On the 6th of august we left the airport in Frankfurt and thought we would arrive in St. Louis on the 6.8 with just one stop in Atlanta. It came worse. The last post explains why we spent a day in Atlanta. The post hinted to a positive ending and that we would at last arrive in St. Louis. This did not happen. Let me explain how and why it did not happen.
This post is about the flight that we should’ve taken from Atlanta, where we passed an unplanned day in the Aquarium to our real destination St. Louis. The Flight was supposed to leave on 7:20pm on 7.8. from Atlanta but the boarding began at 0:10am. So 5h later than it was supposed to be.
I was first in line to board the airplane. My father was next. You don’t have to show your passport just the piece of boarding pass. My father and I passed through. We were one of the last people to board the plane.
My mother did not pass through the boarding. I did not think of much. I just thought that she had one of the many boarding passes that she might’ve collected over the last days.
I got in to the airplane and sat down in my seat. Next to me was sitting a tall guy called Jonah. I asked him to give me a hotspot because I don’t have Wifi nor mobile data, in case my mother gives me a text. He agreed and gave me the hotspot. It was nice having a brief chat with him.
There were four seats free in front of us. Nevertheless my parents didn’t seem to board the plane.
Photo taken at 0:20am inside the airplane
After a while a stewardess came to my seat and asked if my parents are outside. After I confirmed she asked me to come with her. I left the plane on behalf of her request with her.
The plane left and we were behind closed doors.
Closed door
My parents stood there and discussed with the woman on the counter. My mother was disstirred.
Discussing at the counter at gate A15
You can see the delta support queue in the background. It hundreds of meters long. The real reason I’m doing this post is that the people behind the desk you are seeing, would not treat us respectfully. They accused my mother of making the flaw while booking.
Both women behind the counter weren’t helpful at all. They wouldn’t really look into the eyes nor would they say that they were sorry.
She said “Sweetie stand in line like everybody else” to my mom.
So we had so much trouble getting a new flight booked. Eventually we made it. Here are some impressions on spending the night in the airport.
The System in the us does not feel sophisticated. On the other side it is nice that they were able to get us a ticket at the counter at the gate just after getting told that you can’t board the plane. I don’t think it would be possible to get a valid ticket on the counter at the gate in Germany. Maybe I’m wrong.
We felt exhausted and were tired and thirsty. The water of the water dispensers taste like shit and you automatically drink less.
We were fed up but we brightened up when we saw people were given free food and water.
Free food and water
It was very late by now and our forces were depleted. We took the subway to the concourse B form were our flight would leave in the morning and looked for a place to spend the night.
Captured at 4:53am
Taken at 5:17am
People sleeping in the passageways
Above picture shows the hallway connecting the Concourse A to B.
The airport in Altanta consists of several Terminals that are connected with underground ways. There is a Subway with two lines going underneath the ground that connect the terminals. Here the terminals are called Concourse.
Concourse C, Source Wikipedia
It was not really possible to sleep. The speakers played loud jazz music. The lights didn’t get dimmed. There are security announcments reminding you of staying with your luggage every 10min or so that kept people from sleeping.
The people here were so patient to stand in line. There was one main queue where people stood more than 24h before being reaching the counter.
After not really sleeping we got “breakfast”. People are eating fastfood for breakfast. People are lining up for burgers at 6 in the morning.
Wendy’s
There was not much to choose from. I was disgusted with my choice and did not eat all the bacon.
Concourse B at 7:20amt
Breakfast at 6:13am, view onto Concourse C
8am takeoff from ATL
There are ups and downs while traveling and that is expected. I was feeling sorry for the americans who were so patient with the system. In the biggest and busiest airport of the world most flights are dome by Delta (74% Wikipedia).
Everything seemed so anti consumer and that the big companies are protected by laws and contracts they themselves made up. I am happy to have political institutions that force the big companies to be pro consumer. The making of laws and norm form the EU or Germany that are social and beneficial for all people are nice to have.
This post could be me overreacting and having bad luck. I feel like that the individual is very nice.
People seem nice here. I watched a movie with Adyson on my flight form the Germany to the US. There is no big difference between people from Germany and people from the US. They admit that the us is a crazy place and advise you to be cautious of other dangerous people.
“You can’t walk around alone at night” Adyson advised me.
I felt sorry for the americans to fight against such an “unfair” system that is controlled by only a few people. I don’t know by any means what is just or would’ve been just. There was also a similar accident in Germany where so many Germans slept in the airport maybe this is just the same and it is nobody’s fault.
Feel free to post any opinion. I’ve changed it so you don’t have to give any email or information. Now it gets approved automatically.
This was the second day of theUSA trip. Read more aboutTravel. Read about the next day Botanical Garden.