August 7, 2022
Flying MCO-ORD; Stranded in Chicago
First Foreign Trip in 2½ Years Gets Off to Utterly Miserable Start
August 6, 2022
By LUCAS WALL
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Illinois – Mom and I launched our first international trip since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organziation nearly 2½ hours ago. We should be on SAS Flight 944 from ORD to CPH right now. Instead we are at a mediocre hotel nine miles from Chicago O’Hare International Airport after our flight here arrived from Orlando 9 hours 23 minutes late and we missed the connection by about 30 minutes.
We are heading to Northern Europe for six weeks, our first time abroad since we returned from Argentina March 3-4, 2020 – one week before the global pandemic declaration shut down foreign travel across the globe and then brought stiffling restrictions such as border closures, mask mandates, and testing requirements that kept us from leaving the United States for an incredibly long period of time. We are taking two cruises: First, Regent Seven Seas Voyager for 12 nights around the Baltic Sea (departing from Cophenhagen), then Oceania Sirena for 18 nights out of Oslo up the coast of Norway to the Arctic Ocean, then out to Faroe Islands, Orkney Islands of Scotland, and down the east coast of Great Britian to end in Portsmouoth, England. We have a week between voyages, during which we’ll visit the U.K. territories of Guernsey and Jersey (the Channel Islands).
This odessey began when I got up at 5:00 a.m. at Mom’s home in The Villages, Florida, a giant retirement city of 140,000 residents an hour northwest of Orlando. I only slept 5½ hours – definitely not a good way to start a long journey. Our plan was to standby for United’s 9:01 a.m. flight from MCO to IAD and then the 5:15 p.m. SAS flight to CPH. I had a horrific day yesterday getting ready to depart (more on that later).
Mom’s friend Tammy picked us up and we departed at 5:32 for the quick six-minute drive to the Brownwood Hotel, one of two locations in The Villages from which an express shuttle to Orlando International Airport departs. We had reservations for the 5:45 shuttle.
We were surprised when a full-size motorcoach pulled up. Mom said usually it’s a mini-bus. This is my first time ever taking the express bus. When staying at Mom’s, I usually take Village Airport Van to the airport. It picks you up at your home, which is nice – but it’s a shared 10-seat van that can make several stops before getting on the Florida Turnpike to Orlando, so the journey can be quick if you are the last picked up or quite long if you are one of the first few pickups.
The Workman Transportation bus departed at 5:49 with just 10 passengers on board. Not sure why they are running a full-size bus for a small number of passengers. On the bus, I checked flight loads and the news was awful: The 9:01 to Washington Dulles, which had 20 seats open yesterday, was now booked full. I noticed two United flights from Orlando to Newark were canceled, and they almost certainly rebooiked 20 of those customers via IAD. This destroyed our plan to get SAS from IAD to CPH since the next United flight out of MCO to Dulles was not until after 2 p.m., which was too tight a connection to Copenhagen.
With the two Newark cancellations, our Plan B to pick up SAS at EWR also went out the window. So we switched to Plan C, flying through Chicago. I was surprised to see the 9:40 a.m. ORD departure had 50 seats open. Huh? Then I checked the flight status and saw it was delayed until 2:03 p.m. Plane was supposed to leave DEN at 5:32 p.m. yesterday and was delayed overnight until 7:30 a.m. Oops. So many of the passengers on the super-delayed flight were rebooked on earlier departures. Okay so we’ll be delayed five hours at MCO, but we thought that would be okay because the SAS flight from ORD leaves at 10:05 p.m. so we assumed we had plenty of time. And the ORD-CPH flight looked good with 14 open in Business Class, oversold by 2 in SAS Plus (“premium economy”), and 23 open in coach. There were no other SAs listed for Business but us.
We dropped some passengers off at Terminal A at 6:48 – 59 minutes after leaving Brownwood. We exited the bus at 6:54 at Terminal B. And then the troubles really began.
*****
I typed this out at 10 a.m. in the MCO United Club:
This is not where we expected to be right now. The Summer 2022 Travel Hell continues.
Our trip is off to a horrible start. I’m not sure I can even document all of the awful things that have happened so far yesterday and today. Let’s try….
1. I slept 16 hours Thursday/Friday, getting up at 9 a.m. instead of the 2 a.m. I was aiming for (to synch up with Central European Time). So my day started 7 hours behind schedule, and now I will likely lose at least a full day in Copenhagen due to jetlag.
2. The government filed a motion in the Wall v. CDC appeal (challenging the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate and International Traveler Testing Requirement, two pandemic policies I sued to stop that are thankfully over but my case goes on to prevent the federal government from ever reimposing them) yesterday morning, forcing me to waste 80 minutes having to write an opposition.
3. When I went to check Mom and I in for our MCO-IAD flight on the United app yesterday afternoon, I got an error message that I did not receive TSA Pre-Check. Wasted about 3 hours trying to troubleshoot the problem, with no success.
4. Finally called TSA’s customer service center. Was placed on hold for 2 hours 39 minutes. Finally an agent answered my call and informed me that because I had just renewed my passport in May and my old passport expired last month, I had to register my new passport with Customs & Border Protection to reactivate my Global Entry membership (which comes with TSA Pre-Check). Super pissed that I never received any information from CPB about this. I went on the Global Entry website and was able to quickly update my passport data, but the TSA agent said don’t expect it to take effect instantly. So no Pre-Check for today’s travel.
5. After arriving MCO, we made our way to the United check-in counter to get our bags checked on the 11:55 a.m. to ORD (although it’s sold out and there are customers on the delayed flight standing by, so extremely unlikely we’d get on that flight) and then through to CPH on SAS. Error message appears on United kiosk – it’s too early to check your bags. Bag check not available until 4 hours prior to departure. What?! Never encountered that before. How bizarre. Can’t figure out what the reason would be for that. Guess I am never 4+ hours early for a flight!
6. So Mom and I had to sit in the area between the check-in counters and security checkpoint for almost an hour.
7. Returned to the check-in counters at 8 a.m. and then began a never-ending ordeal of trying to get our bags checked through to CPH. Traveling standby, we have one listing on United MCO-ORD and a separate ticket on SAS ORD-CPH. Agent typed away forever trying to link our two booking confirmation codes – not what one would expect should be a difficult task. But the computer would not cooperate. She then suggested we go see an agent at the Additional Services counter (where pepole who have problems are sent). Long wait in that line since only two agents were staffing that desk. Then the lady we were referred to said simply. “Oh, no, there’s no way we can do that.” Which is crazy because Mom and I have connected to other Star Alliance airlines 20+ times on separate tickets and never had this problem before (once an agent couldn’t figure out how to do it in the computer, so he just wrote a bag tag by hand!) So we had to check our bags only to ORD and will have to pick them up at United baggage claim, then take them to Terminal 5 and recheck them with SAS. What a hassle.
8. Finally made it to the security line at 9:16 a.m., more than 2 hours after we arrived at the airport! I had to go through regular security due to the Global Entry/Pre-Check debacle, and the normal TSA lanes at MCO are almost always clogged with families. Board estimated a wait time of 24-28 minutes. But I had read something about this new service where you can reserve a time to enter the security line. I was able to book at 9:15 time on my phone shortly beforehand. Went to the special “Reserve” green lane and was ushered right to a TSA podium, with only four people ahead of me. Took 11 minutes to go through security from line entrance to exiting with my bags on the other side – which isn’t much longer than Pre-Check usually takes. So at least that wasn’t too bad.
9. Meanwhile the delayed Chicago flight has been further pushed back from 2:03 to 3:25 p.m. (5:45 late). The Boeing 737-800 still hasn’t left Denver (that is now listed as 9 a.m. MT, in about 20 minutes, which is a delay of 15:45!)
*****
At 10:46 a.m. we were #1-2 on the SA list for the 11:55 to ORD but it’s full with 7 revenue standbys ahead of us who are booked on the seriously delayed flight, so we don’t expect to get out until 3:25 (as it stands now). That would get us into ORD at 5:18 p.m., still with plenty of time to make the 10:05 a.m. SAS Airbus A330-300 to CPH. So hopefully this nightmare of two days will have a happy ending with Business Class to Copenhagen. I’ll believe it when I sit down and am served a pre-departure alcoholic drink!
As expected, we didn’t get on the 11:55 a.m. to ORD. 6 standbys cleared, all revenue. Next up: The seriously delayed flight (current ETD 3:50 p.m.).
It keeps getting worse. The horrendously delayed flight from DEN to MCO (our plane to ORD) returned to the gate at DEN for maintenance. Now we’re starting to get nervous about getting on a flight to Copenhagen today.
Looks like we’re sunk. Another 35-minute delay for the poor flight that can’t ever leave DEN, even though United found a different aircraft. Appears we now won’t have time to connect to SAS to CPH, even though we left Mom’s at 5:32 a.m. and that flight isn’t until 10:05 p.m. CT.
And there goes the 4:19 to ORD without us. Only 5 revenue standbys got seats. We fell a staggering 16 short. Meanwhile the severely delayed (from yesterday!) DEN-MCO flight is finally in the air after a plane swap, but this means our flight is now estimated to depart 9:50 late and we’ll miss our connection to CPH and be stranded overnight at ORD.
Bye bye 5:35 p.m. to ORD. Not a single SA cleared.
Good news: We’re #1&2 for upgrades on the last flight. Bad news: Unless the SAS flight to CPH gets delayed, we’ll be stranded overnight at ORD.
After 12 hours, we’re finally on a plane! First Class Seats 1D&F on United Flight 2421, a Boeing 737-800 from MCO to ORD. The bad news is we’re gonna miss our connection to CPH unless there’s some miracle. This flight is delayed 9 hours 50 minutes, on a plane that came in from DEN 19 hours 19 minutes late!
We pushed back from the gate at 7:28 p.m. (9:48 late). What a horrendous day. We took off at 7:40. The time change to Chicago is one hour backward, so it’s now 6:40 p.m. CDT.
I was so tired all I could do was watch TiVo shows on my phone. Dinner was a choice of “chicken satay” or “meatless meatballs.” We laughted when the flight atttendant read that option. Say again?! Shouldn’t that be “fake meat balls”? Mom and I both opted for the real meat. It looked nothing like chicken satay (no skewers; no peanut sauce) but tasted good.
Arrived ORD at 9:02 p.m. (9:23 late). Check in for SAS closes in 3 minutes. Yeah, not gonna make that considering we have to pick up our bags at United Baggage Claim in Terminal 1 and then take the train to Terminal 5. We didn’t bother trying.
Mom picked up her checked bag from United. I left mine overnight because I don’t want to haul it to the hotel and back.
Meanwhile I got an email from booking.com that my hotel booking was canceled for invalid credit card. WTF?! I figure out the app somehow defaulted to an old card number. So I had to make another booking at La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Chicago O’Hare Airport in Elk Grove Villages northwest of the airport.
Then we had to march about a mile through tunnels to the Bus/Shuttle Center Door 3. Called La Quinta. “Shuttle will be there in 15-20 minutes.” It felt more humid here than in Florida, so waited inside in the AC.
It’s now 2 a.m. Lucas Time, meaning I’ve been up 18 hours. And now we have to wait 24 hours for the next CPH flight late tomorrow. I don’t think this day could be any worse.
Why is it always the case that 100 other hotel shuttles come by (some multiple times) before your van arrives? And it finally came after waiting 38 minutes.
Depart ORD at 10:27 for what felt like an eternal ride to La Quinta, but which was actually 19 minutes long. Checked in to Room 332. Tonights ORD-CPH flight departed seven minutes early at 9:58. We definitely would not have made it. Sucks to have to endure a 25-hour layover when we just barely missed the connection.
In bed at 12:03 a.m. to eat a snack and watch a show on my phone. Bed at 1:08 a.m. – 21 hours after waking up early this morning in Florida.
Photo Gallery
The important part is, I cannot tell you the joy I felt reading about you and your mom finally going on an overseas adventure, after all this time! I can’t wait to read about it when you finally get there! As someone who regularly flies the “not so” friendly skies, for a living, I can tell you 9-hour delays have become the norm. As you know, the “controlled demolition” and covert genocide, of the working-class, since the onset of the covid phenomenon, was (sadly) quite successful! The intricate details involved to make aviation run efficiently, have been destroyed by inhumane mandates, and childcare unpredictability. We all feel the impact of staffing and product shortages, on a daily basis, now. These self-inflicted challenges are on top of the historical, uncontrollable ones that airlines have always contended with, like weather and unexpected maintenance. All of it is just sad and stressful, for all air employees and travelers.
More often than not, when it’s affordable, I strongly suggest to my family and friends to try and book airline tickets for one day before and one day after, wherever they’re going. It’s costly advice and it shouldn’t be this way, but can help avoid missing an important event because of airline unreliability issues. I’ve never seen so many delays and cancelations, in my career, and I hate seeing this disappointment and frustration on passengers’ faces (well, the ones I can see, some still choose to suffocate, which boggles my mind).
I know the challenges you faced in ORD will all seem small after you finally board those ships! I hope you and your beautiful Momma make the most fantastic memories, yet, and make sure you share all those pictures! I can’t wait to see them!
PS: What the heck is that smell in the ORD tunnel from Concourse C to B? I never get a plausible answer from anyone I’ve asked. I swear it smells like chemical meatloaf.