Leaving California …late, very late

Day 1

My vacation started on a Tuesday. I had a fairly early morning flight and so my dad was going to take me to the airport before he went to work. My flight was on Continental Airlines, which is now United Airlines and I was flying out of the little airport called Ontario International Airport (ONT).

Spoiler alert: This was the worst flight day I had ever had in my life. Now I’m sure you know what is going to happen now.

My dad was the one who took me to the airport, it was early in the morning and we didn’t really hit any traffic on our way to ONT, which can be a miracle sometimes for So Cal traffic. And considering how much closer this airport was to us, versus Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Diego International Airport (SAN), we thought with how early it was in the morning and the proximity, we can leave a little later and I’d be checked-in, security checked, and on the plane within an hour. Boy, were we wrong.

Now I’ve never been late to the airport in my life and I’ve flown from San Diego to New Jersey quite a bit, so I’m always on time. Plus, I’m a freak with being late to things so I usually end up being super early and have to wait. But I’d rather be late than sorry.

And this day, I was very sorry.

Reminder: Never underestimate wait times. Always overestimate!

I mean it too. It didn’t look too busy on the outside, or even the inside. But the line for security was a mile long and got even longer as I waited. I’ve always gone from SAN and once through LAX and their checkpoints was not as bad as ONT. Seriously, worst security checkpoint of my life and sadly, I know it’s not my last. And here I’ve devised a list of my reasons why:

1. Disorganized
2. Disorganized
3. Disorganized

How you get to the checkpoint is by taking this small escalator up and there you get your id checked and your ticket checked so you can get in line to go through the detectors. They have a small portion of the line where you go through the little maze queue and that’s really the best way to keep people in line, well that maze queue can only have so many people in it before the line ventures off into disorganization.

And hey, you guessed it, the line ventured away from the maze queue into a mile long line of people who ended up having to curve the line because you reached the other end of the airport check-in. It looked like a black Friday line at midnight. It was ridiculous. Everyone was truly so impatient, not to mention no one had any idea that the mile-long line they saw was just the security checkpoint. So there was random cutting and early morning people irritated because the line didn’t move for one whole hour.

Now I usually allocate myself about an hour to get through the security checkpoint, and that’s with being in-line and getting through A-Okay. Well that hour turned out to be just standing in the same spot as I had been an hour ago. The security line never moved.

So there I was nervous as all hell about missing my flight, one of my worst fears is missing a flight, and my departure time was getting closer and closer. I felt like I get anxiety whenever I feel late. And I had pure anxiety and was calling all my family members to tell them I might miss my flight and I didn’t know what to do.

Finally, the checkpoint line moved and I got through, slowly, of course. And I ran. Of course my gate was literally at the very end of the terminal. So I’m hauling ass, my plane was going to leave in 10 minutes and I was trying everything I could to make it.

I wasn’t the only one running too; apparently almost everyone was late to their gate. I got to my gate and the doors were closed and of course the front desk already had a line of people trying to get the next flight out.

I will give props to the workers; they were very kind and courteous and did their best to get me to my next flight. So they told me there may be a spot in a flight that was going to leave in 15 minutes, so I needed to hurry over there and see if they could squeeze in one person. I got there and of course, there was another line. I got put on standby. They told me if one person doesn’t show up they’ll let me on the plane.

I was literally the next standby person in line and bam that darn guy came right at the last minute and I was SOL. They tried once again to get me on another flight and I was put on standby. And once again, I was denied. That was two denials within a half an hour. I was frustrated.

Finally, they told me in two hours there was a semi-full flight that they can guarantee me to get on and thank god for that. Finally, after worrying my family to the point of anxiety attacks, I was finally in the air on my way to Jersey so I can get on my cruise.

I had a layover in Chicago and my connecting was supposed to be right away. Well, lucky me, it got delayed two hours. So I was stuck. I ended up falling asleep in my seat. So my usual 6 hour direct flight to Jersey turned into an all-day event. All the while my luggage was still on the other plane making its way to Jersey before me.

FINALLY, my plane took off and I landed at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and there was my jersey family glad to see me as I was to see them. I was absolutely exhausted from my day of missed flights, denied standbys and delayed connections. Thank god my luggage was okay as it traveled without me for most of the day. And finally I could relax and actually start to enjoy my vacation.

So moral of the story, ALWAYS allocate enough time (+an hour), to get into your flight.

After that day of headaches I vow to never miss a flight again, especially with my European trip just around the corner. I will be at the airport two hours before I have to, I don’t care. But I would rather be way early, than be so late everything gets pushed back. I was lucky I still made it that day, because if I didn’t make it to EWR by that day, I would’ve missed my cruise altogether because my ship would be sailing the very next morning. And yes, they will leave you, I’ve seen it happen.

Do you have any transportation horror stories? Share below!