The wedding is going to be at a Winery there called Casa Madero in Parras de la Fuente which is wine country here in Mexico. I did not even know there was wine country in Mexico until a couple months ago.
Since it is a destination wedding and I can have my second shooter come from anywhere, so sI decided to ask my good friend from Denver, Frances to come out. I planned the trip so that I would be able to relax and have some fun on my actual birthday which is the day after the wedding, October 11. So with all the flights booked and a basic idea of what is in store we start this weekend adventure.
I say adventure because for some reason I just knew that it was going to be an adventure and as you will be able to tell just from Day 1 of the trip, it looks like my hunch was correct!
So today was the traveling day which started out normal with cramming some work in, packing, and cleaning up the house before I left. Along with a call to AT&T to make sure that I would have some cell phone service is Mexico.
The only possible complication that we could have today was the Continental flight. Frances and I were meeting in Houston to take the only flight that goes from Houston to Torreon, Mexico a day. We both had about an hour layover which is totally doable but leaves no room for issues. Everything is running smoothly with my flight so as soon as I land I turn my phone on to find a message from Frances that their flight had been sitting on the runway in Denver for 45 minutes so they would be at least that late.
As I am walking to the gate all I can think is holy cow this is really far. There is no way she is going to make this. I approach the gate and very nicely alert them of the situation. At that moment they gave me 2 options which were:
1. Stay with her and get the first flight out in the morning which goes to Mexico and then to Torreon and gets us in around 2pm. However, the attendant strongly advises against this because of weather issues they are expecting tomorrow.
2. Get on the flight and pray that she makes it. If not I can at least get the rental car and plan situated for her arrival tomorrow and at least one of us will be there to shoot the wedding.
I do not like the sound of either of these options but I opt for option 2.
On the plane I am frantic. Making sure everyone on the plane (including the groom’s sister who is in the seat across from me) that are also on the plane know that we are waiting for the photographer and she is running. They shut the door but at the same time they continue to load luggage so I am still holding out hope. It is rare that they reopen the door but I knew she could do it. She calls and says she is at the gate and they are letting her on, HORRAY!!!! So they reopen the door and on steps 3 men and no Frances. She goes to close the door again and I start SCREAMING wait, she did not get on. Immediately, Frances calls crying hysterically! They would not let her on the plane with her camera bag, they were insisting on checking her camera bag. On top of that Continental is now refusing to pay for anything because she technically made the flight. Even though they did not give her half a second to repack the bag or sort it out with me. Time she would have had if the flight had not been delayed. Then I loose connection and they insist that I turn my phone off.
Right about now you are either reading this and you are a photographer thinking, of course she would not let them check her bag or you are not a photographer thinking just check the bag already. Here are a couple things to consider. They would not give her a fragile sticker. They would not take any responsibility for the contents of the bag and they wanted to treat it like all the other luggage which we all know would have meant a lot of money in damages and possibly the loss of the gear all together. This is when I get fired up!
Come on people, you can move some luggage around in the plane to make room for a bag. I would not give up my bag either. Luckily, the flight attendant had put me in the exit row so that my bag would fit under the seat and I am sure I could have got her bag under the seat as well. This is what happens when people can not take 1 minute to think outside the box and come up with a way to make it work. Was the answer really to leave her in Houston, refuse to pay for a room for her to stay the night and give her a ton of grief for not wanting to let you throw her 20k worth of fragile camera gear around?
After sending rances 5 text messages telling her that it will be okay and she can get on the first flight tomorrow and just to get a room and I will cover it we start to taxi. The flight attendant who had been so eagerly trying to help and hold out hope that Frances would make it on drops down in the seat next to me and starts to cry. She felt so bad that she had not tried harder or done something more. It was so sweet to see that someone else was actually as bummed as I was. So here I am, on the flight to mexico without Frances, worried sick about her and hoping she finds a place to sleep tonight.
Continental Airlines, you need to train your people to be better at working with people and understanding their needs. It is a valuable lesson that we can all learn in being creative in our approach to solving problems and working with people. She carried the bag on the 1st plane. There is no reason that she would expect to check the bag now. There is room on this flight for her and her bag and you failed us today. It is hard to judge a company by one experience but it is also hard not to. Continental failed us today and made a situation that could have been a victory into a failure.
And so starts the adventure that will be the wedding in Mexico on my birthday weekend! Life is always an adventure. That is what I love about it.
by Sara
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