Ah, the joys of travel

It's 4:15 EDT as I write this.  I'm sitting in the Admiral's Club at RDU.  My itinerary had me leaving RDU at 2:40, arriving in JFK at 4:30, and flying first class to Paris on a 6:00 p.m. plane.  I paid a boatload of saved miles for a round-trip, first-class ticket, so the overseas flight would pass in comfort.

That was all before travel joy happened.

My flight is now scheduled to take off at 5:13 and arrive at 6:49.  I can live with that.  I spent more time at home, then passed more time waiting at the airport.  I don't mind waiting.  I have a laptop and tons to read, so that's fine.

My new flight to Paris leaves at 9:00 p.m., and now I'm due to arrive at 9:30 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m.  I can also live with that.  Unfortunately, I no longer have a first-class seat, nor do I have any ability to change that fact; I've already failed at doing so.  So, the flight will be later and now will suck vastly more--and I'll still have paid for something I'm not getting.

At this point, I'm focusing on making it to Europe.  After that, I'll deal with the rest.  

***

Now, it's 7:27 EDT, and I'm ensconced in a wonderful hotel in Paris.  I'll have to fight for a refund on my miles when I'm back in early May, but for now I'm happy simply to be done traveling.  I was lucky enough to score an exit row seat, so at least I had leg room.  The flight passed quickly, customs in Paris was as simple and quick as I've ever experienced, and the taxi was a Mercedes; I cannot complain about anything since I hit the ground.

I did not, though, sleep on the plane, so I am off to take a nap.