Work and Travel Nightmare

Jul 19,

Today was a complete nightmare both for work and for travel. I first got up at 3:00am to take my 6:00am flight from Berlin to Amsterdam, on my way to Geneva. I was supposed to take a flight from Amsterdam to to Geneva at 9:40 am, and arrive pretty much at the same time as Lionel and the girls. However, given the issue Microsoft and Crowdstrike generated overnight - that we will remember for years and years to come as a huge mess up - my flight to Geneva first got delayed, and then got cancelled. When they announced it was cancelled they provided no additional information, so I was just sitting there in the super crowded gate area, fighting to stay awake. I called the Delta Platinum phone number to see if they could help and they confirmed KLM (a Delta Partner) had put me in the 5:10pm flight that same day, and that there were no other options before then. I was also one of the lucky ones, because of my current miles status, as others got booked in the 5:10pm flight but the next day.

Since I was going to be at the airport all day I tried to go to the KLM lounge. I was not traveling business, so I didn't have default access, but I was willing to pay the $50 fee for the day. Unfortunately, when I got there they told me that because it was a "disruption day", they were not able to let people in for the day. I went and bought a sandwich for lunch, and then parked myself at a Starbucks. I found a good spot in a corner, where I could also plug in my phone, and essentially worked from there all afternoon. 

The Microsoft issue caused massive chaos for our systems at work, so I spent the afternoon on emergency calls, sending instant messages back and forth, getting updates from my team, and drafting updates for our senior leaders. And being stranded at the airport certainly didn't help to make the day less stressful. 

At about 4:30 pm I left my Starbucks seat to walk to my gate. The airport was still crowded and chaotic, and as soon as I got up someone else moved quickly to get my spot. I walked to my gate not knowing if my plane was going to take off this time around, even thought it still looked to be on time. Several airlines had paused flying all day altogether, and all had cancelled or delayed flights.

My flight did take off, and I landed in Geneva at about 6:40pm. Unfortunately my suitcase did not make it once again, so I had to go to the baggage office and file a claim. The status in their system said "mishandled", and they could tell it was still somewhere in Amsterdam. They captured my temporary address, and said they would hope to deliver it the next day, or Sunday at the latest. 

After that long of a day I was annoyed to not have my suitcase once again, but also relieved to be with my family. Lionel picked me up from the airport, and we drove back to the rental place to get the girls and go out to eat, before finally crashing for the day.