WE MADE IT!!

Let’s start from the beginning. We arrive to the airport and everything is running smoothly. We board the plane and are excited to begin our journey. However, due to a faulty wiper blade motor, our plane stayed stationary on the tarmac from when we boarded (approximately 4:45 PM) until almost 10:00 PM. Apparently FAA regulations do not allow a plane to fly with out having functioning wiper blades.

After they decided to cancel our flight, we were left in the terminal lobby with 174 frustrated passengers trying to figure out how we were all going to get to London. We were in the front third of the line which would seem nice, except the line rarely moved. The amount of confusion/ineptness by the people at the ticket counter had Sara and I extremely frustrated and all we could do was laugh. The endless comments about the Asian gentlemen that stood behind the counter with his arms crossed, pretending to “oversee” the operation yet doing absolutely nothing, had us and the few good hearted people behind us at least smiling.

Eventually, we made it to the counter, received vouchers for hotel, food, and transfer to a different flight the next morning. Before leaving the airport we went down to customer service for United airlines to stand in yet another line. We were assured by a large bearded man that our bags would have no problem being transferred to our other flight. We arrived to our temporary hotel, got about 3 hours of sleep before returning to the lovely O’hare airport. After waiting in yet another line, we were told by Randi that the tickets we had were no good from United and we would need to return to United (in Terminal 1, American Airlines is in Terminal 3) and come back so they could process our seats. We oblige and get what we need completed. When we return to American we decide we should check on our bags to make sure they will be transferred to our next flight. Forty-five minutes later, after the nice American Airlines worked her tail off to get to the bottom of the baggage situation, we leave with no definite answer so we can proceed through security to make sure we reach our gate in time.

The flight has been relatively uneventful. Reading, movies, and sleep have helped passed the time. As we sit here making our final decent into London, we can only pray that our bags made it with us.