Headed Home- Again!

The Accidental Overnight in Richmond – A Travel Plot Twist

Just when we thought our journey from Vancouver was over last evening, our flight to Raleigh was diverted (seconds before landing at RDU) to Richmond for refueling after an aborted landing at RDU due to storms, and ended up grounded overnight. A shortage of ground crew caused significant delays, and just as we were about to take off, the flight crew timed out, forcing us back to the gate.

American Airlines put us up at the Sheraton Airport and issued meal vouchers. We finally got a few hours of rest after a hot shower and a massive Cobb salad at the hotel grill. Unfortunately, our bags weren’t available because there was a one—to three-hour wait for bags to be offloaded. When traveling for business, I go carry-on only 99% of the time. Not so for this vacation trip.

This morning? The fun has continued. The app wouldn’t issue boarding passes, no one could confirm our flight time before we arrived at the counter, and we had to get paper tickets, which felt like time-travel. At TSA Pre-Check, we were flagged for not being on the manifest and told to return to the ticketing counter, which had an enormous line. Thankfully, a more experienced agent helped sort things out manually. Despite having Global Entry credentials, we had to go through full screening—shoes off, laptops out, belt off, X-ray, everything. The Richmond Airport is a nice facility, but they are a little “behind.”

Now we’re back on the plane and expecting to make it home. It was not the ending we expected, but it was still memorable!Meer informatie