Today we were to return home. We woke up and made preparations. We cleaned bathrooms as Joel and Alexandra and their kids are arriving this afternoon and evening to stay. We did a bit of laundry, made one last bagel run, and packed. It was sad to say goodbye, but Brent and Brenda are moving to Utah in July, and we will be delighted to have them close to us on a permanent basis.
Brenda dropped us at the airport in plenty of time for us to make it through customs. At least, that's what we thought. The passing through security wasn't terrible, but then the customs line was ridiculously long. It was like being at Disneyland, without the thrill of an exciting ride at the end. The line snaked back and forth, and we stood and stood. We would inch forward a few steps, then wait and wait. Flying out of Canada into the US, they do customs before we you catch your flight, not after you arrive. It was painful. While waiting, another flier said to me, "My flight is supposed to leave at 1:00 (it was probably 12:15). Can I move in front of you?" Our flight left at one, too, and we were waiting patiently just like everyone else. But whatever.
We made it to our gate and began eating our sack lunch when we got word that our gate had changed. Everyone stood up and moved down the concourse. We all arrived at the other gate and then got word that the flight had been cancelled. ARGH! A very long line formed to try and make other arrangements, and I began to wait. We were there maybe half an hour and then they announced that they couldn't help us anymore. We all needed to leave the area and go back to the ticket counters outside of security. I got on the phone with Expedia and was trying to make new travel arrangements as they were kicking us out of the airport. One airport worker was so rude and said, "Everyone out of here! You can't stay here anymore!" We all had to pick up our luggage and get out.
We called Brenda to tell her our flight had been cancelled and could she come and get us. She said she would, but knowing that Joel and Alexandra and their children were coming to take over the bedrooms we slept in last night was going to be a challenge. We got our bags and I continued to talk to someone at Expedia about new flights. It is Thursday and I asked for tickets for any day of the weekend. She would find a flight, ask me if it would work, I would say yes, and then when she would go to book it, it would be gone. There were no flights back to Salt Lake until Monday, but we couldn't impose on Brent and Brenda that long, nor miss all the things that we had going on. What she was able to do was get us a flight from Montréal to San Francisco today, with a flight to Salt Lake City tomorrow.
We called Brenda back and said she didn't need to get us. She was nearly there but turned around and headed home. We stood up and headed back to the gate to check in again, knowing we were going to have to stand in the customs line again. GROAN! The line wasn't quite as long the second time, so we only stood in line half an hour. We were given meal vouchers, so we had dinner and then caught our flight.
We had no place to stay in San Francisco, and I brought that up at the desk when we check in for our flight. I asked if we could get a voucher for a hotel and the clerk who was helping said we should ask upon our arrival in San Francisco. He told us to explain to whoever was there when we got off the flight, and they could get us a voucher for a hotel somewhere close to the airport. That seemed reasonable.
Our flight arrived in San Francisco about 10:15pm. As we had been in Montréal for a week, this felt like 1:15am to our bodies. As we got off the plane, I asked the first person I saw if we could get hotel vouchers. I explained the cancelled flight and the need for someplace to stay. He said he had never done that before, but he would contact someone and see what he could do. In the meantime, he offered us food vouchers. Isabella was hungry so I went looking for food for her.
The voucher the guy gave us was printed on boarding pass paper that had Delta on it, even though we flew Air Canada. We came off the plane in the Delta area of the airport, and I think he just used whatever he had. This should have been a red flag, but we were tired and hungry, and I didn't think too much about it. However, when I tried to use a food voucher, they wouldn't take it. I told the man at the restaurant we had only just been given the voucher by the guy down the concourse, but he wouldn't take it. Again, I just figured it had something to do with the restaurant, not the voucher, so I blew it off.
We did get two vouchers for hotel rooms, were told where to catch the hotel shuttle, and we pulled our luggage out of the airport. By the time we got to the hotel, it was 11:30pm. We are all knackered. We presented our vouchers to the hotel clerk who not so kindly told us he could not take them. Again, they were on Delta paper but had an Air Canada flight number and he said he didn't know who was going to pay them for the room. I argued with him, but it was fruitless. He said we could have two rooms, but we would have to pay for them and then take it up with the Air Canada.
I was irritated, but we were all tired, so we got the rooms and went to bed. Fortunately, our flight out tomorrow isn't until 1:00pm. It was a long, long day of travel, and in the end, it didn't feel like we were really any closer to home.
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