Great Adventures in Travel

An Exercise  in Flexibility 

The fog stuck around, the flight was delayed, first for 12 minutes, then 30 minutes, than an hour, then 2 hours, then cancelled.  I was re-booked on another flight and had a row to myself in the back of the bus.  I arrived at my destination over two hours late, but I arrived.  The rental car people were incompetent, chatty and polite, kept asking me the same questions and trying to sell their overpriced insurance.  Then they didn't have the class of car I had reserved, I said I would take something else, we started to make the change - the phone rang and they had what I had reserved.  Picking up the car took twice as long as it should have, I am now about two and half hours late. I drove to the Crown Plaza, park and went to registration.  They don't have a room ready, I say I will take anything, one bed - two beds I am very flexible.  She asked if "I was paying for the room" - uh yes.  She then asked if I was driving - if she had been listening I had said I had a car in the garage.  She explained that there was an option that would get me into a room immediately, the hotel was oversold, and they had just made arrangements with the Hyatt Regency across the river for the overflow.  She would comp my room, if I would be able to stay at the Hyatt instead of the CP.  Ah, yes, the Hyatt is much nicer.  So I spent the night on the 16th floor with a spectacular river view.  I was four hours late getting to the conference, but I am listening not talking at this one, so I could be quite flexible.  All in all it was not a bad trip when compared to the emergency landing in Dallas with smoke pouring out of an engine, or the time the plane backed into another plane (twice) in Charlotte one morning. Any landing you can walk away from, is a good landing.  It is all a matter of perspective and flexibility.