Stuck in the Airport – Atlanta Edition

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Have you ever had one of those travel days? One that you assume is going to be quick and easy and then life happens?  Well, snow happened while heading to the Tampa/Sarasota County area. I’ll share with you the situation, what worked and what didn’t work on our day-long adventure – stuck in the airport.

Let me lay out the scene for you. We left our house at 5 a.m for a 7 a.m. flight to Tampa, through Atlanta. We had received a text alert from our preferred airline, Delta, letting us know that we may experience delays in our travel due to weather hitting the Atlanta area. No big deal. We fly to Florida through Atlanta regularly and we are seasoned travelers. Or…so we thought.

As we pulled into the airport parking lot we received our first specific alert and our departing flight was delayed by one hour. Concerned about our connection, my husband, Brian, called Delta. They double booked us so that we were on the next flight to Tampa in case we didn’t make our connection. He’s so on top of things!

The story goes downhill a bit after that.

As we boarded our one-hour delayed flight we were excited to learn that we had been upgraded to first class. Woohoo! Then, we received another update on board that Air Traffic Control was not allowing flights to take off toward Atlanta. So, we sat on the plane…for nearly 3 hours. Pleased that we had already secured seats on the later afternoon flight to Tampa we tried to relax and just enjoy the time together.

Arriving in Atlanta –

oh, my…Atlanta. First, Atlanta claims to be one of the biggest and best airports in the country. But, they certainly were not flying that flag in January 2018. After waiting on the runway for nearly an hour for a gate, our arrival terminal greeted us with construction and no heat. Burrr….We were going to Florida because I hate being cold! haha

Multiple delays and rebooking later, we realized, we were probably spending the night in the Atlanta airport. This was a first for me, stuck in the airport overnight.

Hopefully, my lessons will be your victories should you ever get stuck in the airport.

Why we didn’t get a hotel room –

Yes, we could’ve tracked down a hotel room in Atlanta for the night.  But, we were still hoping to make it to Florida and were already passed the cancellation window for our hotel in Florida.  Additionally, we knew that we would need to be up very early, back through security and we wouldn’t have our luggage anyway.  There were so many flights delayed getting into Atlanta the necessary crew members weren’t available to service the growing need.  One of our many rescheduled flights that afternoon and evening actually started boarding passengers before we were told the flight was canceled.  Atlanta Airport was also short local staff due to the weather and many restaurants and several Delta Sky Clubs were closed because employees weren’t available. So much for hanging out in a fancy lounge all afternoon and evening.

Well, in case you are wondering, we did not make it to Florida until sunrise the next morning…and we didn’t fly into Tampa.  Our last booked flight of the day was scheduled for an 11 p.m. departure and would end up flying us into Fort Myers where we transferred our rental car and would drive to our final destination, Holiday Inn, Lido Key.  The flight ended up not taking off until after 1:30 a.m., landed in Fort Myers after 3:00 and we pulled into the Holiday Inn, Lido Beach at 5.a.m and it was freezing! So much for escaping the cold. But, we were still in Florida and I got to see my good friend – The Gulf of Mexico.

What worked for us while we were stuck in the airport?

Teamwork –

It makes the dream work, right? Well, in this case, it did! Throughout the day I reminded myself how lucky I was that we were together. Brian handled all things Delta and I handled things like snacks and entertainment.  I do love snacks and entertainment.  Here’s a tip, call the airline.  The line for Delta service was…about two blocks long.  Brian called and had a customer service person call him back within 5-10 minutes and no standing in line.

Although we weren’t sitting on a beach, it was still quality time together. We binged Netflix (thanks to free wifi in Atlanta Airport) and talked about the little things that we have a hard time finding the moments for during our hectic daily lives.

Having a water bottle –

This seems like a small detail but if you’ve read a few of my blogs you may notice that I mention my Hydro Flask a lot. I really don’t go anywhere without it. It tucks into the side pouch of my backpack and saves me from having to buy endless bottles of water that are pricey and also damage our planet. Most airports now have water bottle filling stations which makes refilling super convenient. Remember, it has to be empty when going through security.

USB Charging Hub –

If I can take a lesson from my daughter and be super dramatic, I might say that tossing this in my bag at the last minute saved the day! Because it was just the two of us, I wasn’t planning on packing it but I’m so glad I did. This little gem enabled us to charge all of our devices with just one outlet. There are so many inexpensive options, too. Here is a similar USB Charging Hub to the one I have. I even charged up my power bank – which is also a compact lighted mirror!

Not staying in our Arrival Terminal

We stumbled upon this idea a bit out of necessity.  We arrived in Terminal B (and I was freezing) but one of the later flights we tried to get on was in Terminal F – The international terminal.  So, we made our way to the international terminal which had a nice open area with couches.  So, if you have plenty of time, don’t feel stuck in one terminal.  The airport is open to you.  Get your steps in and find a good spot that suits you.

So…what didn’t work when we were stuck in the airport?

Not having key toiletries

Ok, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Obviously, we thought we would be parked on the beach by mid-afternoon so we didn’t bring a lot of “just in case options”. That turned out to be a mistake. I did have the usual primp stuff – compact powder, lip gloss and a travel mascara but I didn’t have my mini deodorant or travel toothbrush. By 5 a.m. the next morning, I was feeling pretty gross.  Thankfully the hotel set us up with the most necessary toiletries when we checked in.

Those two things alone could go a long way to making you feel refreshed during a long day of travel…or waiting to travel. When we returned home, I quickly went through my little makeup bag and determined the items I will always have in my backpack for future trips. Below is my revised “kit” just in case we get stuck in the airport again.

Not having at least a partial change of clothes

Getting even more personal, I wish that I would have had a fresh shirt and a pair of undies (sorry, it’s true).  Deodorant and a toothbrush would have helped a lot but also to have a fresh shirt would have made us both feel more human.

One more thing… high-heeled boots

Seriously, what was I thinking?  In an attempt to look cute for our travel day, I wore heeled boots. Can I just say – Nope! Not only did my feet hurt but I’ve mentioned our luggage didn’t make it on that 3 a.m. flight with us. We went without luggage for two full days (of our 4-day trip). Brian was also wearing nice shoes. So in addition to undies, toiletries and a few articles of clothing we also had to buy some sneakers during our Target shopping spree.

Wear sneakers on the plane people! Do it!

At the end of the day, we had some minor frustrations but it wasn’t that bad.  We were together and out of our day to day hectic routine.  This experience also reminded us that some people will take any opportunity to complain and be in a bad mood…and we don’t want to be like that.  We are extremely lucky to be able to travel as much as we do. And, you take the amazing with the occasional frustration.

Maybe it’s just close to Valentine’s Day but I would take being stuck in the airport with my husband any day over having a day without him.

Thanks for being here.  I hope you will subscribe and we can over plan and fumble our way through more adventures together.  Have you been stuck in the airport for hours?  Let me know what worked well for you. And, if you are still in a reading mood, check out my first post from this trip – SANDBAR on beautiful Anna Maria Island.  I can’t wait to visit AMI again. Have a great day!

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Happy Travels!

Jillian