Visiting Steve’s sister Shana was fun, but everything around it wasn’t.

To begin, we got a phone call in the middle of the night to tell us that our first flight was canceled and replaced by a flight an hour later. Ok, no big deal, we get an extra hour of sleep.

I tried to check-in online before we left in the morning. Little did I know, I was using the wrong browser to do so. I couldn’t print our boarding passes because I was using FireFox. I tried to trick it into using the proper margins, but nothing would work. I eventually gave up and figured they could print them for us at the front desk. I sent a note to US Airways (America West) support stating that they should make the site work for both FireFox and IE – like most user friendly sites out there on the web.

Next, the new flight we were given didn’t take off on time, so when we arrived in Las Vegas for our layover we had to run to our gate for the next flight.

On the flight to Denver however, we had quite a treat. Next to us was Paul, a conservationist full of extremely interesting stories and viewpoints. Steve and I talked to him the entire time and the conversation made the flight just fly by (hee hee, pun). We exchanged info and plan on getting together next time either of us is in the other’s area.

Once we were in Denver and had given each Shana hugs, we trekked back to her apartment through terrible weather and traffic, which she said was extremely rare. It reminded me of Cleveland weather and traffic. Normally I guess Denver is warm and pleasant in the winter. The drive took about as long as our flight!

Hanging out over the next few days was fun. Shana and Derrick took us to their favorite restaurants and hang outs. We visited the Denver art museum. Saw a couple of local bands play some good music. And we all went to see Steve’s friend who lives in the Boulder area. Overall we just hung out because it was too cold to really do anything.

All of that was fun. Seeing Shana, Derrick and their pups was great.

Half way through the trip Steve and I were coughing and starting to feel achy all over. We both caught the flu. So on the way home all we wanted to do was sleep.

Our first flight was fine and uneventful. At the Las Vegas airport we had to switch planes and airlines, which is a tremendous pain. I highly recommend you avoid this if possible. We had to leave the security area and cross the airport to go through security again.

Now for the grand finale, after landing at SFO we went down to the baggage claim. We watched that thing go around and around, happy people were grabbing their bags and leaving, while we stood waiting and waiting. Alas we decided that it was lost due to the airline switch (another reason I highly recommend you don’t do that). We filed a claim with United, and they blamed US Airways (America West), saying that they probably lost it and it’s still sitting in Vegas.

When we got home we called US Airways. The person that answered the phone was one of the most unhelpful people I’ve ever spoken to. He could not track our bag because it was the last airlines fault. He supposedly couldn’t even look for it in the system anywhere. He said we needed to make a claim with US Airways to track it on their end. And he told us to go back to the airport to do it. We both spoke to him (I was getting extremely aggravated) and Steve asked to speak to his supervisor, he couldn’t oblige.

After hanging up with that nitwit I called again and got someone else. I simply asked if the bag had been passed into United’s hands and he said it had, in Vegas. That was all I needed to know, why couldn’t the first dipshit tell me that?

Our bag was still MIA until tonight. It had our personal effects in it, and it’s misplacement caused a huge inconvenience (for one night anyway). This is a first for me, and I can’t tell you how annoying it is, wondering if you will ever get your stuff back. I truly hope this never happens to you, and that if it does, you get your stuff back as well.

And to follow up on the US Airways support, they responded with:

Please refer to the linked page below for information about using USAirways.com with your MAC.
http://www2.usairways.com/awa/content/systemrequirements.aspx

I never mentioned a MAC, I don’t use one. And they’re trying to force me use a specific browser, instead of accommodating many platforms and browsers. Way to go US Airways, your site sucks and I plan on never flying with you again. Thanks a lot for being so helpful both on the phone and online.