An Unfortunate Travel Story

This is a story about my sister and her 24 hours of travel hell.
It started in Boston.

She arrived at the airport at 3 p.m. for her 5 p.m. direct fight home. She was scheduled to be home by 10 p.m. Plans: let the dogs out and go to bed. Instead, she stood in a line for over an hour at the airline agent desk -- her 5 p.m. flight had been cancelled. The reason? Mechanical issues. She was given two options: a direct flight the next morning at 6 a.m. or a connecting flight in just a few hours that would get her home around the same time as she planned. While sis doesn't love to travel, she chose the connecting flight -- sometimes you just want to be home.

Through security and on her way to the gate...

Two hours pass by and the new flight is still not at the gate. She collects her things and finds an agent to help her. Apparently, the plane scheduled to take her to Chicago (first leg of the flight) is "on its way" but because there is bad weather approaching, the airlines aren't sure if it will leave Boston. However, there is another flight that is leaving in an hour for New York and she can get a connecting flight home from LaGuardia. It was a viable option and she took her chances.

Two hours later, the connecting flight to LGA finally landed. Sis made her way to the next gate, where she was to board her flight home. The plane, alas, is not there. After about an hour the airline agent comes on the loud speaker and announces, "The plane is on its way but it was diverted. It should be here in about an hour and if weather permits, we'll have you out of here shortly after it lands." I suggested at this point she get re-booked on a flight for the next day and head to our cousin's house for the night. After a few minutes of deliberation, she agreed this was the best option and asked the agent rebook her on a direct flight for the next morning.

Sis grabbed her bags and headed to baggage claim where she would grab a Yellow Cab to Long Island. A man approached her and asked, "Do you need a cab?" She said yes and they were on their way... to the garage, where a black van was waiting.

"I'm not going with you," my sis calmly stated and started walking back toward the airport. Apparently, this upset the strange man. He started yelling at my sister (which I have a HUGE problem with) and my sister (already at her wit's end) yelled back,

"If you come one f---ing step closer to me I will scream my f---ing head off and you don't want to f--k with me right now, asshole." (Mental picture: my sister is 4'11" and maybe 100 pounds so words like this are serious coming from a little thing like sis.) This four-letter word tangent sent the strange men back to his van and my sister made it safely back to the airport baggage claim. She found a legitimate Yellow Cab and took the $100 cab ride to my cousin's house in Long Island.

It gets worse...

After a good night's sleep, my sister is on her way to the airport where she's prepared to board her 8:55 a.m. direct flight home. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, she didn't arrive at the airport until 8 a.m. She ran to security and was told, "Sorry Ma'am, this is just a receipt. You need to get a ticket from the agent counter."

At this point, she is not making her flight. She arrives at the agent desk and the agent tells her,

"It says you've already used this ticket."

To which my sister replied, "If I had already used this ticket, I'd be home by now."

The agent gladly re-booked her for the 10:45 a.m. flight, which left at 1:15 p.m. I'm happy to report that my sister is safe at home and sleeping soundly.