Airline woes

It's certainly been a while since my last post... and a couple of weeks away from things was no where near long enough! I hope the holiday season was good to you all, and that your 2008 is off to a great start. Our trip to Colorado was awesome - the snowboarding was great in Breckenridge (tons of fresh powder), and we had plenty of very fun family time.

That said, the air travel was much more of a hassle than I remember it ever being. I'm not talking about traveling with the Bug, or even with the holiday lines and traffic. Those are inconveniences that even the least savvy of travelers can anticipate and plan accordingly.

What I am talking about is the service (or lack thereof) that we received from United Airlines. Our return flight was scheduled for early the morning of the 26th. At about 9pm on Christmas Eve, I got a voice mail message stating our flight plans had been "affected by a cancellation." The only instruction was to visit the website. Which I did. And the website told me that our flight was still scheduled on time. On Christmas afternoon, however, the website informed me that our flight was canceled, and that there was no way to re-book online.

I finally got through to a real-live person, and we were placed on an early-afternoon flight on the 27th. We also each received a $100 voucher, although not until I asked. The person on the phone explained that the flight was canceled because of a "crew issue." With a day and a half of notice, I don't even know what that could possibly mean!

We thoroughly enjoyed our extra day in Colorado, returning to Estes Park for the first time since our wedding. While the rest of the family went snowshoeing, my husband and I took the Bug to Rocky Mountain National Park where we walked around Sprague Lake in the cold and the wind. Which the little nut loved! She pushed my hands away when I tried to shield her from the wind.

As I said initially, it was a fantastic trip. But I certainly am not in a hurry to fly on United again any time soon.

Happy 2008!!