The plan for this trip was to leave Minneapolis on Thursday 3/6 and come back home on Monday 3/24. Joanna normally has Tuesdays off so she could use that day to recoup from jet lag. I was so excited to go on this trip that I checked in the moment I got the 24hr heads up email on Wednesday morning.
A few hours later I got a call on my phone from Delta about 5 minutes before I had to jump into a meeting. The lady said that the flight was overbooked due to a ripple effect from the snowstorm the day before and if I’d be willing to volunteer to take a later flight. She offered $500 each to delay the trip a day and then raised it to $600. Considering that’s about how much we paid for our tickets I was tempted to take the offer. I asked if we could also get bumped to business class, she laughed and said no (doesn’t hurt to ask).
I got the OK from Joanna and my sister helped coordinate the change while I was in back-to-back meetings because all of us Loo family members get a rush from this sort of travel planning. While I was impatient to leave on our intended departure day, I was able to save a PTO day and take my time packing and getting the house cleaned up.
We got to the airport on Friday morning, a day after our intended departure, and upon checking in, got the screen on the kiosk asking once again if we’d be willing to volunteer. I dismissed it since we were patient enough. We went to do the lounge thing and I couldn’t help but be curious what they would be willing to pay us to delay again and if there were other same day flights that we could take like the direct to Seoul and layover to Tokyo from there.
I called the number that called me the day earlier and the representative said they’d be willing to offer the same $600 that they did before and we would either have to spend a night in Honolulu or wait another 24 hours. I passed and decided against it.
We got to the gate for boarding where it felt like being on the floor of the NY stock exchange or like a livestock auction with all 90% of the passengers were crowded together, shoulder to shoulder, pretending to belong to zone 1 while the ticketing agents were yelling dollar amounts. First it was $600 and then $800 then $1,200 per ticket. At first, I didn’t want to sacrifice more of our trip but what if the number went high enough where what they were offering would cover the trip itself? I walked up to the ticket counter and asked about flight options. The best route would be tomorrow from MSP to ATL, 1 hr layover, then ATL to Tokyo. The agent then yelled “$2,400! This is in DOLLARS not Yen people!”.
We decided it was worth it to skip one more day considering they would be giving us a total of $6,000 total to give up 2 days out of our 19 day trip. We needed to wait until all the passengers were boarded first and then book the next flights. While waiting, they increased the offer to $4,000 for someone to wait 2 days as all the other options were taken.
I heard someone call my name. I turned around and it was my sister’s friend Ting Ting and her fiancé David who were on the same flight as us. Seriously everyone is going to Japan now! They told us they were offered $800 to skip the same flight as us the day before which was great for them and are now trying to get the same $2,400 offer too.
I looked around and it was all young people who agreed to take the money to delay our trips to Japan. We were kind of shaking with excitement as if we came out ahead on this trip but then the agents said ok nevermind there were a number of no-shows so we no longer need volunteers…..ugh SO CLOSE!
While we were bummed we weren’t getting the money, we were still leaving for our trip to Japan AND we got the total of $1200 yesterday for flying out a day later. Really not much to complain about.
The flight was fine, except the internet cut out halfway through. I wasn’t sure if the plane we were flying in was also built by the Wright brothers since the internet was spotty :p
I think I picked the right person to be my wife because we both enjoy eating airplane food. I learned years ago that after they take your dishes away, there are always meals remaining that they end up throwing away. We both picked the Japanese beef, mushrooms, and rice as our first meal. Then an hour later I went back and asked if they had any remaining meals left and was able to get 2 of the chipotle chicken and rice. Delish!
All joking aside, given the news lately around flying, our experience was very smooth. I got maybe a 2 hour nap in and watched some movies. I think long haul flights are great. Time slows down and you just get to catch up on movies or whatever with none of the normal distractions during your normal life.
We got off the plane and seeing this was such a relief (heh) People who have been to Japan know what I’m talking about.
Immigration was long but moved quickly. I was ready to get our bags and get to eating. I noticed on the baggage carousel a sign with my name on it and that I needed to talk to the baggage agent. It turns out that back in Minneapolis, they pulled our bags because we were planning on taking the delayed flight and didn’t return the bags back after they reneged on their offer to pay us. I was really annoyed but luckily we pack a day’s worth of clothes and our toiletries in our backpacks just in case. Delta also reimburses you $50 a day per person your bags are delayed which meant a subsidized shopping spree for Joanna.
We found a Uniqlo a few subway stops from our hotel. I got a puffer jacket because I had packed my coat in my check in and it was snow showering and 40f, long sleeve shirt, and sleeping pants. I don’t know what Joanna got but it was a stack of clothes and we were still under the allotted amount thanks to fast fashion.
I found a decent ramen shop outside of the train station. Just needed something quick and warm to fill us up so we could check in to the hotel and sleep. This was like a 7/10 bowl of ramen but it warmed my soul. I love thin noodles but there was only one thin slice of pork. Broth was yummy though and I always give points to places that have garlic paste. Extra points if they have a sesame seed grinder.
BEST bowl of ramen I ever had was in Hong Kong though, seriously 11/10.
Checked into the hotel which was all self serve which was very efficient. Room is big enough to have a king sized bed and for you to walk around 2 sides of it. This is typical of business style hotels in Japan. It was $90 a night with free breakfast and a free shuttle to Disney in the morning so it was totally worth it.
We were supposed to have the one day of nothing to catch up on sleep and recover from jet lag but I took the flight delay compensation instead. We’re jumping right into our first full trip day tomorrow to go to Disneyland and then Disney Springs the next day.
I hope our luggage arrives tomorrow!
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