official trip report

This is what I submitted to the officials at work:

The flight to the conference went well, even though there was lots of potential storm activity Tuesday morning.

The conference as a whole was good, very informative, and I got to talk to our rep in person about the legal department’s license agreement issues. He’s going to get me a fully functional eval license key early this week so that I can actually test out and get the system working while those things are (hopefully) ironed out.

So Friday I flew back.

I get to Boston’s Logan airport with plenty of time to spare. I get in line for my boarding pass, and there’s only around 10 people in line. But unfortunately, there’s only 1 person dealing with coach tickets for planes going to chicago and st. louis. Everyone else is assisting people who were bumped from an earlier flight. So I FINALLY get my boarding pass, with only a few minutes to spare before the cut-off point. It’s pretty much lunch time, I’m starving, and I was hoping to grab something to eat before boarding….Oh well.

I get to the gate to go through security, and I can’t find my driver’s license – it disappeared between the ticket counter and gate. GRRRRRR.
I showed the nice lady at the gate my UA Staff ID, and told her what happened, and she said “Oh, this ID is fine,” and sent me through.
Carry-on stuff got scanned, all was good, and I made my way to the boarding area.

Well, with no driver’s license, they wouldn’t believe that my staff ID was a valid photo ID, they escorted me to an area where they proceeded to search all of my carry-on luggage, and scan me, my shoes, and everything else. I offer them some candy that was in my luggage, and they were actually really friendly and jovial. I knew that if I was annoying, they would make my life a living hell. And then they sent me to the plane.

As we’re nearing Chicago, they call off a list of connecting flights and their gates. The one for XNA is different than what’s on my boarding pass. I get off the plane, go to that gate, and find no XNA flight. I finally find the NEW gate for the flight, and then am told that the flight is delayed 40 minutes or so. I finally get some food…McDonald’s never tasted so good.

I’m boarding the plane, and since I have no driver’s license I am told that I have been “randomly selected” to participate in a security check. I mention that I’ve been “randomly selected” twice already, and they say “Well, it’s your lucky day !”.

So, I get searched AGAIN, get my carry-on stuff picked through AGAIN, and still trying to keep a jovial attitude. At least I’m still smiling, the guard noted.

I get on the plane, and we land in XNA. Thank God.

I go to get my baggage. And wait. And wait. And wait.

I go to the ticket counter, and they tell me that it should be coming in the NEXT flight in from chicago in 45 minutes. Don’t worry, they’ll deliver it to me.

I go home mentally and physically exhausted.

I wait. No luggage.

I call. No luggage.

BUT it’s coming in Saturday morning on the 10:45 flight. They’ll deliver it to me.

Saturday morning….I sleep in, wake up and wait around for my luggage.
And wait.
And wait.

I finally call American Airlines again, am put on hold, and then finally asked to call back in 20 minutes.
I call them 30 minutes later, and am told that my luggage should be coming in this afternoon from HOUSTON.

This time, I tell them to please call me and if it comes in late, I’ll just drive up there to get my bag so I won’t have to wait another day.

About an hour or so later, I get a call from a guy saying my bag was in, and where do I live. I give him directions, and I finally got my bag around 7pm on Saturday.

Now, I need to go get a replacement driver’s license first thing Monday morning.

Things I learned from this experience:

No drivers license = “randomly selected” to get searched
Driver’s license = once you get through the main security checkpoint, go to the gift shops, buy nail clippers, files, scissors, and other things to make shivs. You’ll be allowed on the plane, and can do whatever.

Last time I flew, they made me turn on my cell phones and electronic devices to prove that they were real, and not devices of destruction. This time, they didn’t. As long as I put them in a bag, and sent it through the x-ray, it was all good.

-chris

Chris Bray (cbray@uark.edu, Website: http://zenandjuice.com/)
WebCT & Multimedia Support, MultiMedia Resource Center, University of Arkansas
Message Me: ICQ: 6830763 / AOL/Yahoo: zenandjuice / MSN: chris@zenandjuice.com