I would think that leaving my house to get to the airport (Diamond Bar to
Lax) at 6:00am would be enough time to make a 910am flight.
I figured it would take 1 hour to drive the 48 miles to the Van Nuys flyaway
airport bus (takes you to Los Angeles Airport). Then the flyaway bus drives the
24 miles to the Los Angeles airport.
I could take the 700am or 730am bus and I could make it to the airport by
8:00am allowing me plenty of time to make my flight. At least that was the
plan.
I checked the chp reports online and noticed that there was a serious
accident on the 210 freeway with a semi 5 cars involved and a life flight
helicopter landing on the freeway.
Great! Just as I have to get to the airport.
I drove around the accident area taking the 10 freeway exiting at grand and
getting back on the 210. I probably would have been better taking the 210, this
detour definitely took too long.
I arrived at the airport shuttle at 8am and arrived at my gate exactly at
910. Turns out this means that you miss your flight.
Furthermore with all the different partner airlines it can be confusing as to
which terminal you have to go to. I booked my flight via Alaska Air but flew
horizon to San Jose but fly American Airlines back to Lax.
So I learned my lesson to arrive to the airport earlier but shouldn’t
the original airline that I booked with attempt to help me out?
I called customer service before I arrived to the airport explaining that the
405 sucks and I might miss my flight. They said yes you will miss your flight
and your only option is to pay $100 then more money after that.
These are the drawbacks of a $179 non refundable roundtrip ticket from Lax to
Sjc.
Once I reached the gate I was informed of my options:
Pay $100 plus the flight cost and board an American Airlines flight
at 3pm
OR
Wait till 6:00pm for a standby flight.
Both options stink considering it is only 9:20am.
So I explored the
terminal looking for other flight options.
And this is what I found:
Jet Blue doesn’t fly to San Jose.
Nor does Air Tran.
Then why did Alaska Air send me there?
Then they told me to talk to Alaska Airlines.
“I already did and they want me to wait all day so therefore they
can’t help me.”
Last stop Virgin America.
Cool rock music, funky lighting, and attractive female
employees.
But do they fly to San Jose?
Nope.
But they do fly to Sfo.
Hooray!
Close enough I hear the Bart (Bay Area Rapid transit) is nice.
Virgin America is awesome.
Comfy seats, more leg room, televisions behind every seat, and best of all: a
larger plane then the small planes that typically fly from Lax to Sfo.
Either way I would definitely fly Virgin America again. They had a 1100am
flight to San Francisco, they helped me after I missed my flight and they were
nice about it all. Wish I could have said the same thing about Alaska Air.
The customer service experience was awesome and the flying experience was
fun. The only downside was that I had to pay $185 for a one way flight from Lax
to Sfo. But I was happy to pay it because they solved my travel problem, they
were nice, I still payed less then I would have had to pay on the other
airlines. Overall I was happy.
I learned a few valuable travel lessons:
Allow over 2 hours to get to Lax if you are not super
close.
The flyaway bus should have its own lane so that it can get to the
airport in under a hour.
Missing your flight is not that big of a deal- remain
calm.
A extra hour of sleep may cost you $185.
A customer will go gravitate towards the company that treats him or
her the best.
A similar thing happened to me while flying to London. I didn’t allow enough
time to reach the connecting flight at a different airport. Problems can happen
while traveling. Try to plan according but if something unexpected happens do
not freak out.
Have you ever missed a flight or had an unexpected travel
problem?
Lax) at 6:00am would be enough time to make a 910am flight.
I figured it would take 1 hour to drive the 48 miles to the Van Nuys flyaway
airport bus (takes you to Los Angeles Airport). Then the flyaway bus drives the
24 miles to the Los Angeles airport.
I could take the 700am or 730am bus and I could make it to the airport by
8:00am allowing me plenty of time to make my flight. At least that was the
plan.
I checked the chp reports online and noticed that there was a serious
accident on the 210 freeway with a semi 5 cars involved and a life flight
helicopter landing on the freeway.
Great! Just as I have to get to the airport.
I drove around the accident area taking the 10 freeway exiting at grand and
getting back on the 210. I probably would have been better taking the 210, this
detour definitely took too long.
I arrived at the airport shuttle at 8am and arrived at my gate exactly at
910. Turns out this means that you miss your flight.
Furthermore with all the different partner airlines it can be confusing as to
which terminal you have to go to. I booked my flight via Alaska Air but flew
horizon to San Jose but fly American Airlines back to Lax.
So I learned my lesson to arrive to the airport earlier but shouldn’t
the original airline that I booked with attempt to help me out?
I called customer service before I arrived to the airport explaining that the
405 sucks and I might miss my flight. They said yes you will miss your flight
and your only option is to pay $100 then more money after that.
These are the drawbacks of a $179 non refundable roundtrip ticket from Lax to
Sjc.
Once I reached the gate I was informed of my options:
Pay $100 plus the flight cost and board an American Airlines flight
at 3pm
OR
Wait till 6:00pm for a standby flight.
Both options stink considering it is only 9:20am.
So I explored the
terminal looking for other flight options.
And this is what I found:
Jet Blue doesn’t fly to San Jose.
Nor does Air Tran.
Then why did Alaska Air send me there?
Then they told me to talk to Alaska Airlines.
“I already did and they want me to wait all day so therefore they
can’t help me.”
Last stop Virgin America.
Cool rock music, funky lighting, and attractive female
employees.
But do they fly to San Jose?
Nope.
But they do fly to Sfo.
Hooray!
Close enough I hear the Bart (Bay Area Rapid transit) is nice.
Virgin America is awesome.
Comfy seats, more leg room, televisions behind every seat, and best of all: a
larger plane then the small planes that typically fly from Lax to Sfo.
Either way I would definitely fly Virgin America again. They had a 1100am
flight to San Francisco, they helped me after I missed my flight and they were
nice about it all. Wish I could have said the same thing about Alaska Air.
The customer service experience was awesome and the flying experience was
fun. The only downside was that I had to pay $185 for a one way flight from Lax
to Sfo. But I was happy to pay it because they solved my travel problem, they
were nice, I still payed less then I would have had to pay on the other
airlines. Overall I was happy.
I learned a few valuable travel lessons:
Allow over 2 hours to get to Lax if you are not super
close.
The flyaway bus should have its own lane so that it can get to the
airport in under a hour.
Missing your flight is not that big of a deal- remain
calm.
A extra hour of sleep may cost you $185.
A customer will go gravitate towards the company that treats him or
her the best.
A similar thing happened to me while flying to London. I didn’t allow enough
time to reach the connecting flight at a different airport. Problems can happen
while traveling. Try to plan according but if something unexpected happens do
not freak out.
Have you ever missed a flight or had an unexpected travel
problem?
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