Help me help my baby.

April 11, 2008 7:23 PM

My wife's stuck in the Atlanta airport due to a missed flight (weather-related) and now the airport's closed (weather-related). Looks like she won't get a flight here to Tampa until 7:00 am. I hate that she's going to have such a miserable night. What can I do to make her more comfortable?

We've been texting, and I've given her some information about available lounges, etc., but what else can I do? Delta is apparently not being very helpful and doesn't seem to care about her or her fellow passengers. Thanks for your ideas.

posted by unclejeffy to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

Use your access to the internet to look up the numbers of several nearby hotels, as well as taxi-cab companies in the area. Don't take the initiative and call these places yourself- let your wife do it.
posted by proj08 at 7:41 PM on April 11

The promise of a nice massage, breakfast in bed and a couple of roses for her to look forward to. Other than that, staying up with her all night texting back and forth.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:45 PM on April 11

The airport is served by Marta pretty well, if she can get downtown you might be able to get her a few hours sleep - There's several hotels pretty close to the CNN Center stop, if she's trying to find somewhere to go.
posted by pupdog at 7:53 PM on April 11

I disagree with the "don't take the initiative" part -- call her and say you've got a hotel on the other line, would she like a room for the night and a limo ride there? Even if it's a super 8, send a limo. ;)

(Did this once for an ex-girlfriend and she bounced off the plane the next morning in high spirits, even though she didn't sleep well in the hotel and was wearing the same clothes she'd left Anchorage in 72 hours before. Total cost to me: $100. Room was $50 and the limo was $50, the hotel took her to the airport in the morning on their shuttle. But the limo, and getting to leave all the miserable people behind her at the airport, made all the difference. The driver stopped and picked her up a red rose on his way to get her.)
posted by SpecialK at 7:55 PM on April 11 [1 favorite]

There is a fairly decent Marriot very close to the airport. Marriot Atlanta Airport. The area around the airport is not the best but it is your best bet for something close. There are nicer hotels downtown but then you have travel time to and fro involved. I think she will be fine in the Marriot. It s raining like crazy here. Best of luck to you both!!
posted by pearlybob at 8:00 PM on April 11

The car and hotel is a nice touch. Even nicer is getting a car that will bring her back before 6 AM to get on a flight. Very thoughtful of you, but I fear my suggestion is late.
posted by zerobyproxy at 8:10 PM on April 11

Get on hotwire. The hotels around the atlanta airport are generally quite cheap and you can usually get a 4 star hotel for 120 dollars. Book a hotel, then call a car. YOu will have a much happier wife. Oh also, tell her the room service is on you.
posted by zia at 8:18 PM on April 11

MARTA is already shut down. Stay at the Marriot, there is a line of taxis waiting to take her there.
posted by Pants! at 8:50 PM on April 11

nthing a room at the Marriott; it's really close. (You could easily walk there, if it weren't for that whole runway in the middle of everything.) Might be too late to get a room with all the cancellations, but I'd give them a call and see. Even a few hours sleep in a hotel room beats sitting around an airport.

Does she have a laptop with her? If it were me, and I was really absolutely stuck there, I'd stake out a power outlet (there are ones on the exterior walls in the A terminal lounges that are rarely taken), drag some chairs together to have a place to put my feet up, and cough up the $9 or whatever it is for a day's worth of internet access. At least that way she'd be able to talk to you, watch TV, etc.

I think there's also a place in ATL that rents DVDs and DVD players, although I suspect they're probably closed.

But seriously, even if it'll only be for a few hours, $100 for a hotel room and another few bucks for the ride there would be totally worth it, IMO.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:33 PM on April 11