It was with great anticipation and appreciation that we accepted our Japanese travel agents offer to shuttle us to the airport in a swank Mercedes.
It was with high anxiety when we called him to report Qantas, those dirty rat bastards, cancelled our 1255 flight that was supposed to get us comfortably into the international terminal and lounge by 3p and offered us a flight with zero chance of making our connection to ANA.
CJ was in the process of booking a 2pm Virgin Australia flight when it disappeared. A call to Virgin confirmed the last seats had been sold.
We booked a flight that gave us 2.5 hours to retrieve luggage, transfer to the international terminal, check-in and get to the gate. Minor but manageable anxiety.
Halfway to Sydney storms in the Sydney area put us in an aloft hold that lasted nearly an hour. High anxiety returns. After landing, we're told lightning strikes have disrupted all ground services (baggage loading/unloading, aircraft servicing, refueling). Planes are backed up all over the airport's tarmac waiting for gates to clear. The ground hold eats another 45 minutes of our transfer time.
The miracles of good ANA service begin. CJ receives a call on his apple watch. It is ANA wondering if he is still intending to fly to Japan on this day. He relates the debacle that is air travel to Sydney on this day. ANA indicates they have a slight delay and "will keep in touch." We consider the call amazing service on the part of ANA!
As the aircraft begins moving to the gate, CJ receives his second call from ANA. They inform him they have an updated time they are closing out the flight. The chance of making it off the plane, collecting baggage, and transferring to the international terminal in time are slim.
We give it the old college try. We are on the bus nearing the international terminal when ANA calls again. They are holding the check-in counter open for us now that they know we are near.
CJ rushes ahead and begins checking in our luggage and getting our boarding passes as Carol struggles cane in hand and sans chaise roulon (wheelchair) to get to the counter. CJ sends the wheelchair attendant to fetch her.
We've made it.
CJ is out of breath, dehydrated, and soaking wet from sweat. Arriving at the gate we must wait another 20 minutes for the gate to open. We're escorted down the jetway where we wait AGAIN. During this twenty-minute wait, we watch as members of the cleaning crew exit the aircraft. There must have been twenty or thirty of them carrying trash bags, vacuums, and other cleaning products and utensils. Why couldn't they have factored this into their check-in counter closing time?
We get out late but at least we're on our way to Japan, even if CJ is soaking wet and can't seem to stop the sweating.
