April 9
Saturday….April 4….We got up at three am to drive to the airport...we dropped off the car at the parking spot…rode the bus to the terminal....and went to the USAir ticket counter. I handed the agent our passports. She looked at the passports and said… Steve...your passport is expired. He said...what? She said...it expired February 25.....
We looked at each other and said….Omg...what do we do? She said…let me make a phone call. A few minutes later she said…Ok ...you can go. SXM will accept you. You are cleared all the way through to SXM. We went to the admirals club to wait for our flight.
We had used Frequent Flier miles to book first class all the way to SXM.
We boarded the plane...landed in Charlotte...went to the gate to board the flight to St. Martin. The ticket agent said….Your passport is expired Steve. You cannot go.
Steve said yes I know it is expired but they called in St. Louis and cleared it all the way to SXM.
She said...Let me get the supervisor. Mr. Supervisor came to the desk and questioned us. Finally he looked on the computer and there was indeed a note that said we were cleared to go. He made a call. As we listened ...we heard him say…so you are telling me they can come? Well… you put your name on it because I am not going to be responsible for sending these people out of the country on an expired passport. He turned to us and said… I am sorry...you folks are going back to STL. Give me your luggage tags. I gave him the tags for our three bags.
He got our luggage off of the plane and booked us back to STL….coach of course. I thought it was rude of him to not ask us what we wanted to do. I could have gone on to SXM alone…my passport was not expired. Or we could have stayed in Charlotte and had the passport expedited there. But he made the decision for us.
So…We went to the admirals club to wait for our flight back to St. Louis....I called our travel agent, Jim Ruos to tell him what had happened. I called Alain Arnell at the rental car company in SXM. I called Fast passports…a company I found online that expedites passports...and I talked to a man named David…located in Miami.
I started the process to get a new passport. I filled out the paperwork on line…gave him my credit card number and downloaded the form and the address label for FEDEX. He promised delivery of the passport for Tuesday morning. I paid $345 plus $170 to the government. So Steve went back to USAIR to rebook the flight for Wednesday. They booked us coach and said there were no first class seats available.
We landed in STL at 12:15 pm. We went to pick up our luggage. NO LUGGAGE! We filled out the paperwork for the three missing bags. We took the bus back to the parking spot…picked up the car and headed to FedEx. We had until 3:00 to get a passport picture taken ($16) and to mail the paperwork.
We picked up the dog and came back home….heartbroken but hopeful.
About 7 pm…the phone rang. It was USAir in SXM. Our luggage had arrived and she wanted to know what I wanted her to do with it. She would hold it or send it home. I told her to send it home…..HUGE MISTAKE!
Sunday April 5…About 3:00 pm….SXM airport called and said our luggage had been put on the 2:40 flight to Charlotte and would arrive in STL at 8:59 pm. We drove back to the airport to get the luggage. Once again…..NO LUGGAGE.
Monday April 6… About 8 am…I called David at Fast passports. He was panicked….I had failed to send the federal application for the passport renewal. Steve went to the government site…filled out the application and printed it and we headed back to FEDEX. It was another $80 fee to send the application overnight.
STL airport called and said the luggage arrived and it was delivered at 2 pm. We had some missing items…and a broken zipper…but we were glad it had finally arrived. We went to Walmart and bought new luggage. I repacked…removing 4 days’ worth of clothes.
Tuesday April 7…I called David at fast passports. He said all the paperwork had been delivered to the state department and he would not know that the passport had been processed until about 5pm. The only way we could make our 7:50 am flight the Wednesday morning was to have the passport sent Southwest cargo for $145. So we booked the Hilton at the airport. We dropped off the dog and drove up to the Hilton and checked in about 3:00. We sat around the Hilton honors executive lounge drinking. About 5:00…David texted that the passport had been released and would arrive at the southwest cargo terminal at 12:15 am. We went to bed about 10 to sleep a little before going to pick up the passport. We arrived at the cargo terminal and were very relieved to open the box to find a brand new passport. It took us 4 days and $1000. We went back to the hotel and went back to bed.
Wednesday…April 8 our 43rd Anniversary (Yellow day)…we got up at 5:30….took the car to Parking spot…rode the bus to the airport and checked in at USAir. The passport worked GREAT! We flew to Charlotte….got there just in time to check in and board the flight to SXM.
We arrived in SXM at 3:15….got the luggage and TRIPLE AAA was there to meet us to take us to get the car. We got the car, drove to the resort
went to le Testivan for dinner. Steve had scallops and shrimp and I had escargot in a puff pastry and foie gras. It was all very good.
Read MoreWe looked at each other and said….Omg...what do we do? She said…let me make a phone call. A few minutes later she said…Ok ...you can go. SXM will accept you. You are cleared all the way through to SXM. We went to the admirals club to wait for our flight.
We had used Frequent Flier miles to book first class all the way to SXM.
We boarded the plane...landed in Charlotte...went to the gate to board the flight to St. Martin. The ticket agent said….Your passport is expired Steve. You cannot go.
Steve said yes I know it is expired but they called in St. Louis and cleared it all the way to SXM.
She said...Let me get the supervisor. Mr. Supervisor came to the desk and questioned us. Finally he looked on the computer and there was indeed a note that said we were cleared to go. He made a call. As we listened ...we heard him say…so you are telling me they can come? Well… you put your name on it because I am not going to be responsible for sending these people out of the country on an expired passport. He turned to us and said… I am sorry...you folks are going back to STL. Give me your luggage tags. I gave him the tags for our three bags.
He got our luggage off of the plane and booked us back to STL….coach of course. I thought it was rude of him to not ask us what we wanted to do. I could have gone on to SXM alone…my passport was not expired. Or we could have stayed in Charlotte and had the passport expedited there. But he made the decision for us.
So…We went to the admirals club to wait for our flight back to St. Louis....I called our travel agent, Jim Ruos to tell him what had happened. I called Alain Arnell at the rental car company in SXM. I called Fast passports…a company I found online that expedites passports...and I talked to a man named David…located in Miami.
I started the process to get a new passport. I filled out the paperwork on line…gave him my credit card number and downloaded the form and the address label for FEDEX. He promised delivery of the passport for Tuesday morning. I paid $345 plus $170 to the government. So Steve went back to USAIR to rebook the flight for Wednesday. They booked us coach and said there were no first class seats available.
We landed in STL at 12:15 pm. We went to pick up our luggage. NO LUGGAGE! We filled out the paperwork for the three missing bags. We took the bus back to the parking spot…picked up the car and headed to FedEx. We had until 3:00 to get a passport picture taken ($16) and to mail the paperwork.
We picked up the dog and came back home….heartbroken but hopeful.
About 7 pm…the phone rang. It was USAir in SXM. Our luggage had arrived and she wanted to know what I wanted her to do with it. She would hold it or send it home. I told her to send it home…..HUGE MISTAKE!
Sunday April 5…About 3:00 pm….SXM airport called and said our luggage had been put on the 2:40 flight to Charlotte and would arrive in STL at 8:59 pm. We drove back to the airport to get the luggage. Once again…..NO LUGGAGE.
Monday April 6… About 8 am…I called David at Fast passports. He was panicked….I had failed to send the federal application for the passport renewal. Steve went to the government site…filled out the application and printed it and we headed back to FEDEX. It was another $80 fee to send the application overnight.
STL airport called and said the luggage arrived and it was delivered at 2 pm. We had some missing items…and a broken zipper…but we were glad it had finally arrived. We went to Walmart and bought new luggage. I repacked…removing 4 days’ worth of clothes.
Tuesday April 7…I called David at fast passports. He said all the paperwork had been delivered to the state department and he would not know that the passport had been processed until about 5pm. The only way we could make our 7:50 am flight the Wednesday morning was to have the passport sent Southwest cargo for $145. So we booked the Hilton at the airport. We dropped off the dog and drove up to the Hilton and checked in about 3:00. We sat around the Hilton honors executive lounge drinking. About 5:00…David texted that the passport had been released and would arrive at the southwest cargo terminal at 12:15 am. We went to bed about 10 to sleep a little before going to pick up the passport. We arrived at the cargo terminal and were very relieved to open the box to find a brand new passport. It took us 4 days and $1000. We went back to the hotel and went back to bed.
Wednesday…April 8 our 43rd Anniversary (Yellow day)…we got up at 5:30….took the car to Parking spot…rode the bus to the airport and checked in at USAir. The passport worked GREAT! We flew to Charlotte….got there just in time to check in and board the flight to SXM.
We arrived in SXM at 3:15….got the luggage and TRIPLE AAA was there to meet us to take us to get the car. We got the car, drove to the resort
went to le Testivan for dinner. Steve had scallops and shrimp and I had escargot in a puff pastry and foie gras. It was all very good.
