The Joys of Air Travel

Good Morning World! I was up at 4:15 am (a truly ungodly time to greet the day, even for an early riser like me) to be ready for my 7 am flight to Chicago. I used my Uber app at 5:30 am and my driver was there in 2 minutes. Just as we were on our way to the Toronto Island Airport I had an email from Porter Airlines telling me that my flight had been cancelled and that they'd booked me on the 9 am flight. Since I was already on my way I decided to continue to the airport. I'm travelling with my computer, so I just fired it up at the airport, checked emails and did some work.

When I checked in at the airport I asked why the flight was cancelled. I was told it was because of maintenance. If you believe that I have swampland to sell you. I was on the 7 am to Chicago last week and the flight was so empty that they asked me to change seats so they could distribute the load. When I did online check in yesterday it looked like there was only a handful of people on the flight so it's much more likely that the flight cancellation was due to not enough people on the flight to make it worthwhile to fly. Even with the late start I may make it to my meetings in time. If not, everyone will understand; it's happened to all of us before and it will happen again.

There have been 2 bright spots in my day so far.

1. Uber was fabulous! The difference between taxi companies and Uber is night and day. My Uber driver, Aaron, was prompt, had a spotless, late mode vehicle and knew where he was going. He told me that he had been driving for Uber for 1 year and drives full time - nights (he drives until 6 am). The taxi fare last week at 5:30 am to the Island airport was $22.00. The Uber fare this morning was $12.65. 
2. In spite of the airline screw up I'd rather be at the Island Airport flying Porter than at Pearson flying Air Canada (I'd rather swim than use than wretched airline!).

You define a good flight by negatives: you didn’t get hijacked, you didn’t crash, you didn’t throw up, you weren’t late, you weren’t nauseated by the food. So you are grateful.

Paul Theroux

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why Didn’t I Use Uber?

I should preface this to say I almost never use taxis in Toronto. In fact I can’t remember the last time I used one. However, this week I had a one day trip to Chicago and I needed a taxi to get to the Island Airport. Unfortunately I didn’t think about using Uber until 5:15am and I had to be at the airport for 6am. So at 5:25am I called one of the major taxi companies in Toronto. This is how our conversation went.

Me: “Please send a taxi to (my address which is on a major thoroughfare in mid-town)”.

Dispatcher: “That’ll be about 15 minutes”.

Me: “You’ve got to be kidding! It’s 5:25am. If you can’t get a taxi here in 5 minutes, I’ll call someone else”.

Dispatcher: “The taxi will be there in 5 minutes”.

Great way to start the morning. But, it gets better… The taxi is there in 5 minutes. I tell the taxi driver to take me to the Island Airport which is hardly an obscure, unknown location. The taxi driver, looking quite puzzled says, “I take Bathurst”? At 5:30am I don’t care which way he goes so I tell him it’s fine. As we approach Bathurst he’s in the right hand lane planning to go north; the airport is south. I asked him where he was going and he said, “Sorry, sorry”, cut across 3 lanes and went south on Bathurst. At this point he couldn’t get lost and I got to the airport without further incident.

While I was at the Island Airport waiting to board, I downloaded the Uber app. I have a 2 day trip to Chicago next week and this time I’ll be ready. Everyone I know uses and loves Uber (my niece Erica is their biggest fan!) and I plan to join their ranks. 

Make someone smile today. Tell them to download the Uber app, just in case.

Geri