Groundhog Day

Welcome to Tales from the Service Industry, where we bring you the craziest and most outrageous stories from behind the scenes of the service world. This week, join hosts Gwynn and Ms. B as they share their nightmare experience flying with Frontier Airlines. From over-sharing flight crew to a chaos-inducing delay, this airline was definitely not up to par. But it doesn't end there - Ms. B will also be sharing her wild run-in with TSA over a seemingly innocent pink princess water bottle. Tune in as they discuss what went wrong and what could have been done better by Frontier Airlines. Have you had a similar experience with the airline? Share it with us using the hashtag #FrontierFail. Stay tuned for a rollercoaster ride of laughter and frustration on Tales from the Service Industry.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Frontier.

(00:09):
On that note, welcome back to Tales from the Service.
And don't look at me.
Have another drink.
No, that's dang good.
So welcome back to Tales from the Service industry.
I'm your host.
I'm Bill.
Tonight, we don't have stories.
We have rants.
Oh, yes, we do.
And you're going to hear them from Gwynn, Ms. B.
And our resident deviant.

(00:31):
I don't have much of a rant, but I will participate.
You and I are the peanut gallery tonight.
We're just going to watch it all unfold.
Well, I know some individuals in the room
know parts of the stories.
I know nothing.
Good.
I know that both Gwynn and Ms. B traveled.
That's about it.
Yeah, separately.

(00:51):
Yeah.
Different instances.
And we didn't know we happen to take the same airline.
She's like, you took Frontier?
I did Frontier.
And yeah, we figured out we both flew the same airlines.
And this was after all of the technical difficulties
of the world getting shut down were solved.
Long after.
Yeah, long after.
So nothing to do with that debacle.
Just poor quality of service.

(01:13):
And planes.
I'm sorry.
But no weather?
Nope.
Nothing to do with that?
Nope.
What else could delay travel?
Well, you're going to find out.
OK.
Like the common things I'm trying to think about.
On that note.
Buckle up, buttercup.
I'm in like my roller coaster seat belt.
So should our seat backs and tray tables

(01:33):
be in the floor right position?
Yes.
Because we about to take off.
And please keep all arms and hands inside the vehicle
at all times.
Ms. B, are you going to get us started?
I honestly think Ms. Gwynn should do it.
Because she traveled first.
Do you want to start it?
I definitely can.
OK.
So you traveled over the holiday weekend, right?

(01:56):
Leading up to the holiday weekend.
OK.
Yeah.
So very somber backstory.
One of my associates who is very near and dear to me
passed away.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Very tragic scenario.
So we were just waiting for the call at any day
now that they were search and recovery found her body.
And so it was very.

(02:18):
Unexpected.
Extremely unexpected.
Totally.
Extremely unexpected.
My god.
But finally got that call.
Booked my flight by like 5 PM, 6 PM.
No.
No?
Like 330.
Was it that quick?
Yeah, because your flight was at like 8.
Oh, that day?
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, because the services were the next day.
Oh, dang.

(02:38):
Yeah.
So super fun.
Holiday weekend.
So the rates that I was originally
looking at the week prior was going
to be like 150 round trip.
OK.
Literally $150.
Cool.
Yeah.
So I was already like banking on that.
Oh, holiday weekend.
Last night flight.
Holiday weekend.
It was like $1,100 on peak.
Oh.
I was going to say quadruple.
Damn.
That is crazy.

(03:00):
More than quadruple.
Mm-hmm.
There's a comment there for sure.
Only one, though.
So I was able to find a flight that
would fit in my budget, still very expensive.
That also included a seven hour layover.
Oh, lord of mercy.
Overnight, the whole shebang.
Yeah.
I was able to get to the airport,

(03:20):
and I was in my super manic mode where I'm
friends with anybody and everybody.
So I made friends with all the bartenders.
Of course.
That's the way to do it.
Bartenders ended up sending me off with like a 12 pack
onto the flight.
Love that.
Amazing.
Which I didn't realize was illegal at the time.
I was going to say, is that legal?
Are they allowed to do that?
I mean, in my brain, they serve alcohol on a plane.

(03:42):
But like, that is not attached to the bar,
which is an establishment at the airport, which
only should be serving.
Like, if you get a can of beer, they have to open it.
I was about to say, I think you're allowed to purchase it.
And if you don't open it, you can have it on the plane,
but you can't open it.
Correct.
Oh, OK.
Yeah.
I learned this.
No, you're right.

(04:03):
I learned this.
That's hilarious.
So anyways, I get on the plane super manic
because I'm so freaking stressed out.
Couldn't wait to have one of these beers.
Long story short, made friends with everybody in our row.
That's awesome.
Apparently, the entire flight, they
were making announcements, but we
couldn't hear them because we were being very loud.

(04:23):
And the final warning before landing,
they were saying that there were air marshals
at the gate waiting for us.
Oh my god.
For you?
Anyways, one of the other girls gave me a full set.
I was complaining that I needed to get my nails done.
And so she literally just gave me a full set
right there on the plane.
Nails?
Uh-huh, yeah, I needed my nails done.
So she just gave me a full set right there.
No, no, actually like acrylic.

(04:45):
The press on acrylic, but still a full set.
That's hilarious.
So much fun energy.
And then comes the part of my seven hour layover.
Because at this point, we're all row buddies, row friends.
I ended up making this friends with a complete stranger,
which was super fun experience.
Eventually, the airport shut down.
Everyone was asleep.
And she was just like, hey, I don't want to go to sleep.

(05:05):
You seem safe.
Can we just hang out and talk and get coffee and drinks
or whatever?
And I'll wait until your flight.
And I'm like, yeah, absolutely, no problem.
Fast forward, end up on my flight,
which is from Las Vegas to Utah.
It was an hour and a half flight.
I passed out at this point.
It was like 6 AM when I left Vegas.
Yeah, because did you take the last flight out of here

(05:28):
and then the first flight in the morning in Vegas?
I didn't sleep that entire time.
And it was like adrenaline overload, pick a thing.
So apparently, I passed out in my seat.
And I didn't realize until we landed
and I was debarking the plane that the man that I sat next to
was following me.
That's creepy.

(05:49):
Got off the plane.
And he's like, hey, where are you going?
I'm out of your damn business.
I'm going to go to Uber.
And he's like, oh, let me make sure that you get there, OK?
And I'm like, no.
I'm like, I can handle it.
And he's like, did you know that you were sleeping on me?
Oh my god.
And I'm like, no, I'm sorry for that.
And he's like, can I tell you about all the things
that I would like to do to you?
What?

(06:10):
Complete stranger.
Apparently, he works for our company.
You're lying.
He was bragging about it on his way of taking me
to ground transportation.
I'm like, oh, really, what hotel?
What's your position?
Did you look him up?
Oh, yeah.
But it was literally like, OK, get to ground transportation.
And I'm literally calling anybody that he can on the phone
just to get away from this guy.

(06:30):
Nobody's answering because it's still so early in the morning.
And I'm just trying to avoid, avoid, avoid.
And then he's like, oh, I can take you back.
I can do this.
Oh, hell no.
Why don't we just go get some margaritas right now?
And I'm just, bleh.
And so literally, I pulled up the Uber app.
And there was an Uber right in front of me.
I could see the vehicle.
You're like, bye.
It was the Premium X.

(06:51):
And you're like, bye now.
Request.
He barely approved it.
And I just opened the door.
$90 Uber later.
Oh.
Hotel experience was amazing.
Early check-in.
They gave me a little package in the room.
They gave me so much stuff.
It was such a beautiful experience.
I ended up sending the GM a whole note and everything.
It was really nice.

(07:11):
But the flight back was the nightmare.
There's more?
Yes, well, I mean, because that wasn't a whole lot of F
frontier.
You're right.
That was, OK, you're right.
Being manic and just having good energy.
And let's just get to our destination.
Fairly good experience versus what's to come.
The rebel breaking the law.
You don't know me, do you?

(07:32):
The flight back is where it got tragic.
So my check-in experience, he did not
give me a boarding pass.
And I asked him for a boarding pass
because I had to check the bag.
And that's what the lady did for me.
She didn't even have to ask.
She just gave me my boarding pass.
I'm like, cool.
Thank you.
This time, I didn't get a boarding pass.
And I was like, it's kind of weird.

(07:52):
And so I asked him, can I have a boarding pass?
He's like, no, you can have it on the app.
And I'm like, OK, well, I would like a printed one
because I don't have the app downloaded.
And he's like, well, you should really download the app.
It's better anyways, which we both know now.
The app is trash.
Trash.
And if someone asks, like, just do it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just do it.

(08:13):
Like I know for other airlines, if you do the kiosk check-in,
it says, would you like a printed boarding pass?
Like, it gives you the option.
If a machine can ask me my preference,
I expect the human element, you'd think.
Or if it was having issues, hey, sorry, our printer's broken.
Lie to me.
Lie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just lie to me.
Hey, I'm out of boarding pass paper.

(08:34):
Whatever.
Pick a thing.
So then I'm like fumbling through the app, which
is taking way too long to download.
And then it's not linking my profiles.
And then finally, I get it.
I did not have a seat assignment on there.
Oh.
What's that like?
Panicking, panicking, panicking.
Finally get the seat assignment.
That leg wasn't too bad.

(08:54):
But going from Vegas.
And that's like the last, last, last leg of the trip.
You're almost about to be home.
All you have to do is like sit on that flight, drive home.
30 minute flight.
Like, that's it.
That's all you have to do.
Three hour flight delay after being boarded onto the plane.
No.
That's the worst.
Sitting on the tarmac.
No air conditioning.
Oh, in Vegas.

(09:15):
In Vegas.
You're cooking. During the heat wave.
Yeah.
Horrendous.
And then the flight attendants are giving you
the most horrific updates.
Typically, it's like, oh, you know,
there's just a maintenance thing.
We're just waiting on maintenance to set in the other.
No.
They were specific.
We are waiting for a nut to be bolted to the engine.
To the engine?
And after the first hour, you're like,

(09:35):
a nut does not seem like the problem.
And so after like the second hour,
people are getting rowdy because everyone's hot.
And then everyone starts complaining.
And then this person that was complaining behind me
to my left started complaining to that person.
And then before you know it, everybody's just starting
to get feisty.
But I hear this a lot on planes.

(09:55):
Delays on the tarmac.
No AC.
Can we figure this out?
Can we turn the air on?
I was going to say if the engines aren't working,
then no, you can't have air conditioning.
But get the people.
Why can't we just get the people back off the plane?
So I did learn and fact check me on this.
But I did understand that if you are on the plane
for X number of hours, they do have to reopen the doors.

(10:17):
That's like a new law thing that they did.
And they did this.
Fully support that.
They reopened the doors.
People started getting off on their own.
So then the flight attendants start going row by row
from the first row.
And they're like, hey, would you like to leave the plane?
Here's our next flight.
And so they just start going through the roads that way.
Oh, next flight.
Uh-huh.
Oh, so they weren't going to let people back on the airplane?

(10:37):
I don't know.
Isn't that the question?
Is that a thing of like, no, we've already
scanned your boarding pass.
Like, you're done.
I don't know.
We're not in the airline industry.
We need an airline professional.
We do.
If anyone listening wants to be a guest on the DLT,
we'll send you a podcast.
Oh, you know what?
That would be great.
Please provide your feedback to our experiences.
Let us know.
But if you work for Frontier, you might get egged.

(10:58):
Or if you work at Frontier but absolutely hate your job,
give us a call.
Come sit next to Liz.
She wants to talk to you.
Yeah.
We're fully anonymous.
So the guy behind me starts losing his crap
and pulls the flight attendant over.
And he's like, why aren't you taking
priority of the people that have connecting flights?
Yeah.

(11:19):
100% valid.
So then this guy is behind me, right?
And he pulled over the flight attendant.
And I'm just listening to the conversation.
This guy's pissed.
The flight attendant is like, oh, yeah, well,
we don't have any more flights for today
because they're all booked now.
Oh my god.
And he's like, we can get you out tomorrow morning.
And he's like, well, that sucks.
But OK, give me my hotel room.
Like, where am I going to stay?
What am I going to do?
This, that, and the other.
And he's like, yeah, we don't do that.

(11:41):
So then they're just bickering back and forth.
And at this point, I'm texting everybody
that is anticipating me as of three hours ago.
So fast forward again.
Engine starts.
They signed off on the nuts or whatever.
Start pulling back from the gate.
And then immediately, everything shuts off.
And we just stop moving.
The pilot comes on the announcement.
And he's like, we need 10 volunteers

(12:03):
because we need to shift the weight on the plane
because they had emptied out the front half of the plane
at that point.
So then at this point, all these people
just start getting up.
And then it's anarchy.
People just start getting up and sitting wherever
the heck they want.
But why wouldn't they say, press your call button
if you would like to volunteer?
Because it's anarchy.
And then the flight attendants can be like, OK,

(12:24):
you in this seat, go.
Because it's anarchy.
There's too much logic.
And it's frontier, I guess.
It's frontier.
It was just all that.
They had to reassign seats multiple different times
because the amount of people from the back that
redistributed themselves to the front.
Well, now the front is too overloaded.
Oh my god.
The organization.
So then finally, we're getting ready to take off.

(12:45):
And you feel yourself getting into the air.
A horrible, horrible noise came from my right.
I was over the right wing, which happened
to be the one that they were working on the engine on.
And we stayed on this plane.
I just wanted to go home.
I don't care.
I don't care.
Either take me out or take me home.
It's just one of the two.

(13:06):
Oh my god.
The plane.
This pilot was doing aerial gymnastics.
Left, right, left, right.
People started screaming.
Lights were going on and off.
No.
Yes.
No.
This little girl was next to me.
And she was probably like maybe eight or nine.
And she just grabbed onto her mom
and just started screaming and crying.
I started silent crying.

(13:27):
But then I'm like, just focus on your book.
And it's the murder scene in my book.
Focus on the book.
Focus on the book.
Because what else am I going to do?
That's all you can do.
And then the flight attendant comes on.
And as she starts talking.
OK, maybe in that moment, try and join the mile high club.
Why is that where my mind goes?
I was saying, let's find a parachute.
Why is he telling my mind to go?

(13:47):
Your seat can be used as a flotation device.
I was fully anticipating the oxygen mass to drop.
And then the flight attendant comes on.
And she's talking about emergency.
And then you hear a different flight attendant behind her.
And she stops talking on the radio.
But you can hear him and was like,
don't say anything until we know for sure.
Oh my god.
I'd be pulling that safety booklet

(14:08):
and being like, OK, where do I need to know?
Study up.
Study up.
Come on, dude.
It's colored on and torn and folded.
And it's bent in so many different directions.
You can't even read it anymore.
My next goal is to be on a plane where there's not a person
in the aisleways showing me how to button things.
I'm going to expend enough that there's someone on a TV.

(14:29):
Oh yeah, Delta.
This is why I prefer Delta.
Oh my god.
Yeah.
Moral of the story.
Delta, JetBlue.
No, I don't like JetBlue.
See, I've flown it once.
It was OK.
Delta is my primary.
All right.
I hate American for different reasons.
I have something to go back to in a minute.
But I want to hear the end of this.
And I'm going to tell you guys.
Oh yeah, no.
I mean, we need to.
An insider tip I heard from someone in the airline industry.

(14:51):
Did they work at Frontier?
No, they definitely don't.
Delta?
OK, then I'll just tell you.
My boss's brother is a pilot for United.
And she's like, well, that's what you get for flying Frontier.
And I'm like, well, what does that mean?
That's where all the newbies start?
No.
So apparently, these budget airlines like Sprint, Frontier,
like any of those budget ones.
Oh, what did I say?

(15:11):
Sprint.
Oh, same thing.
You'll get there faster.
They buy the planes.
They get them brand new, the hottest, newest models.
And when they're done with the plane, it's older.
It's having some mechanical issues.
They sell their planes to the budget airlines.
Re-inferbished.
Yeah, essentially.
But they are the planes that have more mechanical issues,

(15:32):
that break down, that happens on.
That makes sense.
When I talked to someone at the airport,
and part of my story, when I was at TSA for over an hour,
she told me, oh, what airline?
And I told her, I'm like Frontier.
She's like, yeah, that happens a lot.
She's like, I would avoid those.
You get what you pay for.
I'm like, fair enough.
I'm like, gee, thanks.
Sorry.
So I go on.
But yeah, fun fact.

(15:52):
Don't do it.
I mean, I survived.
But yeah, that was just ridiculous.
And just the lack of service.
Honestly, I mean, we were on the phone
when I was departing initially.
And I was OK with it, I think, because of my emotional level.
And for me, it was just more important to just get
to where I needed to go.
And then I was able to smooth over and avoid

(16:13):
all of the passive aggressive and the not great service
that I was already receiving, because that wasn't a priority.
But on the way back, when you're emotionally exhausted,
physically exhausted, you just have a goal in mind.
Everything was annoying.
When you're in these moments and in these situations,
you truly get it, service makes all the difference.
Yes.
Shit goes wrong.

(16:33):
And sometimes bad things happen.
But how they handle it, how they speak to you,
and what they do to recover from it makes all the difference.
It literally does.
Even with some of my situations, somebody just being empathetic
and not acting like I'm an inconvenience
or this happens all the time would go a long way.
Oh, yeah.
It really makes how that didn't happen.
It makes you reflect on what we do on a daily.

(16:56):
Totally.
Right?
My very first general manager, she still scares the crap out
of me.
But I remember her final interview question
with what do you think makes travel so stressful?
Oh, that's a good one.
And it really made me think about it.
But as my career develops and as I'm becoming more of this
career-oriented and service-industried person,

(17:17):
yes, and travel.
You see different hotel experiences.
And you travel with kids or family or different life
experiences, that interview question still resonates with me
because it's always evolving.
You never know.
Travel is just stressful in general.
So I already know my answer to that question.
What would it be?
Unpredictability.
Mm.
That's a good one.
That's a good one.
Not being able to really know what's going to happen.

(17:39):
And it's probably a control thing with me, too.
So I was going to say lack of control.
Yeah.
Just who knows what's going to happen.
Like, am I going to get the room I want?
Am I going to be on the floor?
Am I going to be somewhere next to an elevator
where it keeps my kid up?
Is my flight going to get delayed?
What's going to happen on that flight?
Like, there's so many variables.
There's so many variables.
That can go wrong.
That's, for me, probably the most stressful.

(17:59):
My original answer was the timeline.
Like, constantly against the clock.
It's like, OK, I need to leave by this time.
I need to arrive by this time.
I need to board by this time.
I need to depart by this time.
I need to do this at this time.
For me, like, time is always a stressor in my brain.
But I like the unpredictability as well.
That's a good one.
Will, what would you say?
I would say lack of understanding.

(18:20):
Liz, what's you?
What's what's you?
What's you?
What's you?
What is your?
Like, lack of control.
We're the same.
Yeah.
Control freaks over here.
And I think that with Bill, like, the lack of knowledge.
Like, for us, we, like, I understand private clubs,
like, through and through.
Y'all understand hotels pretty much,
let's just call it 90% of the departments, pretty damn well.

(18:43):
We don't know airports.
We don't know airplanes.
We don't know.
It's a similar concept, though.
Right.
But like, someone who is, say, a doctor,
they're not going to walk into a hotel
and, like, know what they're doing.
You know, they're not going to know, like, how to check
someone in, let's say.
But the people you are interested in your travel
are supposed to be 100% knowledgeable.

(19:03):
And sometimes it's either lack of knowledge,
lack of communication, or avoiding being honest
to not scare.
Or lack of forking empathy.
No, my issue is too much information.
Like, that was honestly, like, coming back.
I've been in a lot of situations where they leave you
in the dark on flights, you know, where it's like,

(19:25):
that's just a maintenance issue.
Oh, we're going to defrost the plane.
You know, it's like, for me, the knowledge of,
we're just waiting for a couple of nuts for the engine.
And then you hear.
I hear engine problems.
What I am interpreting as engine problems, you know?
And then, like, the flight's going wonky.
And then the flight attendant starts to say, emergency.
And then you hear in the background,

(19:46):
because they didn't turn off the frigging radio,
don't say anything until we know.
Like, that's too much information.
So that's the opposite point of oversharing.
Yeah.
Which is something I think we can all
talk to our associates about.
Oh, 100%.
Less is more, but not necessarily
to the point where you leave them in the dark either.
I have to tell these associates that all the time.

(20:07):
Maybe don't tell them exactly what happened in that room
the last time, the reason it's taking so long to clean.
Yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
Like that room at the hotel that we worked at,
that the women got into the fight,
and the woman smashed the champagne bottle
across the head of the other woman.
You know, maybe don't tell the guest that.
And then, oh, we're trying to get the blood out
of the carpet right now.

(20:28):
But what do you do when you obviously
had a code brown in a pool, and then people come up and ask,
why is the pool closed on a Saturday at 2 o'clock?
OK, but to me, that makes sense sharing that.
Chemical imbalance.
So yeah, my employees were kind of telling people, like,
yeah, we had a code brown.
It'll be open at this time.
Did they say code brown?
Yeah, oh, for sure.

(20:48):
They're children.
But then I was at our check-in desk at one point,
and I had two associates next to me.
Someone walks up, oh, hi, how are you?
Oh, is the pool closed right now?
I go, yes, but it will reopen at this time.
Da-da-da.
What happened?
I said, we just needed to treat it for a little bit.
But all should be good at this time.

(21:09):
And they were like, oh, OK, sounds good.
And I look at my staff and go, did you hear that?
That someone shat in the pool.
Did you learn something?
I read my audience.
If it was a kid in the pool, and it's
a family that's coming up to me with kids that
are clearly irritated.
Oh, no, some people walk up and be like,
uh-oh, Snickers bar in the pool.

(21:30):
And I'm like, yeah.
Baby room.
What kills me is the families that come up to you,
and they want a full refund, because the sole reason
that they came to your hotel was so that the kids can
use the pool.
That's usually when I tell them straight up, yeah,
it looks like somebody's child had an accident in the pool.
So it's only going to take a couple of hours.

(21:50):
And then they have the mental like, oh.
And they're like, oh.
And go underwater and open your mouth and open your eyes.
No, because what is that one virus
for the hotel in Chicago?
Lou Gehrig's disease or something like that.
Remember that one?
Legionnaires.
That one, Lou Gehrig's.
I don't know who Lou Gehrig's is.

(22:11):
Legionnaires.
What is that?
Oh, it's like, you can tell it better.
It's like it's a virus in the water coming from contamination.
Oh, yeah.
You can drink it.
You just can't breathe it.
Yeah.
So if the bacteria.
What?
If it is in the water source, the problem with it
comes when you take a shower and it becomes steam aerosol.

(22:32):
And then you're breathing it in.
That becomes the problem.
And it becomes like an infection in your lungs?
Yes.
Sounds delicious.
Isn't it like pneumonia?
And it's rough.
That sucks.
Bacteria, viruses, water, it all freaking out.
It can kill you.
Oh, jeez.
On that note.
Like Frontier?
Yeah.
On that note, sorry.
God, that was so scary, man.

(22:53):
I was literally like silent crying.
I wouldn't be silent.
Well, I'm not going to say.
I don't think that's even possible for you.
What the listeners don't realize is you don't even have a microphone.
So true.
You can just hear me from your homes.
That's how loud I am.
No, you're just feeding off of the mic literally across the table.

(23:14):
Yes, that too.
Sometimes.
Feet away.
Sometimes.
I literally, sometimes.
If I laugh, I have to completely turn away from the mic.
Otherwise, I will blow it out.
You do kind of overload sometimes.
I do.
And so I like turn my body and talk over here.
I also like the sound of our laughter away from the mic.
Yes, it's much better.
When listening to the episodes back, I do enjoy that.

(23:36):
Little BTS for our listeners there.
OK, Miss B, y'all want to hear?
You didn't know what that was.
Learned something new today.
She thought it was a Korean boy band.
It's not where I was going.
No, it's actually Korean skincare.
Oh my god.
That's believable.
OK, so Miss B, you have something against Frontier.
I do.
Let's get into it.
I have a full vendetta.

(23:56):
So my experience, I was in Arizona, which
it's maybe a five to six hour drive.
It's not very far.
I drove out with my daughter and my husband.
And my husband had to go back because they had to work super early Monday morning.
So I was going to fly back Monday evening because he left Sunday afternoon.
So my daughter and I, I have a toddler.
We've flown together before.
We've had good experiences.

(24:18):
She's great at traveling.
We rock it.
It's never a drama.
So our flight was for 430 on Monday.
OK, so you get like the morning like with grandma.
Exactly.
We had a birthday breakfast, brunch, and we got to the airport.
Probably played a card game.
Yes, we did.
We played a card game.
Did you go to church again?
No, we went to church Sunday.
So I didn't have to go again Monday.

(24:38):
Once is enough.
With the wind up for the story, you probably should have gone to church Monday, too.
I know.
I needed the extra prayer.
I could have used it.
We get there, you know, two hours ahead of time.
Is this like a fairly small airport?
No.
It's big airport.
Phoenix Airport is huge.
It's not that big.
You don't have to take trains.

(24:59):
But I never had to get on a train.
I'm thinking like Sacramento or Atlanta.
Probably smaller than LAX, but it's definitely bigger than.
It's still an international airport.
Yeah, it's an international airport.
And it's the biggest one in Arizona.
So we get there a good two and a half hours before we get through security.
We buzz through.
We go check on the gate to make sure it's there because I'm neurotic like that.

(25:23):
And I look at the gate and it says delayed for like 30 minutes.
Like, oh, nothing.
OK, no worries.
Easy.
So we go to the bar.
We go and we find these big comfy seats in this corner.
I'm like, oh, I could post up here.
And this is probably my bad.
Oh, no.
I get my daughter, her show on the tablet.
I get my mommy drink.
She gets her juice and I sit there and I read my book.
Life's good, man.

(25:43):
I'm like, OK, this is a good day.
Like airport time, bad.
I kind of dig travel.
Miss me. You did not miss your flight.
No.
Oh, OK.
No.
This is not foreshadowing.
Is that what you were thinking?
Yes.
Like she just posted up and then she went back to the gate and the plane was gone.
My bad.
You're thinking I could post up here all day.
OK.
I'm still foreshadowing.

(26:04):
OK.
So so we're chilling.
We're having a good time.
I have an alarm on my phone for the boarding time because I was reading and she's watching
her show and I can get into a book.
So the alarm goes off.
I'm like, OK, I'll go check to see if they're boarding yet because it was right next to it.
Like the bars right here.
You could throw a rock at it.
For a viewer.
She's pointing behind herself.
Yeah.

(26:25):
Yeah. Like across the room.
Viewers, listeners.
For the viewers.
It's right there.
Keep drinking, Gwen.
Here is also like a travel hack that I use any time I am in an airport, obviously at the bar.
You get a drink and as you're ordering, you say, and then can you bring me my drink and
bring me the check?
Oh, absolutely.

(26:46):
Just in case.
I close up every time.
Close out.
But even if you end up getting a second drink, you say same thing.
Bring me the check.
No. And I did that.
OK.
I was ready.
Because then you're not waiting, delaying.
Where are they?
Oh, my God.
That makes me.
So I'm keeping an eye and I tell my daughter, stay right there.
So I walk right behind us and I look at the board and I'm looking and everyone's just standing around.

(27:07):
And I'm like, are we boarding?
And he's like, no, not right now.
So I'm like, OK.
So we go back and I'm kind of like keeping an eye and ear out.
But then I've just gotten too anxious.
And I'm like, I just have to go sit by the gate.
Like, you have to be part of the crowd standing there.
I can't explain it, but I was just like, they could start boarding at any moment.
I just should be over there.
Then they start making announcements.
They go, it looks like it's going to be another 30 minute delay.

(27:28):
Everyone's like, oh, OK.
So it kept getting 30 minute delay.
30 minute delay, 30 minute delay.
So we're talking like an hour and a half later.
And they delayed it one more time and everyone's starting to get restless.
This first guy who kept saying it was delayed, he was given those empathy statements like,
I know how frustrating this is.
I know, you know, you all guys want to leave right now.
Just want to let you know, the maintenance crew is just working on something.

(27:51):
They're in touch with the pilot, but we are fully planning on taking off and departing
the airport today.
Well, I was like, oh, OK, I feel better.
And then at one point, then finally, after delaying it several times, he got over the
speaker and was like, OK, I know everyone's really frustrated and I sincerely apologize.
You know, settle that.
He's like, in 30 minutes, we will have an answer for you guys.
Why don't you guys go take a walk, go get something to eat, come back in like 30 minutes,

(28:11):
and we'll have more information by then.
I'm like, OK.
So at this point, I think the plane's been delayed like over two hours or maybe two and
a half hours because that didn't count the original 30 minutes.
So it's been over like two and a half hours.
And my daughter and I were like, OK, we need to go for a walk.
So we decided to like go walk the airport.
And we found a playground.
Shut up.
I was like, I had the airplane.
I had the four-door.
And I was like, OK.

(28:32):
That's fun.
She loses it, goes so excited.
She's a fork in toddler, starts going, running and playing and going down the slide.
So like 30-ish minutes, I hear someone on the speaker being like, OK, so we have three
options.
I'm like, oh, sh**.
And so I looked at my daughter and I go, grab your shoes.
And so she gets her little shoes.
We're running through the airport.
We run over to our gate.
And now it's a different person.

(28:54):
Mr. Empathy is gone.
And they're like, OK, you guys have three options if you'd like a refund.
It's not like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what?
And I was like, I don't want a refund.
I want to go home.
OK, so the first option was a refund.
What was the second one?
The second one was we could rebook a different flight.
The third was to get a credit.
Like it was basically you're not flying today.

(29:15):
And so they told us all at this point, it's 730 at night.
And so it's been a bit.
And they're like, OK, we've rebooked you guys all on the 6 a.m.
flight for tomorrow.
So you guys will just come back tomorrow morning at 3 a.m.
How did they miraculously find an entire flight for you guys to get rebooked on?
And then if you look to your app, we were all rebooked for 6 a.m.

(29:35):
So they knew what was going on and they just waited till everyone was rebooked to like
announce it.
But they had said, like, oh, no, we're planning on flying out.
They're behind that gate just clicking on the computers, rebooking everyone.
Yeah, I get it.
And again, it happens.
Something happened with the plane.
OK, did I like that?
Like having to wait that long.
Did I like having to wait that long?
No.
But it was like, you know what?

(29:55):
Stuff happens.
But I'm like super irritated because, you know, I've got my toddler.
We spent all day at the airport and she's going to figure out how to get back home.
Oh, like besides that.
And now I'm like, I have a 6 a.m.
flight.
It's 830.
How am I going to get back here at 3 a.m.
with a toddler?
And they're still talking with that.
So they're like, if you don't live in the Phoenix area, go down to the ticketing.

(30:15):
OK.
And you guys can get a hotel voucher and a meal voucher.
And I'm like, OK, because my family, they were all at a casino.
Yeah.
They all dropped you off and took off.
Yeah.
They were in the slots.
I was like, you know, maybe I should stay at the hotel right next to the airport if
I'm going to come back at like 3 a.m.
Yeah.
And then so I'm walking down to ticketing.
I'm stressing like hell.
And I'm like, how am I going to go home, have my kid get three hours of sleep and drag her

(30:39):
back to the airport?
I'm like, you know what?
This does not work for me.
So while I'm going down to ticketing, I'm going to call my boss to call out from work
because I don't have a way to get home tonight and I'm supposed to work in the morning.
And so we go down to ticketing.
The line is crazy.
And the line took at least an hour.
There was a supervisor coming through and telling us all that like this line is just
for hotel vouchers.
It's not for anything else.

(31:00):
But I stopped her.
I was like, hey, 6 a.m. really doesn't work for me because he said we have to be back
at 3.
And I'm like, I'm a mom traveling alone with a toddler.
And I'm like, I can't get her back here at 3 a.m.
By the time we get home, it's going to be 11 o'clock.
And then she's like, oh, OK.
She showed me how to rebook for a different flight.
I'm like, OK.
And they're like, yeah, stay in the line for the hotel voucher.
We're like, OK.
So we're going all through the line and I go up there and they get my information.

(31:22):
They get my address.
I was told they were verifying all of our addresses to verify we weren't Phoenix residents.
Yeah.
And so, you know, I'm showing them my ID and I'm like, OK.
And the hotel, I'm like, do you give me a piece of paper or what hotel are we saying
at?
And she's like, oh, we don't know.
Right now, we're just getting all your information.
And then somebody verifies it to make sure you're a resident and they're going to email
you your hotel voucher.

(31:42):
How long is that going to take?
And I'm like, it's almost eight.
Like, I need to put my kid to bed.
She's like, they're not going to process anything until the line is done.
And I was like, all right, we've been here for hours.
My kid needs to eat dinner.
And she's like, oh, yeah, that'll be emailed as well and give me no answers.
And it was just kind of like shoving me off like next person.
So I leave the line and we just go sit and wait in the airport.
And I keep refreshing my email, refreshing my email.

(32:05):
Nothing's happening.
I wait till the line's done and then I'm refreshing.
Still, nothing's happening.
And I ask someone around me, have you gotten your hotel budget?
They're like, no, we haven't gotten ours yet.
We wait at least another 40 minutes.
Still nothing.
So I walk over there to there and I say, hey, like, I still haven't got anything to my email.
She's like, oh, they're working on it.
You'll get an email.
It's almost 910.

(32:25):
They're still doing their call around to figure out where they're going to send you.
But it's late.
It's at least 930.
My kid is done.
She's exhausted.
I'm like, you know what?
F this.
I can't wait anymore.
My kid is starving.
All the food was where the lights take off.
And when you go down to ticketing, that's the next level.
You can't go back up and there's no food down there.

(32:47):
I call my family and they're like, oh my God.
So they leave the casino.
And I left one of the best parts out.
My husband had been sitting there at LAX waiting.
No.
Because he worked in LA that day.
So he was like, I'll just hang out and wait for you.
Yeah.
Because our plane was supposed to land around six o'clock.
After work.
I planned it strategically so he would get off work and just come pick us up.

(33:09):
So he has been in LA all day and he even got off a little early.
So he was sitting at a Starbucks and finally when the plane got canceled, I told him, I'm
so sorry, but head home.
And he'd been in LA just sitting by the airport for like four hours.
So I call my family, they leave the casino.
They come and get me.
They're pissed.
Not at me.
But they're like, I cannot believe that.
This is ridiculous.

(33:30):
And I'm like, I know, I know.
I was like, we got to drive through a place to get some chicken nuggets for my kid.
She eats.
She's exhausted.
I remember that text.
I was like, what are you going to feed your kid?
She's like, chicken nuggets.
I just need chicken nuggets right now.
They're easy.
She eats them.
She's hungry.
They're quick.
We went through the first Wendy's we could find.
Got her some chicken nuggets.
She's set and we drive 40 minutes away to my grandmother's place.

(33:53):
We get straight into the house.
It's 1030 at night.
I put her straight to bed.
I'm exhausted.
And by the way, you know how my husband had left Sunday afternoon?
He took her suitcases because I didn't want to bring.
I didn't want to check a bag.
Didn't want to check a bag.
So I brought just enough clothes for one day.
So all I have left is the clothes I'm wearing.
I have my grandmother's house.

(34:15):
I have my grandmother's house, I have to borrow a pair of pajamas from her.
And I'm doing laundry.
So you're wearing your grand grandma's PJs?
Wow.
If I recall, they were rather comfortable.
Yeah, can we describe these PJs, please?
Just like pajama-y sweats, comfy, and just a shirt.
I was not in a muumuu.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
That's what I was expecting.

(34:35):
I know.
The long dress.
No.
Like a house dress.
Giant flower print.
Like a house dress.
Listen, that's the fertility dress.
That's hilarious.
Of our generation.
It is.
No muumuu, unfortunately.
I apologize to disappoint.
But so different.
Or even like some old school flannel pajamas or something you'd buy at Kohl's on sale.
No.
Sorry.

(34:55):
With your Kohl's cash?
Yeah.
Of course with your Kohl's cash.
Gotta love that Kohl's cash.
That she got by probably birthday presents for her grandchild and great grandchild.
Probably.
I have a full story in my head.
That's so funny.
Okay, so you're wearing a grandmother's PJs.
I'm sorry.
While doing laundry.
If, no, no, no.
If this was my situation, wouldn't you just throw it in the dryer with the dryer sheet

(35:17):
and like freshen up a little bit and then deal with it?
It just was, it was icky.
You're spending all day at an airport.
It's Arizona.
You're sweating.
Wait, question.
This is almost 11 o'clock at night.
Have you received your email voucher yet?
Great question.
I kept refreshing my email.
Nothing.
So what were a lot of those people doing?
Sitting in the airport.
Sitting.
Just waiting.
Might as well just be like Gwen and wait for your 6 a.m flight and take a nap.

(35:40):
Literally.
Which is what I'm pretty sure a lot of people had to do.
Ugh.
And so I kept refreshing my email.
This food voucher they promise is going to come through.
If this hotel voucher they promise is going to come through.
Nothing.
And I was like, wow, this is utter bullsh**.
And so I think I went to sleep around like 12, 30 after I got it into the dryer.
And then I'm like, okay, I can go to bed.
What was her child wearing to bed?
I'm just curious.

(36:01):
The clothes she had on.
Yeah.
I wasn't going to, you know, she was nearly half asleep when we got her out of the car.
So the next morning, did you rebook your flight that you weren't on the 6 a.m?
Yeah.
What flight?
6 p.m.
Okay.
So you still got another like full day.
This is where the fun starts.
So.
More fun.
You're kidding.
Wait, the story hasn't really begun yet?
No, it definitely began.

(36:22):
It just continues.
Like it just is a nightmare of nightmares.
So 6 p.m. the next day, you probably have like you're feeling deja vu.
You have two of the same day.
You wake up, you have breakfast, you play a card game, read a little bit of a book.
It's like Groundhog Day.
Yeah.
It literally was like Groundhog Day.
Like there's a movie about this.
What movie is it?
Where you relive this day?

(36:45):
Stupid.
We'll cut that.
No, that's staying.
That's going to stay.
I love you and I'm sorry.
Any hootsies?
But so yes, we do breakfast, we do cards, but I'm still anxious.

(37:06):
I was like, what if the same thing happens?
My boss let me call out once.
She's going to lose her if I call out again.
And I'm like, OK, if there's a rent a car and drive.
So that was my backup plan.
But then I was told by my family one way rental cars are crazy expensive
because they want their cars back.
So we get to the airport three hours early because I am crazy anxious.
I just need to know for getting on this plane.

(37:28):
The thing that was freaking me out, too, was I kept checking my boarding pass
and there was no seat assignment on it.
And my flight the day prior, I had seat assignments.
I made sure it was next to my kid and we were like in a good spot.
She had the window and I was like anxious.
I was like, they can't separate me from a kid.
What if they separate from my kid?
She's going to freak out.
And Gwen's like, they can't legally separate you from your kid.
They cannot under 13.

(37:49):
They cannot have a minor.
But at this point, they have to find a solution.
They have to make someone else move.
I don't trust Frontier.
They're going to make me sit away from my toddler.
I get to the airport and I'm like, oh, the line's going to be crazy for security.
I get there, ghost town.
No one.
And I was like, this is amazing.
This is a good sign.
Everything's going to be OK.
Or it's a horrible sign.

(38:10):
Today is going to go great.
It's smooth sailing.
So this is a Tuesday afternoon, early evening.
Yeah.
It's like, this is going to be great.
Yeah.
Can't see it.
Can't see it.
So fly through security.
It was so empty.
The TSA people were like arguing whose line I got to go in.
Come in my line.
Oh, yeah, they're fighting over you.
Yeah.
And I'm like, oh, cool.
That's awesome.

(38:31):
But again, there was no line.
So I had no time to mentally prep.
Oh, and like empty the kid out of your bag and stuff?
Ding, ding, ding.
And so I put our stuff through the scanner.
And then we come out the other side.
And do, do, do.
Something got flagged.
And I see my kid's little princess backpack.
And I go over there.
I'm like, what did I do?
I'm always joking.
And I'm like, what did I do?

(38:52):
He's like, oh, it looks like you forgot
to empty your water bottle.
I'm like, oh, my god.
I'm so sorry.
Yeah.
We flew through security.
I missed the point where you dump out the water bottle.
I'm so sorry.
I was like, I can dump it right now.
He's like, no, we got to test stuff.
Am I OK?
And so I'm standing there.
And he opens up her pink princess water bottle.
I think you might have gotten her for her birthday.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(39:12):
I know which one you're talking about.
Yeah.
Opens up that pink princess water bottle.
Takes out a little test strip.
Sticks it above the water.
And the test strip turns bright blue.
And he's like, huh.
And I'm like, is blue bad?
And he doesn't say anything.
But he puts that one down.
He takes out another strip.
He does it again.
Bright blue.
And he's like, yeah, we're going to need you to step over here.

(39:33):
And I'm like, what?
What happened?
I have to go into this private area.
We have to move.
And we have to give him our bags.
And he's like, unfortunately, it did set off an alarm.
And I was like, what's in the water?
This is Arizona tap water.
This is my grandma's house.
I was like, there's something wrong with it.
You should probably tell me.
We've been drinking it all weekend.
And he's like, well, this is just protocol, whatever.
And they take everything out of our backpacks.

(39:55):
And they're swab testing everything,
putting it into a machine, swab this, put it into a machine,
testing everything.
And I'm like, oh my god.
You're my kid.
She's just staring, watching everything go down.
And the lady has to take me.
And she's like, I have to search you.
And she's like, would you like me to take you
into a separate room?
And I was like, I don't want to leave my kids.
So just do it here.
And I make a joke.
I said I'd rather there be witnesses.

(40:15):
Like, I was like, yeah, it's fine.
But he can watch.
I'll give you a feel.
Like, look at you.
This has never happened to me ever.
So I'm sitting there like, OK, sure.
And my kid's sitting there watching, looking traumatized.
And she starts to cry as this lady's patting me down.
She starts to cry.
And I'm like, can she come over here?
She's freaking out.
The lady's like, yeah, it's fine.
My kid runs up and grabs onto my leg.

(40:38):
I feel like you're hands up getting patted down.
And you're like, sweetie, come here.
Be with mommy.
Literally what's happening.
My boobs are getting touched.
My butt's getting touched.
Everything's getting touched.
And I'm like, oh, my god.
And I didn't say this out loud.
So y'all should be proud of me.
But I told my husband later.
I was like, she wasn't even hot enough to be doing this.
So it was weird.
Are you sure the picture I received, she had gloves on?

(41:00):
OK.
I don't know.
Sure?
You have photo evidence of this?
Because I thought nobody's going to believe this.
And this happens.
Nobody that doesn't know you would believe that.
And so I get the pat down.
They swab test all my stuff.
And they obviously don't find anything.
I'm not a terrorist.
And I'm still making jokes the whole time.

(41:21):
I'm like, so what's in the water?
I need to know.
Hyperfixated.
I am, because the water started to stall.
And then they're like, well, we did
have to call an explosive supervisor.
Shut the f*** up.
Oh, yes.
True.
Sorry.
We had to call the explosive supervisor.
So we need you to stay here in this area.
And we have to wait.
You can't leave until they come.
And I was just freaking out at this point.

(41:43):
And they're like, well, it usually
takes them a little bit to come.
So I had to stay and wait in this isolation area
with two TSA agents watching me.
I was going to ask if you were in your own room.
It was not even a room.
We were just off to the side in this special little area.
I'm watching from past looking at me like I'm a terrorist.
Yeah.
Yeah.
With my kid.
You bet you had your kid.
She separated you?

(42:03):
She had the decoy.
Like, yeah.
She's a person of interest.
She's a suspect.
She was the real cause.
It's not even your daughter.
Apparently.
And so I'm sort of freaked out at this point.
We're waiting for an explosive supervisor?
For what?
For my daughter's water bottle.
Did you have any mom guilt at this point?
My daughter's been drinking out of that.
Dude, absolutely.
I was like, what is in this water?

(42:24):
Or did you have any resentment towards Bill
since he got it for her?
Bill planted this shit three months ago.
But guys, she's been using this water bottle every day
since we got it for school.
So we're sitting there.
We're waiting for the explosive supervisor.

(42:45):
At this point, I was like, can I at least have her tablet back?
You guys tested it.
Can I give her a show to watch?
They're like, yeah, that's OK.
So I'm able to put her headphones on and put on a little Princess
show so that way she's able to calm down.
And so we're sitting there waiting
for the explosive supervisor.
And then finally, they come.
And they're like, is it her?
She has the kid?
And they're like, yeah.
They're like, oh, that's weird.
And then I made a joke because I do that

(43:07):
when I'm uncomfortable.
And I was like, out of the Princess backpack
is a pink unicorn sticking out.
I'm like, if you guys want to test the unicorn too,
it looks pretty sus.
So I took a picture because I was like,
nobody's going to believe this.
If you swipe to go to the next photo,
you see him testing the pink Princess water.

(43:27):
And if you zoom in on his shirt, it literally
says explosives specialist.
They were testing for explosives in your four-year-old daughter's
Princess water bottle.
Yes, ma'am.
I need to see this.
OK, just for our listeners, just the people around this area,
we have five people looking at a Princess water bottle.
A pink Princess water bottle.

(43:50):
Oh, yeah, this is Homeland Security.
So I've set off all these alarm bells.
OK, but at this point, Miss B, were you like, hey,
we can toss the water bottle.
I said that in the beginning.
Yeah.
I was like, oh, I'm sorry.
I forgot to dump it.
I was like, I can dump it right now.
They're like, no, now we have to test it.
No, no, even like, sorry, Bill.
Love ya.
But throw away the water bottle.
Oh, no, I wouldn't have done it.

(44:10):
That thing's expensive.
That's not happening.
No, it doesn't even matter because at that point,
you already have the-
You're already caught.
Essentially.
Exactly.
So that's evidence.
They're not going to throw it away.
OK, so what happened?
So they swab it.
They swab it.
The girl who had been with me, she was like,
I feel like it's these test strips.
Because I feel like she's feeling my vibe.
She's like, OK, these probably aren't terrorist.

(44:31):
They're testing.
It was fine.
And they're like, oh, it must have been a bad batch of test
strips.
You're free to go.
I'm like, OK.
Freedom.
Can I take my water?
But to wave a test strip just over the water bottle
and not to actually go into the liquid at all?
It's kind of like, OK, let's see this wine glass.
It's like the air coming up from it is what they're testing.

(44:53):
But they said I was free to go.
And I ran away with my pink princess water bottle
and the yogurt.
Glad you're not going to believe what just happened.
I was detained for like an hour.
In touch.
And patted down.
I was violated.
And she wasn't hot.
I literally asked her, like, was she cute or what?

(45:14):
Yeah.
I would have said too.
But then you made the flight?
Yes.
Did you go to the bar?
So we get up there.
I go make sure my gate exists.
And I'm on the phone with Gwen because I'm still stressed
that I don't have a Cedar Rain print yet.
And I go there.
She's like, go to the gate.
And so I go to the gate.
There's no one there.
I'm like, Gwen, there's nobody here.
She's like, well, what time is it?

(45:34):
And she's like, there has to be someone there
an hour before boarding.
And I look, and it's probably an hour and 20.
Oh, OK.
And so I'm like, OK.
Hour and 30.
I'm like, OK, we've got like 30 minutes.
I'll go get some food.
And so we go to the burger joint that's there and get us lunch.
And I'm like, you know what, I deserve a beer.
And I'm drinking it.
And I'm like, you know, I should put this in my Stanley.
She's like, do it.
Get another one.
Fill it up.

(45:55):
Yeah.
I would drink that one, get a refill for the Stanley.
So I dumped out the water by Stanley.
And I just poured the beer in there.
And I'm like, it's this kind of day.
So we go back to the gate.
And I'm like, I have to get there right then.
Because I'm all anxious.
We get there.
And it's at least 45 minutes.
Like, it's passed it out.
And they still weren't there.
Nobody was there.
And Gwen's like, there's supposed to be someone there.

(46:16):
I'm like, there's no one here.
I'm like, Gwen.
And so we camp out.
And we're just waiting for someone to come.
And maybe 30 minutes before boarding, someone shows up.
And I run over there.
And I'm like, hi.
I don't have a seat assignment on my boarding pass.
Like, we assigned those an hour before boarding.
I said, OK.
It's 30 minutes before boarding.
And I said, look, you don't have to give me a great seat.

(46:36):
I'm not asking for an upgrade.
You don't even know what I've been
through in the last 24 hours.
And I said, I just want to sit next to my toddler.
Can we do that?
I think her exact words, but I'll see what I can do.
Oh!
And I said, OK.
She's like, what's your name?
I tell her my name, my daughter's name.
And I was like, I need to sit next to her.
And she just had this attitude.
She was still holding her water bottle.

(46:57):
And she was going like, oh, no.
She didn't even set her things down.
No!
And I'm like, you're late.
And so we go and sit down.
And I don't even hear.
I'm just staring at her like, just staring.
I'm like, did you put me next to my kid yet?
Like that lobby guest that's waiting
for their early arrival ride.
That was me.
I was like, until you put me next to my kid.

(47:17):
Does that help when you're working the front desk?
No.
It makes me reject you harder.
I know.
I'm just making sure.
Now you're to the bottom of my wait list.
But you're channeling it.
Yeah.
Because you are learning on the receiving end what it means.
Totally.
Exactly.
So I'm sitting there.
And I'm waiting.
Finally, 15 minutes before boarding over the last period,

(47:40):
can these people come up to the front?
She said my name, said another five passengers,
then said my daughter's name.
And then so we're separated.
I'm like, oh my god, we're not going
to be sitting next to each other.
So I go up there.
I'm like, yeah, we're together.
Miss B and Miss E's child.
And she's like, oh yeah, she gives us the boarding passes.
We're sitting next to each other.
Hallelujah.
Window seat?
Done.
Yes.

(48:00):
And she got her window seat.
I'm like, OK, fine.
And then everything was all right.
Just texting my husband, giving him updates.
I told him, I was like, do not.
Was he still at LAX for four hours?
No.
I told him.
He was still there from the previous day.
He was just in the parking lot.
No, knowing him, I'm surprised he didn't jump in the car
and just drive back to get you.
We thought about it, but just so much time went by.

(48:22):
No, it's too much.
And he still had to work the next morning.
But I told him, I was like, if this doesn't work out,
either you're coming out or I'm driving you home back.
Like, I'm not doing this again.
Yeah, but I mean, I'm not wrong.
That's the kind of guy he is.
He has done that.
He drove out to Vegas and picked me up
because I wasn't having a good time,
but I wanted to go home one time.
See?
Drove all the way out to Vegas, just picked me up,
drove me back.
Case in point.

(48:42):
Yep.
And no, I told him, do not leave
Freljax until I'm on this plane and about to take off.
Like in the air and forced to connect to Wi-Fi.
You think, I'm sorry, you think Frontier has Wi-Fi?
No, you can't not.
No, you can't even pay for that.
No, Frontier doesn't have that.
No Wi-Fi?
No.
Liz, don't poke the bear.
I do have a question maybe to wrap up this episode.

(49:05):
I would like to go through top five airlines.
I don't travel.
Top three?
I'll do my top three.
OK, top three, Gwen.
Yeah, Delta, American, United.
OK.
No Southwest in your lineup, huh?
OK, I will provide a caveat for Southwest.
They did just change their boarding procedure.
Did they?
Yes, it used to be a free for all.

(49:26):
Wait, it's not?
Just change.
Wait, I live under a rock.
Please inform me.
Because it used to be based on whoever checked in first.
I pay for that early bird check in
to get that A group boarding.
It's not worth the $30.
Too much anxiety.
Back in the day, it was $15.
Each way, so you were paying.
You're showing your age.

(49:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Lots of traveling for water polo tournaments.
Oh, yeah.
They just changed that.
But no, early bird check in, you could just
get automatically assigned basically an A group
unless you had status with Southwest.
You might get low A, high B.
But even then, it's based off of your check in time.
But also what is appealing for me for Southwest

(50:09):
is their companion pass.
Yeah.
And how achievable it is to have the companion pass.
But it's so frustrating the window of time
that they measure you to utilize a companion pass.
I don't even know what this is.
OK, so wait.
What's their new boarding pass structure?
Same as everybody else.
It's assigned to you.
Same as everybody else.
See, that's amazing.
Game changer.
Is it though?

(50:30):
Do we now consider them in the same class as everybody else?
We do.
Like that kind of makes it worse.
I'm going to start researching all these airlines
and where they buy their planes from and how new they are.
I like Southwest because it gave you kind of a little freedom
and a little bit more of that control
that we were talking about earlier.
Sure.

(50:51):
But the amenities that they offer on the plane.
No, it's horrible.
It's horrible.
Exactly.
So why is that like a better tier versus others?
Cheap tickets.
No, now I've learned.
Don't do it.
Now I'm scared.
We have trauma.
Miss B. Miss B.
What is your tier of airline?
I haven't traveled a lot in the past however many years
because I've had a young kid.

(51:11):
But now she's getting to that age where we can travel more.
And we've been doing primarily budget airlines
because it's cost effective.
But after this experience, I am going
to start paying more bang for the buck.
Shop around a little bit.
But I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with United.
OK, yeah.
Good to know.
OK, Bill, I want to know your airline rankings.
Hawaiian Delta Southwest.

(51:32):
Yeah, Hawaiian.
Shocker.
Oh my god, guys, we forgot something.
Which part?
Shocking.
When do you think I got my hotel voucher?
What?
After you got home.
Wait, wait, wait.
We're going to make bets.
No, your original flight was for Monday.
Your actual flight was for Tuesday.
When we rebooked was for Tuesday.

(51:53):
I think.
OK, so another BTS for our listeners.
It is now Thursday.
Fun fact.
I think you got it today.
OK, so you think we got it Thursday?
Yeah.
Got it.
I think you got it as you were boarding.
OK.
Good guess.
Next day.
OK, these are all valid guesses.
No one is correct.
You haven't gotten it?
I have never gotten it.
You haven't gotten it.

(52:14):
I love this twist.
I never got a hotel voucher, and I never
got a meal voucher as promised.
Hidden option C.
Never.
Hidden option C.
100% email them and tell them this entire story
and be like, I never got XYZ.
What can you offer me?
Oh, they did find the CEO.
I don't want a voucher or both.
I want a fucking refund.
So at 1230 at night, I saw this the next day,

(52:38):
I did get emailed two vouchers, two $75 vouchers
for a future flight that had to be used within 90 days.
90 days?
I am not flying you again, first of all.
Ever.
And that was the only thing I ever received.
And yeah, my grandmother was so pissed
I told her all of this.
And she was like, we're writing a CEO.

(52:59):
And I was like, I am just like maybe after a week has passed,
I have time to process it.
The CEO isn't reading their emails.
Well, it goes to a team.
And we can tell you that from our experience.
So maybe I'll do that.
This point, I don't have the mental.
If you're still angry.
Yeah, if you're still angry.
At this point.
You need to process a little bit more.
At this point, it's just like, you've lost my trust.
You've lost my business.

(53:19):
I'm going to tell everyone how awful this experience was.
And I did it work.
I told everyone.
Are you?
You did?
It's morning stand up.
In morning stand up, I was like, guys,
listen to my experience.
In morning stand up.
Everyone heard screw in the day for the day.
Let me tell you about yesterday.
Screw frontier.
All right.
By Ms. B's antsy pants.

(53:41):
Well, she's stretching her back.
I know.
I got it.
All right.
So since we normally try to share some tips and whatnot,
let's turn this around and ask for tips.
Yes.
So those in the airline industry,
how would you handle this?
How could Frontier have done it better?
What should they have done?
And as guests, how could we have approached situations better?

(54:03):
What could I have done better?
Questions could Ms. B and Gwen have asked to get more
clarification.
What should I have done?
Less clarification.
Love the feedback.
Because again, we're not from the airline industry.
We don't get it.
I only know what I've been told.
Help us travel better.
And be better travelers.
Help us help you.
Yeah.

(54:24):
Truly, truly though.
Yeah, we're the last stop on that travel trend.
Yeah, literally.
Last stop and the first stop.
Yes.
All right.
But before we go, you got to check out our socials.
OK, so make sure to follow us everywhere.
You have social media, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook,
LinkedIn.
Just search us, Tales from the Service Industry.

(54:44):
And if you are so inclined, especially if you are
from the airline industry, pop us a line.
Send us an email at og3atftsi.com.
That is og3atftsi.com.
And also, if you are so inclined,
feel free to visit our website with lots of good content
there.
And if you don't want to send us an email,

(55:05):
I guess you can scroll all the way up to the Contact Us
and fill out a form there.
And thank you guys so much for listening.
And we'll see you in a couple weeks.
We'll see you in a couple weeks.
Bye, team.