With the holiday season approaching quickly, I thought I’d share a past traveling experience with you. As you can see from the title, “My Bad Luck with Planes” will be a multi-part segment (hopefully three posts...crossing my fingers that it won’t grow anymore!) and I’ll tell you about, yes, my bad luck with planes. If you’ve read my “About” page, you probably know that my family travels to Hawai’i every year. For the past several years, we’ve gone over winter break - we usually leave on Christmas Eve and come back a couple of days after school starts again. However, last year, we left for the airport on Christmas Eve at about 7:30 AM...and didn’t get to Hawai’i until Christmas morning…
It was Christmas Eve of 2015. I woke up early that morning, at about 7 AM. This was the part of the year that I looked forward to the most, and I couldn’t wait to get to the airport. My suitcase was packed, and I just had a few more miscellaneous items to grab before we left. The taxi was waiting outside, and we anxiously packed our bags into the trunk before leaving for the Oakland airport. Check-in and security were uneventful and fast. My family had plenty of time to kill before we had to board the plane, but we decided to go the gate anyways. The minutes ticked by slowly until 9:00, when we were supposed to start boarding. We all sat there until 9:30, when we were supposed to depart. Finally, an attendant announced that the plane was delayed, just by about thirty minutes. No big deal, right? To make it even better, one of the Hawaiian Airlines staff members whipped out his ukulele and started playing Christmas songs. The lyrics and melodies of “Jingle Bells” and “Mele Kalikimaka” soon filled the air, and everyone’s spirits lifted. We boarded the plane shortly after, and...sat there. For a long time. The flight attendant’s voice cackled over the loudspeaker, “We are experiencing some mechanical issues. Unfortunately, this flight will be delayed until 1:00 at the earliest. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” My heart sank as I shuffled out of the airplane with my mom and sister. Although we were only delayed by a few hours, I felt that every minute in Hawai’i was important. I walked around the airport (on my feet and occasionally, my hands), trying to pass the time. We filled up our water bottles and browsed through the airport stores. We got back on the plane so that my dad could escape the stuffy feeling of the airplane. Later, we were all instructed to remove our carry-on items and disembark the airplane. All of the passengers sat in the gate area, making small conversations with the people around us. The ukulele-playing flight attendant started singing again, and another flight attendant performed a hula dance routine. At least they’re trying to help, I thought. At about 1:00, another announcement came. “Hawaiian Airlines flight 47 is still delayed,” the attendant said. “We will be leaving at 1:00 in the morning tonight. Hotel and lunch vouchers will be available at the front desk. Please make sure you arrive at 11:00 tonight for security and check in.” I felt my heart sink even further. 1:00 AM meant that we were going to be spending the first few minutes of Christmas at the Oakland Airport and the next few hours flying over the Pacific Ocean. This could not be happening. Unfortunately, it was. A line immediately formed in front of the desk. The staff member handed us several vouchers for food and instructions for the hotel. We were sent to a nearby hotel, the Marina Inn. The room was nice enough to stay in for a few hours, but I was too upset to appreciate it. We went shopping at a close mall, but nobody was in the mood for that. At 11:00 that night, just an hour away from Christmas, we hopped on a shuttle that would take us to the airport. After going through security again and using up the rest of our food vouchers, we sat at the gate. Midnight finally came, and I wished my sister a “Merry Christmas” before we sat in silence again. It felt like an eternity before 1:00 AM finally rolled around. We boarded the plane and I quickly fell asleep. When I woke up, we hadn’t moved. “What’s going on?!” I asked my parents. “There’s another mechanical issue with this plane. We have to get on another one.” I shook my head in disbelief. How many planes were we going to have to board before we could arrive in Hawai’i? Three planes, apparently. All of the passengers, sleepy and annoyed, picked up their stuff and lugged it to the next plane. The flight attendants frantically pushed food carts to the other plane. By this time, it was 3:00 in the morning, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Several minutes later, we were on the third plane and in the air, on our way to paradise. Well, here was the first “My Bad Luck with Planes” story; I hope you enjoyed it! In case anyone is wondering, we arrived in Hawai’i at about 6:00 AM, HST. I’m going to Hawai’i again for Christmas this year, so hopefully nothing happens this time! Have a great holiday season, and if you’re traveling, I hope you have better luck than me :) [Originally posted on December 10, 2016 at amandaatravelblog.blogspot.com]
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AuthorHi, I'm Amanda! I'm 18 years old and live in California. Outside of school, I love photography, traveling, reading, gymnastics, diving, DIYs, vegan baking and cooking, and spending time with my friends and family. Categories
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