Text 14941, 115 rader
Skriven 2014-07-20 10:48:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: PA traveler 676
=======================
Being stranded several hundred miles from my comfy
Radisson, which I'm sort of fond of, I went to the
US Airways Club and used one of my precious passes
(the place was open just for another hour and change,
and the concierge asked dubiously if I really wanted
to squander it) to get access to reliable wi-fi and
a glass of red rotgut; also to see if I could get my
original seat on the plane I'd have taken if I'd just
chilled my jets and stayed another night in Williamsport.
I did. 3A. Best seat for a lone traveler with hand carry.
The Internet was slow - there were a slew of delays and
cancellations at this nastiest of airports. All the
Hiltons were sold out. The Marriott, the logical choice,
as it's walking distance by covered walkway, was asking
double its normal extortionate rate. I found a $60 room
at the Days Inn, but the Website rejected my credit card,
so I eventually found a room at the Quality Inn for $80.

The shuttle comes every half hour or so, and I was lucky
to get on at B/C and snag the last seat. People at D and
F were not able to get on, the driver shouting "sorry,
next one," cold comfort no doubt to the tired and draggy
family I saw rejected out there.

The hotel is about 15 minutes away. It claims to be
adjacent to the airport, which means walking distance to
the farthest perimeter fence a few miles from the terminal.

It's pretty clear where the Quality Inn gets most of its
business. Despite the hopeful appearance of several racks
of tourist brochures, the clientele is mostly weary
travelers who had been planning to be someplace else.
I was too tired to check it out, but there's a cheap
Chinese restaurant in the building that sells beer - $3 a
pop in the dining room but $8 a six-pack to go. I'm
surprised the hotel parking lot isn't littered with empty
cans to go with the shattered dreams.

Luckily for me there was that nip of McAdam Canadian
whiskey saved just for such an occasion. With a bit of
stagnant bog water out of the tap, it was the perfect
crowning touch to a discouraging bit of adventure.

I don't stay much in old-style motels - this one is
two parallel two-story strip buildings with maybe 30
rooms per building: it was dark so I didn't see much,
and I suspect this was a good thing. The room was as big
as a Hilton room, and the bed I slept in was comfy enough
(there were two). The bathroom was dreadfully mildewy,
though, despite having a fan, which most places have
dispensed with as an unnecessary cost, and that's one of
the smells I am very sensitive to. Nonetheless, alcohol
and fatigue allowed me to get at least half a decent
night's sleep. Breakfast: the usual "continental" nonsense
augmented with sausage patties seemingly concocted
exclusively of fat and connective tissue and way too much
sage to disguise this fact; also hard-boiled eggs. The
juice machine wasn't working right on the orange side, so
there were jugs of the famous Thirster, whose orange is
much less convincing than its grapefruit.

I immediately got sick and became intimate with several
previously untested restrooms in the Philadelphia and
Charleston airports.

On the whole I'd rather have been slept in my nonrefundable
room at the Radisson.

The shuttle dropped me off back at B/C ticketing, where the
machine rejected me. I went up to preferred checkin, whose
agent after ignoring me for several customers until I said
something, snootily looked me up and down and informed me
that the line I was in was for first class only. I wanted
to jump the counter and strangle her but reflected that this
being one of the most horrid airports (nice city, though,
a pity) outside the third world, I'd hardly get two lines in
the Inquirer if I did so. Well, it took her ten seconds to
get me my boarding pass, so unlike so many of the people
here she actually worked - this is the airport where after a
cancellation a few of us decided to pool our pennies and
rent a car; not only was no refund forthcoming, but we were
at F1, about 100 feet from bag claim, and we waited for over
two hours for our bags, after which we were told to come
back tomorrow. Speaking of which, US Air's operation here is
as dominant as United's in San Francisco, and the check-in
area is about 20% as big and 200% as ugly. The staff are
similar, I will admit, though here they're mostly disgruntled
black people and at San Fran they're mostly disgruntled Asian
people.

Security was likewise quick and grumpy. As there were few
PreCheck passengers (it costs something like $85, but that's
for five years, and some lucky ones get sponsored by the
airline) I was through pretty much as fast as I could walk.
There was time to go to the United Club, but that would have
entailed a 10-minute trek in each direction, and I was lazy
and really didn't need a whiskey at that time of day.

The gate area was mobbed; I recognized some faces from the
previous flight (we'd boarded, I'd turned down a glass of
wine, we'd taxied off to the runway, and then they switched
runways on us, and the crew timed out, so we returned to the
gate and were asked to stand around until they decided what
to do with us - which was, a quarter hour later, to announce
that the flight was cancelled, and go suck eggs, which was
why I went to the club - tip for the savvy traveler: at times
that extortionate $50 day pass is worth it just so you can
jump the line).

We boarded up a bit late, went extra slow down the coast, and
landed about 10 minutes early.

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