It ain’t over ‘til it’s over! And now it’s over. (Sunday 5/31)

 Lots of quality time in the Paris airport today!

And a lot of time to tell every little detail of our travel saga. Just kidding, it will SOUND like every detail but it’s only the bullet points: (gave quite a bit of detail in yesterday’s post!)

-departed Paris for DTW at 4 pm Paris time. 

-at about 6:45, a mechanical issue and we’re headed back to Paris. Landed at 9:30.

-by 10:15, entire plane of passengers at the Air France counters learning that we would be rebooked “automatically” (some had flight info; we did not)

-given a hotel voucher for a Holiday Inn Express near the airport. 

-by 11:00 we were at the hotel picking up a pizza from the bar which was the “dinner included.” At least the pizza was good!

-at midnight Snap Chatting with an Air France (AF) rep. Disconnected mid chat, no resolution. (No phone # to call)

-At 2:30 am hour-long AF Snap Chat with no resolution; we need to go to the airport in person (where we absolutely were the night before.)

-at 3:45, texted our Viking rep Max (early evening her time), should we involve Viking? Yes. 

-Hour on the phone with Viking who was on with AF. Direct flights full; long connections in middle seats possible on Sun or direct home Monday. Also recommend in person at airport but had a contingency plan for us. Luggage transfer is an issue if we change airlines; ours is still in the AF system. Note to self for future: call Viking right away if the airline doesn’t rebook immediately.

-At 5:30 am Sun we were at the airport. AF Paris to JFK then Delta to Detroit today. 👏🏻🎉 Still in Premium Economy for the long flight. Am writing this at 7:30 am Paris time. In 18 hours we should be in Detroit IF everything goes smoothly this time.🤞 

I will check in with a 👍 or 👎 when/if we arrive as planned!

Oh: long day with a connection but Deb and Dave arrived as scheduled Saturday!🎉

Another note: Max reminded me that we have the travel insurance if we couldn’t get out today without our luggage. She said that, no, designer shoes and handbags from Paris would not be covered as “essentials”. Maybe if I talked to the right insurance agent….👠👜

FINAL CHECK IN: 👍👍 Success! Made it to New York. With luggage! Luggage, customs, passport control took 1.5 hours which left 1 hour for cocktails before boarding!

Last row on flight to Detroit, lots of time on the tarmac (#21 for departure) but on time arrival. 

NOW it’s over! Great trip, rough re-entry but happy to be home!