Our Holiday Travel Fiasco Revealed These 3 Inconvenient Truths
12,000 flight cancelations are only the tip of the fast-melting iceberg
I’m currently on hold with Alaska Airlines. It’s the second time I’ve called in the span of two weeks. The first time, I waited over three hours to talk to a representative. I’m expecting the hold time to be at least as long this time around.
I shouldn’t complain, really — it’s my husband who spent over 12 hours of his first and only weeklong vacation in 2022 either transporting himself to and from the airport, waiting in lines, or waiting on hold. None of these efforts bore any fruit, and instead of meeting up with his family and inlaws, he spent Christmas alone.
Of course, he wasn’t the only one whose travel plans were derailed by winter storms. U.S. airlines canceled over 12,000 flights between December 21 and 24, and everyone is pissed off. Passengers are pissed off, their families are pissed off, airline workers are pissed off, customer service reps are pissed off.
Merry fucking Christmas.
Like everyone else, I want my money back and then some. My first call to Alaska Airlines was to get reimbursed for my partner’s flights; now, I’m calling a different number to see about getting reimbursed for all the additional…
