The holding is the REAL part of the booking.

I booked a flight on US Airways last week to fly back the desert yesterday. Hitch drops me off at the airport at around 6:30 for my 7:40 flight. The line was huge, but moved quite well considering. I got to the counter, got checked in and was told: you are booked on the flight but you don't have a seat. Huh? If I don't have a seat on the plane then what did I reserve and pay over $500 for? The idea of getting on the plane?

I figured that I would just get assigned a seat once I got to the gate so I just continued on my way. Meanwhile, I get to security and see another long line, but then I see an area that is not blocked off and has no line at all. Worth a try, I thought. I ducked under the nylon divider and gave it a shot. The girl looked at my passport and boarding card and waved me through. Ha! My brassiness paid off!

I get to gate 35 and there are the remaining passengers boarding the plane so I went to the counter and explained my dilemma. "Yeah, you have no seat so we will have to wait and see if someone doesn't show up". So I posed the question: ''How do I make a booking and not have a seat? What did I pay for?" They both just kind of gave me a look and a shrug and continued clicking away at that keyboard. Clickity-clickity-clickity-clackclackclack...

Nope. All boarded and I was left without a way home. Great. So, "Todd" got back on his keyboard and started finding an alternate plan for me. Clickity, clickity, clickity, tap, tap, tap: "How about from here to Washinton DC, then to Phoenix, and then onto Palm Springs....but you would have to spend the night in DC..."

Uh...how about no.

How about you just book me something for tomorrow and I will try again.

At this point, Hitch is on alert and is texting me repeatedly for progress reports. He and the team were heading to LA at 9 am and he wanted make sure I was taken care of. I had already asked him if his plane was full and he said that he had already tried that. Despite Todd's intense tapping on his keyboard, it was proving to be quite a task to get me into Palm Springs. I asked Hitch again if his plane was full and he decided to call to confirm that. A minute or two later, jackpot! They have a seat for me on the jackets plane. Now it was up to Todd to book me a flight from LA to Palm Springs and he did so. I left the airport with my bag and a first class flight with Hitch on the Blue Jackets plane, and a $200 voucher for a ticket that cost me $500.

Thanks US Airways, you really delivered after I totally bailed you out.