I had planned to start a vacation today. I found a great bargain for an off-season hotel on the beach in Cancun, Mexico, along with an airfare on JetBlue that was too good to ignore. I packed my bag last night and was ready to go to the airport this morning. Then a lady named Irene interfered.
Actually, this was no lady. It was a hurricane.
The weather is beautiful this morning where I live and reportedly is even better in Cancun. However, air travel is snarled in many places as Hurricane Irene is pounding the mid-Atlantic states. While the local airport is open and some flights are operating, JetBlue doesn't have an available aircraft to make the flight.
After making several telephone calls, I have given up. JetBlue cannot guarantee when their schedule will return to normal but obviously things will be in turmoil for several more days. At that point, all seats are expected to be booked, even overbooked, as thousands of stranded passengers attempt to return home. In other words, I probably won't get a seat for 3 to 5 days. That really shortens a 7-day vacation!
I gave up. I'm staying home.
