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Oh my goodness this sit had more of its share of bumps before it even started!

 

The host family reached out the day before our departure, to say that Mike had ended up having surgery that day, and would now be required to recuperate at home, so their departure had to be delayed for 6 days.  But we were still to come as previously arranged, and we would take turns with the car, and we could hang out on the lower level of the home and they would tend to stay on the upper level.

 

OK - at least they weren't cancelling the sit.  We would roll with it.

 

Our flight was scheduled for 10:30 am Saturday morning, and we had a 5 hour layover in Vancouver - which I figured would accommodate any flight delays leaving Toronto.  We checked in online 24 hours ahead.  The weather forecast was decent.  Our limo picked us up at 5:30am and we made good time to Terminal 3.

 

Then the fun began - we went to check our bag with westjet, and the machine spit it back out with an error message - FLIGHT CANCELLED.  OMG!

 

We went to the big lineup and the staff said the customer service desk wasn't rebooking anyone there.  We could check the email and wait for instructions, or we could call Westjet.  I looked at the email - which basically said "It's complicated.  We will email you new arrangements."  So I called - not having the patience to sit there and be a victim.  When  got through, they offered us a flight that left that NIGHT at 10:15 pm, with a layover in Calgary, but it ws an overnight layover, and the next leg of the journey didn't leave until late the next day, and wouldn't land in Maui until 11pm Sunday night.

 

That would mean we would also lose our stopover Maui hotel, and our island hopper flight to the big island.  

 

So I said that wouldn't do, and we really wanted to make it to Hawaii that day as we were already at the airport.  Yes, I would accept flights with a different airline.  And also we would accept flights to Kona on the Big Island instead of Maui.  

 

Then I was on hold for what felt like forever.  But they came back, and offered a United flight to Chicago to Orlando to Kona, and arrives at 4:30pm that afternoon.  I didn't think that was possible, but we said we would take it.  Please hold...  after about 20 minutes he came back on the call and said it was done, and gave me the flight number and said there would be an email with confirmation number.  Great!

 

It was now 7:30am, and the united flight was at 9am.  That might have been OK, but it was from Terminal 1, not Terminal 3!  We had to make our way to the other terminal, find our way to the very farthest end, and we couldn't check in online because it was too late.  WE tried at the self service kiosk and it also said it was too late.  So then we lined up - 15 minutes before they cut off checking in with luggage - and waited and waited...  We finally make it to the front, and are half way through the process, and the computer cuts it off because it is now 1 hour before departure.  NOOOOO!!!

 

The staff guy was great - he calls it in, gets an ovverride (telling them we have been in the lineup for quite a while), charges us $45 for a checked bag (although Westjet gives us free checked bags) and puts a big neon PRIORITY sticker on our bag, and tells us to hurry, and the gate is just 1 hall over.  He hands us a bundle of boarding passes with our receipt.  Then we book it - and thank goodness for Nexus!  Fast track through security (even though my water bottle was seized, and Randy's bag and my bag were searched), and head lickety-split to immigration, where we got to go through the empty Nexus line!  He only asked "Anythig to declare?"  NOPE!  Off we went!

 

We made it to the gate 15 minutes before loading, which was awesome.  Except we didn't have any time for our free lounge pass, which was where we planned to have breakfast.  Oops.  Too bad.

 

Now we have a chance to look at the boarding passes, and the flights are just Toronto to Chicago, then Chicago to Kona.

 

We had paid extra for seats with extra legroom for all of our Westjet flights, but now we are given just regular seats on United.  We had low expectations, but those seats were awesome!  We had a LOT of extra legroom.  Also every seat had its own entertainment system.    I was also able to look up our connecting flight in Chicago, and the flight attendant showed me the map on his phone, so I knew where we were arriving, and how far we had to go for our connecting flight (a 20 minute walk).  It might have been OK, except we were delayed leaving Pearson for de-icing, so now there is only an hour between our landing time and the departure of the next flight!  They were excellent to announce that people with connecting flights would get off the plane first.

 

I would have been freaking out by then (again), except I saw on the screen that our next flight just got delayed 2 hours!!!

Yay, I've never been so happy to have a flight delay!  

 

We saw that Westjet sent us 2 free meal vouchers, which was great.  We didn't bother looking for a lounge, as we found a Chilis restaurant near our gate, asked if they accepted the vouchers (they did), so we ordered 2 meals and 2 bottles of water.  When it was time to pay, our vouchers were denied.  She tried keying in the numbers manually and still demied.  Very annoying - so our free lunch cost us $64 US!

 

Since the United flight was delayed, they brought out bottles of water and boxes of snacks for everyone at the gate.  Awesome.  I went up to the desk to ask where our seats were (we were in row 60), and the lady said oh, that won't do!  That row doesn't recline!  So she moved us forward a couple of rows, and gave us a row all to ourselves.  Nice!

 

Again, the seats were comfortable, and we had plenty of leg room.  The downside - it was a 9.5 hour flight, and instead of arriving at 4pm it was landing at 6pm, and now the homeowner couldn't pick us up.  And apparently to get a taxi there (there aren't any ubers), you have to book it in advance!  I was actually able to call and book it when we were delayed in Chicago, so that was great.  The cost was $125, plus tip.  But we had a very comfortable ride, and he met us at the luggage pick up.  So we will count that as a win.  

 

All in all, for our cancelled flight we ended up arriving 20 hours earlier than we expected, and maybe out a net of $300.  So not bad.