En Route Home

            Sunday, 1 Jul 2018 – We set our alarm for 6:00 AM (again) and took the hotel shuttle to the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.  Although we have stopped at this airport several times previously, even overnight in 2006, today did not start well.  After standing in long lines, first to check our bags and then for a security check, we headed toward the gate.  At least that’s where we were thought we were going.  Soon, we found ourselves in another very long line that looked like another security check.  When Sally finally reached the person at the front and handed him her ticket and passport, he asked her how long she had been standing in this line.  She answered, “A very long time!”  He asked if anyone was with me, and she motioned Jesse forward.  Then he told us that we should not have been standing in that line, that this line was for travel to some other destinations (we’re not sure where).  He pointed us in the direction of the D2 gate (where we had thought we were going).

However, we almost immediately found that the gate had changed from D2 to F13, another part of the airport.  Now we, especially Sally, were really dragging!  (We were each pulling carry-on bags with laptop computer bags atop those.)  Arriving there, Sally sat while Jesse stood in a line for about 45 minutes to get us seats.  Although he had reserved our seats online weeks ago, United showed our seats as unassigned!  Jesse finally returned, saying that our seats on United to Chicago were not together; they were both middle seats, with Sally seated in the row in front of Jesse.

This was a first, to be separated, at least for a long flight.  After that, Sally had nothing good to say about United!  A much younger person sat on each side of her, and younger people never need to get out of their seats as often as older people do.  (On the 9-hour flight, one of them left his seat only once; the other left twice.  Sally also got up only twice!)  Jesse has always provided a shoulder for her to lean on, help in using the buttons (for lights or movies, etc.), and help in eating part of Sally’s food!  On top of all that, we had to ride a bus from the gate out to the plane and then climb steps (with all our stuff!) to board the plane!  Also, the flight was 1 hour 15 minutes late in departing.  One saving grace was that our seats were in the economy plus area, so we had lots of extra leg room.  This was especially beneficial to Jesse, since he was seated in between two fairly large men.

And, by the way, Jesse does not blame United Airlines for the seat problem.  We had made our flight and seat reservations through Holland America, they had suggested that we confirm our seats directly with United, as we did for our outgoing flights.  At any rate, hopefully this never happens again because we were both very unhappy seated apart.

Now does this sound like a day out of hell or not?  Just wait because one more thing happened:  When we reached Chicago and looked for the gate number for our next (domestic) flight, the board read “Cancelled.”

In fact, we had also received a message about this on our mobile phone informing us that our flight had been cancelled and that we had been rebooked on the next available flight, which was at 8:10 AM, Monday, 2 Jul 2018.  We spoke with one of the United Airlines agents and he verified this information.  He also suggested that we discuss overnight accommodations with customer service.  Although the customer service line looked forbidding, at least 4 people were working the help desk.  (We noticed that one young woman was in tears!)  The customer service representative reconfirmed our 8:10 AM reservations, assigned us seats, and printed out our boarding passes.  Then she gave us a referral sheet with a number to call for lodging accommodations – at a discount.  (Sally is convinced that they should have paid totally for our night’s stay in Chicago, but at the time, both of us were so exhausted that we didn’t argue.)  Since we had already checked our large bags through, not planning for a night’s stay in a hotel, we would have only a very few things to use overnight.  We opted to stay at the Chicago Hilton, which – though 50 percent more expensive – is attached to the airport; we wouldn’t need a shuttle or taxi.  Basically, we just needed to walk across the street through a long tunnel to the hotel.  By the time Sally turned out her bedside lamp, it was 7:00 PM, which was 2:00 AM in Amsterdam.  Before that, Jesse had bought us soup and salad from the hotel’s Café Mercato “Grab & Go” restaurant for our dinner.

Monday, 2 Jul 2018 – We set our alarm for 5:00 AM and, as soon as possible, walked back to the airport.  This time, our boarding passes were not TSA Pre-check, so we had to go through a complete security check, which took some extra time and aggravation from Chicago O’Hare’s not-so-accommodating security personnel.  At least it wasn’t far to walk to the gate.  Since our flight was short and uneventful, we were home by 11:45 AM.  (Our big suitcases had arrived during the night from Amsterdam and were waiting for us at the airport.  At least that part of our trip home went well.)  After we had our own vehicle, we stopped at McDonald’s for carry-out breakfast.  Sally had an appointment with a counselor as the first step in cataract surgery, which was at 12:00 noon that day.  Although it was a close call, we live only 2 miles from Eye Surgeons and so we made it to the appointment on time.  All’s well that ends well!

          Aside from the problems with our return flights, we had a great time on the cruise!