We had it all planned out, we were going to meet at the airport at 1:30, with two hours before our flight to Philadelphia to get all set and ready for our adventure overseas. Eight of us were going to fly to Philadelphia together and then continue on to Dublin after a two hour layover, where we would be staying together in a hostel. On the way to the airport we got an automated call saying that the flight the Philadelphia was delayed an hour. I wasn't too worried because we should have had enough time to switch planes.
When I got to the airport the group was congregated around the counter and so I ran up there because they said that the airlines were going to switch our flights. They had spots for 5 people to take a flight to Paris and then from Paris to Dublin. Since I was the last one who arrived, (thanks to traffic on 494, and maybe a little last minute packing....), two of the other girls and I would have to be put on another flight. Thats when they decided to send us to New York.
Now who wouldn't want to go to New York? That sounds fun right? Even if you can't go into the city, you can at least see it. Well, they told us they could book us on a flight to La Guardia that was leaving in 30 min. There were a few problems with this, we hadn't gone through security yet, would have to check our bags with a different airline and the biggest problem of all, we would have to switch airports in New York during a two hour layover before a flight from JFK to Dublin. So timetable: Currently 2pm. Leave MSP at 2:30pm, arrive in NY at La Guardia: 6:44pm (EST), Leave from JFK to Dublin at 8:40pm (EST). Sounds almost do-able right? Well thats what the guy at the counter told us, so we went with it.
We ran from Security Check point one, all the way to Security Checkpoint six and the Delta counter to get re-checked in and check our bags. By the time the three of us had gotten that done (and payed an extra $25 bag fee) it was 2:25. Luckily there was no security line so we ran through security probably the fastest I have ever gone. We then had to run to the gate to not miss the flight, but of course it was far away so we sprinted through the airport, probably at least a half mile. We made it to the gate in time and got on the flight, all sitting in totally different areas of the plane. We took off a little behind schedule which made me nervous about our connecting flight but the pilot assured us that there was a heavy tailwind that would still get us to New York on time, and we did make it to the gate on time.
Because we were switching airports in New York, we had to pick up our checked luggage and bring it with us in a cab to JFK. I was traveling with Morgan and Claire, and Morgan's bag didn't show up. We had already figured this might happen because her bag was already checked before we switched flights. We decided to leave it so that we could make it to our next flight. We ran out to the cab and our driver got us there as fast as he could, and traffic wasn't even that bad! (by New York standards that is), only one accident that slowed us down. We were dropped off at our gate at JFK and ran up the Aer Lingus counter to check in for our next flight. They asked what flight we were going on and we told them. They said that the flight closes an hour and 15 minutes before the flight takes off and we had missed it by 15 minutes. They told us they could rebook us on the next flight, leaving the next day, but it would cost $150 each. We were not going to pay that since it was not our fault the guy in Minneapolis gave us new flights that wouldn't work. The Aer Lingus staff suggested that we talk to the U.S. Airways people to have them rebook to avoid the fee.
U.S. Airways was in terminal 8 and we were currently in 5. This meant we had to take the tram. Originally we were told U.S. Airways was in 7 so we got off there and then had to get back on. The tram is far away from all the terminals and normally on a different level so there was a lot of walking. By the time we made it to their counters they were empty. They had closed at 7pm so we were stuck until they reopened at 3am. We had been calling their toll free number while we were walking and Morgan's mom booked us a hotel that they will hopefully reimburse us for. While on the phone, they rebooked us for the Aer Lingus flight leaving at 5:30pm the next day. We decided with all the problems we had been having that we should go back to the Aer Lingus counter to double check that we were on the flight. Of course, by the time we got back there, they were also closed, so we decided to take a cab to the hotel.
So then we got a cab, and he didn't know where our hotel was so we had to look it up on our phones to show him based on the address from the website. We started following the directions and they didn't lead to a hotel. We decided to call the hotel, and they started to tell us where they were. The taxi driver still didn't know where to go and we ended up getting lost and finally after handing the phone to him, he was able to get us there. We ordered pizza and relaxed as much as possible and decided to get up early the next day and get to the airport early. We also got a call saying that Morgan's suitcase arrived at La Guardia so we decided to stop by there in the morning too.
The next morning we took the free shuttle to JFK from the hotel, and took a cab to La Guardia to pick up her suitcase. Once we had it, we got back in a cab to JFK. We stopped at Terminal 8 again to talk to the U.S. Airways counter and they told us we would have to file a claim. We then took the tram to Terminal 5 to check in at Aer Lingus. They weren't opening for another two hours so we had to sit outside the terminal against the wall and wait. Once we got inside we decided to have a nice lunch on U.S. Airways. We then sat down, and waited to board. Eventually we got on the plane and had a pretty uneventful trip, minus a slightly scary landing because of a strong head wind. We hoped on a bus and made it to our hostel at about 6am, went into our room and took a nap.
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