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When the plane lands in Detroit (where there's a snowstorm), the stewardess kindly asks all of us out. "Welcome to Detroit, blah blah, for connecting flights, blah blah, thank you for flying with us, blah blah". No word whatsoever about Sao Paulo, which is really great for a flight that was indicated as going to Sao Paulo.
So I get out, not without asking the lady what the hell's going on here ! She stays cool and says, very matter of factly : oh, it must be the same flight, but simply a different plane and gate. And where would that be ? Oh, I have no idea, you'll have to ask. I'm loving this.
I get to the terminal and on the screens, I see no trace of any flight to Sao Paulo. Well that's pretty bad since my plane is supposed to leave within the hour... Eventually, I get a gate by asking (nicely, I promise) a lady from Delta.
I barely have time to get a coffee that we're boarding.
Soon after getting a new seat (yeah, they gave me the seat completely at the back, the one you can't move...but fortunately the plane was almost empty), and getting comfortable, the steward says we're going to have to wait for a late connecting flight from San Francisco... So we waited an hour.
After the SF guy (yeah, just one guy) got it, the steward announced a technical problem that "would soon be fixed". So we waited for another hour. By then I had already finished watching Argo...
Then the steward told us the "transponder" was fixed and that we could leave. We headed for take-off and right before we did, the steward announced that the "transponder" had broken down, again, and that we had to return to the gate. Which we did. Needless to say, in the process, it's was already 10:30 pm and they had given us... glasses of water.
Half an hour later, they decided to make us leave the plane and wait inside the terminal. There, it was a feast : sodas, peanuts and bretzels ! Yay !
Another half hour later, they announced they would be putting us in a hotel and that the flight was delayed until 8:10 am. Double yay !
So, by the time I got to the hotel and managed to fall asleep (despite the huge noise made by the ventilation system right above my head), it was... 2 am.
Up at 5:30, in the cab at 6:00, with the snow storm having no intention to stop whatsoever.
Do I tell the Starbucks story ? Oh yeah. Starbucks refused my voucher for breakfast that Delta had given me. So I had to go back to Delta's counter to get new vouchers. There, I have to admit, I appreciate the customer service. In France, they would have shouted at me for being such a pain in the butt. :)
Eventually, we indeed took off at 8:10 sharp. Yay ! I love Delta.
Oh. And I almost forgot to say : at no point I went through immigration. At no point I got stamped out of the USA. Interesting isn't it ? :)
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