A Cry in the Dark

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

a funny thing happened on the way to Chicago....

This story is hard to believe, but it IS true....

I checked in at the airport yesterday to head off to Chicago. (Sorry I didn't call you, Nancy! I'm not going to have any free time on this trip!) As usual, my driver's license is shown to prove I am who I say I am. I get my ticket and toddle off to go through security. Again, my license is compared to my ticket to make certain they match. As I go through the detector, my license and ticket are compared again. Three checks so far and no problem, right?

We begin boarding the plane and my ticket is scanned. I find my seat and take it. There is already another passenger sitting in the seat next to me, but that's OK. Everything seems fine and normal so far. As the last passenger boards the plane, he walks back to the row I'm in. He tells the woman next to me that he is assigned the seat she is sitting in. She pulls out her ticket and says that she's in 15A. I am sitting in 15A, so that can't be right! I pull out my ticket, and that's when it all comes to light. I have been checked in under her name!

Every single security check missed it. The scanner didn't catch the fact that two passengers had checked in under the same name with the same seat assignment. Of course, I never looked at the name on the ticket, just the seat number. So I didn't catch it, either. Fortunately, they booted someone else off the plane to give me a seat. Unfortunately, they needed my license to run my ticket and didn't give it back to me before my flight took off. Killing one and one-half hours in O'Hare airport while waiting for my driver's license to arrive was NOT part of my plan yesterday!

I only hope this isn't the way this whole week is going to go....

Labels: security, travel

Posted by WistfulWench :: 5:29 AM :: 8 comments