ToM ----> HOME
As mentioned in the previous post, we had an early flight from Montevideo (6:15 am) that put us in Lima, Peru at 9:30. Our next flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 1:10am (the next day), so we had a full day to explore the city.
After getting up at 3 am and spending a full day walking around Lima, we were exhausted. We headed back to the airport around 7pm, thinking we would just hang out in the airport lounge. Unfortunately, there wasn't a representative from United Airlines just yet, so we couldn't check in to get to the lounge. We found a spot to hang out and I signed up for the free 30 minute wifi to check on our flight, since it wasn't listed on any of the boards. I found our flight and discovered it was now delayed until 2:30 am. Not good. Our next connection was only 2 hours so we were definitely going to miss it.
I got on Skype and called United. After going through the 5 minute recording and talking to a real person, I got put on hold.... And then I got disconnected. I called back and went through the whole thing again. A representative was in the process of helping me and then my 30 minutes of wifi expired.
Blake signed up for the wifi and started to dowload Skype. It took 15 minutes to get it download and get me signed in before I was able to call someone. After another 10 minutes of getting through the recording and sitting on hold, I was connected to someone. The representative started to help me and then we were disconnected from the 30 minute wifi again. Ah!!!!
So, we found a store in the airport and purchased 2 hours of wifi for $5. It's a good thing we got the 2 hours because it almost took me that long to figure everything out with the United representative. He determined that there was one other flight leaving from Lima in 2 hours that would put us in Newark, NJ at 7am. Then we would have an hour and a half to catch a flight to Chicago, to then make our flight to Moline. We got all the confirmation info, scrambled to pick up our bags from luggage storage, and waited in line to check in.
We made it to the airport lounge with 30 minutes to spare until our flight started boarding. We were desperate to take showers and were definitely going to take advantage of the showers in the lounge. The lounge was packed but we were both able to squeeze in a shower just in time. What a luxury! To be able to change our clothes into something warmer and be fresh for the long commute back to Moline. ***If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you get a free Priority Pass membership to over 1000 lounges worldwide.
The flight to Newark was 8 hours and we were stuck in the exit row with seats that didn't recline. It's not like airplane seats recline very much, but trust me, it makes a difference! We both kept falling forward and didn't get much sleep at all.
We got through immigration in Newark, no problem. After picking up our bags and dropping them off again, we went through security and found our gate just as they started boarding. Due to strong winds and a traffic backup, we sat on the plane for an hour and half before taking off. Now we were going to miss our flight to Moline! I called United while sitting on the plane and changed our tickets to a later flight.
We landed in Chicago just as our original flight to Moline was taking off. :( We now had 4 hours to kill until the next flight. I had 2 free passes to the United Lounge (another credit card perk), so we pulled ourselves together and checked in. The free wifi, beverages, and excellent lunch buffet helped improve our spirits. The only thing that could disappoint would be another delay.
And that's exactly what happened. It was only an hour delay this time, but we just wanted to get home and see our family! It had now been about 40 hours since we left our hotel in Uruguay to start the journey home. We landed in Moline just after 7pm and headed to my parents house to see our dog, finally! We missed this guy more than we ever thought possible.
