Every summer is an adventure. But the REAL adventure is the journey to Francis, OK. I typically fly to the islands on a reserved seat. (Usually this is on frequent flyer miles. Sadly, I had to bite the bullet and pay for an actual ticket this summer.) Coming home, however, is a free for all. It is a blessing (super reduced ticket price that sometimes comes with a big seat) and a curse (stress of not knowing when you will fly/getting bumped off flights/luggage that might go anywhere....)
Since my last event was July 4, I had considered flying on July 5. But Maria ruined all of those plans with canceled flights and a closed airport. Then it was just a wait and see.
The usual flights from Guam to Narita are daily at 7am, Noon, and 5pm. This has not changed in years. Then one evening I look at the flight schedule, and an added flight at 7:30 to Narita was going down the next morning with lots of open seats. I packed up and decided to bolt.
Since I rarely sleep before a flight, I checked about midnight. They had suddenly reduced the number available seats by 40. (Perhaps it was an added cargo flight or weight listed? I have no clue. as I said, it wasn't a normal flight. You couldn't even find it on the airline's website.) This meant I was NOT getting on that plane.
I decide to try to sleep for a few more hours and then make my final decision at 4am. When I got up at 4am (after no sleep), my brother had sent an email to make the 7am flight. I decided this was an answer to my prayer, since most of the sleepless hours were spent praying, "What do I do?" Try for my listed flight? Switch to Okinawa? Stay in Guam a few more days and try the next week? But since my brother NEVER pays attention to my flights or what is happening in the world, for him to speak was a "sign." (I also thought he was crazy as that flight had been overbooked the night before. But...suddenly there were seats. Okay, there were four available seats, and I would be #4 on standby.)
We left in mad dash to the airport. The new flight was 30 minutes earlier than the previous flight. Mr. Ticket Counter Guy said, "You know things don't look good."
I said, "I know." Then I asked, "How many standbys?"
He said, "12. Do you know where you stand?"
I laughed and said, "Dead last, I'm sure."
He said, "Remember, never give up until you see that plane taxi from the gate. You never know."
As I went through security and had to take out my laptop, and iPad, and projector, and liquids, as well as take off my coat and shoes, I groaned at the thought that I was mostly likely going to have to do this all over again the next day or the next week.
Once through TSA (and I was repacked and redressed), I sat glued to the internet for updates. It showed 7 available seats, 12 standbys. One standby had never checked in.
I don't know what happened. All the passengers boarded. They started working on standbys. I watched them go down my list, handing out boarding pass after boarding pass. Then they got to my name. It seemed like a forever silence. Finally, I hear, "Smith." Ahhhhh....the glorious sound of my name being called! All of the sudden, Mr Ticket Counter Guy returned. He was so happy I got on! (So was I!)
I noticed that I had row 20B. B means one thing on a 737...middle seat. Who cares!? I got on! (Thankfully, middle seat was an exit row, so there was lots of room...and I was by skinny people. ha ha)
I sat nervously for what seemed like forever until I heard the door closed. (I have been removed from two planes after receiving boarding passes. I never considering myself safe until we back off from the gate.) Ahhh, I could breath. Now to fly through Typhoon Maria. :/
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