Never Tempt The Travel Gods
Having taken care of business in Crestview, Florida, it was time for us to visit my family in Connecticut and our friends in New England!
In our last post, I described how we flew from Cincinnati, Ohio to Destin, Florida without a hitch. It was easy, you might say.
And I pretty much did say that.
Perhaps I should have kept those feelings to myself, as our flight from Destin, Florida to Windsor Locks, Connecticut did not go so smoothly.
Never tempt the travel gods.
Murphy’s Law Is a Thing
Our travel started well enough.
We arrived at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS) several hours early, which was more than needed for an airport of that size. We breezed through security using our Global Entry TSA Precheck status, earning the hateful stares and enmity of those in the long general boarding security line.
Worth every penny if you fly more than once in a blue moon. Even better if you sign up for a credit card that pays the TSA Precheck membership fee for you!
Our first flight out of VPS using Southwest Airlines was right on schedule for a 6:00 pm boarding time. We would first fly to Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), and from there switch airplanes for a flight to Bradley International Airport (BDL).
It was a full flight, but everything seemed to be going smoothly as we lined up to board the airplane in our boarding group.
It was at that point I received the following text:
Crap.
Adding Insult to Injury
We were originally scheduled to arrive at Bradley International Airport at around 11:45 pm. Based on the message, we wouldn’t arrive at BDL from BWI until at least 1:45 am.
It was only a couple of hours, so I wasn’t so concerned about that. The real problem was that our flight would arrive at BDL after the Hertz car rental service, which was holding a car for us, closed at 1 am.
Double crap.
We boarded our flight to BWI and I resolved to call the BDL Hertz branch when we landed in Baltimore.
We landed in Baltimore just after 10 pm and left the plane without issue. And since we only use carry-on luggage, we didn’t have to worry about our belongings getting sent anywhere exotic.
After several tries, I was able to reach a BDL Hertz representative. They assured me that despite all internet evidence to the contrary, there would be a person at the rental car office who could get us our rental even though they were not officially open.
Not entirely confidence-inspiring but what can you do?
There was one additional nugget of joy I gathered from our conversation.
Although I was told that the rental office would be staffed when I arrived (yay!), the shuttles transporting people to the rental office would not be running (boo!).
Meaning, that we’d need to figure out how to get from the airport to the rental office when we landed at BDL.
But one problem at a time. At the very least we could snag an Uber or taxi.
Onward to Connecticut
While we were waiting for our BDL flight to arrive, we finally heard the reason why it was delayed.
Apparently, Southwest Flight 1623 was coming to BWI from the southeast US. While taxiing for takeoff, major electrical storms occurred in the area, preventing aircraft from landing or taking off. And the logjam effect had a carryover to Flight 1623, delaying their arrival at BWI.
So at least it wasn’t a staffing issue (as had been widely described during the 4th of July weekend) that delayed the flight.
It was divine intervention.
Again, never tempt the travel gods.
After waiting at the terminal for several hours, the aircraft arrived after midnight. We boarded without issue on another packed flight and at 12:45 am we were finally off to Connecticut!
We landed at Bradley International Airport at around 1:45 am, and we spent the next several minutes getting to the location of the rental car shuttles. While we were waiting, I called the airport Hertz rental office multiple times.
No answer.
And although other rental car companies’ shuttles were still operating, after about 30 minutes it became obvious that the Hertz shuttle would never come.
So I consulted Google Maps.
A 15-minute walk through unfamiliar territory to a rental office that may or may not be open?
No problem.
Is Anybody There?
Windsor Locks, Connecticut doesn’t exactly have reputation for being dangerous around the airport. So we decided that Rhonda would stay at the airport arrivals area with the luggage, and I would hoof it over to the Hertz location.
The walk was actually not bad at all.
I walked by the back cargo area of the airport, and then on to Schoephoester Road. Passed several rental car companies and airport passenger parking lots, and finally reached the Hertz facility. It looked suspiciously unstaffed.
I was getting nervous.
I made my way into the area where the rental cars were parked and saw a Hertz employee recording information off of cars. I politely flagged him down and, although I suspect his presence was primarily for security, he said he could set me up with my rental car!
Sweet.
After about 15 minutes of the usual rental car bureaucracy, I had our car, picked up Rhonda at the airport, and we were on our way to my parents’ house.
Thanks, Hertz!
It Could Have Been Much Worse
We limped into my parents’ house at about 3:30 am. Very tired, but safe and happy.
And we would need rest because we had a week of celebrations, hikes, and exploration in front of us!
In the whole scheme of things, we realize that our travel troubles weren’t all that terrible. We at least were able to adapt and make our original itinerary work!
Unlike others I know who traveled over the fourth of July holiday, we didn’t lose entire days of travel, nor did we have to pay any out-of-pocket expenses to deal with problems not of our making.
And for that we are thankful. We will never tempt the travel gods again!
Lesson learned.
Thanks for reading!
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One thought on “Never Tempt The Travel Gods”
I can absolutely agree with the recommendation for the Freemium Security upgrade. TSA Precheck is handy for all-domestic travel, and you get it as a bonus if you go for Global Entry (which really, really speeds up border control for international travel, at least when entering the US)