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I'm writing this from one of the computers in the business center at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Burlingame, California, near the San Francisco Airport. I'm staying here this week with a couple dozen co-workers on a field trip to visit some of the companies that we deal with regularly at the office. While it is officially an "educational" trip, in some ways it's really an excuse to get away from the office for a few days and relax.
However, the trip didn't start out in a particularly relaxing fashion. I arrived at Reagan National Airport on Monday afternoon to find that the computers at the AirTran counters were out of commission. The agents were checking people in by checking their names from a paper printout and were hand-printing the labels for the checked luggage. The line to check in crawled slowly, and after I finally checked in, all I had was a temporary "boarding pass" that would allow me to proceed through security to the gate, but which didn't have a seat number.
Luckily, the lines for security were non-existant and I was able to quickly reach the gate. Shortly before boarding was to begin, they called us to the gate counter where they quickly printed out boarding passes with seating assignments for everyone. I wondered briefly about my seating assignment on the connecting flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, since it was the same seat as my flight from Washington to Atlanta, and I wasn't entirely sure their computers were talking to each other properly.
In any event, the transfer in Atlanta went smoothly, even though I had to change terminals. I even managed to get a bite to eat before boarding the plane for the second leg of the trip. Well, at least that's how it was for me. Somehow two of our group managed to not make the connection in Atlanta. I think they stopped for food in the first terminal, instead of finding the gate for the connecting flight first and then finding food. I was surprised by some of the comments from some of the others in my group, which suggested that they had less experience with air travel than I would have expected. I never really considered myself a well seasoned air traveller, but I felt like one beside some of this group.
Our arrival in San Francisco was smooth and on time, but when we arrived at the baggage claim, it seemed that my luggage didn't make the connection from Atlanta. Calmly, I hunted down an AirTran representative and filled out the paperwork. Unfortunately, he indicated that it was unlikely that the bags could be delivered until the next morning, probably after I needed to be on my way to visit our first company. So after getting the rental car and checking into the hotel, I headed back to the airport to meet the next AirTran flight in from Atlanta, and sure enough, there were my bags. It made for a bit of a late first night, but it meant I had clean clothes for the next day.
Surprisingly, none of this left me feeling particularly stress or upset. Maybe I really am becoming an experienced traveller after all...
However, the trip didn't start out in a particularly relaxing fashion. I arrived at Reagan National Airport on Monday afternoon to find that the computers at the AirTran counters were out of commission. The agents were checking people in by checking their names from a paper printout and were hand-printing the labels for the checked luggage. The line to check in crawled slowly, and after I finally checked in, all I had was a temporary "boarding pass" that would allow me to proceed through security to the gate, but which didn't have a seat number.
Luckily, the lines for security were non-existant and I was able to quickly reach the gate. Shortly before boarding was to begin, they called us to the gate counter where they quickly printed out boarding passes with seating assignments for everyone. I wondered briefly about my seating assignment on the connecting flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, since it was the same seat as my flight from Washington to Atlanta, and I wasn't entirely sure their computers were talking to each other properly.
In any event, the transfer in Atlanta went smoothly, even though I had to change terminals. I even managed to get a bite to eat before boarding the plane for the second leg of the trip. Well, at least that's how it was for me. Somehow two of our group managed to not make the connection in Atlanta. I think they stopped for food in the first terminal, instead of finding the gate for the connecting flight first and then finding food. I was surprised by some of the comments from some of the others in my group, which suggested that they had less experience with air travel than I would have expected. I never really considered myself a well seasoned air traveller, but I felt like one beside some of this group.
Our arrival in San Francisco was smooth and on time, but when we arrived at the baggage claim, it seemed that my luggage didn't make the connection from Atlanta. Calmly, I hunted down an AirTran representative and filled out the paperwork. Unfortunately, he indicated that it was unlikely that the bags could be delivered until the next morning, probably after I needed to be on my way to visit our first company. So after getting the rental car and checking into the hotel, I headed back to the airport to meet the next AirTran flight in from Atlanta, and sure enough, there were my bags. It made for a bit of a late first night, but it meant I had clean clothes for the next day.
Surprisingly, none of this left me feeling particularly stress or upset. Maybe I really am becoming an experienced traveller after all...
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