Grandpa and I had a Christmas vacation planned on Tuesday, December 27, to hop on a quick direct flight to Lubbock and visit my daughter Alexandra and family. My daughter Victoria and her children were on the same flight departing Hobby Airport. Whenever we visit Alexandra, it’s such a blessing and joy to see her children run outside to greet us while screaming our names “Grandma & Grandpa!!”.
Our flights were scheduled to depart at 1:40pm. Of course, we got to the airport early. We knew about the Winter Storm Elliott causing problems for Southwest across the country, stranding travelers in the midst of the holidays. We received an update saying our flight had been delayed to 2:50pm, but we remained hopeful since at least it wasn’t canceled as so many had. As we sat in the airport, we continued to receive periodic updates that our flight was delayed again and again and again. The delayed texts were sent simultaneously to fellow passengers, and you could hear people express emotions. While it was frustrating, we did visit with others, laughing and sharing our experiences. We were sharing social media memes to lighten the mood.
This is the closest, I got to a plane. My grandson’s Southwest toy plane.
Southwest Airlines HQ
Sam before being arrested for stealing suitcases.
At first, I thought it was true. Than I realize it was a memes. At least, I hope.
We were told the delays were caused by a shortage of flight attendants. At that point, our flight was only short of 1 attendant. Fellow passengers at the gate joked with each other they’d volunteer to pass out nuts, or they didn’t require drink service. Whatever we needed, we’d pull together to make this flight happen. Around 3:30pm, they announced our pilot would soon time-out, which meant we’d be without a pilot too! At 4:10pm, our flight was canceled. Cries of panic, frustration, and sorrow echoed throughout gate 40. Southwest told us our checked baggage would be flown to Lubbock. So many people were stuck in Houston with no baggage, no available booking until December 31, and all the rental cars were sold out. It was a sad situation.
Victoria decided to jump in her vehicle, with her boys, and drive 4 hours north to Dallas for an overnight stay. Then they’d drive the remaining 5 hours to Lubbock on Wednesday. She had kept her luggage as carry-ons. Grandpa and I debated our next steps. I wanted to drive halfway as well, but Grandpa wanted to leave early the next morning.
We walked down to the baggage claim area to catch the shuttle back to our parked truck. Here’s the video of the baggage area at Hobby Airport.
KPRC (Houston’s NBC affiliate) was there reporting on the Southwest fiasco. I stopped and talked to them and took pictures with them. Friendly guys.
By the time we got to the airport parking lot, we got caught up in Houston’s heavy evening traffic. We decided to wait until the morning. We left our house a little after 6am on Wednesday.
Wednesday, December 28, we drove eight hours to Lubbock’s airport to retrieve our luggage. Our luggage was there, thank God. Grandpa & I each received a $200 Southwest voucher for our luggage and our canceled flights were refunded in full. A few days later, we each received an apology letter from the CEO of Southwest which included 25,000 reward points valued over $300.
This was our first Southwest flight experience in years for Grandpa and I. We took these flights at the recommendation of my daughter Victoria, who is a Southwest frequent flyer. While we had numerous bumps along the journey, we made lemonade with lemons. We created new memories and remained positive.
We finally arrived at Alexandra’s house in Lubbock late afternoon Wednesday. Her home was beautifully decorated for Christmas and she hosted a lovely dinner. We had fun visiting. It’s crazy with seven children, all under seven years old. I saw the Home Alone 1 and 2 movies again, and Polar Express. LOL. Children programming all day & night.
My next post will share our scavenger hunt experience in Lubbock. And our road trip stops in Big Spring, San Angelo, Brady, Llano, Burnet, and Georgetown as we made our way home.
