I Can't Get There From Here?

Modern Airline Insanity...


So one of my regular readers...my Buddy Ed... commented and reminded me that I should be in Knoxtown this weekend taking care of our rental house.

That would be a true statement Ed because I made plans a month ago to be there this weekend.

But my chosen airline...freaking UNITED AIRLINES...decided to delay the departure of my 6:20 PM flight last Friday night to a time so late that I was going to end up missing my connecting flight from Chicago on to Knoxville.

But then being the savvy traveler which I am, and understanding from looking at the UNITED AIRLINES WEBSITE and learning that my original Chicago-Knoxville flight was the last one on their airline on Friday night, I managed to force them to admit that they were willing to let me LEAVE TULSA and then STRAND ME in Chicago about 10 PM and make me argue with them about paying for a hotel.

So fortunately after speaking with some lovely woman in a "customer service" center in India or Malaysia or possibly Belize, and living on hold for most of 30 minutes while I argued about canceling the outbound leg of the flight and keeping the inbound leg Monday evening...

United/Continental Airlines, in their infinite wisdom said...

They couldn't do it...

They simply wanted me to leave Tulsa at 6:20 PM and miss my flight to Knoxville, then  spending the night in or near O'Hare airport (and possibly at my expense if I needed a room), and then not leaving Chicago until 2:40 PM Saturday afternoon  finally arriving in Knoxville about 6 PM. 

A two day trip.

Now understand this fact ladies and gentlemen...

I can drive to Knoxville in 14 hours for less than $250 in gas, and these idiots want me to do the same trip in 12 hours for the price of an airplane ticket and a motel room?

The original idea was to be in Knoxville before midnight Friday and have all day Saturday and Sunday and most of the day on Monday to get some stuff done that I need to do.

You Know?

This wasn't intended to be a pleasure trip to Knoxville to buy University of Tennessee T-shirts or eat ribs at Calhouns' restaurant.

After the dust settled I checked the airline web sites and Kayak.com and according to the websites my only alternative was to spend a couple of hundred dollars more than I originally paid United Freaking Airlines over A MONTH AGO in order to pull this thing off after recycling the schedule from Friday PM to Saturday AM.

So doing the math and looking at the other things going on around here, and considering that the idiot Real Estate company in Knoxtown which I have contracted with to lease our house refused to respond on a timely manner,

I was finally forced to make an executive decision and do something very complicated (OK...not).

I stayed home with Pat and little Missy the Turbo Pup and worked on my Garage and Office.

I'm happy and my girls are tickled pink as my delayed anger grows directed toward my so-call "leasing agent" in Knoxtown.

Looking forward past the holiday season where airline ticket prices are impossibly high, it looks like prices to fly come daown a good deal and there is a good possibility that there will be some thunder and lightening in Knoxville on the rental real estate management busienss front the week of January 9th, 2012.

Stay tuned to this channel for more details...