If travel karma can be banked ...

Wed Jun 5	5771   Operated by AirTran # 0771	Depart NEW YORK LAGUARDIA (LGA) on AirTran at 5:34 PM Arrive in ATLANTA GA (ATL) at 7:56 PM

I was scheduled to arrive San Antonio at 10:35PM

Pulled these alerts from my iPhone ...

SWA gate change for Flight 5771 from LGA. Your new gate is B8. Check airport monitor for update.

Due to weather, we circled ATL until we needed gas and had to divert.  We landed in Augusta, GA, filled up and then waited (on the plane) until given go ahead.  Then flew to ATL.

SWA Flt 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL has changed. New estimated departure is 9:50PM. We encourage you to check Flight Status at: www.southwest.com/status.

 

 

SWA Flt 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL has changed. New estimated departure is 11:05PM. We encourage you to check Flight Status at: www.southwest.com/status.

 

 

SWA Flt 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL has changed. New estimated departure is 10:50PM. We encourage you to check Flight Status at: www.southwest.com/status.

 

 

SWA Flt 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL has changed. New estimated departure is 11:12PM. We encourage you to check Flight Status at: www.southwest.com/status.

 

 

SWA Flt 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL has changed. New estimated departure is 11:45PM. We encourage you to check Flight Status at: www.southwest.com/status.

 

 

SWA gate change for Flight 6021 from ATL. Your new gate is D2. Check airport monitor for update.

 

 

SWA Flt 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL has changed. New estimated departure is 12:10AM. We encourage you to check Flight Status at: www.southwest.com/status.

At this point, we were boarded and sat on a hot plane for almost an hour waiting on the flight crew. Pilots got on, we pulled away from gate and then ...

 

SWA Flight 6021 on Jun 5 from ATL is cancelled. Call us at 1-800-435-9792

• We pulled back to gate and unloaded.
• Sat in gate area -- all 137 of us -- until gate operations could figure out what to do with us.
• Announced we were all on a newly created flight the next morning at 7:30AM.
• We scattered to various AirTran desks to get our new tickets and hotel voucher.
• Headed to hotel shuttle in ATL ground transportation.  Waited almost an hour for the shuttle.
• Crammed way too many people on the one bus and headed to the Microtel.
• The hotel staffed shuttled us into the breakfast room to sit until they could check us in .. one at a time.

 

• After another hour, and less than 5 check-ins (there were others at the hotel waiting when we got there) -- they announced there were no more rooms.
• Loaded us back on the shuttle bus and back to ATL
• It was about 4AM by now.
• ATL airport was deserted until I got to the gate area -- people were sleeping everywhere.

 

 

Travel has worked great for me lately but this trip went way wrong.  I am hoping I have banked quite a bit of good travel karma with this experience.