Iqaluit Bound

I spent the weekend at my Dad's house. I used my Via Preference points to buy my train ticket. This was my first time redeeming points for a free anything. The train ride was fine and all the sweeter because it was free.

The weekend wasn't very exciting. My father was hoping that we could take care of outdoor jobs, but it was cold and snowy all weekend. It felt like a real waste to me, but I think that my Dad was just happy to have some company. He was fasting on Sunday, so we couldn't do a lot since he had to stick pretty close to home because of the medication he had to take. His appointment on Monday was just routine and nothing to worry about.

I was planning to take the bus to Ottawa on Tuesday morning, but my Dad offered to drive me. I thought that that was a great idea, because it would allow me to take more stuff with me. Flights to the north allow you to check two 70lb bags. It makes no sense to me to take any less than that since everything is 2-3 times the price in the north. If I can save $300, then that reduces the price of my ticket.

Since my Dad had to work at 9:00, we had to leave his house at 5:30 in the morning. I was up at 5:00. I showered, let the dog out, loaded the car and had it warmed up by 5:45. My Dad slept in a little late so we didn't get out of the house until 5:50. The roads we icy so I found the drive a little stressful. The roads were dry by the time we hit the 417 in Ottawa.

My Dad dropped me off and I checked in. There is an understanding among those living in the north that luggage is always filled to the brim with supplies and is very heavy. I thought that there was an understanding that overweight bags are ignored. When I put my 90lb
bag down, the agent choked and told me that my bag was overweight. She would have to charge me a $53 fee. I wasn't angry, but just said, "If you have to charge me then you have to charge me." I put my other bag on the belt and it too was overweight, but only 5 lbs. Still, she charged me another $53. I paid the fee, but realized as I was waiting in the security screening queue that I should have transferred stuff from the one bag into the other so that I could have one underweight, and one way overweight. I kicked myself for wasting that $53.

When I got to the gate, I waited. I had been worrying about whether or not we would be able to land in Iqaluit. As early as Saturday, a blizzard had been forecast for Monday and Tuesday. I was relieved to see that the First Air flight was on time. I waited until my boarding call at 8:30. By 9:05, our plane was still not boarding. People all around me had been on the phone to friends in Iqaluit and were all speculating about the weather and the flight. At 9:30, the flight was cancelled.

Initially, I was excited about being able to save at least my $53, but was totally bummed out about the flight being cancelled. I noticed that the other flight to Iqaluit on Canadian North was not cancelled but was delayed three hours. That made a lot of sense since everything that I'd heard was that the blizzard was supposed to blow through in the afternoon. I decided that instead of waiting for the notoriously slow baggage carousel at the Ottawa airport, I would head to the Canadian North ticket desk.

I expected a huge queue of First Air passengers to be waiting, but I walked right up to the counter and asked if I could switch my now cancelled First Air flight over to the delayed Canadian North flight. They said that that would be fine, but that they were unsure as to whether or not the flight would also be cancelled: "Come back at 10:00."

I went over to the First Air desk and got my $106 back. At the very least, I did get that money back, and regardless of whether or not the plane left, I would have a huge inconvenience, but it was going to cost me significantly less than 106 bucks, or even the $53 that I would pay for one overweight bag. The funniest thing about it is that the food and drinks inside were still going to be a steal even with the $106 fee.

I hung around and made a few trips to the carousel, but still no baggage. At 10:00, the the CN agents said, "We're not sure. Come back at 10:30." I made a few more trips to check for my luggage.

At 10:30, the decision was again pushed back, this time to 12:00. I was encouraged as no news was probably good news. Eventually, my luggage did arrive and I loaded it onto a cart. I realized that I was hungry and got a BLT and some oatmeal-raisin cookies and a bottle of water from Tim Hortons.

I made sure to wash my hands as the cart handle was likely full of bacteria. The cart rolled nicely into the washroom which shouldn't have surprised me but did. They had this nice foaming soap.

I rolled my cart back to the seats near the Canadian North ticket desk and ate my sandwich. It wasn't bad, but the tomatoes were flavourless. I hate tomatoes in the winter.

I unpacked my smaller bag and loaded what I thought was about 12 pounds into my larger bag. I sat down proudly. I read my book for a while and revelled in the extra 53 bucks in my pocket.

The ticket agents were on the phone almost constantly, and a few people approached the desk. I became increasingly nervous that even if the plane did take-off that I wouldn't get a seat. At about 11:35, the flight was confirmed and was scheduled to leave at 1:15. I booked my ticket, but was, indeed, put on the standby list. There were 55 seats, and 51 confirmed passengers. I was just going to have to wait.

I loaded my now 100+ pound bag onto the belt. The agent put a tag onto the handle and slapped a "Standby" sticker onto it. Off it went down to the conveyor belt into the mystical underworkings of the airport. I put my second bag on, but because it was a box and not luggage (it contained a microwave filled with 4 bottles of cranberry juice which incidentally costs $11.99 a bottle here) I had to take it to special baggage security.

My mother was intensely honest, and, sometimes sadly, she gave that to me. I said to the agent, "These bags are heavy." He replied, "Don't say that loudly. Do you want me to charge you?" I said no, satisfied that he understood the situation and that I wasn't trying to rip them off. I hate it when people think that I'm dishonest. Sure, I was being dishonest by not paying for the overweight bag, but it wasn't like I was trying to get away with anything.

My microwave and box cleared security and I headed back down to security and, as before, I was asked to open my bag. They looked a second time at my camera, but this time confiscated my half a bottle of water. I had forgotten all about it, and felt like a fool for passing dozens of "No liquids" signs and not remembering that I had bought water with my breakfast/lunch. The lady was nice about it.

I went to my gate and read. I was more an more nervous as 12:45 approached and they hadn't asked for standby passengers to come to the desk. I probably should have gone up and said something, but decided that I didn't want to be a pain in their side. They'd had a rough day, too, and I figured that they weren't going to be too happy about being there four hours late. I decided that pestering them wasn't the best way to get a seat.

They preboarded, and then boarded the first rows. I stood up nervously to see what was happening at the desk. The woman who had seen me hanging around her desk all morning called my name and told me that my boarding pass was at the desk. I made a quick call to Iqaluit and then I was on the plane.

I was so relieved to actually be on the plane. I knew that it wasn't up in the air since we hadn't landed. The plan was to attempt a landing and then if it couldn't be done, we'd fly to Kujjuaaq, refuel, and then fly back to Ottawa. I figured that the chances of landing were better than sitting around doing nothing, and that even if I ended up back in Ottawa, at least I'd had some time to read a book, have some food, and some complimentary beverages. Hey, it would be an adventure!

They served us a choice between a hot or a cold breakfast which I thought was pretty funny. I decided that I wanted a drink so I had a beer for dessert. I felt a little bad about it, but I had found the whole thing very stressful.

The flight was relatively noneventful. The premier, Paul Okalik, sat in front of me and across the aisle. He seemed very nice and read a newspaper for most of the flight.

We landed without incident. It was -22 with a 40 km wind from the north. The walk across the tarmac was a real shock to the system. I ran with shorts the previous weekend!

Tonight is Wing Night, so we're going to the bar for drinks. It will be nice to see everyone again.