cross ledger between various online calendars, reminder apps, and sticky notes. Nothing is left to chance! Nothing!
Not surprisingly, and historical data will prove this, last-minute boulders of flaming shit always try to upend my plans, and they are of equal scale to the amount of control I have attempted to impose. And. And. The agony of working to clean up the flaming shit that fell from the sky onto my perfectly executed plan is exactly and exquisitely opposite to the eagerness I have to get the party started. Matter turns into energy, energy turns into matter. Nothing is ever lost in the universe. Ooohhhmmmmmmmm.
I don't know why I continue to be surprised with the flaming roadblocks, but I do. Is it possible I'm an optimist? More likely still convinced of my own infallibility.
This time, my journey begins on Monday. As expected, I have from Friday noon to Monday 11am scheduled to the nth. Lists galore... check check check... everything should go smoothly.
Then on Saturday the shit meteorite falls, putting me off my game for a few hours... But I recovered pretty quickly and was back on track. In the throes it was a pret-ty big conflagration... but it was nothing in comparison to what was to come.
So, my flight is Monday. I spent Sunday putzing around -- leisurely packing, cleaning up the apartment, getting final instructions from my AirBNB host about check-in, just normal stuff. I saw the airlines had sent my "check in now" notices to my email, but I didn't bother yet... I got plenty of time... And since I've recently added the airline apps to my phone I get these little notices popping up here and there. Too often, really. The info is great and everything, but I ignore them. I have a process, I do things in a specific order, like all OCD freaks. Don’t mess with the process!
Then I start getting really specific notices from the app... Your flight is on time... Your departure time has been updated.... And I'm thinking "Wow! they can tell that my flight tomorrow is ontime tonight! Ain't technology grand", because I know from my own work experiences that today's data analysis techniques really work miracles, and can actually determine who is in dire need of an additional credit card or a reverse mortgage.
The flaming ball of shit is not even in my mind because, hey!, I already crawled over that heap on Saturday -- I triumphed over that mother! And then I glance at the latest notice: Your flight is boarding. What? WHAT?!!!!!
So I get this surge of adrenaline and panic… and I'm shaking and pacing and can't control my hands enough to use my phone to check my documentation. And I can't slow the machine gun firing of thoughts.
What are they talking about? Who can I call? My flight is Monday! I know I scheduled for Monday! Did I schedule for Monday? Could I have actually made this big of a mistake? How can I check this? I can check the receipts. I always keep the receipts. Let's log into the airline site... How can I call them? Can we even call them anymore? OMG I'm an idiot! Am I an idiot? Did they change my flight without me knowing? What am I gonna do?
Once I regained control enough to sit down with my laptop, I flubbed the login to the airline, so I had to change my password... Then I couldn't find the soft copies of the receipts on my hard drive, probably because I couldn't spell with my dancing phalanges, so I had to search my email history. All the while my hands are still shaking and my mind is firing and my jaw is clenched and I’m hyperventilating. Eventually I pulled up and confirmed the original flight dates, logged in successfully to the airline site, tried the chat function (nope, not surprising), found a phone number, and dialed.
At this point my flight was in the air.
The VRU gave me the option of having a text conference with a customer service rep (quicker than holding for a voice), so I took that option. Within 5 minutes I was connected to a rep who was very helpful, even though I was using Cheeto-esque ALL CAPS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS IN THE HOPE OF EXPRESSING MY CURRENT STATE OF NEAR STROKE!!!!!!!!.
Turns out the Monday nonstop flight was cancelled, so I had been reassigned to the Sunday nonstop flight. Ummm.
[I have no recollection of being notified of a change in flight. I would have acted on any such notification immediately.]
The rep can get me on a Monday flight, but it has a connection in Amsterdam and arrives 3 hours later to Madrid. I'll take it! At this point I'm groveling and tugging my forelock, even though these guys were the ones who'd put me into this stroke scenario in the first place by changing my flight without my knowledge!
So, not one to beat a dead horse, I’ll say the emergency has been averted, my trip is back on track and my heart rate is back to normal, but I do have some takeaways:
The Delta customer service chat option really works well. Feel comfortable using it.
I’m not so sure the Delta flight-change process works that well. Shouldn’t it require the customer to acknowledge that their flight has been changed to a different date/time ... especially if it's an earlier date/time? How many others like me were panicking tonight and tying up customer service lines?
Never assume there's only one flaming pile of shit heading your way. Even if you're an optimist. Or infallible.