Rhonda Bracey: At Random

My first full day in Vermont was a day in the sun with my (Australian) friends, whom I’m visiting here.

We started with a long walk, followed by a day on (and IN) Lake Champlain. It was hot and sunny for much of the day, but boy! that lake water was sure cold and bracing, until you got used to it. Getting out of the water onto the transom of the ski boat was a bit of an issue for me — with my two shoulder surgeries, excess weight, lack of upper body strength, and lack of a ladder, I couldn’t pull myself out and had to have the help of all three of my friends to get myself up onto the transom like a beached whale! Fortunately, there’s no video of this, but we certainly laughed a lot!!!

We had a late lunch at a restaurant on one of the docks in Burlington (Spot on the Dock). While we waited for a table, we had some drinks, as you do. I had the jalapeno-infused margarita, which was a perfect balance of heat, bitterness from the lime, sweetness from the syrup, and the alcohol of course. Damn, it tasted good! But the two margaritas weren’t so good on an empty stomach and in the sun, and added to the dehydration (I hadn’t had any water for several hours) resulted in a massive headache for me by the time we wandered off to Creemees, the ice cream place nearby. Then it was back on the boat for the ~30-minute ride back to the ‘compound’.

It was a perfect day for us all to experience the best of summer in Vermont together — two of my friends left early on Day 2 to travel back to Australia, leaving just me and my girlfriend to share the rest of the week.

Some photos from Day 1:

Green, green, green everywhere

I’m staying in a cottage, but the lake has plenty of mansions too

The underpass below the causeway doesn’t have a lot of clearance and we had to duck our heads to get the boat through

 

Ashley and Kris (daughter and mother)

 

• PER to SYD Thursday, overnight at SYD airport
• SYD-DFW Friday – flight delayed nearly 2 hours, but only 30 mins late into DFW. First Class upgrade on points, didn’t sleep; First Class only half full (only 6 people of a possible 14)
• DFW- DCA (Ronald Reagan Airport, Washington DC) – delayed leaving for 40 mins as bad weather in DC area meant air traffic issues. Had a 2-hour window to next flight, reduced to 1 hour after the delay leaving DFW. Asked on arrival about next gate, only to be told flight to Burlington VT was cancelled! So after 35 hours of little to no sleep, my final 90-minute flight (due to depart at 10:20pm) was cancelled because of air traffic issues resulting from earlier bad weather in Washington DC area. No flight until 3pm following day, so had to find a hotel nearby and wait it out. Suitcase tagged from SYD to BTV, so it remained in the bowels of Ronald Reagan Airport — I was assured (by Sheena, AA Customer Service counter in Terminal C, 14 July 2017 ~10:30pm – yes it took an hour and a half to get to the front of the Customer Service line) that my bag will be retagged and will join me on my new flight on the 15th. Here’s hoping!!!
• 3pm flight to Burlington the next day was 40 mins late leaving. The Admirals Club lounge AA agent told me my suitcase had been sent on the 10:20am flight and was already in Burlington, and the AA app confirmed this. The agent told me to go straight to the baggage claim people to get the bag as it would be behind the counter/out the back. On arrival at Burlington, that’s what I did, but the agent there said she didn’t have the bag and she ‘knew all the bags out the back’. She checked her system and said it was on the baggage carousel for my flight. But after waiting for all bags to come through, it obviously wasn’t there. So back to baggage claim where another agent said, ‘Oh yes, it’s out the back — I remember the name’. And I was reunited with my suitcase after wasting nearly an extra hour at the airport trying to get it. The incompetence of American Airlines has really been on show this trip!

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From my Facebook post about this trip and the delays:

Well, it’s midnight on the east coast of the US and I should be landing at Burlington airport in Vermont about now. Instead, I’m in a hotel room in Crystal City, Virginia (no, I have no idea where that is either, but it’s close to Reagan Airport in Washington DC). It’s a long story, but after 35 hours awake (cat napping only on the long flight, as usual), I’m about done and ready for bed. Short version — weather at DC delayed my flight to DC from Dallas by 40 mins. All good, as I had a 2-hour window. Got in with an hour to spare to find that AA had cancelled the 10:20pm Burlington flight! The next flight is 10:20am tomorrow, but it’s fully booked, so I’m on the next one after that — 3pm tomorrow getting in to Burlington at 4:30pm. My 8 days in Vermont is suddenly 7.

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While this was all going on, I received several emails from AA, but they ALL had incorrect information! I checked with both Qantas (in Sydney Airport) and AA agents and got them to confirm that I was still listed on the correct flights etc. The emails had:

• incorrect dates (checked at SYD – all OK; assumed clerical error in the emails)
• incorrect info (leave DCA 2:59pm, arrive 11:51 pm!! when actual time of arrival was scheduled to be 4:30pm; another clerical error)
• rebooking details when my flights were was still showing as OK at Admirals Club in DFW (likely incorrect info on the system that the agent’s could see even though the auto emails may have been correct)

I was NEVER travelling on AA on 13 July — my booking was always for the 14th. I got this email while at SYD airport on 14 July and the Qantas agent called AA to confirm I was still booked on the 14th. We assume it was a ‘clerical error’

My next email from AA also had 13 July not 14th! TWO ‘clerical errors’? or just gross incompetence?

When I’m at Dallas, I get this cryptic message. I went to the Admirals Club AA agent and she checked — everything was fine, and I was told to ignore it. More AA incompetence? or just the systems not talking to each other?

Finally I get alerted to my rebooked 90-minute flight, but instead of it arriving at 4:30pm, it’s listed as arriving at 11:51pm (the arrival time for the 10:20pm flight). Back to the AA people again to check, and they got it wrong on the alert. Message to AA customers: ‘Don’t trust the alerts!’

Other observations:

• DFW — AA gate in Terminal A had CNN on the TV (no captions that I could tell) and were piping the talking head commentary through the ceiling speakers. Why??? It wasn’t a crisis, just political heads over-analysing every little thing. It was super distracting and annoying.
• Movies watched on the Qantas flights: Going in Style (Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin), Hidden Figures (LOVED it!!)
• Admirals Club International First Class Dining Room at DFW — special invitation etc. What a joke! Get more food and a greater variety at the Qantas domestic lounges in Australia.
• Admirals Club at DCA was one of the nicest and well-equipped I’ve ever been in — highly recommend.
• Also AA’s ‘First’ class is a joke (see post on Qantas food and https://rhondabracey.com/2016/10/14/comparing-qantas-and-american-airlines/ for comparison)