Traveling is stressful and everyone worries that something may go wrong. Well, while I was traveling home for winter break, something went wrong for me. I go to school in upstate New York and live in Portland, Oregon so going home isn’t the easiest for me to do. So when I missed my connecting flight home I found myself stuck in a strange city, unsure what to do.
The morning of my flight I was terrified that it would be delayed. It had started snowing that morning and the snow kept coming down harder and harder. Luckily my flight boarded on time, but due to a mix up where the flight crew miscounted the number of passengers the flight’s takeoff was delayed. We landed in Chicago, my connecting airport, about fifteen minutes before my next flight was scheduled to depart. Having to gate check my bag earlier, because the plane was so small, I knew that I would not have enough time to get my luggage and make my connecting flight, but nevertheless still ran to my gate as soon as a got my bag.
Arriving at the gate I quickly asked the agent if the flight had taken off and he shook his head sadly saying that it had. I handed him my ticket and he worked on finding me a flight and luckily there was one that I could get on in two hours. I was lucky. I was able to quickly get on a new flight and get home only a few hours later than expected. I didn’t have to sleep in the airport or get on multiple flights just to get home.
Getting stuck at an unknown airport can be really scary, but remember to stay calm because your airline will work to get you home. Don’t forget to talk to the agents at the gate or customer service. Their job is to help you get home. All the people that I talked to at the airport were extremely kind and helpful and quickly helped to put me on a new flight home. Traveling can be really stressful, but just remember that you will get where you are going, even if things go wrong.