I had to go to Eureka CA for a work trip. Leaving Phoenix, my flight was delayed, which caused me to miss my connection to Eureka. I was scheduled to present at a training at 9 am the following morning, so I was having some major anxiety. I was put on standby for the only other flight of the day, arriving around 11 pm. Luckily, I got the last seat on the plane.
Because I had thought I would be arriving late afternoon, I planned to take a taxi or uber from the airport to the hotel. Once my flight was delayed, I wasn't sure if I would even make it, so I figured it would make ground transportation arrangements if/when I arrived.
That standby flight was then delayed and we arrived in Eureka around midnight - and I was told there are no cabs or ubers this late. Once I got my luggage (needed to be loaded into the the plane because there wasn't room for my carryon) I went outside. There was a pre-paid van that was full and about to leave that had pity on me and said they could take me to my hotel, but I would have to be the last stop. I didn't have any other choice.
I arrived at my hotel at 2:30 am (luckily they didn't cancel my reservation) and sent a quick text to my colleagues that I was meeting in the morning, letting them know I arrived and would meet them at 7 am as planned to drive to the training site. So, I only got a few hours of sleep before having to get ready in the morning.
The training went well, and during a morning break, I logged in to my airline account to check in for my return flight that afternoon. I got a notice that my flight home was cancelled! I called the airline, to learn that they had no record of my arriving as a standby passenger and since I was "still in Sacramento", they cancelled my flights home.
Great! More anxiety! I semi-convinced them that I was in fact in Eureka and they "sort of" reinstated my first flight, but I would be required to check in in-person at the Eureka airport. Luckily, the flight wasn't full and I made it on the flight to Sacramento and they checked me into my connecting flight too. Unfortunately my seat assignments were gone and I got middle seats for both flights.
Here's a picture of me looking frazzled in the Sacramento airport with what I called "spider bunny" but is apparently named Leap.
