Category: JST3P Blog

A word of advice; If you need to take a flight, get to the airport at least 30 minutes early. My flight from Minneapolis St Paul International Airport was to depart at 7:35 AM, with light traffic on a Sunday morning and very few people in the airport at that time I figured I’d have more than enough time to get to the gate. …And I would have, had the US Airways Ticketing Counter staff not refused to issue me my boarding pass. “You must be at least 30 minutes early.”… If this is the case, I don’t know why my itinerary didn’t say 7:05 AM, since that’s when I’d actually have to be to the ticketing counter. Damned Expedia. This is more frustrating than it has to be, if they’d have just given me my boarding pass I would have gotten on my plane, they don’t close the door to the airplane until all passengers are on board or the departure time arrives, whichever comes first. Knowing this makes it all the more infuriating that the counter clerk won’t just give me my boarding pass but instead opts to re-book me on a flight that doesn’t depart from this airport for another 10 hours. Thanks a lot US Airways Ticketing Counter! While I stood there and listened to you complain to your coworker about how US Airways was stupid and screwing you over with some arcane policy for 10 minutes, I could have made my flight! I sure am glad I got to put off my inconsequential travel plans to be regaled with tales of corporate bureaucracy and inept management from the lofty perspective of a ticket counter clerk. Welcome to the land of $10 Wi_fi, Starbucks coffee and complacent indifference. If I had a say in the matter I’d just decide not to fly US Airways again ($40 to check in a bag that was $25 with Alaska/Horizon or Frontier airlines) but since it’s on the company, I guess I can’t complain too loudly. Of course, getting to the airport 20 minutes early instead of 30 minutes early caused me to “miss” my flight (Which was still here when I got here) so maybe the company will decide not to fly me about the country for business any more, then I won’t have to deal with this again. Then again, I can use the rep I’m getting as a go anywhere and fix a broken office kind of guy so I’ll probably just put up with it and grouse to friends and family, like usual.