Every now and then, even the best of us does really stupid stuff. Thursday, February 1 was my day.
I was headed home from Paris after a good set of meetings…all I had to do was get to the airport on time.
We were booked on Air France 332, leaving CDG at 1:15pm. The instructions said the check-in deadline was 12:15pm. I’ve even got proof. Here’s a snippet from the itinerary:
1:15 PM Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) – France – Terminal 2E
Deadline for check-in : 12:15 PM
3:00 PM Boston, Logan Intl (BOS) MA – Usa
So, when does stuff run on time in France? Apparently only when the taxi you ordered for 10am shows up at 11:05am when you have to get from the Eiffel Tower to CDG in 70 minutes. We saw the taxi arrive just as we were running to the Metro to take the train.
It took us exactly 73 minutes…we arrived breathless at the gate at 12:18pm and were denied boarding. Worse, we were told that the real deadline was 11am…that the reservation system was wrong. Who knew?
That 3 minute miss cost me another 24 hours in Paris…and the searing crticism of my client who pronounced the whole episode “bush league.”
Ouch. Frickin’ mega OUCH.
I pride myself on being a wizened world-traveler. Though this was the first time I’ve missed a plane in over 20 years, it still makes you feel stupid.
The next day the check-in agents appeared to have pity on us. The plane wasn’t full and they put us upstairs (AF has economy-class seats upstairs on its 747-400s. That quiet, spacious upper deck is usually business class on other airlines.) I had a whole row to myself…and 7 hours 45 minutes of time to consider how expensive three minutes can be.
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