After a very smooth trip to DC and then on to Paris, disaster struck. We showed up early for our flight and boarded. Everything was fine. Then, just prior to pushing back from the gate, the pilot announced that we would be delayed 10-15 minutes so they could run some tests...
Three hours later they had everyone deplane. But they did it incorrectly, so we had to go back through a special security line to get back to the gate to re-board the aircraft. This special security line had to be created, so we didn't make it back into gate area for another three hours. At which time they had just run out of sandwiches and water (and then lied to me that they were not giving out water or sandwiches at the gate even though I had seen this with my own eyes), so we had to settle for a nauseating salami sandwich from the airport restaurant. An unfortunate last meal in Paris...
But we were ready to hop on the flight and go to Montreal. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at 8pm. 100 of the 300 people on board missed their connection, so they split us up and told us we would be on the first flight out tomorrow morning (more on this later). They then had us get in line for customs. Luckily we found a lane with no line off to the far left, so we didn't have to wait in the 2-hour line for most people.
Unfortunately, our baggage was as slow as the regular customs line. So we waited for a few hours for our bags to come off the plane. In the meantime, I checked our flight and was horrified to find that we had actually been booked on a flight two days later without a confirmed seat. So I passed the time chatting with a reservations agent (who was polite, but powerless to get us on the next day's nonstop flight but was able to book us on a connecting flight through vancouver) and then a "supervisor" who was full of can't. As in "I can't do that." Even though there were business-class seats on the flight we wanted, she can't upgrade. Basically, as a supervisor they can't do anything more than a regular person. Very upsetting. Asked for a refund or compensation, but again she can't do that. So we accepted our fate, picked up our bags and headed for the airport shuttle. Unfortunately, the other hundred people who missed their connection were staying at the same hotel so we were in for a long wait for the 10-person hotel van.
In short, Montreal's airport is the worst I have ever experienced. Passport control, baggage claim, and ground transport were all total chaos. Ours was the only flight to be delayed, so I can only conclude that it is the worst-designed and implemented airport known to man. To top it off, everything was still in French (with English subtitles). Apparently this part of Canada isn't like America.
We finally arrived at the hotel a little after midnight, which meant that we couldn't use our "meal" voucher in the hotel restaurant. Luckily the front desk gave us a break and let us buy snack foods. Later arrivals from our flight were sent home hungry. And our flight the next day was early, so we weren't able to use our breakfast voucher either.
(ended up getting breakfast at the airport...)
My hour-long chat with the supervisor must have paid off, since when we arrived at the airport the next day they had booked us on the nonstop flight we desired. So I bought some maple cream cookies for my coworkers and we flew home. Only delayed by 17 hours! We could have flown nonstop from Paris to San Francisco, back to Paris, and then back to San Francisco in the time it took us to fly on Air Canada from Paris to San Francisco.
**On a lighter note: in the midst of steam and fume, we felt our little tomato kick for the first time ^_^ (after we ate the ice cream from the snack bar). Welcome to the family little one!
