Jason Hasselkus

Well I finally made it home from my trip on flight 565 Chicago to Phoenix to Orange County. I usually don’t take these kinds of trips because there are direct flights, but in order to save my employer the extra few dollars, I thought I would be the good corporate citizen and take the lowest fair. Apparently this is a practice that should be avoided, especially when dealing with American West. First let me tell you how hard it is to find the American West ticket counter in O’Hare.
U.S. Airways and AW share the same counter, you know when you look at your ticket you see United Airways operated by American West. So that should be your first sign that you aren’t getting the quality flight from U.S. Airways. Anyway, I arrive at the airport in plenty of time to catch my flight, wait in a fairly long line of grumpy travelers who are upset at fellow travelers whom aren’t moving out of the way of the first available kiosk so that they can check their bags or grab their ticket. The reason for this was that the airlines only had two people working behind the counter to check bags. Probably an indication that things might be moving a bit slower. After waiting in line for what didn’t appear to be that long of a time, probably more like 30 to 40 minutes, I got my bag checked and my seat assigned. I was now off to the security line where just about anything goes, or where the most strenuous part of your travel might be. When I arrived at the line, I naturally went to the shortest line available. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes I finally reached the elderly Indian man whom graciously checked my ticket and informed me in broken English that I was in the wrong line. I had waited in the First Class or Elite member line, which of course I was a member on neither. I then proceeded to ask him if he could move me to another line, since I had already wasted much of time in the wrong line, and he replied with yes, he could help me out. He once again showed me the back of the line where all the other parties that choose to pay the same amount as me were put into queue. At least at this point I was confident I was in the correct line.
O’Hare seems to be under a lot of construction, which I assume is the reason nothing is marked. Security lines aren’t marked, nor are there any signs telling you how to get from one terminal to the other. Security lines are so long in terminal 2 that you are almost outside, which wouldn’t have been such a bad deal since the whole airport is overheated. Well I finally got through security after about an hour and 45 minutes, and the once nice cushion of time I had built was now lost. Arriving at the gate, I noticed a ton of people, again I thank my lucky stars that I had arrived early enough to get a window seat so I’m not stuck in the awful state of “Middle Seat”. Upon arriving to the gate I hear an announcement telling each of us that we should make plans to travel to the other side of the airport where I flight will be departing from. It appears as though the plane we were going to get on had mechanical problems, so we would be taking a different plane parked at a different gate. Again I think this is no problem because everyone else is in my boat. And sure enough I was right. As soon as I got the gate they had announced that flight 565 to Phoenix is boarding 1st class, and zone 1. I of course was no where near those two zones; I was zone 4, in the back of the bus. I patiently waited for my turn to rush down a packed jet way, and rubberneck myself around to see who might actually get the coveted overhead spot for there backpack. Ah, Alas it was me, I had room above my seat and in front of me for the two computers I had brought on board. I was now comfortably sitting next to my window with a gentleman on the isle and nobody between us. This is going to be a really comfortable flight.
Wait….. I fail to mention what my biggest nightmare is on a plane. It’s sitting next to someone exactly like me, and guess what… It happened. Yes, sure enough I had the pleasure of someone else; whose shoulders occupied more space than their butt. I now looked like the after school special kid whom was crammed up against the window with little room to move his arms and shoulders. A close investigation would have revealed that picking a window seat when isle seats were available, was a bad move at this juncture. I could have at least hung myself out in the isle before the beverage cart decapitated me, but no I had to try my luck at how sardines feel. At this point I realize there is nothing I can do and just anxiously wait for the plane door to close for us to get on our way so I can get home to my family. But, um, by looking at my watch, we are 15 minutes late and it doesn’t appear as though the crew is in any hurry to close the door. Well an hour and forty five minutes later, we were told that there was a mechanical problem, and that US Airways doesn’t have any mechanics available in the Chicago area and we have to wait for a United mechanic to come help us out. No wonder United is bankrupt; they are fully staffed with the right personnel at work where they should be.
To make a long story just a tad bit shorter, we finally after a two hour thirty five minute delay, we got off the ground and to Phoenix. I comfortably rested between the shoulders of the man next to me and the indent that the window provides. When his arm moved so did I, when he leaned forward I leaned back, when he couldn’t make up his mind I made sure he knew where I was going, only to try and beat him to the most comfortable spot. We were both going to be glad once this cat and mouse game was over. Being that we were so late getting in, a lot of people on the plane had connections, lucky for me my night was over, I was staying on the plane which was to continue on to Orange County. That’s exactly what happened, I finally after eight and a half hours travel, I made it home to house full of sleeping people. I joined them, and was just thankful to be home once again. The lesson learned…. Buying cheap to save you a few buck doesn’t make up for you discomfort in the long run. Don’t ever try to save someone money, it just doesn’t work out that way.