Or lack there of....

So I got to the airport Thursday morning to fly out to Pittsburgh for the con, I had about 40 minutes to an hour before my flight. While I was standing inline to get my boarding pass, one of the Delta people told me to move to another line, which I did, this occurred a couple of times, and by the time I was able to get to the self check in computer, it wouldn't let me print a boarding pass; the luggage area of the plane was locked up (it had done so 2 minutes prior).

I was then directed to stand in (the original) line that I had been standing in when I first arrived, by the time I got to the counter, I had completely missed my flight. Delta then said all of their seats were filled except for first class; which I obviously couldn't begin afford. They then told me to call orbitz, which I did....

After a couple of attempts to call the orbitz people, I got ahold of a lady who (presumably) called Delta, and then came back and told me that I could get on standby for the 12 o'clock flight. When I inquired about this at the Delta counter, they gave me an odd look and said "we haven't done standby in over 4 years...." The only available flight would have left Friday, at the same time, and they wanted $800.00 for it!

Needless to say, I couldn't afford this either; so I wound up skipping this year's AC. Fortunately I was able to get a discount for my next flight to some place, so it wasn't a total waist of money, but its still aggravating! So take aways from this year:
- Don't book a flight where by you have to be at the airport by 3am. This is especially true if you can't think straight that early in the morning.
- Don't use Delta, use another airline that's friendlier about moving you to another flight if you miss yours for whatever reason.
- Leave the day BEFORE the con, not the day OF the con....

That having been said, here's my somewhat tentative plan for next year's cons:
- Furry Fiesta | Feb 19-21 | Dallas, TX
- A-Kon* | June 4-6 | Dallas, TX
- Califur* | June 4-6 | Irvine, CA
- Anthrocon| July 1-4? | Pittsburgh, PA

* A-Kon and Califur are on the same dates, and I realize this. Given how the AA at A-Kon has been restructured, I don't know if I'll be able to get a table, if I even decide I want one. Either way, its a distinct possibility that I will go to Califur in lieu of A-Kon. We'll see which way my mood swings on that one.