Adventures at JFK

Well, our trip to Lithuania/Poland got off to a very interesting start. And this is even before we got to Helsinki for our 50 minute layover. It started at JFK Airport in NYC. We spent 45 minutes at the ticket counter (not in line, but actually at the counter) even though we had checked in ahead of time and just needed to drop off our bags. When you book a flight, you can pay extra to choose your seats. Since we all wanted aisle seats - for more comfort on a long flight - we had paid the extra fee for the seats well ahead of time. At the ticket counter, however, the Finnair agent told us, as she stared interminably at the computer screen in front of her, that she saw no evidence of us having paid for our seats. After much back and forth ("We're certain we paid; the charge showed up on our credit card"/"Well, the computer is not showing that you paid"), we finally just paid again and were told that we'd have to call Finnair when we return home to get reimbursed for the double payment. There were a few more issues, but finally we received new boarding passes and were on our way.

We got through security with no problem, stopped to get a bite to eat, and then the fun began. The gate for our flight was Gate 47, which was all the way at the far end of C concourse - the very last gate. Denise went on ahead of us. As Joe and I were making our way to the gate, we had gotten about half way there when we met Denise on her way heading back. She told us the gate had been changed to Gate 5. Now, as I mentioned, Gate 47 is all the way at the end of the C concourse, and Gate 5 is almost all the way at the other end of the B concourse. So we turned around and walked almost all the way back in the other direction.

About 10 minutes after we arrived at Gate 5, we overheard a Finnair agent telling someone that the flight to Helsinki was leaving out of Gate 47. Denise headed back to Gate 47, while Joe and I said we wouldn't be far behind. Before heading all the way back across the terminal - remember Joe is just 2 months removed from hip surgery and still does not move very fast - we decided to double check about the gate change. One of the passengers at Gate 5 called Finnair on their cell phone and inquired about it. They were told to check the monitors in the airport. The problem was that some of the monitors said Gate 47 while others said Gate 5. I located an airport information desk, and asked the lady there about the Helsinki flight and the departure gate. Apparently many other people had also asked her about this. She informed me that she had "called the tower" and they told her it was Gate 5.

I immediately called Denise, who by this time had made her way back to Gate 47. This is how that phone conversation went:
Kay and Denise (simultaneously): It is definitely [Kay] Gate 5/ [Denise] Gate 47.
Kay: The airport official just assured me that it is Gate 5.
Denise: The Finnair agent just assured me that it is Gate 47.

More confusion. More questions. Eventually we felt with about 80% certainty that it was Gate 5. So we gathered there after Denise had by now walked all the way to Gate 47, then to Gate 5, back to 47, and then back to 5. Denise has a hobby of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Today she hiked JFK Airport.

And that, folks, is why you arrive at the airport 3 hours early for an international flight. And you might want to make it 4 or 5 hours if you're flying Finnair. Allow some extra time for a prolonged visit with the check in agent and for hiking.

So all this before our trip even really began. Then the flight took off 40 minutes late (due to a "catering issue"). Yep, 40 minutes late with a 50 minute layover. We're no longer nervous about that. We're too exhausted!