Got up at 4am this morning for my 7am flight to JFK. Sailed through security and customs and waited in the AA lounge for a bit before heading to the gate. Apparently our plane had a ‘small’ maintenance issue and we would be delayed for 5-10 mins. Fast forward an hour and our flight is cancelled. Everyone was instructed to head to the AA CS counter to get re-booked. On my way there I called CS and was re-booked on the 10:30 flight within 5 mins and headed back up to the lounge. This is exactly the reason why I like to fly to a stopover airport several hours (in some cases 24 hours) before an international flight. There were so many people that had connections that were in a panic because they had to find 2 new flights. Oh also another reason why I don’t check luggage anymore because who knows when those that did will be reunited with theirs?
Speaking of luggage, the guy that I sat beside at the gate was muttering to himself “this is not good” over and over. He went up to the gate agent (GA) and asked to have his carry-on returned to him (he gate-checked it); the GA said no and they went back and forth for several mins before he sat down beside me again. This happened another 3 times before the man told the GA that his passport was in his carry-on (who does that?); the GA said they’d retrieve his carry-on. Within 10 mins his carry-on was brought to him (with GA standing over him watching him) and he rummaged through it and got his passport, then closed it up and thanked them. Except they insisted that they had to take it back to the plane because there wouldn’t be room in the overhead bin once his boarding group was called (I wanted to ask why he couldn’t put it under the seat in front of him but kept my mouth closed). He argued some more and they took his bag away. He was told that he would be able to pick it up at Haneda. Unbelievably he went to the GA again and asked for his carry-on and he was told ‘no’ and to sit down and he argued some more. At this point the GA said if he didn’t sit down then he would be escorted out of the airport (frankly I’m surprised they hadn’t called security yet). He finally sat down but was still muttering to himself. What a bizarre situation.
Hopefully the 10:30am flight gets off the ground safely.
Plans for NYC: head to Saks to purchase $50 GC (AmEx plat credit), then order pickup on UberEats to make use of $35 AmEx credit. Also see the tree at Rockefeller Ctr and visit the Christmas market at Bryant Park.
and I hope you can get back to your love of adventure in time 
