My flight from Atlanta to LA was pretty much flawless, which should've made me suspicious from the beginning. Once we got to LA we got our luggage and hung out with some of the other people in the group waiting for the Qantas ticket counter to open. Well, long story short, we found out that our flight (which was supposed to be for last night at 10:30) actually got delayed 'til 10 AM this morning because of an engineers' strike in Australia. So the airline put us up in several different hotels in LA, and me and some of the other people that got there earlier ended up at the Hilton, which was nice.
So last night we ate dinner (free from the airline) and took a shuttle to Manhattan Beach to see a little bit of LA. All I have to say is California is gorgeous. Smoggy, but gorgeous. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed, since we were all pretty much still running on Eastern time.
Then this morning we got up, had a really good breakfast buffet at the hotel (also free from the airline) and went back to the airport. We boarded on time, but then sat at the gate for about an hour and a half. Apparently a couple of passengers had already made other arrangements and left for Sydney but had left their luggage there, which is a security problem. So we had to de-board the plane, walk through the shut-down terminal through rows of TSA officers (I hadn't realized just how big of a security problem it was), and go back through security. But then after we had waited at the gate for a while (giving us the chance to witness a mild bomb scare...exciting), the captain came out and told us that the situation had escalated, the FBI was now involved, and we wouldn't be able to leave until 11 PM tonight.
(UPDATE from later in the night: We just talked to a Qantas customer service manager here at the hotel and the reason for all the drama was that a foreign national called in a bomb threat for our specific flight, so that was why we were all evacuated. BUT, we are going to get a voucher for a free flight whenever we want, as well as free room service/drinks/food here at the hotel. Here's a link to a news article about the situation: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6274063)
Sooo now we're in a hotel (AGAIN) until we have to go back to the airport and I am writing this on $10 wireless internet (sidenote - why is it that it seems like only the expensive hotels charge for internet???).
I just want to get there already. And preferably not have to sit through 20 more hours of flying to do it. But oh well.
Next time I post, I really will be in Australia. I promise...
1 comment:
mich, i love you :)
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