As much as I love international travel, I have come to dread
the often 24+ hour travel days required to get to ones destination.
This trip may have set a new record for me as it actually
spanned 3 calendar days thanks to layovers and time zones!
We left RDU at 6:30 PM on Sunday, September 30th
and arrived in Tbilisi at 3:30 AM on Tuesday, October 2nd.
Thankfully I had Mitch to keep me company and serve as my own personal source
of entertainment… when he was awake.
The check-in went smoothly and we were luckily able to check
our 2 large bags each all the way through to Tbilisi. I did NOT want to have to
deal with those during our 7-hour layover in Istanbul.
After saying goodbye to my parents and Mitch’s entourage, we
set off for the gate in RDU.
I don’t fly American Airlines very often, but I am certainly
no stranger to air travel. When we arrived at the gate, knowing that domestic
flights always run out of space for roll-aboard carry-ons, I went to tell the
gate agent that I would voluntarily and preemptively gate-check my roll-aboard
for this segment if she thought it would be necessary (my bag was pushing the
allowable size limit, so I figured it would be easier). She said that it was a
great idea, but that she didn’t have a free set of hands to tag bags at the
moment, so she would call for them later.
Once boarding began, I went back to the desk, and was told
that those gate-checking roll-aboards would still need to wait a bit longer.
Doing as I was told, I continued to wait, even as our boarding zone was called
and passed by. When all but 2 or 3 other people had already boarded the plane,
she finally came over and grabbed my boarding pass and printed out a sticker to
check my bag to Tbilisi. When I told her that was obviously not what I said or
wanted and that I needed this bag to be my carry-on for the next 24 hours
because it contained medications, she said “Well, I haven’t needed to solicit roll-aboards
to be checked yet, so I can’t ‘short-check’ it to Chicago for you. Only your
final destination.” Obviously if I had known this would be the situation, I
would have boarded with my zone, so needless to say I was irritated.
When I got to the bottom of the jetway, sure enough, the
flight attendant informed me that there was no more overhead space. They came
to gate-check my and 2-3 other people’s bags, and I made it clear that I needed
the bag back once we got to Chicago. It appeared that despite the gate agent’s
snotty attitude, the situation had turned out exactly the same as if she had
“short-checked” the bag from the beginning. Annoying, but fine.
Then as we were leaving the flight, I asked the flight
attendant if I should wait in the bottom or top of the jetway for the bag. She
said that it would be going to my final destination unless I specified
otherwise. I said that I had. She then informed me that they only return
strollers in the jetway, and everything else is sent to baggage claim, so I would
have to go retrieve my bag there.
This is a thoroughly annoying, stupid, and inefficient
policy. Thank goodness I had a 2.5-hour layover, so I was able to go get my bag
and go back through security… but what if I had a short domestic connection? Or
worse, a short international connection? Surely they have to gate-check at
least a few bags for every domestic flight (thanks to exorbitant baggage fees),
and the people would need/want to have their bags with them for their other
segments? Delta asks people to proactively gate-check their bags all the time,
and sometimes even allows those people board first as a reward for
volunteering. I’m not sure why American hasn’t been able to figure this out
yet, but a passenger could easily miss a connecting flight due to this utterly
stupid policy.
I realize this is a boring story, but I was really angry
about it. Mitch and I had funnier commentary about it at the time, joking about
the irate letter that I could hypothetically write to American Airlines.
After baggage claim shenanigans in Chicago, we made it over
to the international terminal and our gate for our Turkish Airlines flight to
Istanbul. We boarded the plane extremely early, which was fine since the plane
was actually very nice. The seats felt roomier than other international economy
cabins I have flown in, and Mitch and I had a row of 2 all to our selves.
We actually pulled away from the gate early (can we do
that?!) and were on our way without incident. In the row of 4 next to us, 3 of
the people turned out to be other TLG volunteers, so we talked to them for a
bit before takeoff.
The second we were off the ground, Mitch was asleep, and
stayed that way for the entire flight. I think he only got up to use the
bathroom once in the 11+ hours we were on that plane.
I had less luck sleeping, so I sampled the food service,
which was mediocre, but did include the chef bringing the little boy across the
aisle from me a beautiful birthday cake! I’ve never seen anything like that on
a flight before.
I watched one movie and spent the rest of the flight
trying/pretending to sleep.
As we descended into Istanbul, we could see the city’s many
minarets out the window. It was very tempting to make a quick venture into the
city during our layover, but ultimately we decided there wasn’t enough time to
make it worth the logistical hassle (bags, visas, etc).
The 7 hours in Ataturk Airport passed relatively quickly,
and we passed the time by sitting, falling down (me), and sitting some more
somewhere else. Sadly we were too tired for Mitch to reprise his role as the
Turkish pop sensation, Adana Kebab.
Once at the gate for the Tbilisi flight, we met a bunch of
other TLG volunteers. I think the entire plane consisted of TLG volunteers, one
mom visiting her daughter who is a current TLG volunteer, and a group of 7-8
Canadian men going to Georgia for a wine tour.
Upon arrival in Tbilisi, we had a unique experience at
Passport Control. Not only does Georgia let you in for free without a visa for
up to 360 days, but they also hand you a small bottle of wine after stamping
your passport! Gamarjoba, indeed! (I may have mocked the slogan on the bottle –
“land of 8,000 vintages” – only to later find out that Georgia does indeed have
the oldest archeological evidence of wine making dating all the way back to
~7000BC. Well played, Georgia)
TLG representatives met us in the arrival hall, handing us
nametags and training schedules. Once everyone was accounted for and had had a
chance to use the ATMs, we boarded the bus for our hotel.
We arrived at the hotel Bazaleti Palace, and by the time we
had all checked in, it was close to ~5am. My roomie and I, Laurie, were a bit
wound up after finally arriving, so we chatted for a while before getting a
tiny bit of sleep around ~7am.
I promise to try not to write every post in such
excruciating detail, but knowing me they will all be painfully long anyway.
Sorry!
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