Every so often, I make a round to multiple people who are geographically near each other. This time they are also reasonably near me as my trip will take me from my home in the Dallas area down to the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi, TX. Along the way I will stop in Georgetown, San Antonio and Victoria. This trip also requires me to leave on Sunday as I am expected in Georgetown on Monday morning.
Here's an overview of the full route
I normally don't fly Southwest because the airport is much further from my house than if I fly one of the other major airlines. Also, as I have mentioned in the past, you cannot fly Southwest out of Dallas non-stop unless the state touches Texas. My original plan for this trip was to rent a car and drive it one-way to Corpus and fly back from there.
When David and I drove to Baltimore in March, we did a one-way rental and were not charged a "drop fee", the fee charged for taking the car from one place and leaving it in another. However, the drop fee to go from Dallas to Corpus is, in my opinion, cost prohibitive. My next idea was to fly so, enter Southwest. I could fly to San Antonio, drive back to Georgetown, finish in Corpus and then drive back to San Antonio to fly home. No drop fee.
I purchase my ticket, or so I think. I never receive my email confirmation. When I return home to do laundry and repack for this trip, I go to the Southwest website and try to locate my ticket by name and credit card number (it has now been 4 days since I purchased the ticket) but they tell me there is no ticket for that card. I email my office to see if they can check my bill. I don't hear back that day (Friday). What to do?
Because I would be renting a car anyway and I assume I just didn't complete the transaction on Southwest, I rent a car here to drive the entire trip. The cost is not much more than it would have been to pick it up in San Antonio and go from there and I don't want to buy another airline ticket at this point. I know, I know...some of you are thinking, just buy the ticket already. We will discuss this in a future post but I have personal issues that prevent this.
On Sunday, I start leg 1 - Dallas to Georgetown, 184 miles. I don't really want to leave early but if I have to go on Sunday, I might as well try to see something on the way.
This route will take me through Waco, home to the Dr Pepper Museum and...
The Branch Davidian compound.
On February 28, 1993 a siege of this compound was started when the ATF attempted to execute a search warrant. A gunfight ensued and 4 agents and 6 men living at compound were killed. The FBI waited, attempting to force them out by "sleep and peace disruption" like blaring Achy-Breaky Heart over loud speakers. On day 51, the siege ended after a fire broke out killing 76 people inside, including leader David Koresh.
There is a memorial behind the stone above that lists the names of residents of the compound that were killed (not the ATF Agents).
Reading some of the names makes it very clear how the people creating this memorial felt. There are 2 blocks with "Aborted Fetus" listed on them as two of the women killed were pregnant.
Today, there isn't much out here. The property is about 9 miles outside of town and part of the road the compound is on isn't paved (I missed it the first time I went by).
Next time, I will talk about my trip to the Dr Pepper Museum. A much less depressing and embarrassing part of Waco's history.
Wondering what happened with my ticket on Southwest? It was on my credit card bill. I called them once I returned home not expecting to have a positive outcome even though their Cheif Marketing Officer spoke at our conference this year and made it seem like they are different than their peers.
Turns out, they are. The woman found the information, sent me the receipt (apparently I put the wrong email address) and told me I have a credit for the full amount of the ticket I can use anytime in the next 6 months. She never put me on hold and never transferred me. I might have to start flying them more often.
No comments:
Post a Comment