Winter Travel Scare

Our kids completed their mid-term tests - school is out – the winter break is here! Time for our kids to return to the US for a nice, long visit with their dad, family and friends!

We took our kids to Fiumicino Saturday morning. At check in, we discovered from the manager of the USAir counter, that they would only agree to assist our kids as unaccompanied minors as far as Philadelphia – they wouldn’t guarantee the kids would have coverage on their other two flights (out of Philadelphia and Chicago) across the balance of the U.S. Once she found out our daughter was 15, she actually discouraged us from filling out the paperwork. We were surprised, as we had gone online and read the requirements regarding unaccompanied minors. There wasn’t any language despairing between international coverage to domestic.

Our daughter eagerly agreed she could accompany her brother, without an escort to their destination. They were flying business class, so they would be monitored. And since she has traveled between Italy and the US a few times, she’s paid attention in case she was faced with a similar situation.

We reluctantly agreed to allow the kids to fly without an escort. Our kids are experienced in airports, our daughter had mastered the Metro lines and buses in Rome, and she wanted to prove she was responsible enough. We called family in Chicago, to let them know if an issue arrived, we would need assistance. We also have family in Philadelphia (once removed - via our Italian family), if need be.

In the US, when our kids fly as unaccompanied minors, we escort them through security, to the gate and remain at the gate until the flight takes off. Those are the rules. In Rome, we weren’t even allowed through security. We checked them in, gave them hugs and kisses and away they went.

My husband and I had planned to drive to Gubbio, Italy to see the largest Christmas “tree” in the world. The “tree” consists of a bunch of large colorful lights, hung strategically up the side of the hill behind Gubbio. We slipped and slid our way on foot outside of town to take a few pictures. It’s quite lovely. Gubbio also has a life-sized presepe spread throughout the old town, which is fun to walk through.

As we were eating dinner, we knew the kids were supposed to have landed in Philadelphia, it was an hour past their scheduled landing time and we hadn’t heard from them. We also knew from our own international flights, especially during the holidays, a plane could easily arrive late. However, we kept my husband’s cell phone on the table.

At 9:45 p.m., we received a call from our daughter. Their plane had landed in Pittsburgh, not Philadelphia, to refuel. The weather in Philly had deteriorated and they didn’t know if they were accepting flights. The pilot announced they were waiting for instructions from the USAir flight control.

I told our daughter that they would be fine and they would have to wait until the pilot gave them additional information before we could do anything.

10:06, our daughter called to say they were refueling and de-icing and were going to try to go to Philadelphia. We immediately began to worry. It was past 4:00 in the afternoon in Philly, it was only going to become colder and icier.

We left the restaurant, returned to our hotel, hooked up our computer and started looking for customer service telephone numbers, reviewing possible flights, etc.

10:23, our daughter called to say they were flying to Charlotte, North Carolina, where the weather was better.

10:26, text asking about flights from Charlotte to home.

10:47, call, not going to Charlotte, going to Philadelphia.

10:50, text flying to Charlotte for sure. Back and forth, back and forth…

10:51, call, our daughter told a flight attendant she was 15, her brother is 12 and they were flying solo. The attendant said they would be looked after. We asked if we could talk with the attendant, but our daughter said no, she was too busy.

11:01, call, asking for us to find flights from Charlotte to home.

During all of these calls and texts, we also were talking and texting with my ex-husband, who was on his computer looking for flights. He was also talking with the kids, joking with them, reassuring them everything would be fine.

We looked at flights from Charlotte to other destinations, where they could link up with flights home – it didn’t look good. Charlotte isn’t exactly a busy hub for flights to the Pacific Northwest. We couldn’t even get them to Las Vegas - I thought every airport had regular flights to Vegas! At this hour, they’d miss the flight to Los Angeles, where my brother lives. We were very frustrated.

11:53, call, refueling and de-icing complete, leaving the gate for take off.

12:05 a.m., sneaked a text to us, still hadn’t taken off for Charlotte.

12:15, text, plane had iced over, staying in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh?

12:18, call, sitting on the plane, waiting for Customs to accept the flight. A flight from Paris had arrived and was being processed first.

We haven’t family, friends, or any contacts in Pittsburgh. We knew the airline would look after the kids, but utter helplessness set in.

I wanted to try to fly to my kids, but knew the weather wasn’t going to improve. We were in Gubbio, which had about six inches of snow and was completely iced over. We could barely walk down the street without slipping and couldn’t even drive our car. It was awful. My stress level was running very high and I was having to hold back tears. We all started looking at flights out of Pittsburgh and tried calling airlines.

12:43, call, still waiting for Customs to accept them.

1:22, call, finally going through Customs passport inspection.

1:56, call, still waiting for baggage to complete Customs inspection.

2:00, call, our daughter was starting to lose it. The reality of her situation had set in and she wasn’t comfortable not having a family member or friend to rely on in Pittsburgh. I had to do a stern pep talk that Mom’s never like to do. Stay strong. You have an attendant looking after you. Don’t worry. USAir wants you to go home and they want you safe. Everyone is doing everything they can. You are going to be fine. Take care of your brother. We love you.

2:25, call, finished Customs inspection and now grouped with 3 other unaccompanied minors. They were all in a staff lounge, in the airport, to spend the night. An attendant was bringing them dinner. A representative was going to talk with the kids about new itineraries. We asked our daughter if we could talk with an adult, but she said no, everyone was going in multiple directions.

At this point, my husband and I decided to turn off the computer. There wasn’t a flight we could book. We couldn’t talk to any airline – the international offices were closed, it’s not possible to call a 1-800 number from Italy and we couldn’t get through to any airline office in the US by calling direct. There were too many travelers stranded.

2:45, call, could we schedule a flight out in the morning? We had to tell our daughter, no. It was up to USAir. We would gladly talk to whomever to schedule a flight, but we couldn’t get through to any airline –and- none of us could predict the weather. They were going to have to sit tight, try to relax and try to sleep.

3:45, call, a USAir representative said the kids would be on 4 flights tomorrow, but they would arrive at their destination. 4 flights…

4:20, text, reviewed routes for tomorrow with USAir representative. Down to 2 flights, departing at 6:10 a.m. Thankfully!

11:00 a.m., we called our daughter, it was 5:00 a.m. in Pittsburgh, and the kids wanted a wake up call. They had slept and were in good spirits. They were going home! Hopefully, this ordeal would be over soon.

And it was – for our family. Our travel-warrior-kids arrived home, safe and sound, with baggage, and remarkably, only 14 hours later than expected. USAir did a fabulous job taking care of our kids – we feel truly blessed. I wish we could have talked to someone, to have a name, to thank them personally.

There are so many people in the U.S. and Europe, stranded. We hope their travel ordeals will be over soon. We wish everyone safe passage to their holiday destinations!