Weddinmg Trip To

I am a little late in telling how the trip up went. It started on Thursday when I tried to use web check-in, which normally is a breeze and I have never had issue with. When I got to the html page that allows you to change your seating assignment and select the number of checked bags you have, it errored. I called support and the first woman told me that it was because the second leg of my flight was not within the 24 hour period (which was a dumb answer, as I have never waited for that in the past and it has always worked). So, I waited an hour and a half and tried again with no luck; when I got to the seat/baggage screen and clicked Continue, it errored.

I called support back. This guy totally did not understand what I was saying-- he thought I could not get to the main page of web check-in. I explained for the fourth or fifth time that it was on the seat/baggage screen that it errored. He asked to put me on hold and hung up on me.

Called back a third time and received yet another support person. I explained the entire situation again, had her walk me through the process until -- gee!-- I got to the seat/baggage screen and it errored, and then she said that I had to check in at the airport. She couldn't figure out what was wrong.

So I have my braille-driving Super Shuttle person (for those who don't get that reference-- he couldn't keep the truck in the lane and kept driving over the bumps in between lanes and on the sides of the road) drop me at the Air Canada spot at LAX. I walked in and told the person the troubles I had last night. She took one quick look and asked, "Did you change your seating assignment?" I replied that I had, for the second leg of the flight. She said, "That is the problem. Something glitched when you did that and I need to reset it." I got a little irritated and asked, "So why couldn't the online web support figure that out and do that last night?" She didn't answer, but proceeded to type something else into the computer before printing my boarding passes.

Turns out that she added extra security screening to my boarding passes and I got to be the one pulled aside and frisked, and every single piece of luggage opened and wiped down and gone over. The man with the rubber gloves was gentle, but I would prefer he buy me dinner first, you know?

That flight went fairly smoothly. At Toronto, customs was a breeze but security once again pulled me aside for extra security screening. I had plenty of time, so it was not a big deal.

I then found my flight was at scheduled at a gate I had never used before; 126. Normally the flights to SJ from Toronto are on the downstairs area at gates 110-112. I waited patiently, speaking by phone with M for the first hour and then just reading and whatnot until close to my flight's time. However, when I checked the board again after the flight left, it claimed it was going to Montreal at 21:00 instead of SJ. I walked to the counter and asked. The response from the woman is, "Oh, yeah, I should make an announcement about the gate change." I walked down to gate 120 and was nearly there before I heard her finally give the announcement.

Lastly, my flight out was a bit delayed because first they had to resolve some mechanical issues on the plane and then they had to resolve mechanical issues on the luggage elevator onto which you have to place your larger carry-on luggage in order to fit on the CRJ plane that takes you to SJ. Once they had that fixed, they had to find a new crew to load said luggage onto the plane.

Long story made only slightly longer-- my midnight flight did not arrive until nearly 12:45 am. I had a beautiful wife waiting for me, whom I hugged and then to whom I said, "Take me home and to bed!"

All in all, not a bad trip. However, I have learned not to criticize or question the Air Canada personnel. I don't need the extra security probes!