Why We Flew to Madison But Drove Home

This picture explains it: What you're looking at here is a supercell of thunderstorms, whose clouds go up (or so we were told) to 70,000 feet. This supercell apparently squatted directly over O'Hare Airport in Chicago, causing massive delays, cancellations and etc on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

What this meant for us was that our flight from Madison to Chicago was three hours late in getting off the ground (and that we were stuck on the plane on the tarmac for two and a half of those, and then when we arrived in Chicago that our flight was cancelled and the next flight home was nearly four hours later -- not that we'd get onto that flight anyway, since it was booked solid. The flight after that would probably have taken off, oh, right about now.

So we rented a car -- and almost weren't able to do that: The first three car rental places weren't allowing any more one-way rentals and when we got to the fourth, they stopped accepting one-way rentals after they processed us. What this tells you were that there were a whole lot of people stuck in Chicago last night. We ourselves got home late, late, late -- and of course had to go about our regular lives today. I'm fine now, but I expect zombification at about 4pm today. Which is bad because I have to turn the car in to the airport, pick up our luggage, and drive our actual car home.

What's frustrating for me is that the last two times I've been on a plane, I've ended up stranded at my connecting airport and having to rent a car to get home. This whole "connecting hub" thing the airlines do seems awfully broken to me, especially because when I booked our flights, I booked them with an eye toward factoring delayed flights and lost connections (i.e., lots of time between connection flights) -- and still ended up with the added expense and fatigue of driving home anyway. It really does make a difference when I think about where and how I travel.

On the other hand, those are some pretty awesome clouds. I just wish I could have seen them from above, and gotten home six hours earlier and with all my luggage.

Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry

This entry has 8 comments: (Add your own)

#8 Comment from jmorancoyle
6/2/06 7:00 AM | Permalink

I saw those clouds from underneath. Damn, they were black! That was one nasty storm!
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay
#7 Comment from lillapi
5/30/06 2:20 PM | Permalink

O'Hare is a mess, any time the weather is anything but sunny and mild. Heathrow is as much of a mess, just because of the size. (From the lessons learned at the Worldcon file: Don't try to cross Heathrow to get to your fligth on a sprained ankle, and don't trust the gate information to come up more than fifteen minutes ahead when the gates are estimated to be between ten and twenty minutes away. Just ask for transportation right away.)

It is possible to have a sensible hub. I've heard good things about Schiphol, for example.
#6 Comment from joolsinwa
5/30/06 1:47 PM | Permalink

crazy! But at least you lived within driving distance... what if you lived in Seattle,WA??? Pretty dam long drive!
#5 Comment from princesssaurora
5/30/06 12:37 PM | Permalink

Oh John! That is awful!!! You poor thing!!! I can't believe you blogged at all!

AOL should give you a raise!!!

be well,
Dawn
#4 Comment from ernhrtfanalwys3
5/30/06 11:29 AM | Permalink

Those cloud formations are absolutely fabulous! I am so sorry that you went through what you did. I am flying down to Florida in July by myself. I am so nervous.

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Why We Flew to Madison But Drove Home