Not so much!
Really this story starts well before Tuesday so let me give you the rundown.
(Remember this paragraph) Friday - We knew the box was big and would get heavy so I called American Airlines on Friday and spoke with reservations. They told me as long as I only check one other bag, the bike box up to 70 pounds would be free. Up to 100 pounds would be $150. 100 pounds was the limit. They gave me some additional restrictions on size but that was on the Zurich side which did not apply since we're not flying the bikes back.
Sunday evening, Jason came over and we packed the bike box. Our goal was to get as much of our race gear in the box. So, after a couple attempts, one phone call to Kat & Kai, and looking at some pictures that they sent us, the bike box was jam packed.
Here's just the bikes:
Now with all of the gear:
Monday - Dude and I headed to Dulles to weigh the bike box. Oops, it was 130 pounds. We unpacked some stuff and got it down to 99 pounds.
Tuesday morning - I only got 2 1/2 hours sleep last night. Went to swim practice to give Jason some of the stuff we unpacked then headed home to finalize my packing. Zipped my bag for the last time and OFF comes the zipper. DAMMIT! Off to Walmart to get a new bag.
11 am - At the airport (flight is at 1:35 but I want a time cushion) and am told to get in the Special Services line because of the bike box. I get to the counter and the guy immediately charges me $150 for the bike box then he asks how much it weighs. I said 99 pounds and said he thought it would be an additional $100. He makes some phone calls, hangs up and says sorry, it can't weigh more then 70 pounds. So I unpack EVERYTHING from the bike box, including the seats and pedals - all that is left is the two bikes, handlebars and tires and it is still 79 pounds. I am told they can't take the bike box. I ask to speak to a manager and go through the whole spiel and still no go. I tried tears - nope. I am now F-ING PISSED. LET IT BE KNOWN FAR AND WIDE: AMERICAN AIRLINES SUCKS ASS!!!!
I called Jason to try to figure out what to do. He calls his airline and explains the situation and they say no problem - up to 100 lbs. Cool but...it won't fit in his car and he's flying out of a different airport. So I call Ken and yep, he can get the bike box and drive Jason to the airport later in the day. KEN ROCKS!!!! Finally, around 12:55 I make it through security and hear them calling my name for final boarding.
You'd think that would be the end to my horrible, terrible, rotton, no good, lousy day right? Nope.
To summarize the rest 1 hour delay leaving Reagan (in a plane with no AC), 45 minutes on the ground in JFK trying to get to the terminal and a two hour delay leaving JFK. All in all, it was over 8 hours from the time I walked into Reagan and the time I was officially in the air heading to Switzerland.
With all this, Sunday should be a piece of cake, right??
1 comment:
Let now be the time for "drama" so that RACE DAY is as calm as an IRONMAN race day can be....Your building KARMA points Es! LiveSTRONG!
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