I'm 1 of the 250,000

what are the chances?

I only fly to Chicago once a year. I usually fly on United. I can't remember the last time I flew on American Airlines.

So, what are the chances that the one year that I decide to buy a ticket on American, it coincides with one of the three days that American has to ground 2,400 flights (most of which are flights to Chicago and Dallas).

I should be boarding a flight to Chicago right now. Instead, I'm at home typing this blog post.:)

First of all, I should say that my story has a happy ending, and that it is all going to miraculously work out. I have heard from from some friends who were not so lucky and had to cancel their trips all together.

So, it's that time of the year again! That time in early April when all of the World's Color Guard geeks converge onto Dayton, OH. I've been going to WGI as either a participant, an instructor or an spectator for almost every year since 1986. (I've only missed 2 since then!)

The last few years that I've been attending in spectator/social butterfly mode, I've flown into Chicago on Thursday evening, hooked up with my friend Tammy, and the two of us would drive to Dayton on Friday, arriving in the evening.

We usually get up early on Saturday, and make our way over the Kentucky border to make our annual shopping spree at the Gap Clearance Center in Hebron, KY.

So, here's the funny part:

My sister (who is coming to Dayton for the first time in 10 years!) and I found out yesterday afternoon that our flight to Chicago for this morning was canceled. Not a huge surprise, given that American had been grounding flights for the past 2 days already. The only thing was: we really didn't know what kind of options we would have, and whether we would make it to Dayton at all.

There was no way we were going to get a flight into Chicago anytime today - it just wasn't possible. Plus, flying into Chicago on Friday wasn't an option, as we would have missed our ride to Dayton. Instead, we managed to secure a flight on Delta Airlines from SFO direct to the Cincinnati airport. Cincinnati is only about an hour away from Dayton.

Luckily, Tammy and I are planning our trip this year with 6 people (!), instead of just the two of us. This means that Tammy will have plenty of company (and fun) on her drive from Chicago, and the whole gang will get in just in time to pick up my sister and me from the airport.

But wait: that's not funny yet, is it? Here's the funny part:

Little known airport trivia: the Cincinnati airport is actually just over the border in the state of Kentucky. Even better, it's less than 5 miles away from the aforementioned Gap Clearance Center!

What does that mean?

Well, that means that a light bulb went off in my head, and I reserved 3 rooms for our party at a hotel near the Cincinnati airport/Gap Clearance Center. This way, we won't have to drive the additional 1 hour, 15 minutes to Dayton on Friday night, only to turn back and do the drive back on Saturday morning! Now, we'll be able to relax for the evening, have a nice dinner, certainly have a few drinks (because really, after all of this, I'm going to need a drink!) get a good night's rest and not have to wake up extra early on Saturday morning. Score!

So, yes, it really looks like this scenario will all work out just fine. Our flight back home is still out of Chicago next Thursday on American, but let's just hope that they get their act together before then.

Frankly, I'm amazed that this all worked out as well as it did. I know that we essentially lucked out. I've already heard from one friend who was supposed to travel from San Jose, whose flight was canceled, and they just couldn't' find a way to get him there. That's really too bad. He said he had already tried that flight that my sister and I got on, so I'm guessing it's fully booked now. I also heard from a friend who is already in Dayton who knows of at least 5 groups (Scholastic A High School guards) who had to cancel their WGI trips altogether because of their flights on American. That's really too bad. I feel sorry for those poor kids - how disappointing for them!

So, that's my story. With any luck, I'll be in the air tomorrow, landing in Kentucky, on route to Dayton. We'll see what happens....