Standby Stories | 17 hours in Knoxville Airport and Headed No Where

Sharing is caring!

Waiting in an airport was not how we envisioned ending our amazing trip to Smoky Mountain National park in Tennesee.  We hiked, we took amazing drives, we saw wildlife and got dirty.  Our resort had an indoor and outdoor waterpark!  We spent so much time in the pool, riding water slides and enjoying our family.

Look for a post about the Smokies {coming soon}.

Rushing at 4 AM

When it came time to go home, my husband needed to get to some church responsibilities so he was planning on leaving early Sunday morning.  When the flight looked pretty full, I decided I would sleep in with the kids and go home later in the day.  My husband would go to the airport via Uber.  I totally relaxed because I would have plenty of time to get packed and get home.

At 4 am, my husband got up and quietly prepared to leave.  When it was time for him to leave for the airport, he woke me up in a panic telling me that there was no Uber and I needed to take him now!  The airport was 45 mins away.  We had to jump out of bed, pack up all our stuff and load sleepy kids in the car within minutes.

We were planning on showering and taking the morning slow so we were all dirty and tired. We didn’t plan breakfast so we were all hungry and ate leftover birthday pie at 6 am.

My husband dropped the kids, luggage and I off at the airport.  He had the stress of finding an open gas station at 5 in the morning (pretty difficult in a small town)

I had the stress of getting everything through security while he returned the car.  Luckily, I barely made it to the gate when they called my husband’s name to get a seat.  We only got one ticket, but we were thrilled all of our work was going to get him home!  I was really nervous to be left in the airport alone with 3 kids,  but hopeful I would make the next flight.

Disappointment

Five minutes later my husband came walking back up the jetway.  He was taken off the flight to accommodate paying customers.  This is a totally normal procedure if a paying customer comes late so we knew it was a possibility. But we had never experienced it and were so disappointed.  They say in the standby world that you don’t actually ‘get a seat’ until you deplane at your destination. And now we know why.

Part of me was happy my husband would be with us for a while longer. But the other part of me was so mad we didn’t just stay in bed and get showered and get a good breakfast.  We were so hungry and the kids were grumpy and sad.  Inside the airport, there were only 2 food places.  Of course, they were so expensive!  One banana for $1.59 and the kids didn’t even eat it.

Waiting and Waiting

We waited unhappily for 2 hours for the next flight and checked the stats on the flight constantly.  But all we saw was the seats filling up.  There were several other flights out of the airport to different locations, but I was really not wanting a layover with 3 kids. Looking back, I should have just gotten on a plane somewhere else!

Also, on this trip, I was 9 weeks pregnant.  I was so tired and nauseous.  I just wanted to be in a bed, but I was stuck in an airport.

We didn’t get seats on the next flight.

A couple hours later it looked like we would get at least 3 of us on.  But when the time came to load, the gate agents told us the flight was weight restricted.  This means they aren’t allowed to load standby passengers above a certain level to make sure the weight is below a certain level.  I’m not sure how this works, all I know is they don’t fill up the plane completely. So even though we’d been waiting for hours, the plane took off with empty seats.

At the last minute, they said we could have 1 seat.  We quickly talked it over.  Usually, you only have seconds to decide to take the seat or not.  We decided my husband would head home to serve in our church and I would get on the next flight, even though it was 6 hours away.  The flight left with my husband and with 6 empty seats!

Alone with 3 kids

Now I am alone with 3 hungry and tired kids, and being morning sick myself.  I thought about renting a car, but we already checked our car seats so it would be super expensive to rent a car and 2 car seats for only 6 hours.

Note to self: do not check the car seats!

Instead, we went outside security and spent time hanging out in the lobby.   Since it was Sunday, and we were missing our services, we held a Sunday School right there waiting in an airport.  My son gave a talk and my daughters helped teach some children’s songs.

Then the kids ran around and we made big messes from the toys in their airplane packs.  Saying Hello to everyone that passed through filled our time.   We headed back behind security ( after 4 hours).  My 3-year-old fell asleep on the floor while the others watched a movie on the laptop.

Cancellation

Finally, the time was approaching for the next flight.  It was looking good.  I was thinking the long agonizing day would be ‘over’ after a quick 2-hour flight alone with 3 kids home.

But 20 minutes before the flight was scheduled to take off, it was unexpectedly canceled!  This means that ALL the paying customers would need to be accommodated on other flights. So for the next day or so, all flights would be completely full and standby passengers would be completely out of luck.  I was done waiting in an airport, so I immediately started looking for other flights out of Knoxville.

There was one to Washington DC with 10 empty seats, but I couldn’t get our itinerary changed fast enough and they shut the doors right in front of our family. The gate agents had been watching us wait all day, so I was shocked they didn’t help us out at all.

There was another flight to Charlotte in an hour, but lots of standbys.  I got listed.

Mom Breaks Down

At the last minute, we were able to get 4 seats and were the last people boarding.  I burst into tears, not because we were finally getting out of Knoxville. I cried because I didn’t WANT to go to Charlotte.  It was further from home.  All the flights from Charlotte to home were full.  I was so full of anxiety, stress, exhaustion, and NOT full of enough food, I broke down as I boarded the plane with my 3 kids.  Luckily, they were well behaved and calm.  I think seeing mom lose it helps them hold it together.  Our 17 hours of waiting in an airport were over, but our journey home had just begun.  I didn’t know how much longer I could wait to get home!

A good cry released my tension and anxiety and I felt so much calmer. When we landed an hour later, my husband told me there was another flight to DC in 45 minutes that had some seats.  Our cousins lived there are were willing to host us for a couple of days before heading home.  So at 10 pm, we boarded another plane to get to DC.  My sister-in-law graciously picked us up at midnight and brought us to a comfortable bedroom with time and space to sleep.

Waiting for flights with open seats

We spent the next day reconnecting with family, taking it easy at the park and relaxing.  The next morning we were able to get on a flight with plenty of seats directly home.  My 3-year-old slept the whole flight and there were screens for the big kids.  Easy Peasy!

What I learned

1.Don’t wait around for flights at a small airport!  Try to get out to a bigger airport where you will have more options. Be willing to have a layover.

2. Get out of the airport so the anxiety of waiting and watching doesn’t kill you.

3. Be flexible and willing to do a layover if it gets you home.  Moving somewhere than sitting around.

4. Book an Uber in advance

5. Always have enough food and snacks!

6. Don’t check your car seat or anything you might need if you don’t get on the flight!

Standby travel can be frustrating, unpredictable and exhausting.  Being stubborn and only wanting a direct flight home made our wait so much longer.  I’m thankful we fly free, but it isn’t without its costs.

Do you have a standby story I can feature on this blog?  Send an email to flybytheseatofourpants @ gmail.com (remove spaces) with your story!

If you liked this, you may like these posts, too!

Five Essential Standby Tips | Non-Rev with Style Standby Stories | Back to California Again Standby Stories | Last Minute Hawaiian Getaway Standby Stories | Flying Pickles Around the World