Maybe next time...

Maybe the next time I fly will be a nice, normal, on-time, uneventful trip. Maybe.

I flew back to Tucson today - this is my rescheduled trip back to Tucson after last week's Europe fiasco. It wasn't really a bad trip back - I mean, I travel a fair amount. Certainly enough to have had way, way worse travel days.

The first weird thing was an announcement that the flight was oversold (that's not the weird part), and they were offering $650 vouchers to give up your seat! Their rerouting offer really wasn't that bad either. If I'd been sitting closer to the podium I probably would have taken them up on that, because wow that's a lot of money. I really don't think I've ever heard an airline offer more than $300 or so. Alas, people thought as I did, and jumped on it.

Time to board. I had an earlier boarding group than normal (when I get to pick my seat I'm usually in the last or 2nd to last group to board - I use a combination of closer-to-the-front and research done at seatguru.com to choose a seat) - but I thought hey sweet, there will be plenty of overhead space still, and goodness knows that after Christmas break I could use it. So there was still plenty of overhead space, but as I'm walking back and looking at the row numbers, I realize that I'm seated in an aisle seat in the dead last row of the plane. You know, the really awesome seat immediately next to the bathroom (with so much traffic and elbow bumping that there's no chance of sleep) that doesn't recline. It's a 6+ hour flight from Boston to Phoenix. Sweet. Then my seatmate arrives, and instantly gives me this speech about how great the back of the plane is - the safest place in the plane, and right next to the bathrooms! Bonus!

Once we were settled in and waiting to push back from the gate, I closed my eyes since I had a headache (that lasted all day of course). I wasn't really aware what was going on around me, other than that we'd been sitting at the gate for way too long to leave anywhere close to on time. Eventually the pilot came on and said that with the bit of bad weather we were going to go through, the plane was overweight, so we had to wait for them to remove some of the mail that had been loaded. Then a while after that, the pilot came back on and apologized for the delay, that there had been a "passenger issue" that he was sure many of us were aware of, and we were finally ready to leave the gate in Boston. Between sitting in the last row and attempting to sleep, I had no idea what he was talking about, but being in the last row, I could hear the flight attendants conversations. Apparently some jerk in first class pitched a fit when they told him he'd have to check his (oversized) bag, and when he got belligerent the air marshal came and removed the guy from the flight! Definitely one of the more interesting reasons for a flight delay!

Now I really want to know what happens to you when you're removed from a flight. Did he get arrested? Surely they don't just let him take the next flight. Does anybody know??

My seatmate proved to be annoying and a total nutjob. He'd brought about 10 lbs worth of newspapers with him, and even though he wasn't a big guy, he spent about half the flight occupying half of my seat space with his elbows as he read the paper. He also spent a good portion of the flight clipping coupons. You know, like grocery coupons out of the Sunday ads. Who does that on an airplane?!?! Honestly I think it's one of the stranger things I've seen someone do on a plane.

Anyways, between the excess mail and the unruly passenger, my flight landed in Phoenix at exactly 2:30...and my flight to Tucson left at 2:36, while I was most definitely still on the first plane. Fortunately there's a flight to Tucson like every hour, so I didn't get back too much later than planned.

Let's hope the next travel day is less ridiculous...