Determined to get out of Cincinnati that day, I got up early, went to the airport and put myself on the standby list for the earliest Denver flight. It was too late. Eighteen people were on the list and I was number twelve. In the end, the first five were the lucky ones. And my attempt to reduce my three-leg flight to Aspen through Minneapolis and Salt Lake City into two-leg wasn't successful, either.
After arriving Minneapolis, I anxiously checked the status of my next flight. Thanks to Murphy's Law, I wasn't surprised at what I saw at all: The flight was delayed for more than a hour so that I would miss the next flight from Salt Lake City to Aspen unless it was also delayed as long as one hour. I immediately responded to secure a backup flight from Salt Lake City to Aspen the next morning and was a little bit relieved knowing Salt Lake City was a big hub for Delta.
By the time I got to Salt Lake City, the last Aspen flight had already gone, as expected. Then I made a right decision out of both sense and desperation: Stay overnight at Salt Lake City airport to score a high position in the standby list for the earliest flight from Salt Lake City to Denver, leaving Aspen flight as the last resort.
I felt like the old days again, when I was a poor student in China (wait, I still AM a poor student), traveling by train and bus and couldn't afford a night in hotel. (By the way, I do plan to recount my unforgettable Tibet trip on this blog. Stay tuned.)
I knew I wasn't alone on this because I only scored number three. I was not exactly sure who the other two were and how they did it in my face. Maybe I was taking a nap, maybe they had a higher mileage or longer delay, which were two other factors affecting standby list priority than the first-come-first-serve principle. My fingers were crossed when the regular passengers were boarding the flight. And before that happened, when I saw a fellow standbier was talking to the Delta reprentative attending this flight, I knew I had to win over her simpathy. And I did, with a tired but smiling face. I would like to thank her again here.
I wasn't sure but it seemed more than eight standbiers got onto that plane and my nightmare was finally over.
After arriving Minneapolis, I anxiously checked the status of my next flight. Thanks to Murphy's Law, I wasn't surprised at what I saw at all: The flight was delayed for more than a hour so that I would miss the next flight from Salt Lake City to Aspen unless it was also delayed as long as one hour. I immediately responded to secure a backup flight from Salt Lake City to Aspen the next morning and was a little bit relieved knowing Salt Lake City was a big hub for Delta.
By the time I got to Salt Lake City, the last Aspen flight had already gone, as expected. Then I made a right decision out of both sense and desperation: Stay overnight at Salt Lake City airport to score a high position in the standby list for the earliest flight from Salt Lake City to Denver, leaving Aspen flight as the last resort.
I felt like the old days again, when I was a poor student in China (wait, I still AM a poor student), traveling by train and bus and couldn't afford a night in hotel. (By the way, I do plan to recount my unforgettable Tibet trip on this blog. Stay tuned.)
I knew I wasn't alone on this because I only scored number three. I was not exactly sure who the other two were and how they did it in my face. Maybe I was taking a nap, maybe they had a higher mileage or longer delay, which were two other factors affecting standby list priority than the first-come-first-serve principle. My fingers were crossed when the regular passengers were boarding the flight. And before that happened, when I saw a fellow standbier was talking to the Delta reprentative attending this flight, I knew I had to win over her simpathy. And I did, with a tired but smiling face. I would like to thank her again here.
I wasn't sure but it seemed more than eight standbiers got onto that plane and my nightmare was finally over.
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