Let me tell you about our trip.
Jared and I were scheduled to leave on Thurs. 09/27, however our Tucson flight was delayed to the point where we would have missed our ATL-SCL connection, so we got the opportunity to rebook. Whether or not this was due to Hurricane Helene, we’re not sure. Because ATL-SCL on 09/27 left on time, more or less, despite being closer in time to peak hurricane’ing. Our original TUS-ATL flight arrived about 3 minutes before the plane to Santiago left the runway, so all in all, it was the right move to rebook.
Because we rebooked, the revised departure date was the next day, Friday 09/28. By about 9a on Friday, the flight was already delayed by 20 minutes (we thought: “here we go again”), but thankfully the delayed departure time didn’t change again…. all the way until the VP landed in TUS which (we painfully learned) shuts down the whole airport for half an hour. This new delay was coupled by the plane being overweight as well because of the unseasonably hot tarmac temperatures this late into September. So, the poor souls on standby who got onto the plane had to be escorted right back off to bring the curb weight of the plane down. After all that, we departed TUS *finally* at around 2:10p, a final delay of about 1hr 20mins. We were set to arrive at ATL by 8:15p EST at Terminal B. Our ATL–SCL flight was set to depart right at 8:55p, from Terminal… E….
We ended up making it with mere seconds to Gate E14, but Delta misjudged our dedication (and ability to sprint) and automatically rebooked us to fly to Santiago the next day while we were still en route to ATL. After a few tense minutes, however, the gate agents were able to get us back on our original flight and thankfully they didn’t close the door on us as it was definitely after 8:40p by this point. After taking our seat, we left the ground a few minutes after 8:55p.
We landed at SCL without incident but about ten minutes past 7a local time. Normally not such a big deal, but because we had gotten rebooked initially, our new flight out SCL–LSC was at 9a on the dot. The line to get through customs was, of course, super long. We finally got through at 7:55a. Boarding began at 8a, so, more running…!
SCL has also moved the security checkpoint to near the LATAM check-in desks. Again, normally not such a big deal, but Jared was never given a boarding pass when we deplaned out flight from ATL, so he had to get one reprinted before we could get through security. It was 8:34a.
Boarding doors close at 8:45! and the B gates were, no joke, like a third of a mile from the security check point.
We. Just. Made it…!
After taking the transport up from La Serena (and sleeping for most of it), we were just in time for lunch and were greeted by some familiar views.
Truth be told, after all the delays and setbacks and just plain bad luck, I never thought we’d make it this far.
Bonus Content
For today’s Bonus Content we were greeted by a ravenous goaty parade at sunset…! This made for many, many small “landmines” when walking down later that evening in the dark. Make sure you wipe your shoes extra good before entering your room during goat season.
Blog Rule
Short trip, simple rule. The blog writer must pick the Song of the Day from the assigned decade below:
Day 0: 1950s
Day 1: 1960s
Day 2: 1970s
Day 3: 1980s
Day 4: 1990s
Day 5: 2000s
Day 6: 2010s
Day 7(?): 2020s
Song of the Day
The song of the day is Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me”, originally released in 1958.
