I hate flying

Ok... I hate flying for several reasons. First of all I have a slight phobia of flying. I realize that flying is safer than driving but still I always get nervous before a flight. Second, I hate flying because the airlines have decided to completely ditch customer service. I realize times are tight but that doesn't mean you have to stop being nice to your customers and treating them fairly.

So here's the deal. My sister just had a baby (Miss Lily) and I decided to go see her. During spring break Clay and I went to Phoenix where the airline we were on overbooked the plane, lost the reservation, and ended up splitting us up so I got to Phoenix at the expected arrival time of 11am and Clay made it there (after a brief stop in Chicago) by 11pm. So of course they gave us a voucher which gave us either a free ticket or $200 off.

Clay and I decided that the voucher would be a great way for me to go and see Alyson and Jim. So I called to book my flight. Getting to Spokane Washington is no easy task. Preferably I would fly into Pullman Washington but this particular airline doesn't go there and since I'm trying to use a voucher I have to go to where they fly. Consequently Spokane. While my flight to Spokane is reasonable (leave OKC at 8:45 am and arrive at 2:30pm) the return flight is RIDICULOUS. They put me on a flight that leaves at 3:30pm then I go to Phoenix then I go to Las Vegas (yeah that's the WRONG direction) then I arrive in good ol' OKC at 3:30 IN THE MORNING!!!! But that's the only flight they have available for like a month. Furthermore there is no free ticket to that destination on any day in the next 6 years so I can only use the $200 voucher. Ok I take it, surely my new niece is worth the $300 to cover the rest of the ticket price.

So now we get to today. I arrive a good 2 hours early (even though in OKC usually 1 hour is fine). When I arrive there are about 6 folks ahead of me in line. This other guy gets in line behind me and says "does that say the flight to Phoenix is canceled?" Of course I don't have my glasses on but the lady in front of me pipes up that sure enough it is canceled. Stupendous! An hour later I make it to the ticket counter only to find out they had used every available seat out of OKC for today for all of the passengers in front of me and now I'm booked for tomorrow. Seriously people.

So now Clay has to come back from work to pick me up from the airport and take me home. I'm a bit miffed so I decided to call the airline because surely there should be some compensation in this for me since I had only planned to be in Idaho for 2 days anyhow and now it's down to 1 day and it looks like I'm on standby for that flight anyhow and there is NO point in flying up there just to turn around and fly home.

So I call the airline and decide I am going to be very nice and explain this situation in a cool calm and collected voice and hopefully get them to change my Thursday flight to a Friday flight so at least I get to have a decent visit. Of course I'm routed to some call center in India where I can't understand the lady on the other end. I try to explain the situation and she says "your ticket is non-refundable we can't change anything." I tell her I understand that but I want to speak to her supervisor. We go back and forth a few times and then SHE HANGS UP ON ME!!! I kid you not!

Now I'm beyond all reason. All I want is my money back and to get out of this deal. So I call back. Finally I get a lady who is very nice and I calmly explain the situation. Of course they can't extend my stay because that is Memorial Day weekend and there are no flights available out of Spokane for like another week. Again this is not working for me. AAARRRGGG!! And since my ticket is non refundable she doesn't want to give my money back. After patiently explaining the situation for the zillionth time I finally get her to refund both the money I spend on the ticket and the voucher!!!! So now, if I dare risk flying with this airline again, I can still use the voucher. Unfortunately I'm not getting to go see Alyson, Jim, and Lily but at least I feel vindicated. Can I just say it one more time... I hate flying.