December 22nd – Day 1 Hawai'i Trip

We missed the plane!! Once again, Ricky decided to leave for the airport at the very last minute, trusting that his driving skills will get us to the gate just in the nick of time. Since that policy had worked in the last 20+ years that Ricky had been speeding to airports, he didn’t see why it wouldn’t work today. Unfortunately, the Friday before Christmas is the busiest travel day of the year (duh!) and the check-in as well as the security line was incredibly long. We were late already, plus with the million people at the airport there wasn’t much that even the airline staff could do for us.

When we finally got to the check-in desk all they could do was book us on the next flight. To our dismay, they told us was going to be on December 29! Hawaii is just too popular a destination!!! As we contemplated the possibility that our trip would be cancelled and calculating our potential losses, our check-in agent informed us that we could be put on standby for the 1:20PM flight (or original was 7:50AM). A little hope is better than no hope, therefore, we agreed. For the next few hours, we hung out at the Newark Liberty Airport, having Sanku chicken for lunch and trying to entertain ourselves as much as we can.

The time came for the 1:20PM flight and we knew things looked bad when they called for people to give up their seats because the flight was oversold. In the end, we could not get on the plane L. From 2PM to 4PM we stayed at the service desk, trying to rebookour flights. Finally, we were put on standby again for 12/23 and confirmed for 12/25. Then came the issue of our baggage.

Our check-in lady had informed us that if we don’t make the flight, our bags also won’t make it. Unfortunately, as we have now come to expect from Continental, we found out when we got to Baggage Services (another floor) that our bags have already flown off to Honolulu. Well! Since we still plan to take the trip, we’ve decided that fine, just keep it there and we’ll catch up with it on 12/24 or better yet, 12/23. Then Baggage Lady said, oh wait, all your return trips have been cancelled!! I was about to cry, I was so tired from waking up super early, then waiting in the airport all day, then losing our luggage and then this!! But that’s life…Ricky and I vowed to avoid holiday travel at all costs from now on. In the end, the baggage lady was nice enough to help us rebook our flights for the way back. Ricky and I slowly and sadly made our way home.