Off to Edinburgh: The flight that wasn’t

 August 11

We arrived at YEG with plenty of time to spare, but it wasn't long before we received a notice that our flight to Calgary was going to be 15 minutes late. Fifteen minutes became 20, then 25 minutes, but when we boarded, the gate staff told me we would probably make it in time for our connecting flight to Edinburgh.

However, once on the plane, we sat... and sat. Finally, there was an announcement about a circuit breaker and resultant paperwork.

We finally took off 45 minutes behind schedule.

As we were preparing to land in Calgary, they asked passengers to wait and allow the ten people who were connecting to Edinburgh to get off first, but then just as we were leaving the plane, we heard another announcement: Passengers booked on the flight to Edinburgh, please pick up your baggage at the carousel and go to the departures desk. 

As we were waiting for our bags, I looked at my app and saw that our flight was now scheduled for August 12 (instead of the 11th).

That was bad enough, but then we had to wait in line for half and hour before we could talk to someone to find out what was going on. We did end up getting hotel and meal vouchers, so we took a shuttle to the Sandman Hotel. By this time, the girls were starving, so we ordered some food from Moxie's to pick up later. I took them up to the room and went down to get the food. When I tried to pay with the meal voucher from WestJet, it was declined, so I had to pay with my own credit card!

The toilet in our room had some issues, but I have to give credit where credit is due -- they did fix it quickly and thoroughly.

The flight to Edinburgh was scheduled for 7:15 pm, so we had some time to fill. We decided to walk to Sunridge Mall. Marcus was working from home and was able to pick us up at about 3:30, so he took us back to the hotel to get our bags, and then drove us to the airport.

The girls were happy to have a window seat for the 7-hour flight.

The plane took off on time -- or 24 hours late, depending on how you look at it.

I received an email from the hotel in Edinburgh -- I was too late to cancel the reservation, so had to pay for the room. Fingers crossed that I can get money for that either from WestJet or from my credit card travel insurance.