Arriving on-time would normally be a pretty good result on a cross country airline flight, but to discover the airport you have arrived at, Atalanta, has just had 3 inches of snow can be a disappointment.
At an airport like Atlanta, ATL, that much snow shuts the place down. Almost every departing flight was canceled due to problems de-icing the planes before they would leave. Add sub-freezing temperatures and the roads surrounding the airport quickly became impassable and accident ridden. I had a hotel voucher given to me by Delta but the hotel shuttles couldn't make it to the airport for pickups.
So here are some tips I picked up from this adventure. If you have any suggestions let me know and I will add them. Contact Me.
Airport Sleep Over Tips:
- Get a boarding pass for a flight departing the next day. This will allow you to re-enter the secure boarding area if you should exit looking for a hotel, food, or information. TSA won't let you in without it. This gives you more options on where you can sleep.
- If your hungry get some food before everything shuts down.
- Claim sleep-able seats early. If the airport has boarding gate seats that have armrests your screwed, but if you search you might find seats that will allow you to lay down almost flat.
- Boarding gate areas can have cold floors. These areas are often elevated and open to the environment underneath. If your forced to sleep on the floor try and move away from the outer edges and toward the center, or move to an area you know has a heated space below you. In Atlanta the gate area floors where freezing, the concourse areas were better.
- If you airlines customer service line is long try a different terminal. Your arriving flight may have overloaded that desk. In Atlanta the line in terminal A was 80-100 people long, but as I ran over to terminal B trying to catch a delayed flight leaving for New Orleans that night, I noticed their customer service desk had about 12 people in line. That NO flight was canceled.
- Try a departure gate. Very often gate attendants can help you get a seat on the next flight or at least get you on the stand-bye list faster than waiting in the customer service line.
- Ask for blankets or overnight kits. Delta gave me an overnight kit, see photo below, and someone, I think it was the airport, passed out a few small blankets.
- Seek out quite. Avoid an area with CNN or TV audio, also try and locate an area where the automated TSA and "service" announcements are not as loud. This was my biggest problem. At about 5am I moved to the gate of my 11am flight, for some reason you couldn't hear the airport wide looped announcements.
- Pack your cell phone charger in your carry-on bag.
- This isn't really about sleeping... But I was number 14 on a wait list of 66 people trying to get to New Orleans. Three previous flights had been canceled. I discovered that I was given priority because I was a Delta frequent flier. I ended up making it on that first flight out. Sign-up for your airlines program.
Below you can see that at 11am my plane still had plenty of ice on it. By this time the Atlanta airport crews had the deicing routine running smoothly.
As for my luggage, I don't think it was ever really "lost". My flight into Atlanta had been preceded by several days of bad weather on the East Coast. Several airports were forced to close and I suspect luggage was delayed everywhere. When I finally made it to my destination, New Orleans, the plane was loaded with luggage. At the carousel lots of bags came off but only a few were claimed. I would estimate that 70% of the luggage was not claimed. It must have been from passengers who had arrived on earlier flights. But that left lots of arriving passengers without bags.
After giving my info to the Delta staffer I headed off to my hotel. I used both the phone and the Delta website to check on the status of my bag. It looked like it arrived in New Orleans Sunday morning, but I do know that due to Mardi Gras parade street closures around the JW Marriott the delivery service couldn't easily get to my hotel. Someone must have walked it in at least 5-6 blocks because it arrived Sunday evening. So I spent all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday without luggage. Thank goodness my tux arrived before the Monday ball. I had spent $42 to rent it.
Tips for Lost Bags:
- Keep your luggage claim sticker. Now days with on-line check-in and self-service kiosks airline personnel often don't give you a ticket folder with your ticket inside and your baggage claim stickers attached. For me the sticker this time was on the back of my self printed boarding pass. Having that sticker, and baggage tracking number, made the process of getting my bag much more efficient.
- Get in line right away. I had the gut feeling when I say dozens of unclaimed bags circling the carousel that something was wrong. I immediately went over and got in Delta's luggage service line. From that point I could still see if my bags came around on the belt.
- I didn't' do this, but I should have. Put a copy of your itinerary inside your bag. Even if it is just a piece of paper with your cell phone number.
- Carry important things with you. Especially your cell phone charger. I took my smart phone off it's charger Friday morning and didn't get it recharged until Sunday evening. And as I worked the phones due to my delays and lost luggage the battery dropped to near empty. I was able to extend it's life by turning the phone off unless I was making an outbound call.
- Hang your clothes in the bathroom. Hotel bathrooms have exhaust vents helping your clothes air out or dry better. If you have done some hand laundry don't forget about using a hair dryer to dry it.
Here is a photo of the Delta Overnight Kit that I was given with my hotel voucher. It contained: One Xtra Large T-shirt, hair brush, stick deodorant, q-tips, cotton balls, disposable shaver with cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, detergent. And a card from Delta that said: "We regret that your baggage was not available on arrival. You may rest assured that we are doing everything possible to return it to you. We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding." All photos copyright The Travel Blogger.
