Sitting at the airport, minding my own business when there was an overhead announcement. It seems that the flight that was to board ahead of us had a mechanical problem. Passengers will be delayed.

Too bad for them. I went back to my coffee and checking email.

New announcement. Their flight had been cancelled because the planed couldn’t be fixed and there weren’t any spare planes hanging around.

Very bad for them. They were all directed to come to the customer service desk and be rebooked. The stampede headed over and started the process.

At the risk of wrong speak, I have to say that there were five hard working airline staff was trying to get people  onto new flights without undue delay. One of the five had, shall we say, limited ability to speak English clearly. Want to guess which one was on the intercom making announcements?

A Chinese couple behind me was rolling their eyes at how bad he spoke English. They spoke both English and a Chinese dialect flawlessly. Every time this guy made an announcement, people rolled their eyes and asked each other what was said.

But I digress.

I was waiting for my flight to start boarding when my phone alerted me to a text message. Looking down at the phone I read, “This is to inform you that we took your plane to satisfy the other fliers and you are now screwed.” That’s not exactly what was said, but it was definitely the message. Now it was my turn to go up to the customer service counter and find out WTF was going on.

Then, got another text message that said, “We rebooked you for a later, direct flight.” That will only screw up my arrangement with Ambulance Driver who is picking me up in Dallas. I clicked on the link and saw what my boarding order. This that “Want to get Away” airline that lets you pick your own seat. The trick is to get there early enough so that you actually get to sit inside the airplane. I pay the $15.00  for the privilege of checking in early and getting a good seat. My original boarding order was A26, which is prime seat selecting territory. My new boarding order was C39. As they say, “C” stands “Center Seat”, usually between two smelly people. And the one closest to the window has to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.

So, I went up to the counter and talked to the nice lady. She explained that they don’t have a “waiver” function for their business flier upgrade, so I’d have to fork over $40.00. She did, however give me a $100.00 voucher for a future cancelled flight. I kid about that, part.

So, I decided to call the customer service line for the airline and see if they can refund my feel. Which is where I sit as I type this. The nice young lady wasn’t sure she had a “waiver” key either. I might have to email customer service.

I’m on ignore hold while she checks with someone.

She’s back and busy clicking away on her keyboard.

The verdict is…

They refunded the upgrade fee.

All in all, I did okay on this. Although I still have to sit in the airport for four more hours.

Adventures in travel.