So I got up Sunday morning, ate a lousy breakfast, got my things and hopped on the shuttle out to the airport. So the hotel people were great and easy to deal with (Courtyard by Marriott), with the voucher and all that nonsense, but when I got to the airport it got harder to get things done.
So there's a line right by the road that says US Airways and America West check in. So I figure, this must be me. So I head out of the shuttle and wait in line.
20 to 30 minutes later, I talk to an actual person and after not being able to find my record and heading inside to double check, he sends me off to the inside line (what inside line?). I head inside and he told me to head to the right...but to the right was US Airways international flights...so I talk to the lady waiting at the head of that line and she was nice and told me to head down to the green balloons for e-ticket check-in. So I walk down there and get in line again.
25 to 35 minutes later I go up to a computer terminal where I have the option to put in my driver's license or a credit card and they'll use that information to get my name for check in. The computer tells me my ticket has already been used.
So then I have to stand in another line (10-15 minutes) to talk to an actual person, where they are able to unflag my replacement ticket and print me out a copy and check in my luggage.
So I was told to show up 90 minutes early (I was a bit earlier then that) and because of the amount of time I had been waiting in line I was growing fearful of getting to my actual flight in time.
So I head upstairs. The gate A security check line is long as hell, so I'm like crap, but I look at my ticket and I'm at gate B so I head across the mall inside the airport (a bit of a hike) and look over, the line looks very short, so I head forward and oh no, they hid it around the corner....
Crap.
So I called Shannon and told her I was uncertain about my making it on time, since the line was huge. About halfway through they line, I turned on my stop watch on my cell phone and it took about 20 minutes to get through the rest of the line...so a total time of about 40 minutes.
I called Shannon again and I'm sure I'm gonna make it since they should just be opening up the door for boarding. I head to the bathroom, come out and then made the initial boarding call.
Ahhh...
The only consolation for all of this waiting in line and assumption of criminality by the TSA (I will admit that they were fairly efficient considering the amount of them and the amount of people flying...but maybe they should add a person or three), at least I put my CPAP machine in my suitcase, so I wouldn't get extra screening, was that I got my whole row to myself in the airplane. So I had at least a somewhat comfortable ride to Des Moines.