Hi again everyone!
I’m writing this from my home in Chicago to let you know that I arrived back States-side safely. As per the previous blog, our Friday flight that was supposed to take us to the US was canceled due to technical issues and the airline put all of us in a hotel with all expenses paid for a day – until they sorted out how they will bring us back home.
As it turns out, the Airbus plane we were supposed to depart with was experiencing the same issues that the Air France flight that disappeared in the Atlantic close to the shores of Brazil. The airline decided (wisely) not to take the risk of flying the plane and re-route us on a different flight home the day after. It is kind of crazy to imagine that because Air France’s plane crashed every airline is being a lot more thorough in their pre-flight airplane checks… and we got so lucky. Lucky enough that the company found the issue and decided not to fly. What if that crashed flight was us? Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it.
I was beyond impressed with how US Airways handled everything. Not only did they put us in a nice hotel, and paid for all the meals, shuttles and all… but they brought a Boeing 757 (from somewhere) just for us to take us back to the United States. [Boeing - nice touch, eh 
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The day of the flight – everyone got woken up at 5 am (!!!) to get prepared, eat breakfast and get on the shuttle to the airport. At the airport we were given a little piece of paper that stated that due to the flight cancellation, each of us was due to receive a compensation in the amount of… 600 euro! I have to say – the thought of being paid 600 euro to go to the beach and spend an extra day in Europe definitely made my day.
Around 9:10 am, we boarded one of those airport buses to get to our plane. The Boeing was so big, in fact, that all 60 of us had a row of 3 seats just for ourselves… And what do you do when you have 3 comfy leather seats just for you? Well, you make a bed! 
So, as you can imagine, this was by far the most comfortable and spacious flight I have ever been to!
The flight above the Atlantic was good and comfortable for the most part. Even the storm we encountered en route weren’t so bumpy, which was nice. After 7.5 hours we arrived in Philadelphia and prepared to go through US Customs and Border Control. We took our bags from the baggage carousel, went through Customs and then through a maze to check in our luggage – this time for the next flight.
I spent the time between flights chatting with one of the people I had met the day before. The best part was definitely sitting on the rocking chairs and gazing at the gates to which airplanes were either heading or leaving from.
The flight to Chicago was very crowded and very hot. The air conditioning wasn’t working well and to top it off – due to the weather conditions – take off was delayed with almost an hour! In Chicago, we waited a long time for our bags to arrive, and when I got mine I noticed that the US Airways people had managed to completely destroy my brand new suitcase in 3 different ways! I couldn’t believe it!!! Just a few hours before – when I got it from the luggage carousel in Philly it was completely FINE, and now – it looked horribly broken… and it had two FRAGILE tags on it!!! WTF! Talking about being frustrated with an airline! At least, the three bottles of wine and port had survived… somehow.
