Nate’s Wild Trip
At 19, Nate was excited for his first big solo trip to Peru. He was headed to volunteer at an equine therapy barn for kids with special health needs in a coastal surfing town in Peru. He packed a huge blue suitcase since he did not anticipate a lot of time for laundry. He planned to ride horses, do some yoga, and take some surfing lessons in between taking care of the children and horses. His ticket? A simple connection: Melta airlines from Dullus International to Atlanta, then Ratam airlines to Lima, then one more Ratam flight to the coastal sea town. It was perfect weather when he got to the airport, but the flight kept getting delayed.
- Melta’s plane had a mechanical failure. Cue hours of waiting. He was reassured that he would still make his connection.
- He missed his connection, and both airlines kept pointing fingers.
- His suitcase disappeared, and nobody would tell him where he could get it.
- Customer service was overwhelmed and said to use the Melta app, but the Melta app had broken down.
- Then, Melta said to go to Ratam, and Ratam said to go to Melta.
- Nate was stuck at the gate: no hotel vouchers, no help from customer service. No hope of getting his suitcase back. Nearby hotels wouldn’t check in anyone under 21.
Mama Nate came to the rescue. She spent two hours in the middle of the night trying to get a hotel, offering her credit card, but nobody would take him. The few options that would have helped a student under the age of 21 were sold out.
Melta kicked him back out of security to the customer service airport entrance, which was closed. There was not even a chair available for Nate to sit, and he was tired and hungry after a long day and night in Atlanta. Neither Melta or Ratam reassured him that they would rebook him. By sunrise, Nate was officially homeless, stranded in Atlanta, and stuck at the gate. Mama Nate insisted they buy the first ticket home so they could sort this all out. So Nate flew back from Atlanta to Washington DC defeated.
