JUST ONE OF THOSE TRAVEL DAYS

JUST ONE OF THOSE TRAVEL DAYS:

 

                                     EWR Base Camp

 

SO YA WANNA FLY TO DUBLIN: 



We did our typical overnight in Denver by staying at the Ramada near the airport. We were up early and off to the airport, breezed through security via Clear and made our way to the Club Room. 

The UAL Club room was very quiet and I was surprised they had biscuits and gravy available. Further surprised as they were not too bad.

Our flight plan was/is DEN- EWR- DUB. 

It had been snowing and I was not surprised when we were notified our flight would be delayed. No worries as we had a good 4 hour layover in EWR (Newark). The snow continued to fall and I knew we would need to be de-iced. Ground traffic was backed up and and just as our turn to get de-iced the de-icing equipment ran out of fluid. 

Finally, we were de-iced and inline for departure. Right now we are about 3 hours behind schedule.

 

Try as they may the crew tried to make up some time in the air. This effort was foiled by Air Traffic radar issues at EWR. I noticed our flight path involved several holding patterns and extending turns on the approach. We are starting to cut it close. 

Landing at 1800 (6:00PM) and the connecting flight starts boarding at 1820. Of course we have to traverse the whole of Terminal C to get to the departure gate. Adding to this are several txt messages notifying of gate changes. We arrive at the gate in time and board the plane and settle in.

We were planning on lunch at the EWR United Club but that was out of the question. Our thoughts were we would take off and get a meal. Well the best laid plans did not happen. We started with a bit of a gate delay, then we finally left the gate.

 

The Captain advised we were #30  inline for takeoff due to the radar issue. 

We started to taxi, but I noticed we were headed back to the terminal. The Captain advised we had a mechanical issue they thought they had resolved. 

 We had to wait for a gate and finally arrived and were told to hang in there as the issue could be fixed shortly. Next we are told to gather our carryon bags and deplane and stay nearby as they hoped to reboard and get us going. 



The mechanical issue was not resolved and we were given Meal Vouchers. That was nice, but the food vendors were all closed or closing. 



Then a new aircraft was brought into service and a new gate was announced. The gate agents said grab some food with your voucher as they started boarding the new aircraft. They also announced there would be no meal service on the flight due to the change. So use your voucher at the closed restaurants, but board the plane. 



We board the plane and settle into our seats. We sit there for a good bit and are finally notified we need a pilot as the previous crew has timed out. Hang tight they say as the pilot is on the way. 

Well the pilot does not show and we are told to deplane.

 Now the flight has been delayed to 1000 in the morning and it is now 0200. We are offered a hotel, but really by the time you get there you would have to turn around and return for the 1000 flight. 

We opt to just stay at the airport. 

The gate agents did their best providing some water and tooth brush kits, blankets, and cots. 

We established our base camp, at about 0230, near the entrance to the UAL Club room which opens at 0500. 



We had a restless nap and at 0500 were in the club having breakfast. This was our first real food since the club room in DEN. 



I notified our Dublin Hotel we would be late arriving. 

Let’s see how this day plays out. Kinda bummed we are missing our first day in Dublin. 
 Looking for the positive we might get into the Dublin time zone by arriving late.