I admit defeat - No Balto for me!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,481 ✭✭✭✭✭
So I left sunny OC yesterday, arrived in beautiful clear Houston on my way to Baltimore only to find all flights to Baltimore, New York, etc. had been cancelled! They booked me on another flight to Balto for Wednesday. This is the first time I got stuck overnight in a city due to a flight cancellation so with all the flying I do, I actually felt pretty lucky. And I even found a reasonable hotel right near the airport, plus my hotel in Baltimore didn't charge me for the night since they understood the circumstances.
So I head back to the Houston airport this morning for my flight, park myself in front of my gate, and keep refreshing my flight app to make sure my new flight isn't cancelled. Just when I'm feeling like all is going well, the ugly bright red letters CANCELLED show up on my phone next to my flight! Ugh!! So I head over to customer service, only to find all flights to Baltimore are cancelled for the day, and all flights leaving Thursday are fully booked. They say I can wait and try and go standby, but the customer service rep suspected no flights would be getting through to Baltimore today. So as beat and tired as I was, I finally declared defeat. They book me on a flight back to OC and sent a message to the baggage folks to reroute my checked bag back to OC. I then called the Balto hotel again and they were very courteous and understanding and cancelled the rest of my stay with no fees. However, the Whitman folks weren't quite as generous and I'm out my table and cases/light fees.
So I arrive back here in OC, bedraggled and exhausted from hauling my heavy coin bags back and forth to the hotel, and all over the Houston airport, from customer service desks and from terminal to terminal. Of course, my checked bag is nowhere to be found in OC, so I head over to the baggage customer service folks to find out where it is. Well, guess what, it is headed to Baltimore on a flight late tonight. So my bag will make it to Balto, but not me! Hopefully, they will track it down and bring it back to OC.
Boy, I had a lot of plans this week, meetings, get togethers, some pending deals with customers, and a lot of buying for want lists to do - not to mention a big fat show report! I'm really really bummed. ;-( So this time around, I will be the one looking forward to reading others' show reports of the Baltimore show!
Someone posted this photo of Baltimore near the convention center this morning on Facebook - even though I will be missing out on a lot of activity, it actually made me glad I was back in warn sunny OC.
Comments
The show reports should be interesting
I'm not expecting big crowds unless the snow melts. The MD populace is not big on snow travel.
Sorry Charmy. I know how much fun it can be when flights get screwed up.
Sorry that you did not make the show. It will probably be the lightest attended Baltimore show ever!
At least in NJ, this storm is not what they built it up to be. We just have a few inches and all the main roads are clean.
We were supposed to get 12"+.
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Sounds like you made every attempt to get there. Damn shame they are going to charge you for the entire amount. I would keep that in mind for next year's winter Baltimore.
CT is barely getting snow
Many schools let out early to snow free roads
IMO, you made the right choice. Our guys leave tomorrow and I'll bet they don't get out of Tampa!
I feel your pain, but you made the right decision.
Mother Nature can be so cruel.
In NJ they closed schools for nothing. It's been snowing all day but we only have a few inches that stuck. No biggie at all.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
You’ve had a great run up till now! That weather looks like a total mess. More coin deals ahead when the circumstances are right, safety first.
Should have taken the train.
@ThePennyLady - A person who sidesteps a tumultuous way, lives to barter another day.
I am sure that I am plagiarizing someone.
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Well, I'm about 2.5 hrs south of Balto and pretty crummy weather this am too, we wound up with about 3"of snow. ONe of my emplyees slid off into a ditch on the way in but luckily no injury.
So it just wasn't meant to happen Charmy and I guess you'll just have to double down on your next show report!
There's always the plane into DC and then Amtrak to Baltimore..... were those options available?
I wouldn't consider it, not hauling two bags of coins by myself.
The Penny Lady®
Washington area airports were in intermittent operation, but the airlines cancelled fights.
It doesn't look like that and I heard yesterday all flights were cancelled at BWI today. Sorry for your headaches. The airline should have notified you yesterday and you should verify my info as I heard it from a friend.
I checked my flight the morning I left OC and my original flight was still "on time" to Baltimore, however, they had issued "weather warnings." I didn't find out it was cancelled until after I arrived in Houston.
The Penny Lady®
DO NOT call it a DEFEAT! You are doing just FINE!!!!
It is not meant to be; someone up there must be looking out for you but it must be hard to see the good reason at the moment. I am glad you are safe after all of that.
How much did this cost out of your pocket? Can you claim it on your next calendar year as a business exemption?
Every time I fly East, there are issues
Well --- set up at the Houston Hobby or Busch airport (wherever you are). Put the cat on a leash and sell coins.
Or....if you can fly into Norfolk, or Richmond, VA and take Amtrack to Baltimore.
Uber! Surprisingly friending and they work at less than minimum wadge happily.
Now I am just as glad that I did not go to this show.
I very nearly made the effort to attend this show for the first time. I arranged time off months ago. Never got around to actually buying tickets and booking a hotel. So glad I decided to do some woodworking instead.
Sorry Charmy. What a pain.
I'm thinking perhaps December 2003.
Ed. S.
(EJS)
I had to cancel last week for family stuff but looking today the flight I was on, non-stop from Sacramento to BWI was cancelled this morning. That would have been a nightmare.
I was stranded in Houston after FUN, being stuck is no fun with coins and gear.
So sorry to hear, but I suspect that you're better off for missing that mess.
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I took a table at a small local show last week and was exhausted at the end of the day, no flying involved, so I feel for you dealers traveling with a lot of inventory !
Another nail in the coin show concept....the future might be a virtual bourse online if someone can figure out how to do it efficiently.
Commems and Early Type
How was the food at the airport ?.............................Just kidding, thanks for posting and I for one will miss your report of this show.
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The same railroad company that canceled my trip 24 hours in advance, said I couldn’t change my reservation online, then repeatedly hung up on me all day while attempting to transfer me to an agent?
Or the other rail company that canceled almost all trains for Thursday with the remaining ones fully sold out?
However, the Whitman folks weren't quite as generous and I'm out my table and cases/light fees.
(I guess they figured the weather/roads/flights would be cleared by Fri/Sat/Sun but they could have given you a break for one day, say like Friday)
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
On the positive side at least it was wonderful weather in Houston during your stay.......
Best, SH
Sorry to hear this Charmy.... I look forward to your show reports... Sometimes air travel can be a hassle... I flew all the time for business... for many years. Although very infrequent, storm delays can be a major issue... You made the right decision though, go home and wait until next time. Cheers, RickO
an aspect of the coin dealers life that we collectors do not see or appreciate....be kind to your dealers
Sorry to hear you got weathered out this time. I hope this didn't happen to too many dealers. I'm especially sorry to hear Whitman wasn't the least bit sympathetic or accommodating -- not cool, as I would think they are insured to cover such an occurrence.
ANA LM
USAF Retired — 34 years of active military service! 🇺🇸
Hey Charmy! Wonderful weather here in Fort Collins, CO - sunny and high 60's. And a 3-day coin show starting tomorrow and it's only and hour from DIA.
==Looking for pre WW2 Commems in PCGS Rattler holders, 1851-O Three Cent Silvers in all grades
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You beat me to that statement, Roger.
Pete
Greetings from Omaha...... the town that starts as a chant and ends in a laugh.
It's raining all over California today.
A good day to enjoy the cat indoors.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
Thursday (today) is clear, sunny and mid-40s. Streets and roads are clear and no delays --- except the usual inattentive drivers studying their "very vital text messages" rather than watching the road.
--- except the usual inattentive drivers studying their "very vital text messages" rather than watching the road.
^ this. But the show has been slooooow so far.
It's Thursday -- People who took off work Wednesday, have to be in the office today. Tomorrow will be better -- the sun will come up, tomorrow, bet your bottom slabbed and CAC'd gold dollar....
I'm sorry to hear that.
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It's not going to hit 70 degrees in mid Florida today. Of late when we catch cold, the northeast catches pneumonia.
My Thursday morning flight to Baltimore was cancelled Tuesday at noon time
Rainbow Stars
We go cancelled at the checking counter once, too.
The gate agent already wanted to scream but I didn't know. We were on the tail end of discovery and all our persistence for a reroute was a path to nowhere. every other connection was taken by the people who didn't arrive 45 min 'til.
The unfortunate part was we were stranded away due to weather. force majeure
Do you think it would have been worse stranded in baltimore?
While I am sympathetic to Charmy and others who are upset about Whitman not giving refunds: they have to do the same setup and pay the same people to do that setup whether you are there or not, so how can they just give everyone refunds? They aren’t responsible for acts of god. If they cancelled the show, that would be a different story. Further, it was mentioned that the airlines and hotels were more forgiving, however, if the hotels involved were part of Whitman’s room block, then Whitman will end up having to pay for that room in some way anyway, as they have a quota commitment to meet. Just wanted to mention that, as convention planning is complicated and it has many moving parts.
Charmy, I think that you missed what will probably be a very slow show due to the weather. Penny will be very pleasantly surprised to find you home early.
OINK
A most unfortunate turn of events Charmy. But there will be better days. Put the wine on ice for another one of those days.