After surviving a Lufthansa strike and scrambling to rebook our flights to Germany, I thought the hard part was over.
It wasn’t.
In Part 1 of this saga, I explained how our original Lufthansa flights to Hamburg were canceled due to the strike and how Aeroplan managed to rebook us onto a United flight to Frankfurt instead. While arriving in Frankfurt and taking a five-hour train ride to Hamburg wasn’t exactly the start to our vacation we had envisioned, at least we still had a way to get to Germany.
Or so we thought.
Things actually started out well
For once, travel day seemed to be cooperating with us.
Our check-in at Orlando International Airport went surprisingly smoothly. Even though we were now flying on United instead of Lufthansa, our checked bags were tagged all the way to Germany. We even got a refund for the checked bag fee, which I honestly wasn’t expecting.
After arriving at Washington Dulles, we met up with our friends, who were traveling on a separate reservation. Since we still had several hours before departure, we decided to make the most of the situation and spend our layover at the Etihad Airways Chase Sapphire Lounge. Honestly, not a terrible way to wait out a long layover.
As boarding time approached, we made our way to the gate, which happened to be in one of the more depressing corners of Dulles Airport. But at that point, we didn’t care. We were finally heading to Germany.
Eventually, we boarded the aircraft, settled into our seats, and prepared for the overnight flight to Frankfurt.
Something didn’t feel right
Once we were in the air, I connected to the onboard Wi-Fi and started getting some last-minute work done before trying to sleep. That’s when something occurred to me.
We were already close to an hour into a late-night transatlantic flight, and the meal service hadn’t started yet.
Normally airlines try to complete dinner service as quickly as possible on overnight flights so passengers can get some sleep. Since I don’t usually fly economy on these types of flights, I figured maybe they were simply working through the cabin slowly. It wasn’t like I was eagerly awaiting the food anyway.
But then I noticed something else.
We were turning.
Not just a minor course correction across the Atlantic, either. We appeared to be flying south, which was definitely not the direction we should’ve been heading.
So I pulled up FlightAware using the onboard Wi-Fi.
That’s when I saw it.
Our flight was listed as DIVERTED, and we were heading back to Washington Dulles.
WTF? Seriously?
Eventually, the captain came on the PA system and explained there was an issue with the aircraft. Apparently, the crew had hoped to resolve the problem while airborne, but they ultimately determined the aircraft couldn’t safely continue across the Atlantic and had to return to Washington.
The initial message from United was optimistic. Another aircraft would supposedly be waiting for us at Dulles so we could continue on to Germany later that night. But by this point, it was approaching midnight Eastern Time, and I had my doubts.
Still, I crossed my fingers.
Before landing, we spent quite a while circling over Long Island, dumping fuel. Fun fact: if you’re seated near the wing, you can actually smell it.
Eventually, we landed back at Dulles and deplaned, where we were told a replacement crew would hopefully get us on our way shortly. I’m sure you can already guess where this story is going.
The 2AM scramble
About an hour later, around 2AM, the flight was officially canceled.
Now several hundred passengers from a completely full Boeing 777-200 were suddenly trying to find new flights, locate hotel rooms, figure out what was happening with their bags, and get help from overwhelmed customer service agents.
While most passengers immediately lined up to speak with United agents, I went into full damage-control mode and opened the United app. Fortunately, the same flight the following night still had seats available, so I immediately told our friends — who were traveling on a separate reservation — to pull up the app and grab seats before they disappeared.
Thankfully, we managed to secure some of the last remaining seats before availability vanished. Many other passengers weren’t nearly as lucky.
The next problem was sleep.
By now, it was after 2AM, and we still needed somewhere to stay for the night. Since all of us had travel insurance that should cover overnight delay expenses, I wasn’t particularly focused on price. I just needed rooms.
While standing in a customer service line that hadn’t moved in at least 20 minutes, I started calling nearby hotels. Since I knew Hyatt properties often offer late checkout, I started there first. Unfortunately, every nearby Hyatt property was already booked solid, which wasn’t exactly surprising considering several international flights had just gone sideways at Dulles.
So I pivoted and started calling IHG properties instead.
Eventually, I reached a nearby Staybridge Suites, and amazingly, they still had rooms available. Since we were traveling as two couples, I asked whether they happened to have a two-bedroom suite available. Amazingly, they actually did.
There was just one catch.
The front desk agent explained that at 2AM their overnight system reboot was running, so she couldn’t officially assign the room to me yet. At that point I basically begged her not to give it away, and thankfully she promised she’d hold it for us.
Around the same time, United agents announced that passengers who had already rebooked through the app would automatically have their checked bags moved onto their new flights. Fortunately we all had carry-on bags with enough essentials for the overnight delay because retrieving checked luggage from the aircraft would apparently take several more hours.
At that point we gave up on the barely moving customer service line, headed to the Uber pickup area, and escaped the airport.
And to their credit, the Staybridge Suites staff absolutely came through for us. Not only had they saved the room, but the two-bedroom suite included a living room, kitchen, and noon checkout — exactly what four exhausted travelers needed after an incredibly long day.
After finally getting some sleep, we woke up just in time to completely miss the free breakfast. Honestly, after everything that had happened, none of us cared.
After thanking the hotel staff for helping save our sanity at 2AM, we checked out and realized we still had hours before our replacement flight. So naturally, we headed to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport.
And honestly, it’s really cool — no matter what Sharon says.
The museum even offers free luggage lockers, which made wandering around much easier, and we grabbed Shake Shack while we were there, which ended up being our first real meal in quite a while.
Heading back to the airport, we noticed United had reassigned our seats. Instead of the extra-legroom seats we originally paid for, we were now scattered across middle seats in the center section of the economy cabin.
At that point, though, we didn’t really care anymore.
At least United automatically refunded the extra-legroom upgrade fees.
Back to the same gate
So about 24 hours later than planned — and after a stop at the Turkish Airlines Lounge because, at that point, why not try a different lounge? — we found ourselves heading back to the exact same gate for another attempt at getting to Germany.
It wasn’t how we planned to start this trip, but at least we were finally back on a plane.
Of course, this still wasn’t the end of the saga.
Remember when United told us our checked bags would automatically be moved onto our new flight?
Well, that turned out to be true for most of our group.
But when I checked my Apple AirTag, I noticed my suitcase wasn’t at Dulles, getting loaded onto our replacement flight.
It was sitting at Newark Airport.
Just… chilling.
More on that adventure in Part 3.
Final Thought
One canceled flight is stressful enough. But when your replacement flight also fails, you quickly learn how important travel apps, lounge access, travel insurance, flexible hotel bookings, and even simple things like AirTags can become.
At some point, the goal stops being having a perfect trip and becomes simply finding a way to keep the trip alive.
And somehow, despite everything, we were still heading to Germany.
Related:
- Part 1: How a Lufthansa Strike Almost Ruined Our Germany Trip
- Part 3: The Saga of My Missing Suitcase in Germany
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
