I am writing this blog post in a plane on my way home from Des Moines, Iowa. As I was thinking about what topic would be most interesting, my experience in the airport lead me to my story.
I arrived at the airport two hours early. I was keynoting at a luncheon and unsure how much time I needed to allow. I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry. I figured arriving early would have its perks. Boy was I wrong.
My interesting journey started when a Delta agent could not find my file in the kiosk. Instead of finding it in his computer, he asked me to enter my information three more times-he was convinced that I was in there. After the third attempt, I was allowed to come to the counter and given a ticket.
Because I was too early for the flight, I was told that I would have to get a seat assignment at the gate. When I inquired about this I was told it is always done this way. Funny…I never had this experience before.
The gate that I was directed to was C3. I walked up and down the terminal looking for C3. It was nowhere to be found. Apparently, it was once there but now under construction. Perplexed I inquired at a counter at a gate that was attended—these were few and far between. They indicated it had to be at gate 1 and 2. I proceeded to that ticket counter, waited in a long line to be told by the agent that I actually need to be at gate 4, not gate 2.
As I got to the gate, I looked up and nowhere on the monitor or any monitor did it mention my airline. Since no one was at the gate to help me, I sat down to wait. By this time it was 3:00 and my flight left at 4:10 p.m. I still did not have a seat assignment.
When someone arrived to help me, he assigned me a seat, never asking me what I would prefer and handed me a ticket. When I inquired about my seat on the second leg of my journey home he indicated I had to get that in Cincinnati and that is how it is always done.
Interestingly enough, I had never encountered this before and I have been flying for 25 years. I’m going to continue this blog discussion in my next post and explain why I am telling you this story.
Colette Chandler
Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends
