Air Travel, Especially with Connections, Is Still Unreliable

Wed., Apr. 5, 2917--San Antonio to Lyon with Connections

I managed to get everything organized and ready to leave including having printed my boarding passes.  I called my sister who came to pick me up 30 minutes later.  But after calling her, I got a notice that my flight to Chicago was delayed by 1 hr. 45 min.  I immediately realized that the delay likely meant I would not be able to make my connection to Munich.  I waited briefly to see if United would send another notice with a rerouted schedule.  They didn't.  So I called them.

The lady on the phone confirmed that I would not be able to get to my destination without being rerouted.  She checked the possibilities and came up with a new plan.  I would leave later than scheduled and would arrive later than scheduled tomorrow, but I would get all the way by going via Houston and Frankfurt rather than Chicago and Munich.  However, that meant getting seat assignments at the last minute.  So I lost the good seat locations I had reserved back in February and had to take the leftovers.  I ended up in the back row by the toilets on the long flight across the Atlantic!!

When I got to the airport to check-in, they checked options again.  There was an upgrade to Economy Plus for the added cost of $185 (about $20 per hour of flight), and there was a seat about 4 rows further up in the plane from the back row--both fitting my preference of an aisle seat.  I decided to stay with economy since  $20 per hour seems a high price for 3 extra inches of leg room.  At least the seat I now have will recline and there will seldom be restroom lines of people right beside me. 

Not only did the change cause me to lose my seat assignments; it also meant I lost my TSA Pre-Check status I had on the other flights.  But that wasn't bad.  Something I have been thinking might occur happened.  The Pre-Check line was taking more time than the standard line for security!  (I knew that so many people were buying Pre-Check and Global Entry that it might eventually create this problem.)  Yes, I had to take off my belt and my shoes and had to go through the scanner that may cause health problems, but I was second in the general security line to be checked into security with no one already checked in standing behind the person in the scanner.  There were about 6 people waiting in the Pre-Check line to be admitted to security while about 10 people were already inside security waiting to go through the scanner!!  I was checked in and through my scanner before Pre-Check people who were already inside waiting to go through their scanner got to do so.  A victory for the little guy!!!

The delay meant I had to write the owner of my AIRBNB apartment in Lyon and let her know I would be about 2 hours later for check-in than we had planned.  It means I will have little time to see anything in Lyon tomorrow.  I'll just have to check-in around 16:00, find a bite to eat nearby, and buy some groceries for breakfast before going to bed around 20:00-21:00.